New Delhi: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday claimed a sweeping victory over Israel in an almost two-week-long conflict and said his country delivered a “hard slap” to the United States. He also downplays the damage caused by American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
In his first public appearance since the ceasefire was declared earlier this week, the 86-year-old leader appeared in a televised address looking visibly frail, but struck a defiant tone. “The Islamic Republic was victorious. The Americans gained nothing. And we delivered a hand slap to their face,” Khamenei said.
Three-way military escalation in West Asia
The remarks come days after a tense three-way military escalation in West Asia. The war began on June 13, when Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and targeted senior Iranian military personnel as-well-as nuclear scientists. The United States formally joined the conflict on June 22 and launched large-scale air assault involving B-2 bombers. The jets dropped bunker-buster bombs aimed at Iran’s nuclear sites in Natanz, Fordo, and Isfahan.
While US President Donald Trump hailed the strikes as a historic blow that had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme, Khamenei dismissed such claims as “exaggerated” and “showmanship”.
“They failed to achieve anything significant,” he said. “They tried to destroy our programme, but what they hit was mostly empty facilities. Their aim was not just nuclear—they wanted us to surrender.”
‘Problem with independence and strength’
Khamenei accused Washington of using shifting pretexts—nuclear proliferation, human rights, women’s rights—as cover for its deeper goal of forcing regime change in Tehran. “From the beginning, their problem has not been enrichment or missiles. Their problem is with our independence and strength,” he said.
Responding to Trump’s assertion that the nuclear programme was destroyed, Khamenei said, “Trump’s words are too big for his mouth. He revealed their real aim—surrender. But surrender is not in our vocabulary.”
Video address from undisclosed location
In retaliation for the US strike, Iran launched a missile attack on an American base in Qatar on Monday. Though it caused no casualties, Khamenei called it a “warning shot” and claimed Iran had the capability to strike US interests “at any time, anywhere in the region”.
The video address, delivered from an undisclosed location behind plain brown curtains, was the Supreme Leader’s first since June 19. He had reportedly gone into hiding following the initial Israeli strikes.
A ceasefire, brokered with US involvement, came into effect on Tuesday.
