For the first time in 37 years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly skipped a key military meeting on Monday. As per reports, the Supreme Leader did not meet the Iranian Army Air Force in the lead-up to the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution.
As per a report by UK-based Iran International, the Iranian Air Force, which has traditionally sworn its allegiance to the Supreme Leader every February since the Islamic Revolution, met with Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the Supreme Leader, on Sunday.
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The meeting with Hassan comes after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei did not hold the annual meeting for the first time in 37 years.
The annual meeting marks the anniversary of February 8, 1979, when a group of Air Force officers pledged their allegiance to Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic and Khamenei’s predecessor.
Since then, personnel and commanders from the Air Force have met the Supreme Court on the same date each year.
Rising tensions with the US
This skip also comes amid growing tensions with the United States as a result of the violent crackdown on protestors across Iran. Since the last week of December, thousands of Iranian citizens marched the streets calling for a regime change and protesting the economic state of the Islamic Republic.
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The protest was triggered by surging inflation and the rapid decline of the Iranian rial and later escalated into a full blown call for regime change. Iran denies this and stated that the protests were triggered by agents planted by the CIA (US) and Mossad (Israel).
In response to the demonstrations, the Iranian regime carried out a violent crackdown across its 31 provinces, resulting in the deaths of over 3,000 people and several arrests.
Amid the crackdown, US President Donald Trump warned Ayatollah Khamenei of a possible US intervention if the violence against protestors did not stop. Trump’s remarks came on the heels of the US’ military raid in Venezuela which led to the capture of sitting president Nicolas Maduro.