On November 25, 2025, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivered a Basij Day speech both to celebrate the paramilitary and to comment on international affairs.

He began by lamenting that he could not participate in the official events “among the basijis.”

While the regime staged programming to suggest Khamenei spoke before an audience, live footage suggests he did not. Fearing for his life, Khamenei continues to avoid public appearances since the Twelve-Day War with Israel in June.