Supreme leader strikes defiant tone in remarks reported by state media, after not being heard of or seen publicly in days.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei congratulated Iranians for what he described as a victory over Israel and the United States, in defiant remarks published on state media that appeared to be his first public statement since U.S. war planes bombed three of the country’s nuclear facilities.
Public alarm has been rising in Iran over the absence of Mr. Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard from publicly in a week, and who has the final say on key decisions for the country. Although he had issued two statements during Iran and Israel’s 12-day conflict, he made no public statements or recorded messages since the United States bombed three of Iran’s nuclear facilities, Iran retaliated on an American base in Qatar, and Iran and Israel agreed to a cease-fire on Tuesday.
The lack of any comment from Mr. Khamenei had begun to raise questions in the Iranian public over his health and his whereabouts. Iranian officials had previously said Mr. Khamenei was sheltering in a bunker and refraining from any electronic communications in order to prevent assassination attempts against him.
On Thursday, his social media accounts and state media began to release comments they said were comments he had made in a video message that would be published later in the day.
“Congratulations on the victory over the fake Zionist regime,” he was quoted as saying. “The American regime entered into a direct war because it felt that if it did not enter, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed. But it did not gain anything from this war.”
This is a developing story.
