"Allahu Akbar"; weapon of the Islamic ummah for overthrowing tyranny, defeating zionism: Leader

In his 2026 Hajj message, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei elaborated on the concept of a "permanent migration" from material life to a monotheistic existence, declaring "Allahu Akbar" as the key to the Iranian nation's victories from the Islamic Revolution and the Sacred Defense to the defeat of the Zionist regime in the Second and Third Imposed Wars. He emphasized that with the awakening of the Islamic Ummah, the future belongs to the New Islamic Civilization, and that the US and the Zionist regime are approaching their final demise.

Here is the full text of the Leader of the Revolution's message:

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

O God! I respond to Your call. You have no partner and all praise, all blessings and all dominion and power are from You and belong to You…

This year’s Hajj season has once again arrived and the pilgrims of the Islamic Ummah have worn the ihram of servitude, reciting the talbiyah [the call of the pilgrims during the Hajj: “Here I am in answer to your call, O Allah”] so that they may migrate from a material and mundane life to a divine and blissful life: a tawhidi [monotheistic] life centered on worshipping God, the Majestic and Exalted, and on the rejection, negation and renunciation of false deities associated with God.

But the opportunity for this migration is not limited only to this year’s visitors and pilgrims to the baytullah [holy sanctuary of Mecca]. It includes all Muslim brothers and sisters of Iran and from across the world – from those who have already performed the Hajj in their past years of life to those who have not yet been granted the opportunity to undertake the rites of Hajj.

The condition for this migration is to wear the perpetual ihram  of divine remembrance, to perform a constant circumambulation [tawaf] around the Axis of Truth, to strive relentlessly [sa’i] between the momentous peaks of divine duties, to strike [rami] the evil Satan and his alluring manifestations and all his followers without cease, to stand [in vigil] in a state mixed with attention and humble supplication, to feed the disabled poor and the wayfarers, to sacrifice selfish desires and deviant inclinations and to cleanse inner impurities, and in all states, to be ready to serve and raise high the banner of defending the Truth. 

And it was in this manner that the Iranian nation stepped onto the path of this very migration at the miqat [the appointed spiritual threshold where pilgrims enter the ritually purified state] of the Islamic Revolution.

They answered the Abrahamic call of the Great Khomeini, cast off the garments of submission to domination, put on the ihram of worldly and eternal felicity and with fervent cries of labbayk, sought to perform their tawaf around the pure Islamic teachings of Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam), drawing near to the all-illuminating light of universal justice and the Supreme Wilayat [Divine Guardianship]. 

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. La ilaha illa Allah. Wa Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar. Wa lillahi al-hamd. Allahu Akbar 'ala ma hadana.

[God is the Greatest, God is the Greatest. There is no god but Allah. God is the Greatest. God is the Greatest. And all praise is due to Allah. God is the Greatest for what He has guided us to]

Yes, Allahu Akbar [God is the greatest] … 

And it was precisely with this [divine] weapon – Allahu Akbar – that the Muslim nation of Iran rose up 47 years ago, toppling the tyrannical, dictatorial and dependent Pahlavi regime, severing the grasping hands of the greedy and arrogant United States from the country and completely eradicating Zionist influence. 

It was with this very weapon – Allahu Akbar – that after the Ba’athist regime of Saddam invaded Iran’s soil, the devoted mujahideen and selfless youth forged the epic of the 8-Year Sacred Defense and put the Ba’athist regime in its place despite it being backed by all the global powers from the East to the West. 

They firmly continued this steadfast resistance for years to come, in the face of economic siege, coups, unjust sanctions, and countless political, propaganda and economic attacks by enemies against the Islamic Republic.

Allahu Akbar…

It was this very weapon of Allahu Akbar that strengthened the bonds of connection of the Islamic Ummah and the young mujahideen of the Resistance Front – from Iran to Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Syria, from Africa and Yemen to Afghanistan, Pakistan and all the free nations of the world, so that this Firm Rope [habl al-matin] may rise to defend the very essence of the Islamic Ummah against the usurping Zionist aggressors, crush the agenda of Daesh [ISIS], unleash the Al-Aqsa Flood and to leave the teetering Zionist regime to gasp its final breath.

