Iran’s supreme chief warns towards additional American assaults

By FARNOUSH AMIRI and DAVID RISING

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei mentioned on Thursday his nation had delivered a “slap to America’s face” with its strike on an American base in Qatar, and warned towards any additional U.S. assaults in his first public feedback since a ceasefire was declared with Israel after 12 days of battle.

Khamenei spoke in a recorded video broadcast on Iranian state tv, his first look since June 19. The 86-year-old appeared and sounded extra drained than he did solely every week in the past, talking in a hoarse voice and sometimes stumbling over his phrases.

The more-than 10 minute speech by the supreme chief was stuffed with warnings and threats directed towards the US and Israel.

He downplayed Sunday’s U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear websites utilizing bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles, saying that U.S. President Donald Trump — who mentioned the assault “utterly and absolutely obliterated Iran’s nuclear program — had “exaggerated” its impression.

“They may not obtain something vital,” he mentioned.

UN nuclear watchdog confirms harm to Iran websites

The pinnacle of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company Director Rafael Grossi, reiterated on Thursday that the harm accomplished by Israeli and U.S. strikes at Iranian nuclear services “may be very, very, very appreciable.”

“I feel annihilated is an excessive amount of however it suffered huge harm,” Grossi informed French broadcaster RFI.

Iran’s Overseas Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, on Wednesday additionally conceded that “our nuclear installations have been badly broken, that’s for certain.”

Khamenei has not been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the battle June 13 when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear services and focused prime army commanders and scientists.

Following Sunday’s U.S. assault on Iran’s nuclear services, Trump was in a position to assist negotiate a ceasefire that got here into impact on Tuesday.

Iranian chief warns US towards additional assaults

Khamenei claimed the U.S. had solely intervened within the battle as a result of “it felt that if it didn’t intervene, the Zionist regime can be completely destroyed.”

“It entered the battle to save lots of them, but it gained nothing,” he mentioned.

He mentioned his nation’s assault on the U.S. base in Qatar on Monday was vital, because it reveals Iran “has entry to vital U.S. facilities within the area and might act towards them each time it deems vital.”

“The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America’s face,” he mentioned, including “this motion may be repeated sooner or later.”

“Ought to any aggression happen, the enemy will certainly pay a heavy worth,” he mentioned.

For the reason that ceasefire, life has been regularly returning to regular in Iran.

On Thursday, Iran partially reopened its airspace, which had been shut down for the reason that battle broke out, and retailers within the capital of Tehran started to reopen, with visitors returning to the streets.

With the ceasefire, life slowly returns to regular in Iran

Majid Akhavan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Roads and City Improvement, mentioned Iran had reopened the airspace for the japanese half of the nation to home and worldwide flights, together with these transiting Iranian airspace.

Earlier this week, Tehran mentioned 606 individuals had been killed within the battle in Iran, with 5,332 individuals wounded. The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group launched figures Wednesday suggesting Israeli strikes on Iran had killed a minimum of 1,054 and wounded 4,476.

The group, which has supplied detailed casualty figures from a number of rounds of unrest in Iran, mentioned 417 of these killed had been civilians and 318 had been safety forces.

Not less than 28 individuals had been killed in Israel and greater than 1,000 wounded, in line with officers there.