Khamenei says next time americans wont be able intercept iranian missiles, if U.S strikes again

Defence affairs

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has threatened to respond to any future US attack by striking American military bases in the Middle East, in his first public comments since a ceasefire with Israel was declared.

The 86-year-old, who has not been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war on 13 June, said his country had “delivered a slap to America’s face” – a reference to an Iranian missile attack on a US base in Qatar on Monday, which caused no casualties.

In pre-recorded remarks that were aired on state television, he hailed his country’s “victory” over Israel and vowed never to surrender to the US.

As was also the case with his last comments, released more than a week ago during the 12-day Israeli bombardment, he spoke from an undisclosed indoor location in front of a brown curtain, between an Iranian flag and a portrait of his predecessor Ruhollah Khomeini.

In a message to the Iranian people, he said Donald Trump’s demand for Iran’s unconditional surrender at the start of the conflict had revealed the US’s true agenda.

“The fact that the Islamic republic has access to important American centres in the region and can take action against them whenever it deems necessary is not a small incident, it is a major incident, and this incident can be repeated in the future if an attack is made,” he said. “America entered the war directly because it felt that if it did not, Israel would be completely destroyed. Here, too, the Islamic republic emerged victorious.