Khamenei vows Iran will ‘never surrender’ to US after Israel ceasefire

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on November 2, 2024. Photo / AFP / HO / KHAMENEI.IR

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday that Iran would “never surrender” to the United States, in his first remarks since a ceasefire in the war with Israel took hold.

“The American president indicated in one of his statements that Iran must surrender. Surrender! It is no longer a question of enrichment, nor of the nuclear industry, but of the surrender of Iran,” said Khamenei in a televised speech aired by state TV.

“Such an event (surrender) will never happen. It will never happen.”

He added that “nothing significant” occurred to nuclear sites struck by the United States earlier this week.

“They attacked our nuclear facilities, which of course would merit criminal prosecution in international courts, but they did nothing significant,” Khamenei said.

Referring to US President Donald Trump, who had claimed to have “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme, Khamenei said that he “exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration - anyone who has heard these words has understood that there is another truth behind these words”.

Khamenei said that arch-enemy Israel “almost collapsed” following Iran’s retaliatory strikes.

“The Zionist regime almost collapsed and was crushed under the strikes of the Islamic republic,” Khamenei said in his statement.

It is the leader’s first public statement since a ceasefire ended Iran’s 12-day war with Israel earlier this week.

Khamenei appeared in a pre-taped video message on June 13, the day Israel began its offensive, followed by another on June 18, before the ceasefire took hold on Tuesday.

-Agence France-Presse