Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned US President Donald Trump in a televised speech on Wednesday, June 18, that the US will suffer “irreparable damage” if it joined Israel in its unprovoked aggression against his country.
Khamenei’s stern remarks came one day after Trump demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” to Israel in a post that he wrote on his Truth Social account.
Trump’s ultimatum was posted a few minutes after he had issued a direct threat via the same platform, considering the assassination of the Iranian leader, the highest political authority in Iran, as an option.
“He is an easy target, but is safe there. We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin,” Trump said.
Media reports unfolded, hand in hand with Trump’s online threats, on the possibility of the US directly joining the war. Some were specific enough to describe a strike on Iran’s underground nuclear site at Fordo village, near the north-central city of Qom.
“I may do it, I may not do it. Nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, when asked if the US military intends to join Israel in striking Iran.
The statements drew mixed reactions and confusion, with some wondering if Khamenei’s firm response made the US president backtrack on his plans, or if his threats were a calculated equivocation.
Khamenei threatens “irreparable damage”
“The Iranian nation will not surrender to anyone aiming to impose anything on it. The punishment that the Iranian nation and its armed forces have done, are doing now and plan to do to this wicked enemy is harsh punishment that has weakened the enemy,” Khamenei said in his speech, referring to Israel.
“The fact that the American friends enter the scene and start talking, shows its [Israel’s] weakness and inability,” he added.
Defying Trump’s warnings, the head of the Iranian state said: “Telling the Iranian nation to surrender is not a wise thing to say. Wise people who know the region, the Iranian people and its history, would never say that. Whom should we surrender to? Iran is not a nation to surrender.”
“America getting involved in this would be 100% to its detriment. The damage it would suffer would be much more than what Iran would possibly suffer. The damage to America if it gets militarily involved, would be irreparable damage, no doubt,” Khamenei warned.
The US has been indirectly involved from day one and gave “the green light” for the war
The Trump administration has claimed not to be part of the ongoing war between Iran and Israel since its eruption. However, Axios said in a report on Monday that the US has assisted Israel in intercepting Iranian missiles since the Netanyahu administration initiated the unprovoked aggression on Tehran on Friday, June 13.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also accused the Trump administration of giving Israel “the green light” for starting its assault on his country, based on a prior US confession – during recent US-Iran nuclear talks – that it has “control and influence” over Israel, which “would not take any action without its permission.”
Read more: The illegal attack on Iran
Iran says it destroyed Israel’s defense systems
Israel and Iran have continued to trade strikes for the seventh day respectively, with considerable military losses being inflicted on Israel.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement on Wednesday, announcing that they successfully destroyed Israeli defense systems across the territories occupied by Israel.
The statement added that the heavy long-range Sejjil missile, which is able to strike targets at distances ranging from 2,000 to 2,500 kilometers, was used for the first time in Iran’s 12th wave of missile attacks on Israel.
The IRGC vowed to continue launching missile strikes on Israel and to “open the gates of hell to the criminal Zionists in response to their numerous crimes”, following through on the promise of late IRGC chief, Hossein Salami, who was assassinated by Israel on the first day of its aggression.
“Be sure that the sound of alarm sirens would not turn off for even a second,” the Corps warned, telling illegal Israeli settlers that they have to choose between “gradual death in shelters and fleeing occupied territories as soon as possible.”
