Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei congratulated Iranians for what he described as a victory over Israel and the United States, in a defiant video message that appeared to be his first public statement since U.S. war planes bombed three of the country’s nuclear facilities on Sunday.
Public alarm has been rising in Iran over the absence of Mr. Khamenei, who has the final say on key decisions for the country but has not been seen or heard from publicly in a week. Although he had issued two statements during Iran and Israel’s 12-day conflict, he had made no public statements or recorded messages since the American miliary attack on Sunday, Iran retaliated by firing missiles at a U.S. military base in Qatar, and Iran and Israel agreed to a cease-fire on Tuesday.
The lack of any comment from Mr. Khamenei had begun to raise questions among the Iranian public over his health and his whereabouts. Iranian officials had previously said Mr. Khamenei was sheltering in a bunker and refraining from any electronic communications in order to prevent assassination attempts against him.
There were no clear signs from the video as to when the recording was made. Mr. Khamenei was seated in front of a beige curtain, with an Iranian flag to his left and a photograph of the Islamic Republic’s first leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei, hanging above him — an identical setting to the last video message he released since the start of the recent conflict with Israel.
He downplayed the extent of damage from the U.S. and Israeli strikes, and did not address the fate of Iran’s nuclear program. But Mr. Khamenei’s comments appeared to have been made after Iran responded to the U.S. attack, as he declared that Iranian missile strikes on the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar caused “some damage” and warned that Iran could “take action again” if necessary.
“The American regime entered into a direct war because it felt that if it did not enter, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed. But it did not gain anything from this war,” he said.
This is a developing story.