Allahu Akbar…

Yes, God the Blessed and Exalted, is greater than can be described… It was this weapon of Allahu Akbar that enabled the Islamic Republic of Iran to reduce the Zionist regime to helplessness under its crushing blows during the Second Imposed War in the month of Khordad 1404 [June 2025], to deal the American aggressor a hard slap and to thwart the enemy’s objective of subjugating Iran.

And the weapon of Allahu Akbar granted the Iranian nation such strength and power that after the heart-rending martyrdom of our illustrious Leader – the rightful successor of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei (may God elevate his noble station) at the hands of the most evil forces in the world today, that it [Iranian nation] experienced a divine bi’tha [prophetic rising up to be active on the scene] and through its all‑embracing presence in every arena where it was needed, transfixed the eyes of the world by its feats of honor.

Allahu Akbar…

Truly, God the Blessed and Exalted, transcends all description… It was this weapon of Allahu Akbar that in the Third Imposed War, secured the valiant fighters and self-sacrificing Armed Forces of Islamic Iran alongside the mujahideen of the Resistance Front – especially those in beloved Lebanon – decisive victories against the two terrorist, American-Zionist armies which were armed to the teeth. 

By putting their trust in the Lord and by utilizing their missiles and drones across land, air and sea, they performed the rami [stoning] of the Great Satan, America, and its trained beast, the Zionist regime, witnessing firsthand the fulfillment of God’s true promise of victory for those who fight on His path.

And once again, Allahu Akbar…

Beyond all doubt, God the Blessed and Exalted, is greater than can be described. His forces prevail over every power… And it is with this same weapon of Allahu Akbar that in the wake of the bi’tha of the Iranian nation and the Resistance Front, the bi’tha of the Islamic Ummah will be forged. 

Renunciation of the polytheists [the act of barā'at] will spread from the Hajj rite of stoning the pillars [rami al-jamarat] into the personal, social and political spheres of Muslims’ lives across the farthest corners of the world.

The Islamic Ummah and the nations of the region possess many shared capacities and common interests that will shape the new order and the future architecture of the region and the world. I, with sincerity and purity of intention, invite all Islamic countries and governments to friendship and cooperation in goodness, so that by working together we may take steps toward the advancement of the Islamic Ummah and the resolution of the Islamic world’s problems. 

What is certain in this regard is that the hands of time will not turn back, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for US bases. The United States not only will no longer have a safe haven for its mischief and for establishing military bases in the region but day by day, it is growing more distant from its former status.

The shaken Zionist regime and the cancerous tumor of Israel are likewise approaching the final stages of their wretched existence, and by God’s grace – and in accordance with the decisive and forward-looking words of our magnanimous martyred Leader (may God sanctify his pure soul) ten years ago – it will not live to see twenty‑five years after that date, God willing.

For this reason, the issue and act of renunciation of the polytheists [barā'at] carries even more significance in this year’s Hajj. Its depth and scope regarding the US and the Zionist regime extend far beyond the formal rite of renunciation [bara’at] during the Hajj season and at its miqat. In various parts of Iran and the world – and continuing well beyond these blessed days – “Down with America” and “Down with Israel” shall become the common chants of the Islamic Ummah and the world’s oppressed, especially among the youth.

The future belongs to the Islamic Ummah and the New Islamic Civilization.  Each of us can play a role in realizing this future and bringing it closer, in accordance with our resolve, capacity and sense of responsibility.

In this year’s Hajj, Iranian pilgrims have a prominent and effective role in narrating the victory of the Third Imposed War to their fellow Muslim brothers and sisters and in inspiring hope in them for a bright future. 

I ask all dear pilgrims to diligently pray for the hastening of the reappearance of the Savior of Humanity -may God hasten his reappearance - and to pray for the unity of the Islamic Ummah, the liberation of Palestine and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the resolution of the great hardships facing Muslims and the attainment of final victory against Global Arrogance. I ask that you also include me in your benevolent prayers.

