Iran's supreme leader stands by Guards

January 18, 2020

Iran's supreme leader has thrown his support behind the elite Revolutionary Guards in a rare sermon after their belated admission that they accidentally downed an airliner, triggering days of protests.

In his first Friday prayers sermon in eight years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also told worshippers chanting "Death to America" that the elite Guards could take their fight beyond Iran's borders after the US killing of a top Iranian commander.

Washington said any threats would only isolate Iran further.

Khamenei's address comes amid a deepening crisis for Iran as it grapples with unrest at home and rising pressure from abroad.

Tension has steadily ratcheted higher since 2018, when the US withdrew from Tehran's nuclear pact with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have hammered the economy.

The stand-off erupted into tit-for-tat military strikes this month, when Washington killed top commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike on January 3 and Iran launched missile strikes at US targets in Iraq on January 8.