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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement on Tuesday that nations in the Middle East would “no longer serve as shields for US bases”.
Mojtaba, who has not appeared publicly since being named as the supreme leader on March 8, made these remarks in his Haj message and hours after the US carried out fresh strikes in Iran despite a fragile ceasefire and the two sides engaging in negotiations for a deal to end the almost three-month-long war.
“The hands of time will not turn back, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for US bases,” the supreme leader said in his message, which was shared on his X account and reported by Iranian media.
He said that the US “will no longer have a safe haven for its mischief and for establishing military bases in the region“, adding that it was “growing more distant from its former status day by day”.