O Lord! Send blessings upon Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad, envelop the pilgrims and the entire Islamic Ummah with the radiance of Your mercy and compassion. 

Bestow upon them the blessing of an accepted Hajj, illuminate their hearts with the rays of divine knowledge and penetrating insight and strengthen their resolve and will to move on the path of reforming the state of the Ummah and achieving final victory over the enemies of Islam.

O Lord! Send down Your boundless grace and mercy upon the pure souls of those who were martyred on the path of God – especially the martyrs of the Resistance Front and foremost among them our magnanimous, martyred Leader (may God elevate his noble station). 

Grant his celestial soul abundant reward from the Hajj of the pilgrims, the worship of the worshippers and the striving of the strivers from among those who were graced by the guidance and leadership of the Leader of the Ummah, and aid the Iranian nation and the Islamic Ummah in steadfastly continuing along his path and purpose.

O Lord! Bestow Your most excellent blessings and greetings upon our master and mawla, the Awaited Imam Mahdi - may God’s blessings and peace be upon him and his pure ancestors. 

Encompass all of us and the entire Islamic Ummah with his pure and accepted supplications. Illuminate and adorn the world with his blessed arrival, as You have promised, for our hearts are overflowing with certainty in that inevitable promise.

“Allah has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] on earth, just as He did for those before them and that He will firmly establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will surely replace their fear with safety” (Holy Quran 24:55).

May Allah’s greetings, mercy and blessings be upon all our Muslim brothers and sisters.

Sayyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei
Khordad 5, 1405
Dhul-Hijjah 9, 1447
[May 26, 2026]

Tags

• Allahu Akbar
• Supreme Leader
• Hajj

Barakah false flag: How Israeli drones targeted UAE nuclear plant to frame Iran, unleash nuclear catastrophe

By Ivan Kesic

A drone strike on an electrical generator just outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates on May 17, 2026, suddenly brought the Persian Gulf to the brink of an environmental and nuclear catastrophe.

Iranian military sources have confirmed what the evidence overwhelmingly suggests: the attack was carried out by the Israeli military in a calculated provocation designed to push the UAE toward greater hostility against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The UAE now finds itself at the epicenter of a dangerously escalating crisis following the attack on its only nuclear power facility, which, if breached, could irradiate the entire region.

While Emirati officials have made veiled accusations pointing toward Iran, couched in ambiguous statements about the drones' origin, a sober examination of the technical evidence tells a different story. The flight path impossibilities, the operational sophistication required, and the consistent, decades-long pattern of US-Israeli false-flag operations across the Persian Gulf region all converge on a single point.

Iranian military sources have explicitly identified the Zionist regime as the perpetrator. The attack serves Israeli interests with surgical precision: driving a wedge between Iran and its Persian Gulf Arab neighbors, sowing regional discord, and creating a pretext for further escalation, all while the regime in Tel Aviv celebrates the chaos and destabilization.

The Barakah plant, situated on the UAE's far western coast near the Saudi border, is not an ordinary industrial site. It houses thousands of kilograms of nuclear material. Any direct hit, or even a well-placed strike on its supporting infrastructure, could have triggered a catastrophic release of radioactivity, poisoning the entire Persian Gulf.

The consequences would not have respected borders: Iran's own coastline, from Asaluyeh to Bandar Abbas, would have been among the first to suffer. This was not an attack on the UAE alone. It was an attack on the Persian Gulf itself.

Attack on Barakah nuclear plant and official UAE statements

The Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant sits in Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra region, approximately 225 kilometers west of the UAE capital, hard against the Saudi border. Its location is strategic and so is its vulnerability.

Construction work on the facility began in 2012, and the first reactor became commercially operational in 2021. Today, the facility boasts four advanced APR-1400 pressurized water reactors, developed in South Korea, each capable of generating 1,400 megawatts of electricity.

According to the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, the plant's reactors produce 40 terawatt-hours annually, meeting roughly 25 percent of the UAE's total electricity needs. It is a cornerstone of the country's energy strategy and its flagship nuclear achievement.

