'Keep dreaming': Khamenei dismisses Trump's claim of destroying Iran nuclear sites

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday strongly rejected recent claims by US President Donald Trump that American strikes had destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities in June.

According to AFP, citing a statement published on his official website, Khamenei dismissed the assertions as baseless, telling Trump to “keep dreaming” in response to the remarks.

He also challenged the US president’s authority to dictate the affairs of other countries, particularly regarding nuclear capabilities.

“Who are you to say what a country should or should not have if it possesses a nuclear industry?” asked Khamenei, signaling continued defiance amid ongoing tensions between Tehran and Washington.

Khamenei made the remarks during a Monday meeting with hundreds of Iranian athletes and medalists from various sports and international scientific Olympiads, whom he described as “symbols of national power and growth.”

Khamenei also condemned the bullying and baseless rhetoric of the US president, saying his recent behaviour aimed to “raise the spirit of the Zionists and make himself look powerful through lies about Iran, the region, and its people.”

He hastened to add, “If he is truly powerful, let him calm the millions of people in all US states who are chanting against him.”

In mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Iran. The US briefly joined in, striking key Iranian nuclear facilities.

Last week, during a speech at the Israeli Knesset, Trump reiterated that the US confirmed “obliterating” Iranian nuclear sites during the strikes.

“So we dropped 14 bombs on Iran’s key nuclear facilities. Totally as I said originally obliterating them and that’s been confirmed,” he said.

In a Sunday interview with Fox News, Trump also said Iran “no longer became the bully of the Middle East” after the US strikes which “destroyed their nuclear capability”.

He further called the strikes “the most beautiful military operation”.

The true impact of the US strikes remains unknown.

The Pentagon has said that the strikes delayed Iran’s nuclear programme by between one and two years, contradicting an initial classified US intelligence report that according to American media found the setback was only by a few months.

With inputs from agencies