Ayatollah says Iran delivered ‘decisive blow’ to ‘malicious enemy’

Iran’s Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei delivered an unexpected proclamation of Iranian victory in the war with the US on Israel, stating that “the malicious enemy has been defeated in confrontation with Iran’s armed forces.”

In a statement read out on Thursday during the ceremony marking the 37th anniversary of the Islamic Republic’s founder Ruhollah Khomeini’s death, Khamenei said, “I tell the dear Iranian nation that the malicious enemy … is now experiencing a profound and meaningful humiliation, both on the military battlefield and in the public arena and it is now focused on trickery.”

Khamenei’s unexpected statement may signal an approaching peace deal, for which he appears to be preparing the Iranian nation, while also calling for its unity.

“The system of domination, which created a garrison called Israel nearly 80 years ago, does not accept the existence of a strong and independent Iran, endowed with various advantages, on the eastern frontier of the false and fictitious geography of ‘Greater Israel’ — east of the Euphrates,” The ayatollah’s statement warned.

Khamenei has not appeared in public since the war began. US media reported, citing multiple Iranian officials, that he sustained serious injuries in the strikes, underwent multiple surgeries and has difficulty speaking due to severe burns.

Read more: Euronews