The environmental benefits are substantial: the plant saves up to 22.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year, equivalent to removing 4.8 million cars from the roads. But beneath these impressive figures lies a sobering reality. Those same reactors house thousands of kilograms of nuclear material. What powers the Emirates could also poison it.

On May 17, Abu Dhabi authorities responded to a fire that broke out in an external electrical generator located outside the plant's inner perimeter, a critical component whose destruction could cascade into larger systems. Officials insisted there was no impact on radiological safety levels and that all units continued operating normally.

But the official narrative began to fray almost immediately. The UAE Ministry of Defense claimed that its air defense systems intercepted three drones that had entered Emirati airspace. Two were successfully destroyed, the ministry said. The third struck the generator.

And then came the telling detail – one that speaks louder than any statement. For the first time in several weeks, the UAE Defense Ministry did not claim that the drones had entered the country from Iran.

Previous allegations of Iranian origin had never been confirmed by Iran's Armed Forces. The absence of the usual accusation was itself an admission. And the evidence, as Iranian military sources confirm, points not east to Iran, but west to Tel Aviv.

IAEA assessment of the attack's grave implications

On May 19, 2026, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency addressed the United Nations Security Council. His assessment was stark and deeply alarming.

The IAEA chief confirmed that a drone strike on the morning of May 17 caused a fire in an electrical generator located outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah plant. Radiation levels remained normal and no injuries were reported.

On the surface, these details offered a narrow sigh of relief. But he then laid bare the true gravity of what nearly transpired. He made clear that a direct hit on the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant could result in a very high release of radioactivity into the environment.

Even a strike that merely disabled the power supply lines to the plant, he explained, could increase the likelihood of reactor core melts, the nightmare scenario that nuclear safety regimes are designed to prevent. A meltdown at Barakah would not be a local problem but a regional catastrophe.

In their worst cases, both scenarios would necessitate urgent protective actions: mass evacuations, population sheltering, and the distribution of stable iodine tablets to prevent thyroid cancer. The reach of such measures would extend from a few kilometers to several hundred kilometers. Radiation monitoring would need to cover distances of hundreds of kilometers. Food restrictions would likely need to be imposed across multiple countries.

The IAEA chief did not stop at technical warnings. Attacks on nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes are unacceptable, he said, consistent with IAEA General Conference resolutions. He added that such attacks are even more dangerous when directed against operating nuclear power plants – whether Zaporizhzhya, Kursk, Bushehr, Barakah, or any other. Nuclear power plants, he noted, are protected under international humanitarian law.

He then called for maximum restraint, stating that military attacks against nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities carry undeniable risks.

The message was clear: the world came closer than it knows to a nuclear environmental disaster in the Persian Gulf. And the only reason the catastrophe was avoided was not that the attack was minor, but because the drone struck a secondary target rather than the core itself. That is not a measure of safety.

Iranian military sources identify Israeli responsibility

An informed Iranian military source has delivered a decisive and informed assessment of the May 17 drone attack on the UAE's Barakah nuclear facility: it was the handiwork of Israel.

The source, cited by a local news agency, said the Zionist regime is deliberately seeking to push the UAE toward deeper, more negative involvement in the region – against Iran and other Islamic nations. It is an operational reading of enemy intent.

He further noted that the UAE has engaged in various malicious actions over the past three months, while Iran, for its part, has clearly announced the operations it has carried out against the UAE for its direct and indirect involvement in the recent war against Iran.

Transparency, in this context, is a form of warning. The same cannot be said of Tel Aviv. Some of the attacks targeting the UAE, the source emphasized, were also conducted by the Israeli regime – operating in the shadows, using proxies and false flags, always to maximize regional chaos while minimizing its own exposure.

The military source then delivered a blunt strategic advice to Abu Dhabi. The UAE should realize – more clearly than ever before – that friendship with the child-killing Israeli regime brings neither security nor economic benefit. Instead, it inflicts severe damage on the Arab country's security, economy, and regional reputation.

The source further reaffirmed Iran's consistent position: the Islamic Republic harbors no hostility toward any country in the region. On the contrary, Iran has repeatedly called on regional states to collectively ensure the security of this strategic part of the world and to utilize their abundant resources for the welfare of their peoples, rather than squandering them on imported wars and foreign-backed adventurism.

