Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Iran will “never surrender” to the United States.
“The American president indicated in one of his statements that Iran must surrender. Surrender! It is no longer a question of enrichment, nor of the nuclear industry, but of the surrender of Iran,” said Khamenei in a statement and televised speech on Thursday, News.Az reports, citing Al Jazeera.
“Such an event (surrender) will never happen. It will never happen,” he vowed.
Khamenei’s remarks come two days after a ceasefire halted a 12-day war between Iran and Israel – the foes’ deadliest and most destructive confrontation – and mark his first public appearance since June 19.
But Khamenei said Trump had “exaggerated” the impact of the attacks and said the US “gained nothing from this war,” claiming the US strikes “did nothing significant” to Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“The Islamic republic won, and in retaliation dealt a severe slap to the face of America,” he said, a reference to Iran’s missile launch targeting a US base in Qatar, the largest in the Middle East, which caused no casualties.
