What Khamenei Said in the Latest Video: The Supreme Leader Between Proclamations and Arrests

Twelve days of war. Eight days of silence. Yesterday, the reappearance. Ali Khamenei sent a video message to state television to quell speculation about his fate and to try to raise the morale of a bombed population.

“The Zionist regime has been almost destroyed and crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic ,” the Supreme Leader of Iran said, claiming victory in a speech to the nation, his third since the start of the Israeli attacks. “I consider it necessary to congratulate the great nation of Iran. First of all, congratulations on the victory over the treacherous Zionist regime,” Khamenei said. “ The Islamic Republic has dealt a heavy slap to the United States” and has “damaged the Al-Udeid air base ” in Qatar, “one of the key US bases in the region.” The US entered the war in an attempt to save “the Zionist regime but has achieved nothing,” the octogenarian Ayatollah insisted in his first message after the ceasefire between Iran and Israel following the US attack on Iranian bases. “I congratulate our dear Iran on the victory over the US regime,” he wrote.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz revealed in an interview with Channel 13 that Israel had intended to eliminate Iran's Supreme Leader , but the opportunity never presented itself. "If he had been in our sights, we would have eliminated him," Katz said, adding: " We wanted to eliminate Khamenei, but there was no operational opportunity." Asked whether Israel had sought American approval for such an action, Katz replied: "We don't need permission for such things."

Ceasefire holds but tensions remain high

Iranian intelligence services remain on high alert despite the ceasefire with Israel, sources reported, citing the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim. “ The cessation of military operations does not mean the end of malicious and hostile actions,” the agency said, adding that such actions include gathering intelligence, spreading disinformation and implementing strategies aimed at weakening national unity. Iranian media have reported dozens of arrests and even executions in Iran on espionage charges since the start of the war with Israel.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Constitutional Guardian Council has approved the bill to suspend cooperation with the IAEA. The official representative of the watchdog, Hadi Tahan Nazif, announced this on social media. “ After review by the members of the Guardian Council, the draft requiring the government to suspend cooperation with the IAEA was not found to be incompatible with Islamic law and the Constitution,” he wrote. The Iranian parliament approved the bill yesterday, explaining that Tehran would suspend cooperation with the International Nuclear Energy Agency until the safety of Iranian nuclear facilities and scientists was ensured.

FROM

Umberto DeGiovanniangeli