LAHORE: The Punjab University Academic Staff Association (PUASA) on Monday organised a condolence reference for Iran’s supreme leader the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian Consul General Mehran Movahedfar, Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood, Council of Islamic Ideology Chairman Raghib Hussain Naeemi, Jamaat-i-Islami naib emir Liaqat Baloch, Idara Minhaj-ul-Hussain Dr Muhammad Hussain Akbar, Iranian Culture Centre Director General Dr Asghar Masoudi, PUASA President Dr Amjad Abbas Khan Magsi and Secretary Prof Dr Kamran Abid and other attended the event.

Addressing the gathering, Iranian Consul General Mehran Movahedfar termed assassination of the supreme leader a grave crime and a blatant violation of legal, moral and human principles. He said Iran was repeatedly dragged into negotiations while attempts were made to impose war on it and added that Iran had no intention to build a nuclear bomb but excuse of nuclear programme was being used as a pretext for war. He added that the United States wanted to implement in Iran the same model it applied in Iraq, Libya and Syria.

Referring to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 2011 intervention in Libya that led to the fall of the Qaddafi government, he said these actions resulted in instability in those countries and it was a serious misconception of the US and Israel that the same model could be applied to Iran.

The Iranian envoy further said that the International Women’s Day was observed across the world, no one raised their voice over the deaths of 185 schoolgirls and women who were martyred in recent Zionist and American attacks in Iran.

Mr Movahedfar said the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf were Iran’s neighbours and brotherly Islamic states, and Iran was only targeting enemy bases.

“War is not our choice; it is a war for survival, and we will choose our own method of defense,” he declared, adding that Iran’s response would be decisive and that it would continue to defend its territory. He also said that Iran’s main targets were the US military bases used to launch attacks against it or provide facilities for such attacks.

He further alleged that Israel tried to expand the conflict through false flag operations by staging attacks on embassies in Cyprus, Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, which Iran strongly condemned. He appreciated Saudi Arabia’s assurance that its airspace, waters or land would not be used against Iran.

Prof Mahmood, Mr Naeemi, Mr Baloch and Mr Akbar also spoke.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2026