Iran's Mojtaba Khamanei says enemy 'defeated' in Nowruz message amid war with US and Israel

Iran’s supreme leader has issued another defiant written statement praising Iranians’ steadfastness three weeks into the war launched by the United States and Israel.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Friday that US and Israeli attacks were based on an illusion that by killing top leaders they could cause the overthrow of the government.

His written statement, marking the Persian New Year, Nowruz, was read on Iranian television.


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He commended Iranians for “building a nationwide defensive front and strongholds across cities, neighborhoods, and mosques, delivering such a bewildering blow that the enemy fell into contradictions and irrational statements.”

Khamenei has not been seen in public since succeeding his father, who was killed in strikes on the first day of the war. Israeli and US officials have said the younger Khamenei was wounded in those strikes.

Iran’s top military spokesman warned on Friday that “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” worldwide won’t be safe for Tehran’s enemies.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Iran’s navy was sunk and its air force in tatters, while adding that its ability to produce ballistic missiles had been taken out. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard disputed the missile claim on Friday.

“We are producing missiles even during war conditions, which is amazing, and there is no particular problem in stockpiling,” spokesman Gen. Ali Mohammad Naeini was quoted as saying in Iran’s state-run IRAN newspaper.

A short time after the statement was released, Iranian state television said Naeini was killed in an airstrike.

Khamenei hasn’t been seen since he succeeded his father, the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the war.

In Iran, meanwhile, many were marking Nowruz even as Israel said it had launched new strikes, and explosions were heard over Tehran. The Persian New Year, which coincides with the spring equinox, is a tradition observed across southwestern Asia that dates back thousands of years.

Also read: Iran warns 'parks, recreational areas & tourist destinations' worldwide won't be safe for enemies

Loud explosions could also be heard in Jerusalem after the Israeli army warned of incoming Iranian missiles. First responders said they treated two people around 70 years old who were lightly wounded.

In addition to steadily striking Iran, Israel has regularly hit Lebanon, targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants who have been firing rockets and drones into Israel.

On Friday, Israel broadened its attacks to Syria, saying it hit infrastructure there in response to what it described as attacks on the Druze minority. Syria’s state-run SANA news agency did not immediately acknowledge the attack.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran during the war. Israeli strikes in Lebanon have displaced more than 1 million people, according to the Lebanese government, which says more than 1,000 people have been killed. Israel says it has killed more than 500 Hezbollah militants.

In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. Four people were also killed in the occupied West Bank by an Iranian missile strike.

At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.