TEHRAN – Iran’s highest 
officials have declared that the assassination of the late Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei will be avenged, as the nation’s leaders respond to the demands of millions of mourners who filled the streets of Tehran and Qom in the largest funeral ceremonies in Iran’s modern history.
First Vice President Muhammad Reza Aref announced that the punishment of the assassins is a sovereign duty that will be fulfilled through strategic rationality. 
“The rightful demand of the nation to punish the assassins, which was raised during the epic funeral procession, is a legitimate request and consistent with the international principles of self-defense,” Aref stated on social media. 
“The realization of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s right to definitive punishment of the perpetrators of this crime is a sovereign duty that will be fulfilled through strategic rationality.”
Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Muhammad Bagher Zolghadr delivered a firm response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest threats, stressing that Tehran will not tolerate disrespectful language.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump declared: “We’re either going to make a deal, or we’re going to finish the job. It won’t be tough to finish the job.”
Zolghadr responded directly, describing Trump as “delusional” for threatening Iran’s 91 million people. 
“To the delusional President of America, who today threatened 91 million Iranians, I say: Previously, as the president of a rootless country with a mere 250-year history, you spoke in similar terms about erasing Iran’s several-thousand-year-old civilization. The only result for you was defeat, helplessness, and desperate pleas for negotiations and ceasefire,” Zolghadr said.
“Iranians are not familiar with the language of threats. Therefore, speak to the Iranian people with respect; otherwise, we will respond to you in a different language,” the senior official warned.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi pointed to a clause in the U.S.–Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) which prohibits the use of threat or force, particularly during ongoing technical negotiations. 
“Millions of proud Iranians rallied in unity to honor Grand Ayatollah Khamenei and his legacy. Neither them nor our brave Armed Forces are moved by any threats,” the foreign minister said on Tuesday.
“Paragraph 13 of the MoU is clear: Negotiations on final deal will not commence if threats continue. Honor your signature,” Araghchi went on to say, addressing Washington.
Ebrahim Azizi, the chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, delivered an equally forceful message to the world following
 the historic funeral ceremonies.
“The world must know that we will avenge our martyred leader, our commanders, and our martyred populace,” Azizi declared. “The message of this ceremony at the Tehran Musalla is strictly a message of revenge.”
Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the Representative of the Leader in the Defense Council, declared that the pure blood of Iran’s martyred Leader has ignited a powerful popular awakening and strengthened the resolve of the Iranian people against humiliation and aggression.
“Today, the martyred Leader of Iran himself entered the arena and, with his own blood, completed the proof for everyone and placed an even heavier responsibility on the shoulders of us all than before,” Ahmadian said. 
“The surging blood of the martyr has sparked a massive popular awakening, with Iranians rising as one voice: ‘Far be it from us to accept humiliation.’”
The senior official stressed the unbreakable covenant of the Iranian people, declaring: “O leaders! We stand firm upon our covenant until our last breath, and in harmony with you we declare: ‘Peace to those who make peace with you, and war to those who wage war against you.’”