Iran's Khamenei makes first public appearance since war

TEHRAN

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on July 5 made his first public appearance since the outbreak of his country's recent 12-day war with Israel, taking part in a religious ceremony in Tehran.

The octogenarian leader was shown in a video broadcast by state television greeting people and being cheered at a mosque as worshippers marked the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, an important date for Shia Muslims.

Khamenei, 86, can be seen on stage dressed in black as the crowd before him, fists in the air, chants "The blood in our veins for our leader!"

State TV said the clip was filmed at central Tehran's Imam Khomeini Mosque, named for the founder of the Islamic republic.

Khamenei, in power since 1989, spoke last week in a pre-recorded video, but had not been seen in public since before Israel initiated the conflict with a wave of surprise air strikes on June 13.

His last public appearance was two days before that, when he met with members of parliament.

Israel's bombing campaign followed a decades-long shadow war with Iran and was aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon, an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.

The strikes killed more than 900 people in Iran, its judiciary has said, while retaliatory Iranian missile barrages aimed at Israeli cities killed at least 28 people there, according to official figures.

Two members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were also killed on July 6 while attempting to defuse explosives in an area of the country's west hit by the Israeli strikes.

The Israeli strikes during the war killed key commanders of Iran's armed forces, including Guards, as well as top nuclear scientists.