Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has called for revenge for the death of his father and predecessor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stating that vengeance is the "will of the nation" in a written statement read on state TV. This was his first public message since his father's funeral ceremonies began this week.

The elder Khamenei, 86, was killed in an airstrike on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran. Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since before the war, and is rumored to have been disfigured in the strike that killed his father.

In his statement, Mojtaba Khamenei said: "We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraced killers. Vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out." He added that those responsible "will take the wish for a peaceful death in their beds to their graves."

US President Donald Trump has warned that any Iranian plans to kill him would see the US "decimate and destroy all areas" of Iran in response. He told the New York Post that he had been "No. 1 [on Iran's kill list] for a long time." The threats follow an exchange of strikes between the US and Iran earlier this week, sparked by attacks on three commercial tankers purportedly by Iran.

The war began with US and Israeli attacks on February 28, prompting Iran to strike Israel and US allies in the Gulf. A ceasefire was signed in June, but tensions have escalated again. Mediators are still working to revive talks, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is currently in Oman for discussions.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk