Discourse Analysis of Friday Sermons by the Supreme Leader on January 17th, 2020 After the Martyrdom of Lieutenant General Soleimani

The purpose of the present study is to explore statements by the supreme leader in Friday Sermons on January 17th, 2020 after the martyrdom of lieutenant general Soleimani using linguistic analysis in the framework of Fairclough’s discourse theory in order to extract the linguistic approaches and tools applied in his speech. In this regard, both the linguistic tools and political concepts were identified in his speech. Therefore, statement of the problem in this article is to reveal the concepts as well as implicit and explicit semantic layers in the statements of the supreme leader, and to offer linguistic guidelines for a better comprehension of all linguistic and conceptual aspects in his speech. The results of this study conducted by descriptive analysis showed that the most important issues in the statements of the supreme leader involve resistance against enemy by honoring the holy day of martyrdom, burial ceremony, taking revenge for lieutenant general Soleimani, and trying to gain strength against the enmity of the U.S and Global Arrogance. Paying attention to the statements of this speech can determine general foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran toward the United States. Using linguistic tools such as semantic connotation of the words, creating a bipolar of establishment against the enemy, metaphor –the story of Moses (PBUH)-, repetition of key concepts, making a reference to the Qur’an, making a reference to former events, and various practical aspects of language including linguistic stimulations, Ayatollah Khameneii conveyed the concepts to the audience in a comprehensive and effective way.