Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has made his first public appearance since the start of Iran's conflict with Israel, according to state media. State television footage showed him greeting worshippers at a mosque on Saturday during a ceremony a day before the Shia festival of Ashura.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attended a religious event on Saturday, according to a video carried by state television, after reports that he was in a "secure location" since the start of a 12-day air war with Israel in which top Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists were killed.

Critics feared it would plunge the Middle East into a wider war. That doomsday scenario has not come to pass, at least for now: Iran made only symbolic retaliation against America; soon after, a ceasefire ended the fighting between Iran and Israel.