Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday called on national unity and a high turnout in February's election, after protests erupted following the military's admission that it had shot down an airliner by mistake during a confrontation with the United States.

Khamenei, speaking during his first Friday prayers sermon for eight years, said a high turnout will guarantee the Islamic Republic's existence.

Thousands gathered inside a large prayer hall in central Tehran on Friday and packed the area and streets outside the building, chanting "Death to America." 

The sermon was delivered after the Iranian authorities faced days of often violent protests after the military admitted to mistakenly shooting down the Ukraine International Airlines plane, in which 176 people died, on January 11. 

Khamenei said steps should be taken to prevent similar incidents. But he said the incident had been used by Iran's "enemies" – a term usually used to describe the United States and its allies – to overshadow the killing days earlier of Major General Qasem Soleimani, whose funeral drew huge crowds onto the streets.

"The plane crash was a bitter accident, it burned through our heart," the supreme leader said.

"But some tried to... portray it in a way to forget the great martyrdom and sacrifice" of Major General Soleimani, he continued. "Our enemies were as happy about the plane crash as we were sad... happy that they found something to question the Guards, the armed forces, the system."

The U.S. killing of the commander showed Washington's "terrorist nature," he added.

Khamenei also said that U.S. sanctions imposed in a row over its nuclear program would not make Iran yield. But he stressed that Iran should pursue economic independence from oil.

The Iranian supreme leader also said that three European countries, which were party to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, cannot be trusted, as they serve U.S. interests.

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Earlier this week, Britain, France and Germany triggered a formal dispute mechanism in the agreement, which could lead to UN sanctions being re-imposed.

The three powers said they "have been left with no choice, given Iran's actions, but to register our concerns that Iran is not meeting its commitments under the JCPOA (Iran deal) and to refer this matter to the Joint Commission under the Dispute Resolution Mechanism, as set out in paragraph 36 of the JCPOA."

But they stressed the measure is to resolve the issues relating to the implementation of the JCPOA, not to re-impose sanctions and that they are not joining the U.S. campaign to exert maximum pressure on Tehran.

(With input from AFP, Reuters) 

(Cover: Protesters chant slogans while holding up a poster of General Qasem Soleimani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a demonstration in front of the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran, January 12, 2020. /AP Photo)