Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday the nation would never surrender as demanded by President Donald Trump and warned the United States it would face “irreparable damage” if it intervenes in support of its ally.
The speech came six days into the conflict, with Trump demanding Iran’s “unconditional surrender” while boasting the United States could kill Khamenei and fueling speculation about a possible intervention.
The long-range blitz began Friday, when Israel launched a massive bombing campaign that prompted Iran to respond with missiles and drones.
“This nation will never surrender,” Khamenei said in a speech read on state television, in which he called Trump’s ultimatum “unacceptable”.
“America should know that any military intervention will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage,” he said.
Khamenei, in power since 1989 and the final arbiter of all matters of state in Iran, had earlier vowed the country would show “no mercy” towards Israel’s leaders.
The speech followed a night of strikes, with Israeli attacks destroying two buildings making centrifuge components for Iran’s nuclear programme near Tehran, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.
“More than 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets… carried out a series of air strikes in the Tehran area over the past few hours,” the Israeli military said, adding that several weapons manufacturing facilities were hit.
“As part of the broad effort to disrupt Iran’s nuclear weapons development programme, a centrifuge production facility in Tehran was targeted.”
Centrifuges are vital for uranium enrichment, the sensitive process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in highly extended form, the core of a nuclear warhead.
The strikes destroyed two buildings making centrifuge components for Iran’s nuclear programme in Karaj, a satellite city of Tehran, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
