Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened on Thursday that a future American military attack would be countered with retaliatory strikes against American bases throughout the Middle East. The televised statements were his first since a ceasefire was declared between Iran and Israel after close to two weeks of hot fighting.
Taped from a secret location, the 86-year-old supreme leader cast the clash by Iran as a victory for Iran, especially following its missile attack against a central US base in Qatar, done in retaliation against Washington’s backing of Israeli attacks.
“The Islamic Republic slapped America in the face,” Khamenei declared. “We struck one of their central bases in the region, and we can do it again if need be.”
Khamenei stressed that Iran would never submit to US pressure, condemning President Donald Trump’s demand for Iranian surrender. “America will not accept anything other than total submission,” he said. “But such a thing will never occur.”
He ruled out the effects of US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear program, stating Washington did not succeed in any meaningful goals. He asserted the United States entered the war not by strategy but desperation to avert the fall of its regional ally, Israel.
“The US gained nothing. It acted only to save the Zionist regime from being wiped out,” Khamenei said, referring to the penetration of Israel’s multi-layered defense by Iranian missiles.
President Trump earlier boasted US airstrikes had “wiped out” Iran’s nuclear programme, but internal intelligence estimates were said to have doubted the depth of the damage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, welcomed the ceasefire as a “historic achievement,” saying Iran’s nuclear and missile threats had been eliminated.
In a gesture of solidarity, Netanyahu later shared a picture of Trump and himself with the caption, “We will continue to work together to defeat our common enemies.”
