A mosque in Dearborn, Michigan, recently held a service that lauded Ali Khamenei, Iran's late supreme leader, as a "martyr" and "the great leader of our time."
President Donald Trump confirmed Khamenei's death in a Truth Social post Saturday afternoon, hours after announcing Operation Epic Fury.
Video excerpts of the Dearborn service were posted online Tuesday by the Middle East Media Research Institute, though it is unclear when the event actually took place.
In the clips, preacher Hassan Salamey cast Khamenei as a noble figure and called for Allah to "have mercy on his soul."
After a cutaway, Salamey launched into a lengthy diatribe blaming "Zionist Jews" for the joint U.S.-Israel operation and invoking Satan.
"We might think this was an attack led by Zionist Jews, but the commander of their mission is the very one who was trying to prove that Adam was not worth prostrating to," Salamey said.
"Iblis [Satan] is the one behind the scenes leading their camp in the shadows lurking, lurking in their symbology, their ideologies, their psychology, their economy, claiming they follow the laws of Moses in Deuteronomy and Iblis [Satan] is the hidden commander of today's society."
Iran responded to Operation Epic Fury by firing hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones indiscriminately at targets in Israel, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Salamey also accused what he called the "devil-worshipping Freemasons" and "Zionist-minded Christopher Columbus" of genocide and land theft.
"Regardless of the stooge we put at the desk of the Oval Office, Republican or Democrats, but even if 1,000 elections come to pass, it is clear that this country was built for and built by the Epstein class and that just like Palestine, we live on stolen land," Salamey said, referencing the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"When the devil worshiping Freemasons reached these shores and the Zionist-minded Christopher Columbus who came to explore and they genocided the natives and put the one eye of the devil on their currency to put their plans in full sight while the Statue of Liberty is actually Lucifer, the demonic bearer holding a torch of light," Salamey continued.
Another preacher, Usama Abdulghani, praised mothers who brought young children to the service and urged attendees to embrace what he described as a "culture" of honoring martyrs.
"We ask Allah to accept this sacrifice, and I offer my condolences to each and every one of you, and I also offer my congratulations on this ultimate honor that he received after 86 years of jihad in the way of Allah, subhanahu wata [glory be to God] Allah," Abdulghani said, according to the video.
"It was very important that we have this gathering today and that we remember our shahid [martyr] and that we not be intimidated by the Epstein class," he continued.
"Even more than that, I appreciate the brothers and I appreciate our sisters, especially those sisters who brought small children so that our children will grow up with this culture where we remember our martyrs and we're not ashamed of them."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.