Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, has vehemently rejected President Donald Trump’s demand for Iran’s surrender, calling the statement “too big to come out of his mouth.” This comes after a significant escalation of conflict, following US military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Khamenei took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his defiance, stating, “The US President stated, ‘Iran must surrender.’ Needless to say, this statement is too big to come out of the US president’s mouth.”
In his first public remarks since the US strikes on Saturday, Khamenei declared victory over the US, asserting that the US “achieved nothing” despite its military actions. According to The Hill, he warned against any further attacks.
“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,” Khamenei said in a more than 10-minute address, a translated passage of which was posted on his X account. He added, “It entered the war in an effort to save that regime but achieved nothing.”
This directly contradicts Trump’s claims that the strikes were a “spectacular military success” and had “obliterated Iran’s nuclear program.” Trump, who recently shared a “Unconditional surrender” post on Truth Social, has warned of further action if Tehran doesn’t agree to a satisfactory peace agreement.
Speaking from the White House on Saturday, Trump stated, “There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we’ve witnessed over the last eight days.” He emphasized, “This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight’s was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill.”
The recent conflict between Iran and Israel began on June 13 when Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion,” a large-scale airstrike targeting Iranian military and nuclear facilities. Iran retaliated with “Operation True Promise 3,” a campaign involving missile and drone attacks against Israel’s infrastructure.