This assessment is not new. It aligns with earlier Iranian diplomatic communications. On May 15, 2026, just two days before the drone strike, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated during a BRICS meeting that the UAE had stood alongside the United States and the Israeli regime during the recent aggression against Iran.

He added that he had personally advised the UAE representative that neither the Zionist regime nor the United States can bring security to the Emirates.

Technical contradictions in Emirati claims

The UAE Ministry of Defense did not directly accuse any regional actor of responsibility for the attack. Instead, it offered two pieces of information: first, that the drone struck the power plant from the western border; second, that it was launched from Iraqi territory, along with the two other alleged downed drones.

This constitutes a subtle, indirect accusation against Iran, channeled through its allies in the Iraqi Axis of Resistance.

There is a problem, however. The second official Emirati claim is inconsistent with the first. And both are technically unfounded, as the assessment reveals.

The Barakah nuclear power plant is located on the far western coast of the UAE, relatively close to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Any drone targeting the facility would have followed one of two possible flight paths: either over the Persian Gulf from the north, or over the Saudi mainland from the west and south.

Consider the first option. An attack launched from Iranian soil would require the drone to arrive over the sea from the north. Yet Emirati officials themselves have denied this scenario, explicitly citing the western border as the point of origin. In other words, not from Iran – from Saudi Arabia, a country conspicuously absent from the ministry's announcement.

Now consider the second option, combined with the claim that the drone's flight originated in Iraq. This represents a serious and unspoken indictment of Riyadh. It would mean that the drone flew over at least 800 kilometers of the Saudi mainland, traversing the more densely populated and energy-critical eastern coastline, a region blanketed by radar systems, without triggering any reaction from Saudi air defenses or the Royal Saudi Air Force.

Kamikaze drones are indeed difficult to detect by radar due to their small cross-section and low-altitude flight, but that very difficulty cuts against the Emirati claim.

If the drone was so hard to track, then tracing its origin to Iraq – a distance of approximately 1,000 kilometers – becomes virtually impossible. The UAE cannot simultaneously argue that its radars identified the launch point and that the drone was too stealthy to be intercepted along a 1,000-kilometer path.

The UAE operates several layers of air-defense radars with vastly different ranges. That layered architecture is designed precisely to prevent such ambiguities. Yet the official narrative leaves more questions than answers, however indirectly, toward uncomfortable truths about regional airspace, complicity, and the real actors behind the attack.

The UAE's long-range AN/TPY-2 radar, integrated with the THAAD missile-defense system, can reportedly detect ballistic missiles at roughly 1,000 to 2,000 kilometers under optimal conditions. General air-surveillance radars like the Ground Master 400 typically track aircraft out to about 470 to 515 kilometers.

Patriot system radars, used for engagement and fire control, usually operate in the 150 to 300-plus kilometer range, depending on target type and altitude.

None of these radars can detect the launch or low-altitude flight of a small kamikaze drone originating in Iraq. That is a technical fact, not a matter of interpretation.

Even if the Emiratis possessed precise intelligence from Iraq about the exact time and location of the drone's launch, a highly unlikely scenario given the operational security of such attacks, a more fundamental question remains.

Why would Abu Dhabi not inform its Saudi neighbors that a hostile drone would be traversing at least 800 kilometers of the Saudi mainland, flying freely for up to five hours, without any reaction from Saudi air defenses? The absence of such notification is telling.

What can be determined with certainty is this: the drone attack was indeed carried out from the western border and over Saudi territory. And, there is no evidence – technical or otherwise – to support the claim that it was launched from Iraq.

Now consider Iran's position. The Islamic Republic operates its own nuclear power plant, Bushehr, on the Persian Gulf coast. Both Bushehr and Barakah are used exclusively for electricity production. Both operate under IAEA supervision. Both incorporate international management – Russian at Bushehr, South Korean at Barakah. Neither can be diverted for military purposes. Tehran has consistently denounced US-Israeli attacks on the Bushehr nuclear complex and has never labeled the Emirati Barakah plant as a hostile target.

