In a post on his Twitter account on Thursday, Saeed Khatibzadeh commemorated Ashura, the culmination of a 10-day annual mourning period in the lunar calendar month of Muharram for Imam Hussein (AS), who was martyred along with his 72 companions in the Battle of Karbala in southern Iraq in 680 AD after fighting courageously for justice against the much larger army of the Umayyad caliph, Yazid I.

“Ashura's solemn messages of sacrifice for values & truth; dignified resistance against tyranny & insistence on moral principles have resonated throughout history & inspired freedom & justice-seeking consciences,” the Iranian spokesman said.

“Those lessons guide us in our righteous strive for our people's rights,” he underlined.

The Muharram ceremonies symbolize the eternal and unwavering stance of truth against falsehood and humanity’s struggle against injustice, tyranny and oppression.

Each year on Ashura, the mourners, dressed in black, march in mass processions, listen to elegies and hold noon prayers in honor of the third Shiite imam.