ALBAWABA- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared Thursday that the Iranian nation had thwarted a "20-year-old plot" by the United States and Israel in a bruising 12-day war earlier this year, framing the conflict as a "divine triumph" that exposed Western vulnerabilities.
In a televised address from his Tehran residence, his first major public appearance since the June ceasefire, Khamenei, 86, addressed thousands of officials. He recounted Iran's missile barrages that struck U.S. bases in Qatar and Israeli targets, claiming they inflicted "severe losses" despite America's "advanced equipment."
"The enemy planned for two decades, but the faithful youth of Iran defeated them in 12 days," he said, crediting "divine intervention" for the outcome and vowing retaliation against any future aggression. The speech also lambasted U.S. President Trump's "hollow boasts" and urged Muslim unity against "Zionist occupation."
The remarks revisit the June 13-24, 2025, war, Operation Dawn of Iron, sparked by Israeli preemptive strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, joined by U.S. forces days later.
Iran retaliated with over 300 missiles, killing 12 Israelis and damaging Al-Udeid Air Base, but suffered 500+ deaths and partial setbacks to its program. A U.S.-brokered truce halted escalation, though Khamenei's narrative inverts the stalemate as a strategic win, boosting domestic morale amid sanctions and proxy frictions in Yemen and Lebanon.
Hours earlier, Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned Australia's decision to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a "state sponsor of terrorism," calling it an "unjustified and insulting" capitulation to U.S. pressure.
The move, enacted via the Criminal Code Amendment Act 2025, responds to alleged IRGC-linked arson attacks on Australian synagogues and diplomatic tensions post-war. Tehran warned of "reciprocal measures," including visa curbs on Australian officials, as global scrutiny of the IRGC intensifies amid its role in regional militias.
