”I extend my congratulations to the victory over the false Zionist regime”, it says on Ayatollah Khamenei's X-account.
He describes it as Israel being ”practically defeated and crushed” during the twelve-day war.
And in a TV speech posted shortly after, he claims that Iran's nuclear program was not destroyed by the US bombings, reports Arab media. This despite the fact that a spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday admitted that the bombings caused ”severe damage” after the attacks, but without going into details.
Warns the US
US President Donald Trump has stated that the nuclear facilities were wiped out.
In response to the US bombings, Iran carried out an attack on a US military base in Qatar on Monday. And Khamenei warns in his speech that more similar bombings may become relevant if the US chooses to attack Iran again.
Until Thursday, the Iranian leader had not been seen for a week, and previously no statements had been made in his name since the ceasefire in the war with Israel the other day. Khamenei is said to have taken shelter in a secret location after Israel launched its attacks on June 13.
”People are worried”
The 86-year-old leader was seen sitting in front of the same brown drapes as during his last speech, on June 19.
In light of the fact that Israeli politicians have spoken about him being murdered, the question marks had thus grown - even in the regime-loyal Iranian state television.
People are very worried, Mehdi Fazaeli, high up in Khamenei's staff, has said on TV, reports the Israeli The Jerusalem Post.
Israel launched its attacks on Iran on the night of June 13. The stated purpose was to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons by destroying infrastructure linked to the Iranian nuclear energy program.
Israel then attacked Iran's nuclear energy facilities and various military targets daily. A number of high-ranking Iranian military personnel have been killed.
Iran has responded by attacking Israeli cities with drones and rockets.
During the night until Sunday, the US took an active role in the conflict by bombing three important Iranian nuclear energy facilities - in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.
On Monday evening, Iran carried out an attack on a US military base in Qatar. According to Iran, as many rockets were fired at Qatar as the number of bombs the US used against Iran's nuclear facilities during the night against Sunday.
According to Trump, Iran warned of the attack and no Americans were killed or injured.
