Iran’s National Security Council has declared that those responsible for the killing of the country’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei will face punishment at an appropriate time. The announcement came as preparations were underway for Khamenei’s funeral and burial. In a statement on Wednesday, Council Secretary Mohammad Baqer Zolkadr said the late leader’s clenched fist would remain a lasting symbol of Iran’s national security policy.

Zolkadr, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was appointed as the council’s secretary on March 24 after the previous secretary, Ali Larijani, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack. He stated that avenging the blood of Khamenei and other Iranian martyrs remains an open issue and that those who carried out or ordered the assassination would soon face just punishment.

In a separate statement, Iran’s Guardian Council condemned the killing as a heinous crime aimed at breaking the nation’s morale. It described Khamenei’s funeral as a historic turning point demonstrating the resilience of the Islamic system and called on citizens to join the funeral procession as a show of unity and loyalty.