In his first televised message since a ceasefire ended Iran’s 12-day war with Israel earlier this week, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claims victory over Israel and says his country “delivered a hand slap to America’s face.”
Khamenei speaks in a video broadcast on Iranian state television, his first appearance since June 19, looking and sounding more tired than he did a week ago.
As in the previously reported tweets, he tells viewers that the US had only intervened in the war because “it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed.”
He says Iran’s armed forces managed to break through Israel’s multilayered defense and target urban and military sites.
He claims the US “achieved no gains from this war,” asserting that US President Donald Trump had “exaggerated” the impact of US strikes on nuclear sites.
“They attacked our nuclear facilities, which of course would merit criminal prosecution in international courts, but they did nothing significant,” he says.
Khamenei says Trump “exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration — anyone who has heard these words has understood that there is another truth behind these words.”
The Iranian leader adds: “Trump, in one of his speeches, said Iran needs to surrender. This is too big for him to ask. Trump has unveiled the truth that the US will only be satisfied with Iran’s surrender.”
He says Iran’s enemies “use excuses like missiles or the nuclear program, but are actually looking for our surrender. Surrender will never happen. Our nation is powerful.”
Khamenei also says that Iran’s ability to potentially reach major US military bases is a considerable achievement and adds that such actions could be repeated if aggression is renewed.
“The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America’s face,” he says, in apparent reference to an Iranian missile attack on an American base in Qatar on Monday, which was telegraphed to Washington in advance and which caused no casualties.
The 86-year-old Khamenei hasn’t been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war on June 13, when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and targeted top military commanders and scientists.
Khamenei warns that any future aggression against Iran will come at a great cost.
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