Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has declared "victory" over Israel in his first public message since the US-brokered ceasefire came into effect two days ago.
Khamenei, 86, largely stayed out of the public eye during his country's 12-day war with Israel, releasing only two video messages. The second message, released on June 19, is widely believed to have been recorded in a bunker, given the poor quality of the video.
In the new video message, which clearly had better sound quality than the previous one, Khamenei congratulated Iranians on what he called "victory over the false Zionist regime," saying that Israel "has been crippled and crushed by the blows of the Islamic Republic."
Referring to US airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, he said that "the Americans could not do anything significant", accusing the US of "exaggerating" the damage caused "to hide the truth".
US officials have spoken of "monumental damage" caused to Iran's key nuclear facilities. US President Donald Trump has said the attacks have "destroyed" Iran's nuclear program.
While a preliminary US intelligence report cast doubt on the extent of damage to Tehran's three main nuclear facilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency said US bombings likely caused "significant damage" to the uranium enrichment plant at Fordow, located under a mountain in central Iran.
Some analysts have said Khamenei's no-show signaled unprecedented uncertainty about the future of Iran's leadership, fueling speculation about the country's internal stability and the risk of wider repercussions in the Middle East.
Iran has carried out powerful retaliatory strikes that have killed more than 20 people, according to Israeli officials. But Israel has killed dozens of senior Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists. Israel has also struck many key military sites. Iranian authorities have said more than 600 people have been killed in the Israeli strikes. These figures cannot be independently confirmed.
Despite the high death toll reported in Iran, the supreme leader insisted that Iran had scored a major victory over the US, claiming that the Americans joined the conflict to help save Israel.
He said the US "gained nothing from this war", claiming that Iran's retaliatory attacks on the Al Udeid air base in Qatar were "a hard slap".
Khamenei also addressed President Trump's call for Iran to "surrender unconditionally" - while the war was still ongoing - saying that Iran will "never" surrender.
He said Trump's demands show that Iran's "enemies" are using its nuclear and missile programs as an "excuse" to force Tehran to surrender./ REL (A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
