Ayatollah Khamenei has rejected the US president’s ultimatum to surrender and warned against American military intervention
The US would suffer “irreparable damage” if it intervenes militarily against Iran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has stated. His remarks follow a series of increasingly direct threats from US President Donald Trump.
Over the past few days, Trump has warned that US forces are ready to strike if Iran attacks any American targets, and has implied that Khamenei is an “easy target.”
“We are not going to take him out—at least not for now,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. In other posts, he insisted that Iran “must surrender” and claimed that the US had “complete and total control of the skies over Iran.”
Responding to Trump’s threats in a televised address on Wednesday, Khamenei stated that “those with wisdom who know Iran and its history never speak to this nation in the language of threats.”
“Iran is not a nation that will surrender,” the supreme leader was quoted by Iranian media as saying, adding that “any kind of military entry by the US will undoubtedly be accompanied by damage that cannot be compensated.”
Khamenei also described Trump’s ultimatum for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” as unacceptable and stressed that the Islamic Republic “will not accept an imposed peace.”
“The US President threatens us. With his absurd rhetoric, he demands that the Iranian people surrender to him. They should make threats against those who are afraid of being threatened. The Iranian nation isn’t frightened by such threats,” Khamenei said, adding that Trump’s remarks suggest Washington was directly involved in Israel’s attack on Iran.
Israel began carrying out strikes on Iran last Friday, claiming Tehran is nearing the completion of a nuclear bomb. Iran dismissed the accusations and retaliated with waves of drone and missile strikes on the Jewish state.
Israel’s attacks have been condemned by a number of countries, including Russia, which has described the strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure as “illegal” and warned they could trigger a “nuclear catastrophe.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry has also pointed out that Israel’s actions violate international law and threaten global stability. In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry further claimed that the widespread condemnation of Israel’s attack on Iran by most of the international community suggests that the Jewish State is only supported by its “accomplices.”
