By Zahra Salehifar
Ahlul Bayt (AS) International News Agency – ABNA: February 28, 2026 was the day the world witnessed a new truth from the depths of sacrifice and resistance. In attacks carried out by American and Zionist regime forces on Tehran, the office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution was targeted and he, while engaged in his duties, attained the lofty rank of martyrdom.
But what distinguishes this attack from other crimes of the arrogant powers is the family dimensions of this great tragedy. In these attacks, not only the Leader of the Revolution, but also several close members of his family were martyred. A truth that shows the depth of his steadfastness and his lack of separation from the people and even his family in the most difficult conditions. This story, with a deep look, evokes the epic of Ashura; where Imam Husayn (AS) and his companions, inspired by Quranic teachings, did not submit to humiliation and stood against the Yazidis of their time with the slogan "Hayhat minna al-dhilla" (Far be it from us to accept humiliation) to say that Islam cannot be destroyed by force and crime.
The mainstream media always tried to portray an unreal image of the Leader of the Revolution and his family. Rumors about living in luxurious shelters and the presence of his children in foreign countries were among the common fabrications of these media. But the bitter incident of martyrdom exposed the falsity of these insinuations to the world.
The truth is that the family of Ayatollah Khamenei, as credible news agencies and political analyses show, always lived inside Iran and alongside the people. His home in Tehran was the place of his simple and unpretentious life. Contrary to claims of escape or separation, his children and grandchildren resided in Iran, and some of them lived near their father.
The savage attack showed how much the enemy intended to strike at the identity and foundation of the revolution. According to confirmed reports, Ayatollah Khamenei was martyred in his office at his home by American-Zionist missiles. The martyrdom of his daughter and her family, Beshara Khamenei (his daughter) along with her husband and their two children, and the martyrdom of a 14-month-old infant in this incident, caused the greatest grief. The wife of the Leader of the Revolution, Mrs. Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, who had spent a lifetime of patience and resistance alongside him, was martyred two days later from injuries sustained in these attacks. Also, one of his daughters-in-law (Zahra Haddad Adel) was martyred in this incident.
This scene involuntarily takes the mind of every conscious Muslim to the event of Karbala; where Ali al-Asghar (AS), the six-month-old suckling infant of Aba Abdillah al-Husayn (AS), was targeted in his father's arms by the three-pronged arrow of Harmala ibn Kahil al-Asadi and was martyred in oppression. The depth of this historical similarity is not limited to martyrdom and losing loved ones, but lies in the political stance and practical conduct of the martyred leader before his martyrdom.
Imam Husayn (AS) said against the oppression of Yazid: "By God, I will never give you my hand like the humiliated, nor will I flee like slaves". Ayatollah Khamenei also, in his final statements and wills, repeatedly emphasized the impossibility of negotiation and dealing with America and the Zionist regime as the "Yazid of the age."
Imam Husayn (AS) could have stayed in Mecca and saved his life by taking refuge in the divine sanctuary, but he did not prefer the humiliation of pledging allegiance to Yazid over martyrdom. The martyred leader also, contrary to the claims of hostile media, could have hidden himself in fortified shelters, but he stayed in his home and stood against the conspiracies to show that the Islamic Revolution is not dependent on a person, but is rooted in the Hussaini school.
The greatest similarity between these two events is the presence and sacrifice of the family. In Karbala, Lady Zaynab (SA) and Imam Sajjad (AS) were taken captive, and the women and children of the household were the mourners of that event. In Tehran as well, the Leader's home became a garden of martyrs, and a whole family, from wife and daughter to a one-year-old infant, attained martyrdom for defending divine values.
Analysts and scholars of resistance have called this event a symbol of "the continuation of the line of Imamate and martyrdom." Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, after this incident declared that the martyred leader was the living embodiment of the teachings of Imam Husayn (AS) in the present age, and his life and martyrdom are a full mirror of the path of Ashura. He also pointed out that the martyred leader spent a lifetime from childhood to 86 years in continuous jihad.
This martyrdom, contrary to what the enemies of Islam imagined would weaken the resistance front, caused greater awakening and cohesion among truth-seeking forces around the world. The fortieth-day commemoration of the martyrs of the Leader's home was held with a million-strong presence of people in Tehran. An important point is that hostile media for years reported the escape of the Leader's children to abroad. An Indian news agency also quoted a senior Israeli official as reporting that some of his grandchildren live in Paris. But the truth that was revealed on the day of martyrdom and afterwards shattered all these claims. It is now clear that not only was he not in a shelter, but his home and family were on the front line of the resistance front and directly exposed to threats.
Husseini Mazari, a scholar from Afghanistan, said in this regard: "If the Islamic nation is indifferent to the leadership, another Ashura will be repeated. Today, Imam Khamenei stands as the Husayn of the age against the Yazidi front of America, Zionism, and arrogance."
Ayatollah Khamenei could have compromised with America like the rulers of the sheikhdoms on the shores of the Persian Gulf, and by selling oil and importing foreign goods, created relative welfare for the people, and like slaves submitted to the demands of America and Israel. But his slogan and the slogan of the Iranian nation are one and the same: "Hayhat minna al-dhilla" (Far be it from us to accept humiliation). He was a wise, aware, and very prudent leader who did not allow the national Islamic pride of Iranians to be tarnished by peace with America. He displayed the honor and authority of Iranians to the world. And just as after fourteen hundred years they could not extinguish the heat that the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (AS) created in the hearts of Muslims, the fire that has been kindled in the hearts of the free people of the world by his martyrdom is inextinguishable, because this fire is derived from a divine goal, and that is the succession of the oppressed of the world on earth: (وَنُرِيدُ أَنْ نَمُنَّ عَلَى الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ الْوَارِثِينَ) (Surah Al-Qasas, verse 5) – (And We wished to bestow favor upon those who were oppressed in the land and make them leaders and make them the inheritors.)
The martyrdom of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the members of his esteemed family, especially the one-year-old infant, marked a turning point in the contemporary history of Islam. This event showed that the Leader of the Revolution stood by his principles to the last breath and, contrary to the enemies' claims, did not separate from the people and the homeland for a single moment. The slogans "Hayhat minna al-dhilla" (Far be it from us to accept humiliation) and "Lan yubayi'" (He will not pledge allegiance) were practically manifested. He showed that the path of Imam Husayn (AS) continues and the boundary between truth and falsehood never disappears.
In the Hussaini school and the Islamic Revolution, families are on the front line of sacrifice and never prefer worldly comfort and ease over jihad in the path of God.
To conclude, it is woth to mention that what the martyred leader of the Islamic Revolution and his pure family displayed was a full portrait of the Ashura of Husayn; where "Death in the path of God is more honorable than life in the humiliation" was truly realized. Just as we recite in Ziyarat Ashura: "O God, curse the first oppressor who oppressed the family of Muhammad", the curse of history is upon the oppressors who in this age, like Yazid, cannot bear to hear the cry of truth.
Zahra Salehifar, Master's graduate in Quran and Hadith, Master's student in Media Management, Baqer al-Uloom University.
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