The strategic logic is irrefutable. Radiation from a damaged Barakah nuclear power plant would not respect borders. It would affect every country in the Persian Gulf region – including Iran itself. The plant sits on the coast at the widest part of the Persian Gulf, between Iran, the UAE, and Qatar, where sea currents move counterclockwise.

That means radioactive contamination would particularly affect the Iranian coast between Asaluyeh and Bandar Abbas, the country's most important energy, transport, natural, and tourist coastal zone.

Tehran has no conceivable interest in attacking a facility whose destruction would directly poison its own shores. The only parties with both the capability and the incentive to carry out such a strike are those who would remain untouched by its radiological consequences and who stand to benefit from the regional chaos that would follow.

US-Israeli false flag campaign using cloned Iranian drones

Since the launch of the American-Israeli military aggression against Iran on February 28, a parallel shadow war has emerged across the Persian Gulf, one fought not with conventional arsenals but with cloned weapons designed to deceive.

As Iranian armed forces continued to conduct retaliatory strikes against American and Israeli strategic and military assets, a sophisticated network involving the United States, the Israeli regime, and Ukraine deployed hundreds of replica Shahed-136 attack drones against the infrastructure of Persian Gulf states.

These attacks, confirmed by multiple Iranian military sources and documented through recovered wreckage, represent a calculated strategy with a single purpose: to fracture regional unity and draw Iran's neighbors into direct confrontation with the Islamic Republic.

The central objective of the US-Israeli false-flag campaign is as simple as it is destructive. Convince the Arab states of the Persian Gulf that Iran is attacking their sovereign territory.

Provoke military retaliation and transform the current US-Israeli aggression against Iran into a full-scale regional war, exactly what the enemy could not achieve through direct military confrontation. Iranian military authorities have documented this strategy with increasing specificity, noting that the enemy, having failed to achieve its stated objectives on the battlefield, has resorted to trickery and deception.

From a distance, the cloned drones are visually and audibly indistinguishable from Iran's original Shahed-136 loitering munitions. They share the distinctive delta-wing configuration. They emit the same characteristic pusher propeller engine sound. They fly the same low-altitude profile that has become familiar across conflict zones from Ukraine to the Persian Gulf. To the naked eye and ear, they are identical.

But Iranian military intelligence has identified a crucial distinction. These drones are not Iranian. They are produced under the designation Lucas by American arms contractors.

Spektre Works unveiled this Shahed replica at a Pentagon event as early as summer 2025, months before the current aggression began. The Lucas drone was explicitly designed to emulate the Iranian model at a comparable cost point of approximately $35,000. That price point is not accidental. It is sufficient to create plausible deniability when debris fields are examined by non-specialists, while low enough to enable mass deployment.

It leverages the very success of Iran's indigenous drone program against the Islamic Republic itself. The Shahed's reputation as a battle-proven, cost-effective weapon has been turned into a weapon of confusion. The more effective the original, the more plausible the counterfeit. And the more regional states misattribute the attacks.

Ukrainian arms manufacturers have spent years reverse-engineering captured Shahed-136 airframes. By early 2026, the Ukrainian industry had developed the capability to produce Shahed-compatible drones using authentic Iranian components harvested from battlefields.

The Batyar drone – Ukraine's domestically produced Shahed copy – shares the same delta-wing configuration, engine type, and flight characteristics as the original Iranian system. But the real deception lies deeper. Harvested components from captured Shahed-136 airframes, including engines, flight control modules, and navigation systems, complete with authentic Iranian manufacturing marks, are incorporated into new airframes.

This component re-use means that even when debris is recovered, the presence of Iranian-manufactured parts appears to confirm Iranian origin. Only comprehensive forensic analysis – which includes examining serial number ranges, component wear patterns, and firmware signatures – can reveal the deception. And such analysis takes time, expertise, and political will that is rarely available in the immediate aftermath of an attack.

False-flag attacks and sinister objectives

The pattern of attacks falsely attributed to Iran escalated sharply in early March 2026, coinciding precisely with the onset of US-Israeli aggression against Iranian territory.

