TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Friday said Iran was defeating the enemies of the Islamic republic and had struck a “dizzying blow” in the war against the US and Israel, in a defiant written message to the nation for the Persian New Year, Nowruz.
The long statement, published on his Telegram channel and official Iranian media, was the latest such message from Khamenei after he succeeded his father Ali Khamenei who was killed in an airstrike at the start of the war on February 28.
But almost two weeks into his tenure, the younger Khamenei has yet to issue a video or even audio message to Iranians, with state media and officials alluding to him being wounded in the strike that killed his father.
“At the moment, due to the particular unity that has been created between you our compatriots — despite all the differences in religious, intellectual, cultural and political origins — the enemy has been defeated,” said Khamenei.
He described the current war against Israel and the United States as the third war that the Islamic republic has experienced over the last 12 months, after the June 2025 12-day conflict with Israel but also nationwide protests at the start of this year which Tehran blamed on Israel and the US.
