Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued a fiery series of posts on X on Saturday morning, pledging to avenge the death of his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike on February 28.

In the strongly worded thread, Mojtaba Khamenei declared:  

“We pledge to avenge your pure blood and the blood of all the martyrs of these two recent wars by taking revenge against the criminal, disgraceful murderers. This vengeance is what our nation is demanding, and this must definitely be done.”

He continued with a direct threat against those responsible, stating that “the criminal, disgraceful murderers of the martyred Leader, whose names are fully documented from the highest to the lowest ranks, will carry their dream of a peaceful death in bed to the grave.”

Ali Khamenei, 86, was killed during the opening phase of Operation Epic Fury when U.S. and Israeli forces struck his compound in Tehran. His son, long considered a hardliner and a top contender for succession, has now formally taken the reins and is using his first major public statements to rally the regime around a vow of retaliation.

Mojtaba also used the posts to thank Iranians for what the regime described as massive turnout at his father’s funeral ceremonies, claiming that more than 40 million people across Iran and Iraq participated in the week-long events.

“I extend my heartfelt gratitude for the incredible, enemy-shattering, and historic turnout of tens of millions of people across Iran and Iraq,” he wrote.

The aggressive rhetoric comes as the U.S. continues military operations against Iranian targets and maintains a large naval presence in the Persian Gulf, while Iran struggles with damaged infrastructure and disrupted oil exports following weeks of strikes. Whether Mojtaba Khamenei’s threats are more bluster or signal a genuine new escalation remains to be seen.