By Palestine Chronicle Staff
June 26, 2025
Khamenei said the armed forces were “able to break through” Israel’s “advanced, multi-layered defense and raze many of their urban and military areas.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday declared “victory” over Israel in the recent war, saying Tel Aviv was “crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic.”
“The thought that the Islamic Republic could inflict such blows on that regime never even crossed their minds and they never imagined such a thing, but this is what happened,” he said in a televised speech. It marked his third public message since Israel launched an attack on Iran on June 13, claiming it targeted nuclear infrastructure, and comes two days after a ceasefire took effect after 12 days of war between the two countries.
The heavy price of attacking Iran; Zionist regime’s areas razed to the ground
From Imam Khamenei’s third televised message following the Zionist regime’s attacks on Iran and the victory of the Iranian nation
June 26, 2025
To watch the full version👇https://t.co/rxxSm9dbll pic.twitter.com/BXZNOaMHuC
— Khamenei Media (@Khamenei_m) June 26, 2025
He congratulated the “great nation of Iran” and honored “the memory of the esteemed martyrs” among the military officials and scientists assassinated by Israel in its attacks.
Khamenei said the armed forces were “able to break through” Israel’s “advanced, multi-layered defense and raze many of their urban and military areas under the pressure brought by Iran’s missiles and powerful attacks using advanced weaponry.”
He stressed that the war “has shown the Zionist regime that attacking the Islamic Republic of Iran carries a heavy price. It will be costly for them.”
US ‘Achieved Nothing’
The Iranian leader also celebrated the “victory over the US regime,” saying Washington was not able “to achieve anything significant” by participating in the war.
“The US 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,” Khamenei stated.
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. It entered the war in an effort to save that regime but achieved nothing.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 26, 2025
He said the US’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which did not achieve “anything significant, however, “warrants an independent criminal prosecution in an international court.”
The US attacked three of Iran’s nuclear sites; Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, in the early hours of Sunday, with US President Donald Trump declaring that the facilities had been “completely and totally obliterated.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei says Israel “almost collapsed” under Iranian retaliation, and that the US “gained nothing” from its military involvement, on June 26 in his first public remarks since the Israel-Iran ceasefire pic.twitter.com/WwujWk5v5e
— TRT World (@trtworld) June 26, 2025
Khamenei said Trump “used a bizarre exaggeration in describing what happened. It’s evident he needed such an exaggeration.”
“Whoever heard his remarks knew that beneath the surface of these words lay another truth, which was that they weren’t able to accomplish anything. They failed to achieve their intended goal and they exaggerate things to cover up and conceal the truth,” he stated.
Attack on US Base
On Monday, Iran fired missiles at the US military base in Qatar, which Khamenei said was one of Washington’s “key bases” in the region.
Iran had again “been victorious” after delivering “a heavy slap to the US’s face in return,” he stated.
“The same people who made exaggerated claims in the previous case, tried to downplay this one, claiming that nothing much had happened. But in fact, a major event had taken place,” Khamenei noted.
He said the fact that Iran “has access to key US centers in the region and can take action whenever it deems necessary is a significant matter” and vowed that “Such an action can be repeated in the future too.”
“Should any aggression occur, the enemy – the aggressor – will definitely pay a heavy price,” the Iranian leader stated.
‘A Mockery’ to Surrender
He went on to rebuke Trump for declaring that “Iran must surrender,” stating the “issue isn’t about enrichment or the nuclear industry anymore. It’s about Iran surrendering.”
“For the great country of Iran – a nation with such a history, such a rich culture, and a steadfast national determination – any talk of surrender is nothing but a mockery in the eyes of those who truly know the Iranian people,” Khamenei stated.
Post-ceasefire, Iranians rallied in #Tehran‘s Palestine Square, holding #Iran‘s flag as they chanted, “War until victory”.
Since the first day of the Israeli aggression on Iran, #Iranians have been rallying across the country in a show of unity and defiance against the Israeli… pic.twitter.com/1StHYE7lXg
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 24, 2025
He said Trump’s statement “revealed a certain reality” which is that the US “has been actively opposing and trying to harm Islamic Iran from the very beginning of the Revolution. And each time, they come up with a new pretext.”
“One time, it’s human rights. Another time, it’s defending democracy. Then, it’s women’s rights. Sometimes it’s uranium enrichment, and at other times it’s the nuclear issue itself. Or it’s the matter of missile development. They bring up all kinds of pretexts. But at the core, it all boils down to one thing, which is that they want Iran to surrender,” Khamenei stated.
He said that the previous administrations “never openly stated this because it’s something unacceptable.”
“It isn’t justifiable by any human logic to tell a nation that they must surrender. That’s why they were disguising this objective behind other titles and pretexts,” he continued.
Khamenei stressed that “the Iranian nation is victorious and will remain victorious, by the grace of God.”
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