Iran’s Supreme Leader Delivers Warning To U.S. In First Public Statement Since Ceasefire

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has used his first public statement since a ceasefire agreement with Israel to warn the U.S. about future attacks.

Khamenei claimed victory over Israel and the “U.S. regime” and said nothing was achieved by the U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last weekend.

The comments come as the Trump administration continues to defend the military action, insisting nuclear sites were obliterated after reports suggested the strikes weren’t as successful as initially reported.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the U.S. airstrikes achieved nothing

Image credits: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

“My congratulations on our dear Iran’s victory over the U.S. regime,” Khamenei said in a post on social media.

“The U.S. 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.”

Image credits: The White House

In a separate post, he referenced Iran’s response to the U.S. strikes, which was to launch missiles at a U.S. military base in Qatar on Monday.

Hours before the attack, U.S. and British citizens were urged by their governments to shelter in place, suggesting that there had been some warning prior to the launch.

“I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody was injured,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social afterward.

Image credits: khamenei_ir

Khamenei now says the strikes were a “heavy slap” and that action can be repeated in the future.

“The Islamic Republic delivered a heavy slap to the U.S.’s face. It attacked and inflicted damage on the Al-Udeid Air Base, which is one of the key U.S. bases in the region,” he said.

“The fact that the Islamic Republic has access to key U.S. centers in the region and can take action whenever it deems necessary is a significant matter.”

Iran responded to the strikes by launching missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar

Image credits: khamenei_ir

“Such an action can be repeated in the future too. Should any aggression occur, the enemy will definitely pay a heavy price.”

Khamenei added: “The U.S. President stated, ‘Iran must surrender.’ Needless to say, this statement is too big to come out of the U.S. president’s mouth.”

The comments come as a shaky ceasefire between Iran and Israel appears to be holding after both sides initially accused the other of violating it.

Image credits: Stringer/Getty Images

It was something that had frustrated Trump, who told reporters at the White House earlier this week: “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f**k they’re doing.”

The president later said that Israel had agreed to turn back planes that were reportedly on their way to drop bombs on Iran.

Image credits: Getty Images

With the ceasefire holding for now, Trump says U.S. officials will talk to Iran next week.

“I’ll tell you what, we’re going to talk with them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement, I don’t know,” Trump told a press conference during the NATO summit in the Netherlands, AP reports.