'Will not accept any harassment': Iran Supreme Leader Khamenei after strikes on US base in Qatar

A day after America struck Iranian nuclear sites amid heightened tensions between Tel Aviv and Tehran; Iran launched Operation Besharat Fatah, which targeted the US base Al-Udeid in Qatar. As the conflict is spreading across the region and world leaders are urging restraint, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei writes, “We didn't harm anyone. And we will not accept any harassment from anyone under any circumstances.”

Sharing an image of a burning US flag amid a war-like situation, “…we will not submit to anyone's harassment; This is the logic of the Iranian nation,” he added.

Khamenei had earlier said, “Victory is certain. God Almighty will win over the nation of Iran and the truth and the right, definitely and certainly.”

These attacks come a day after the US B-2 bombers conducted airstrikes in Iranian nuclear sites: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. After the strikes on June 22, Trump in an address spoke of the extent of damage, he said, “Tonight, I can report to the world that these strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear facilities have been completed and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace.”

Shortly after the strikes and Trump comments, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s adviser Ali Shamkhani, reacting to the US strikes, said ‘surprises will continue’. Taking to his social media handle, Shamkhani wrote, “Even if nuclear sites are destroyed, game isn’t over, enriched materials, indigenous knowledge, political will remain,” said Ali Shamkhani in a post on X.

He added, "Political and operational initiative is now with the side that plays smart, avoids blind strikes. Surprises will continue!”

The operation that was launched by Iran in Qatar may have the surprise Shamkhani was hinting at with his comments on social media.