Iran’s Khamenei said the US intervened in the war because “it felt that if it did not, the Zionist regime [Israel] would be utterly destroyed”.
Iran will never surrender to the US and any future aggression would come at a great cost, its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said today in his first remarks after the ceasefire between Iran and Israel. The ceasefire followed the US’ targeting of three nuclear sites in Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strike at a US base in Qatar.
“The American president indicated in one of his statements that Iran must surrender. Surrender! It is no longer a question of enrichment, nor the nuclear industry, but of the surrender of Iran,” Khamenei said in a televised speech. “Such an event (surrender) will never happen. It will never happen.”
Congratulating the country on its resistance against the US, he said, “My congratulations on our dear Iran’s victory over the US regime. The US regime entered the war directly because it felt that if it didn’t, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed. It entered the war in an effort to save that regime but achieved nothing.”
“With all that commotion and all those claims, the Zionist regime was practically knocked out and crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic,” Khamenei wrote.
The Iranian leader had been holed up in a bunker after Israel stepped up its attack. In a surprise move, the US joined the war on Sunday and its B2 bombers struck three nuclear bases in Iran. The US named this offensive Operation Midnight Hammer and it threatened to widen the regional conflict into a global one. Iran responded by striking the US base, interestingly, after a warning that enabled the US to ensure zero casualties and minimal damage. Trump decided not to respond, giving Iran an exit ramp to step off the escalation path. Hours later, the US President announced that Tel Aviv and Tehran had agreed on a truce
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