Saudi Arabia reported multiple drone incursions, including the interdiction of thirteen drones over Riyadh and the Eastern Province. The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) issued a categorical denial of any connection to these strikes.

Drone strikes targeted fuel storage tanks at the port of Salalah in Oman. The Iranian Embassy responded through social media to refute claims of Iranian responsibility, calling it a false-flag operation. The response was swift, public, and unambiguous.

Kuwait has also been targeted. An attack on Kuwait International Airport's radar system represented a particularly dangerous escalation. Civilian aviation infrastructure is not – and has never been – a legitimate target for Iranian military operations.

The Barakah attack fits seamlessly into this established pattern of US-Israeli false-flag attacks. The objective is consistent: turn regional opinion against Iran while the Zionist regime's hands remain hidden.

'Regional nations will no longer serve as US shields': Snippets from Leader’s 2026 Hajj message

By Press TV Website Staff

Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, issued a Hajj message on Tuesday addressed to Muslims worldwide, particularly to Hajj pilgrims.

The message calls on Muslims to perceive Hajj as a perpetual migration, a departure from material life toward a spiritual existence centered on the worship of God and the renunciation of false deities.

In his message, the Leader emphasized that the opportunity for this sacred migration is not limited to this year's pilgrims alone, but extends to all Muslims, whether they have already performed Hajj or have yet to be granted the chance.

He also called upon Muslim nations to unite in shaping a new world order, stressing that there will be no safe haven for the American regime, whose era has come to an end.

The Leader further stated that the Iranian nation, armed with the weapon of faith, endured the eight-year Sacred Defense, years of illegal sanctions, and three imposed wars, emerging victorious each time.

The same weapon, he affirmed, will lay the foundation of a new Islamic civilization.

The following are excerpts from his message:

The arrival of Hajj season

- Hajj season has arrived, and pilgrims have donned the ihram (pilgrim's attire) of servitude, reciting the talbiyah (pilgrims' chant) to migrate from material life to a divine, monotheistic life.

- This tawhidi (monotheistic) life centers on worshipping God and on the rejection, negation, and renunciation of false deities associated with Him.

The opportunity is not limited to pilgrims

- This opportunity for migration is not limited only to this year's pilgrims; it includes all Muslim brothers and sisters from Iran and across the world.

- It includes those who have already performed Hajj in past years and those who have not yet been granted the opportunity.

The conditions for this perpetual migration

- The conditions include wearing the perpetual ihram (pilgrim's attire) of divine remembrance, performing constant circumambulation around the Axis of Truth, and striving relentlessly between divine duties.

- They also include striking Satan and his manifestations without ceasing, standing in vigilant supplication, feeding the poor and wayfarers, and sacrificing selfish desires.

- Additionally, one must cleanse inner impurities and be ready to serve and raise the banner of defending the Truth.

How the Iranian nation embraced this migration

- The Iranian nation stepped onto the path of this migration at the miqat of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

- They answered the Abrahamic call of the Great Imam Khomeini, cast off submission to domination, and put on the ihram (pilgrim's attire) of worldly and eternal felicity.

- With cries of "Labbayk," (call - here I am) they performed tawaf (circumambulation of Kaaba) around the pure Islamic teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

- They drew near to the light of universal justice and supreme wilayat (divine guardianship).

The weapon of Allahu Akbar

- It was with the weapon of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) that Iran forged the epic of the 8-Year Sacred Defense against Saddam's Ba'athist regime.

- This was achieved despite Saddam being backed by all global powers from East to West.

Years of steadfast resistance

- Iran firmly continued steadfast resistance for years against economic siege, coups, unjust sanctions, and countless political, propaganda, and economic attacks.

Strengthening the Resistance Front

- "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) strengthened bonds across the Islamic Ummah and the young mujahideen (fighters) of the Resistance Front – from Iran to Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Africa, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and all free nations.

- This firm rope rose to defend the Ummah against Zionist aggressors, crushed the Daesh (ISIS) terrorist group, unleashed the Al-Aqsa Flood, and left the Zionist regime gasping.

