Ayatollah Khamenei led the Friday prayers in Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque for the first time in eight years, addressing a huge number of worshipers. It came after Iran hit two US military bases in Iraq with missiles in retaliation for the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani.

Khamenei described the day the missiles of Iranian Revolution Guards Corps struck the US base as one of the days of God, adding that Iran's response was a major blow to America's fearsome superpower image.

"The day of God means seeing the hand of God in the events - the day when tens of millions in Iran and hundreds of thousands in Iraq and some other countries took to the streets to honor the blood of the commander of the Quds Force," he said.  

"We saw these two days of God before our eyes. The days are a turning point, which make history. They are not ordinary days. That a nation summons such a power and mental countenance to slap an arrogant and bullying force of the world in such a fashion is a sign that the hand of the divine power is involved," Ayatollah Khamenei added. 

Underlining that the Zionist news outlets and terrorist officials of the American regime did their best to accuse General Qassem Soleimani of terrorism, Khamenei said: "But God Almighty changed the scene so that not only in Iran but also in various countries, people prayed for his soul and burned American and Zionist flags. In assassination of Qaseem Solemani, the Americans did not face him on the battlefield but committed their crime stealthily and cowardly, which brought about more disgrace to them."

Reminding that such assassinations were more typical of the Zionist regime in the past,  Khamenei said: "Of course, the Americans have committed a lot of crimes and killings in Iraq and Afghanistan, but this time the US president confessed in his own words, 'We are terrorists;' there is no greater disgrace than this."

ILKHA