Leader: Iran crushed Israel

In the third video message, Ayatollah Khamenei said on Thursday, “Despite all the fanfares and claims, the Zionist regime was nearly destroyed and crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic.”

Praying for the martyred commanders and scientists assassinated by the Israeli regime in the recent attacks, Ayatollah Khamenei said that such strikes by the Islamic Republic had never crossed the enemies’ minds, but they became a reality.

Iranian Armed Forces, he said, managed to break through the enemy’s advanced multilayered defenses and leveled many of their urban and military centers through missile strikes.

He said that Iran’s response made it to clear to them that they would have to pay a heavy price for any aggression against the Islamic Republic. He emphasized that the credit of this achievement belongs to both Iranian Armed Forces and the people.

He went to say, “My second congratulation is for Iran’s victory over the American regime.” He added that the United States attacked Iran directly because it feared that the Israeli regime would otherwise be utterly destroyed.

However, their intervention yielded no results and they failed to inflict any major damage, he said, adding that their attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities should also pursued as independent legal case in international courts.

Ayatollah Khamenei also said that U.S. President Donald Trump had exaggerated the situation in an unconventional way, which shows he needed the overstatement.

Anyone listening to those remarks could tell there was a different truth beneath the surface, he said, adding that the reality is that they failed to achieve their objectives, so they have resorted to exaggeration to conceal the truth.

“Here too, the Islamic Republic emerged victorious,” he said, adding, “In return, the Islamic Republic delivered a harsh slap to the face of the United States.”

Iran targeted the Al Udeid in Qatar, one of their major regional bases and inflicted damage, he said. “Those who had previously exaggerated now tried to downplay this event, pretending nothing had happened, while something huge had occurred.”

He said the fact that the Islamic Republic was able to strike a key U.S. base in the region whenever it deemed necessary is no small matter and that it could happen again, adding that the cost for the enemy would certainly be high if there is any other aggression.

“My third congratulation is for the extraordinary unity and solidarity of the Iranian people,” he said. He praised the nearly 90-million-strong nation for standing as one and having one shared demand and supporting their military.

Referring to Trump’s remark that the Iranian people should “surrender”, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the issue was “no longer about uranium enrichment or the nuclear industry. It is about forcing Iran into submission.”

“But such a statement is far too big for the mouth of the U.S. president,” he said, adding that discussing “surrender” with a great nation like Iran is absurd.

He said that what Trump said revealed a truth. Since the very beginning of the Islamic Revolution, the United States has sought confrontation with Iran, finding new excuses each time: human rights, democracy, women’s rights, enrichment, and missiles, but behind all these pretexts, there is only one goal: Iran’s surrender.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that administrations before Trump’s hid this intent because it was “unacceptable.” He emphasized that no logic permits demanding surrender of a nation.

He added that Iran is a great country with an ancient civilization and a cultural heritage far richer than that of the U.S and the like. “Expecting such a nation to surrender is nothing but nonsense, which will certainly be ridiculed by the wise and the intellectuals.”

In conclusion, he prayed to God for the victory of the Iranian nation.