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| Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaks on television after the Israeli attack on Tehran. June 13, 2025. Photo: Reuters |
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has declared that his country delivered a “strong slap in the face” to the United States. In a video message released two days after a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, Khamenei dismissed calls for Iran’s surrender and congratulated the Iranian people on what he described as a victory against Israel and the U.S.
“A person like the U.S. president has no right to demand Iran’s surrender,” Khamenei stated in his address, adding that the Islamic Republic’s bold counterattack took both Israel and the United States by surprise.
Praising Iran’s military, Khamenei said, “Our armed forces, with the help of Almighty God, managed to destroy enemy cities and military bases with powerful missile strikes and modern weaponry, penetrating their multi-layered defenses. This operation proved that Zionist rulers will pay a heavy price for any aggression against Iran.”
The Supreme Leader accused U.S. leadership of directly entering the conflict to prevent Israel from collapsing. “They thought without their intervention, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed,” he said. “But despite their involvement, they gained nothing.”
Referring to recent U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Khamenei dismissed American claims of success. “These attacks deserve to be addressed in international courts through independent legal action,” he said. “But the reality is they achieved nothing significant. The U.S. president has exaggerated the outcome — their goals were unmet.”
Khamenei warned that Iran possesses the capability to target key U.S. military bases in the region at will, a fact he says should not be underestimated. “If aggression continues, aggressors will pay a steep price,” he cautioned.
Addressing U.S. demands for Iran’s surrender, Khamenei said, “Let me emphasize something important — in a speech, the U.S. president declared, ‘Iran must surrender.’ It’s no longer about uranium enrichment or nuclear activities. It’s about total submission.”
He argued that since the Islamic Revolution, successive U.S. administrations have used various pretexts to pressure Iran — from human rights and democracy to women’s rights, uranium enrichment, nuclear programs, and missile development. “But the core demand has always been Iran’s surrender,” Khamenei asserted. “Previous U.S. leaders didn’t state it so openly, because it was unacceptable. Now this individual (referring to Donald Trump) has made it explicit.”
“There’s no logic in telling a nation ‘come, surrender.’ In the past, they disguised this demand behind other rhetoric. Trump has simply exposed the truth — that the United States will never accept anything less than Iran’s surrender. This is a major insult to the Iranian people, and it will never happen — never,” Khamenei declared.