Khamenei skips annual Air Force meeting amid tension with US, breaks 37-year-old ritual | World News

At a time when the US military presence in the Gulf is increasing, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly broke a 37-year tradition by skipping the annual meeting with air force commanders in February.

According to Iran International, Khamenei has attended the annual meeting every year since assuming leadership in 1989, even during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The annual meeting commemorates February 8, 1979, when a group of air force officers pledged allegiance to Ruhollah Khomeini in an attempt to overthrow the Pahlavi dynasty. Khomeini was the founder of the Islamic Republic and the predecessor of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader.

Over the next four decades, this date became a symbolic event, celebrated each year with annual meetings between air force personnel and commanders and Iran’s religious leaders. According to this year’s report, Chief of General Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi joined the army commanders instead of Khamenei on Sunday.

Khamenei’s absence comes at a time of rising tensions between Tehran and Washington as the United States increases its military presence in the region and concerns grow about the possibility of a U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic. Khamenei’s decision to stay away is interpreted as an effort to avoid potential security threats or as a result of his focus on sensitive national security issues.

Tehran has repeatedly warned that any US attack on Iran would trigger a broader conflict in the Middle East, warning that a US-initiated war would spread throughout the region. The statements referred to the 12-day Iran-Israeli conflict in mid-June 2025.

Despite the ceasefire, tension between Iran and the USA continues. While Washington continues to press for talks that include Iran’s missile program, Tehran insists that talks be limited to its nuclear activities. This stalemate resulted in mutual threats of air strikes; Disagreements over the scope of the talks have increased uncertainty and kept open the possibility that US President Donald Trump might follow through on his threats to strike Iran.

Amid rising tensions with Iran, the United States deployed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the Arabian Sea in late January. Reports also indicate that nearly a dozen F-15 fighter jets, an MQ-9 Reaper combat drone, and several A-10C Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft are deployed at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.