Iran’s assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei refused to leave his Tehran residence and move to a safer location or bunker, despite repeated pleas from his colleagues, saying he would not seek safety unless there was a safe place for all 90 million people in Iran.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Abdul Majid Hakim Illahi told the India Today Conclave in New Delhi that Khamenei, who has been Iran’s supreme leader for 37 years, has decided to stay home even as tensions rise between Tehran, Washington and Tel Aviv.
"I asked his security team why they did not move him to a safer place or another city when his office and residence were well known. They said he refused and never agreed. He said, ‘I am ready to leave my home and move to another place if you can provide safe haven for 90 million citizens of Tehran.'”
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Hakim Illahi told the conclave: "If he does not move to another city, he asked security officials to at least build a bunker in the basement for his safety. They said they would not allow him to do so. He told them, ‘If you can build 90 million bunkers for 90 million Iranians, then only then will I be ready to build one myself.’
Iranian officials also said the same question was asked of Ali Khamenei’s family, with the supreme leader saying, "I am the leader of the country, and leaders must be equal to the marginalized and the poor. If I live a special life for myself, I can no longer be the leader of this country.”
‘Khamenei wanted martyrdom’
Asked about the meaning of martyrdom in Islam, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, Illahi said martyrdom is considered one of the highest virtues in Islamic teachings, adding that Khamenei has long aspired to martyrdom and described it as the ultimate honor.
This aide said, "I remember him repeatedly saying a few months ago, ‘I’m old now, I’m 86 years old, and I’m afraid I’ll die in the hospital, in an accident, or from a fever. I don’t think that’s going to work. I’d rather be a martyr.'”
According to Ilahi, Khamenei considers martyrdom more valuable than his own life.
He explained, “The martyrdom of Ayatollah Khamenei and the shedding of his blood are more valuable than the continuation of his life,” and “His martyrdom first brought harmony between Shia and Sunni Muslims.”
“The second thing his martyrdom brought to society was to expose the injustice of some countries attacking others without cause. In this way, his martyrdom brought significant benefits and results.”
Ilahi also said that Khamenei’s martyrdom during Ramadan had special meaning for believers.
“Because of Ayatollah Khamenei’s sincerity – because he gave his life for Allah and his people – Allah gave him the highest virtue of martyrdom and that too in the month of Allah,” he said.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on February 28 in a joint US-Israeli airstrike that used bunker buster bombs to target his official compound in Tehran.
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