Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Saturday vowed to avenge the killing of his predecessor and father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying that retribution was "the demand of the nation" and "must certainly" take place.In a written message reported by state media, Khamenei pledged to avenge the "blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars" from what he called the "criminal and disgraced perpetrators." Khamenei ​issued the ⁠message on ‌the occasion ​of ​funeral ceremonies for his ⁠father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, held ​months after he was ​killed in the US-Israeli airstrikes which started on February 28.