'Enemies made big mistake': Khamenei vows to retaliate in his first statment after US, Israel strikes

In his first statment following the US's strikes on Iran , the West Asian nation’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the enemies of the country have made a “big mistake”. On Sunday, Khamenei took to X, formerly known as Twitter, condemning strikes on Iran’s three nuclear facilities, Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan .

In the post, the Iranian supreme leader vowed to intensify attacks against Tel Aviv but made no mention of the US attacks. “The punishment continues. The Zionist enemy has made a grave mistake, and committed a major crime; it must be punished—and it is being punished. It is being punished right now,” Khamenei said in his official post. His first statement on the matter came a day after the United States carried out ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’.

#همین_حالا
مجازات ادامه دارد

دشمن صهیونی یک اشتباه بزرگی کرده، یک جنایت بزرگی را مرتکب شده؛ باید مجازات بشود و دارد مجازات میشود؛ همین حالا دارد مجازات میشود.#الله_اکبر pic.twitter.com/wH6Wk9nNhJ

— KHAMENEI.IR | فارسی 🇮🇷 (@Khamenei_fa) June 23, 2025

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While speaking from the White House late Saturday, Trump said that the decision to strike Iran was aimed at the “destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.” “Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace . If they do not. Future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier,” he furthered.

Iran warns of wider conflict

Meanwhile, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader noted that bases used by US forces to launch an attack on Iranian nuclear sites “will be considered legitimate targets.” “Any country in the region or elsewhere that is used by American forces to strike Iran will be considered a legitimate target for our armed forces,” said Ali Akbar Velayati in a message carried by the official IRNA news agency.

He noted that the United States “no longer” has a place in the Middle East after its overnight strikes. “There is no longer any place for America or its bases in this region and the Islamic world,” he asserted.

“America has attacked the heart of the Islamic world and must await irreparable consequences because the Islamic Republic does not tolerate any insult or aggression against itself,” the Iranian adviser furthered. With Khamenei’s warning, the world will now look at how Iran would respond.