Khamenei hits out at US support for Iranian people

Iran's supreme leader said US President Donald Trump is a "clown" who only pretends to support the Iranian people but will "push a poisonous dagger" into their backs, as he struck a defiant tone in his first Friday sermon in Tehran in eight years. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the mass funerals for Iran's top general, who was killed in a US airstrike earlier this month, show that the Iranian people support the Islamic Republic despite its recent trials.

He said the "cowardly" killing of Soleimani had taken out the most effective commander in the battle against the Islamic State group.

In response, Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting US troops in Iraq, without causing serious injuries.

Khamenei said the strike had dealt a "blow to America's image" as a superpower.

In part of the sermon delivered in Arabic, he said the "real punishment" would be in forcing the US to withdraw from the Middle East.

Thousands of people attended the Friday prayers, occasionally interrupting his speech by chanting "God is greatest!" and "Death to America!"

Khamenei last delivered a Friday sermon in February 2012, when he called Israel a "cancerous tumour" and vowed to support anyone confronting it.

He also warned against any US strikes on Iran over its nuclear programme, saying the US would be damaged "10 times over."