Mosques across Australia have paid tribute to Iran‘s Supreme Leader overnight, with some preachers calling his death ‘an inspiration’ and urging followers to not lose sight of their ‘fight.’
Vigils have been held at mosques in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in his compound by a US-Israel airstrike on February 28.
Khamenei, who ruled Iran as its supreme leader for over three decades, is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, through a campaign of state-sponsored terrorism against his own people and abroad.
He came to ultimate power in 1989 and was made commander-in chief of the Iranian armed forces and its ‘axis of resistance’ – an anti-Western alliance made up of terrorist groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas, Shia militias in Iraq and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Khamenei also crushed those who opposed his reign internally, with more than 30,000 protestors killed by security forces on his orders in January alone – – the largest death toll in modern Iranian history.
Ali Safdari, who preaches at the Al Zahra Mosque in Arncliffe, in Sydney’s south, described Khameni as a ‘noble man’ and ‘the embodiment of everything we wanted in a leader.’
‘Will we turn our backs on a time like today? Never. Brothers, we lost someone very special, we lost someone who is very dear to us, but we cannot lose our vision, we cannot lose our fight,’ Mr Safdari told worshippers at a service on Sunday night.
The Al Zahra Mosque in Sydney’s south is holding a three-day long service to mourn Khamenei
Ali Safdari, who preaches at the Al Zahra Mosque, told worshippers Khameni’s death was an inspiration
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in his compound by a US-Israel airstrike on Saturday
‘We cannot lose the strength in our hearts. Think about it this way – maybe a few years ago, you would have woken up to the news of the Sayed dying a of a heart attack, of old age?
‘It was bound to happen. The fact that he has been taken in this way is truly an honour.
‘We should take it as inspiration.’
Services have also been held at the Flagbearer Foundation in Sydney, the El Zahra Centre in Melbourne and the Zainabia Islamic Centre in Brisbane, with one preacher noting: ‘He didn’t shout, Yazid held his hands. Congrats on your martyrdom dear leader.’
Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was locked up in Iran for more than 800 days, urged those mourning the Ayatollah’s death to instead think about the hundreds of thousands of people he had killed.
‘I would say that almost all of these people aren’t Iranians, they’re almost Shia-mosques frequented by non-Iranian, Shia-Muslims who have their own relationship with Iran,’ the political scientist told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
‘I would urge such people to think about that the Iranian people are telling them, who would absolutely not want to be mourning such a mass-murdering tyrant.
‘He has the blood of hundreds of thousands on his hands.’
Thousands of Iranian-Australians gathered in Sydney to celebrate Khamenei’s death
It comes as thousands of Iranian-Australians gathered in Sydney’s Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon to celebrate the downfall of Khamenei.
Minoo Ghamari, who fled Iran 19 years ago told the ABC this was Iran’s ‘Berlin Wall moment’, referring to the collapse of the Iron Curtin in Europe in 1989.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese fronted a snap press conference on Sunday in which he shared support for ‘the brave people’ of Iran.
‘Ayatollah (Ali) Khamenei was responsible for the regime’s nuclear program, support for armed proxies and its brutal violence and intimidation against its own people,’ he said.
Albanese added: ‘This claimed many lives in Iran but also internationally. He was responsible for orchestrating attacks on Australian soil. His passing will not be mourned.’
However, Australian left-wing party Socialist Alliance strongly condemned the attacks and claimed the bombings were ‘illegal and break international human rights rules’.
‘We support the Iranian people’s struggles for democratic reforms against the regime. But the US and Israel’s bombing will not assist that struggle in any way,’ Socialist Alliance said in a statement.
Dozens of its supporters gathered outside Town Hall on Sunday to call for an immediate end to the conflict.