Victory in the Second Imposed War (June 2025)

- The same "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) enabled the Islamic Republic of Iran to reduce the Zionist regime to helplessness during the Second Imposed War in June last year.

- Iran dealt the American aggressor a hard slap and thwarted the enemy's objective of subjugating Iran.

The martyrdom of the Leader and Iran's divine rising

- After the martyrdom of Imam Sayyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei at the hands of evil forces (US and the Israeli regime), the Iranian nation experienced a divine bi'tha (spiritual resurrection).

- Through its all-embracing presence, Iran transfixed the eyes of the world with its feats of honor.

Decisive victory in the Third Imposed War

- "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) secured decisive victories for Iran's Armed Forces and the Resistance Front – especially in Lebanon – against the American-Zionist forces.

- By trusting God and using missiles and drones across land, air, and sea, they stoned the Great Satan and its trained beast, the Zionist regime.

- They witnessed the fulfillment of God's promise of victory for those who fight on His path.

The bi'tha of the Islamic Ummah

- God's forces prevail over every power. With the same weapon of "Allahu Akbar," (God is Great) following the bi'tha (divine resurrection) of Iran and the Resistance Front, the bi'tha (divine resurrection) of the Islamic Ummah will be forged.

Renunciation of polytheists (barā'at)

- Renunciation of polytheists will spread from the Hajj rite of stoning the pillars into the personal, social, and political lives of Muslims across the farthest corners of the world.

Shared capacities and invitation to cooperation

- The Islamic Ummah and regional nations share many capacities and common interests that will shape the new order and future architecture of the region and the world.

- I sincerely invite all Islamic countries and governments to friendship and cooperation in goodness, so that together we may advance the Ummah and resolve the Islamic world's problems.

US will no longer have a safe haven

- The hands of time will not turn back, and regional nations will no longer serve as shields for American military bases.

- The US will have no safe haven for its mischief or for establishing military bases in the region, and day by day, it is growing more distant from its former status.

Zionist regime's final stages

- The shaken Zionist regime and the cancerous tumor of Israel are approaching the final stages of their wretched existence.

- According to the martyred Leader's words from ten years ago, it will not live to see twenty-five years after that date, God willing.

The Significance of barā'at in this year's Hajj

- The act of renunciation carries even more significance this year, as its depth and scope regarding the US and Israel extend far beyond the formal rite of bara'at (renunciation of polythiests) during Hajj.

- "Down with America" and "Down with Israel" shall become the common chants of the Islamic Ummah and the world's oppressed, especially among the youth.

The future belongs to the Islamic Ummah

- The future belongs to the Islamic Ummah and the new Islamic civilization. Each of us can play a role in realizing this future according to our resolve, capacity, and sense of responsibility.

The role of Iranian pilgrims in this year’s Hajj

- Iranian pilgrims have a prominent role in narrating Iran's victory in the Third Imposed War to their fellow Muslim brothers and sisters and in inspiring hope for a bright future.

Prayers requested for the pilgrims

- I ask pilgrims to pray for Imam Mahdi's reappearance, the unity of the Muslim Ummah, the liberation of Palestine and Al-Aqsa, the resolution of hardships facing Muslims, and the final victory against Global Arrogance.

Supplication for the pilgrims and the Ummah

- O Lord, send blessings upon Muhammad and his progeny. Envelop pilgrims and the Ummah with Your mercy. Bestow an accepted Hajj, illuminate hearts with divine knowledge, and strengthen resolve to reform the Ummah and achieve final victory.

Supplication for the martyrs

- O Lord, send mercy upon martyrs on God's path, especially the Resistance Front and the martyred Leader. Grant his soul reward from the Hajj, worship, and striving of those guided by him. Aid Iran and the Muslim Ummah to continue steadfastly along his path.

Supplication for Imam Mahdi

- O Lord, bestow blessings upon the Awaited Imam Mahdi. Encompass us all with his pure supplications. Illuminate the world with his blessed arrival as promised, for our hearts overflow with certainty.

Concluding Quranic verse

- "Allah has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession on earth, just as He did for those before them, and that He will firmly establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them, and that He will surely replace their fear with safety" (Quran 24:55).