Tehran: Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, expressed his gratitude on Saturday to the millions who participated in the funeral procession for the late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Iraq.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, in a statement issued on the occasion of the funeral procession for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iraq and Iran, the Iranian leader said, "I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to the tens of millions of people who made an astonishing, historic, and humiliating turnout in the cities and villages of Iran and Iraq, especially in Tehran, Qom, Najaf, Karbala, and Mashhad. Our people are calling for revenge for the blood of Hussein (peace be upon him)." This great nation has, throughout the years, offered its sons as sacrifices for the sake of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), and in the war against the enemies of Imam Hussein and the spirit of Husseini devotion. Today, it also demands vengeance for its blood and the blood of the Husseinis of this era.

He added, "Now, I address our martyred Imam, saying: O oppressed martyr, O exalted oppressed one, O righteous servant of God, as we bid farewell to your body with tearful eyes and broken hearts, we pledge to you that we will preserve your school of thought, that we will steadfastly follow the straight path you laid out, that we will not fear the hardships of this path, and that we will hold fast, as you did, to the divine glad tidings and promises."

He concluded, "We once again offer our condolences to our Master, the awaited Imam (may God hasten his reappearance), and we beseech that Merciful Lord to include in His pure prayers the Master of the Martyrs of Iran and his fellow martyrs, and all the martyrs, and to ask the Almighty to grant all the martyrs the highest ranks, and patience and reward for their families." And a decisive and imminent victory for the oppressed Iranian people, God willing.