Mojtaba Khamenei accuses US and Israel of trying to bring Iranian 'nation to its knees', but says their plan is 'blind'
Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said on Thursday that the United States and Israel are trying to “bring his nation to its knees” after the latest military clashes between these countries and Tehran, the worst since the fragile truce came into force on April 8, writes AFP.
“The enemy's blind plan, after imposed war, economic pressures, political assaults and propaganda, is to create division and destruction to compensate for its military defeats and bring the nation to its knees,” Mojtaba Khamenei said in a new written statement broadcast on state television.
In this message published on the occasion of the anniversary of the Iranian Parliament, the supreme leader again called for the national unity and “cohesion” of Iranians.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of US-Israeli strikes on February 28, which triggered retaliation from Tehran across the region.
Injured himself in these attacks, Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public since.
He suffered “superficial injuries to his face, head and legs,” Iran's Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said Monday. “Apart from superficial wounds to the face, head and legs, which did not require amputation and did not cause complications, there was nothing major. (…) As a doctor, I believe that there were no serious injuries, no special operation was required, apart from one or two stitches,” the spokesman added.
Instead, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on April 13 that Mojtaba Khamenei was “wounded and probably disfigured”.
The supreme leader's remarks came after the United States shot down four Iranian drones and launched attacks on a land base in the country's south overnight Wednesday into Thursday, prompting Tehran to retaliate by targeting a US base in the worst clashes since the ceasefire began, according to AFP and Reuters.
Iran has denounced “continuous ceasefire violations” by the US
Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday strongly condemned the “continued violations of the ceasefire” by the United States, especially the airstrikes in the “recent days” on southern Iran.
Iran will take “all the necessary measures to defend its national sovereignty”, assured the spokesman of the ministry, Esmail Baghai, in a statement in which he refers to “the continuous violations of the cease-fire by the US, especially the attacks against commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf and at sea undertaken in recent days against the south of Iran”, according to Agerpres.
US forces struck a ground base in Bandar Abbas, a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity on Wednesday night. The strikes provoked an immediate retaliation from Iran.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced on Thursday that they had targeted an American base, but did not specify it.
Also Thursday, the Kuwaiti military said it was facing “missile and drone attacks.”
These incidents come despite ongoing diplomatic exchanges between Tehran and Washington for an agreement to end the war launched by the US and Israel on February 28.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump threatened to “finish the job” if Tehran did not accept a compromise, and also threatened the Sultanate of Oman, a US ally and one of the mediators in this conflict.
His remarks came after Iranian state television aired a draft deal under discussion suggesting Iran would retain control of the Strait of Hormuz in cooperation with Oman.
“These are international waters. We will watch over them, but no one will control them. Oman will behave like the others or we will have to spray them. They know that,” said the US president, in an apparent confusion, in which he confused Iran with Oman.
