Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has made his first public comments since the ceasefire with Israel took hold. Khamenei, who has ultimate authority over all major decisions in the country, has not been seen or heard from in more than a week. His pre-recorded speech, aired on state television, is meant to put an end to rising speculation about his fate after he went into hiding at the start of the conflict. In the televised address, the Iranian leader hailed his country’s ‘victory’ over Israel and vowed never to surrender to the United States.
The Iranian leader was eager to tell anyone who would listen that the US bombing of his country’s nuclear sites ‘did not achieve anything’
Defiant as ever – and with his trademark habit of being entirely divorced from reality – the Iranian leader was eager to tell anyone who would listen that the US bombing of his country’s nuclear sites ‘did not achieve anything’.
That, to say the least, is something of an understatement. US forces struck three nuclear sites with huge bunker-busting bombs, with US president Donald Trump claiming the attacks had ‘obliterated’ the facilities. Khamenei was dismissive of Trump’s claims.
‘Anyone who heard his remarks could tell there was a different reality behind his words – they could do nothing,’ the 86-year-old Iranian leader said.
Khamenei had an alternative reading of events, in which Iran apparently ‘delivered a heavy slap to the US’s face’ – a reference to an Iranian missile attack on a US military base in Qatar on Monday, which led to no casualties. The Americans were give advance notice of the Iranian plans. Trump himself mockingly described the Iranian action as ‘very weak’, claiming that 13 of the 14 missiles fired had been intercepted. Even so, according to the Ayatollah’s rewriting of recent history, the Americans are now on notice that Iran is ready to respond to any future US attack by striking American military bases in the Middle East.
What’s Khamenei’s game? Few will be convinced by his bid to minimise the national humiliation that his regime suffered during the 12-day war with Iran.
Just as implausible is the idea that Iran has emerged ‘victorious’ from this conflict, and in a position of strength to reek revenge if attacked by its enemies at some future point.
Khamenei’s televised remarks were delivered from an undisclosed location in front of a brown curtain. He was seated between an Iranian flag and a portrait of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Despite the show of bravado, he remains at a secret location reportedly somewhere in the capital Tehran. Communications are kept to a minimum for security reasons. It is the first time since Khamenei assumed absolute power in 1989 that he has been forced into hiding during a war – reflecting the real fear and worry in his inner circle.
The supreme leader cuts something of a diminished figure. It is hard to project power and authority from a secret bunker, and no one can be sure anymore how much real control Khamenei wields.
His main priority remains to stay alive. High-ranking military officials and nuclear scientists were targeted by Israel in the opening stages of the conflict. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, did not rule out targeting Khamenei directly. President Trump hinted that the Americans knew exactly where Khamenei was hiding, but said that a decision to kill the Iranian leader had not been made.
This latest television address by the Iranian leader is meant to project a sense of business as usual. He must know – his fellow countrymen and women certainly do – that everything has changed. It is anything but business as usual. That is why the country’s supreme leader is reduced to delivering the occasional recorded video message on television from a secret location. Khamenei can spit fire and vengeance all he likes, but even he cannot be sure what the future holds for him or his nation.
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