Such gatherings should strengthen the resolve of everyone, Ayatollah Khamenei said Thursday at a gathering of university students attending a mourning ceremony on Arbaeen, according to Leader.ir.
"What is important is that we should always remain steadfast on this path and not be affected by problems and difficulties.”
The Leader said the course of striving on the path of God and trying to uphold justice and the truth and reaching Islamic civilization is a difficult and vicissitudinous one, but stressed that the future prospect is bright and promising.
The event, held ta the Imam Khomeini Husseiniya (religious center) in Tehran, also included a speech by Hojat-ol-Islam Ali Reza Panahian and elegy recitations.
At the end of the ceremony, the students attended congregational prayers led by Ayatollah Khamenei.
Iranians across the country on Thursday marked Arbaeen with mourning processions.
The occasion called Arbaeen occurs 40 days after Ashura, the tenth day of the lunar calendar month of Muharram, when Imam Hussein (AS), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was martyred at the hands of the tyrant of the time, Yazid I, back in the seventh century.