TEHRAN - In his New Year message on March 20, the new Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei pointed to some key issues with a primary focus on national unity, resistance economy, and developing relations with Muslim countries, especially the eastern neighbors.

Like his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was martyred in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike on his office on Feb. 28, Mojtaba Khamenei put a special emphasis on relations with eastern neighbors.

He pointed to his father’s great sadness over the most devastating flood in Pakistan in recent years. 

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Iran shares great historical, cultural, linguistic, ethnic and religious affinities with its two eastern neighbors.

Iran shares 936-km km border with Afghanistan and 909 km with Pakistan.

The Leader also said Iran shares common views with its neighbors, particularly Pakistan and Afghanistan, in withstanding with arrogant countries.

“We consider our neighbors, including eastern neighbors, very close to ourselves,” the new Leader said in part of his New Year message.

“Since past years, I knew that our martyred Leader had a special interest in Pakistan,” Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei noted. 

For example, he said, when a devastating flood hit Pakistan “our martyr Leader was holding back his tear” in a Friday prayer sermon.

When Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made a trip to Pakistan in 1986 as president, he was warmly welcomed by then Pakistan’s senior officials and people. 

People of Pakistan, both men and women, were standing in kilometers-long queues on the road to wave hands to Ayatollah Khamenei as his motorcade passing. It was unbelievable. 

In a meeting with Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Railways Shaikh Rashid Ahmed during his visit to Tehran in March 2019, Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati recalled the warm welcome given by the people of Pakistan to the Leader during his trip to the country. 

Velayati, a senior foreign policy advisor to the martyred Leader who also served as his foreign minister during his two-term presidencies, said that Pakistan is a very important neighbor, and

Iran is committed to promote friendly relations with Pakistan. Velayati added, “We should not allow any third country to damage our brotherly relations”.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei also said he has a special feeling toward the people of Pakistan. 

The new Leader is also worried about the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan, saying that he is personally ready to mediate between the two countries to settle their disputes.

“Now, I want to request the two Muslim countries…, to establish better relationship for the sake of God. And I, for my part, is ready to do whatever is necessary.”

The amicable relationship between Iran and the people of the Indian subcontinent is rooted in history. The relations between Iran and Pakistan began to increase after Pakistan was partitioned from India in 1947.

 “Clear violation of international law”

Pakistan has strongly condemned the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's government called the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei a “clear violation of international law.”

The Pakistani Foreign Office also released a statement emphasizing that "Iran has the legitimate right to defend itself under the UN Charter." Pakistan also warned that the U.S.-Israeli campaign is pushing the entire Middle East to the brink.

The people of Pakistan have also poured into the streets in different major cities protesting the aggression against Iran.

It is for this reason that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in his Nowruz message said, “Iran’s war front is too much bigger than the mind of the humiliated enemy.”

Being so angry of the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei, protestors in Karachi tried to storm the U.S. consulate and capture it.

Large protests also broke out in other parts of Pakistan, the AFP news agency reported.

In the capital, Islamabad, all ?roads leading to the Red Zone, which houses diplomatic missions, including the U.S. embassy and parliament, were blocked to traffic. The Reuters news agency said the police fired tear gas when hundreds of protesters tried to march towards the diplomatic enclave.

Like all people across the world who are upset with the inability of the United Nations to uphold international law in the face of illegal acts by the United States and Israel, the protestors in Pakistan’s northern city of Skardu set fire to a UN ?office building.

“A large number of protesters have gathered outside the UN office in GB and ?burned down the building,” local government spokesperson Shabbir Mir told Reuters news agency.

In different sensitive times, the people and government of Pakistan have showed their solidarity with Iran.

In the central city of Lahore, hundreds of protesters also gathered outside the U.S. consulate.

That Iran’s war front is not limited to national borders, as the new Leader pointed out, is being demonstrated in different situations. 

Demonstrations over the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei also broke out elsewhere in the world, including Iraq and the Indian-administered Kashmir.

In Baghdad, hundreds of Iraqis, many dressed in black, attempted to storm the compound housing the U.S. embassy despite a heavy security deployment.

Ali, a protester, told AFP news agency that “the martyrdom of Sayyed Ali Khamenei has hurt us”.

“We are here because we want the withdrawal of the occupying American forces from Iraq,” he said, referring to the U.S.-led coalition troops who have recently reduced their presence and are now mostly stationed in northern Iraq.

Iraq’s top Shia Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, also urged Iranians to remain united in the face of illegal attacks on Iran.

In the Indian-administered Kashmir, several thousand Muslims joined street demonstrations in the main city of Srinagar, where protesters, holding red, black, and yellow flags, converged on the main square.

Many of them chanted anti-Israel and anti-U.S. slogans during the emotionally charged gathering.

“This day, we are all very heavy-hearted. We are mourning our beloved Leader who was martyred,” Syed Towfeeq, 40, told AFP. “We all have a message for the [US President Donald] Trump… We will always stand against your oppression.”

Support for Iran is not just to limited to neighbors. For example, immediately after Trump ordered a wave of deadly strikes on Iran, New York City residents converged on Times Square to protest the move. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the strikes “a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression.”

“Act of aggression” 

The Afghan government also condemned the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran as an “act of aggression” and expressed condolences to the Iranian government and people following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the country’s foreign minister, conveyed the remarks during a telephone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

“Muttaqi emphasized that the Taliban rejects violations of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and the borders of countries, considering them contrary to accepted international principles,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Even prior to the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, Afghanistan expressed its readiness to support Iran.  Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Afghan government, said that Afghans are prepared to “cooperate and show sympathy” with the people of Iran if the United States launches a military attack. 

Speaking in an interview with the Pashto service of Radio Iran, Mujahid stated that if Tehran requests assistance in the event of a U.S. attack, Afghanistan’s people are ready — within their capacity — to offer cooperation and solidarity. 

Mujahid also praised Tehran’s response to the Israeli war on Iran in June 2025, saying Tehran “was victorious in the 12day war” and would prevail again because it “has the capability, is in the right, and has the right to defend itself.” 

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns the recent Israeli regime’s attacks on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the assassinations of commanders and nuclear scientists," Mujahid said on his X account on June 17.

"These actions constitute a clear violation of the fundamental principles of international law, particularly the respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations," Mujahid asserted.

The unbreakable bond between Iran and Afghanistan is also centuries-old. During the 1980s, when Iranians were resisting the invading Saddam Hussein army, the Islamic Republic also backed the Afghans’ struggle against the Soviet invaders. Likewise, the Afghan people had such a sympathy toward Iranians. Even a number of Afghan citizens were martyred who were fighting the Saddam Army during the war against Iran.

During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, some Afghan Mujahideen Leaders made visits to Iran.  Also, some Mujahideen Leaders had opened offices in Tehran. It was also during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that large numbers of Afghan refugees flooded Iran to remain safe from the aggressors. 

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the Afghan Mujahedeen fighting the invaders. He also had a sense of sympathy toward the Afghan refugees. Despite constraints, he ordered the Ministry of Education to enroll all Afghan children in school.