IRANIAN Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has sharply rebuked US President Donald Trump for boasting about bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying the American president has no authority to dictate what other countries can or cannot do.
‘Fine, keep dreaming,’ Khamenei said in reference to the US president’s boastful claim that he had destroyed Iran’s nuclear industry.
‘But who do you think you are to make any prescriptions about whether a country can or cannot have a nuclear industry?’
Khamenei was speaking on Monday to a 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.’
He said the young achievers had shown that Iran’s youth ‘have the strength to stand on the peaks and draw the world’s attention to the bright horizon of Iran.’
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.
‘If he is truly powerful, let him calm the millions of people in all the US states who are chanting against him.’
Expressing joy at meeting the country’s accomplished youth, the Leader said their victories carry extra value today because they come at a time when ‘the enemy, through psychological warfare, seeks to make the nation hopeless and forgetful of its own abilities.’
He dismissed claims of despair among Iranian youth as unfounded, stressing that ‘our Iran and its youth are symbols of hope’ and that with determination and effort, young Iranians ‘can and will reach the highest peaks.’
Meanwhile, Ayatollah Khamenei has rejected Washington’s demands over nuclear negotiations.
He pointed out that during the 1980s’ Iraqi-imposed war, Iran achieved victory against a highly-equipped enemy, which was supported by all sides, through military ingenuity displayed by the nation’s youth.
He also noted that in June’s illegal aggression against the Islamic Republic, Iran delivered an ‘unbelievable’ slap in the face of the Zionists and drove them to despair.
‘The Zionists did not expect that Iranian missiles, with their flames and fire, could penetrate deep into their sensitive and vital centres, destroy them, and turn them into ashes.’
He also emphasised that Iran did not buy or rent its missiles from anywhere else but manufactured them itself.
‘These missiles were prepared and used by our armed forces and military industries, and they still have them. If necessary, they will use them again,’ he said.
Referring to Trump’s acknowledgement of the United States’ role in Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, Khamenei condemned Washington as the main partner in the Zionist regime’s crimes, as the weapons dropped on the defenceless people of Gaza during the war were supplied by America.
He also rejected as a lie Trump’s claim about the US’s fight against terrorism.
‘More than 20,000 children and infants were martyred in the Gaza war. Were they terrorists?
‘The real terrorist is the US, which created Daesh, unleashed it on the region, and even today holds some of its members in a certain area for its own use.’
He also denounced the killing of around 70,000 Palestinians in the Gaza genocide and over 1,000 Iranians during the 12-day Israeli-US aggression as clear evidence of the terrorist nature of the United States and the occupying Israeli regime.
‘Trump described himself as a dealmaker, but if dealmaking is accompanied by coercion, it is called imposition and bullying, something that the Iranian nation will not submit to,’ Ayatollah Khamenei stated.
He further stressed that West Asia belongs to its own people and that war and death in the region are the result of the US presence.
‘The US is a warmonger that fuels terrorism and ignites wars. Otherwise, what is the purpose of all these US military bases in the region? What are you doing here? What connection does this region have to you?’
- The Yemeni Armed Forces have announced that their Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari was murdered in Israeli airstrikes in August, alongside several companions and his 13-year-old son, Hussein.
Hundreds of thousands of mourners flooded the streets of the Yemeni capital of Sana’a on Monday for his funeral.
Crowds carried portraits of the late general, Yemeni flags, and banners expressing solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance and condemning the US-Israeli aggression.
The August 28 airstrike also martyred Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmad al-Rahawi and several other ministers. The Sana’a government was holding a routine workshop to assess its activities over the past year when it was targeted by Israeli warplanes.
Despite the loss, the Yemeni Armed Forces emphasised that military operations have continued unabated.
It added that attacks against the ‘criminal enemy’ have intensified, warning that the war is ongoing and that the Zionist enemy will face consequences for its actions.
Since the onset of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, Yemen’s forces have carried out scores of operations in support of the war-hit Gazans, striking targets throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to targeting Israeli ships, or vessels heading towards ports in the occupied territories.
Yemeni forces also executed a strategic maritime blockade aimed at obstructing the delivery of military resources to Israel, significantly disrupting Israeli trade routes and dealing a heavy blow to the entity’s economy.
With a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in place, Sana’a has warned that if Israel violates the agreement in the Gaza Strip, it will face a more ‘severe and decisive’ response by the Yemeni Armed Forces.
- The Israeli Mossad spying agency is reportedly seeking to recruit agents inside Yemen to gather intelligence in preparation for a potential escalation of military strikes against the country.
According to a report published by the Arabic-language daily newspaper Al Akhbar on Wednesday, the Israeli regime is seeking to separate the Yemen issue from the Gaza war to prepare for a military onslaught against Sana’a.
To this end, Israeli authorities are trying to recruit and hire spies in Yemen, the report added.
‘Over the past two days, Mossad has launched a massive recruitment campaign via social media platforms, calling on opponents of the Yemeni Ansarullah movement to join Unit 504, which performs clandestine and covert operations,’ Al Akhbar said.
The report added that observers in Sana’a have warned of the move, saying intensive Mossad activities indicate Israel’s willingness to intensify intelligence operations in Yemen in the future and carry out preemptive attacks in reprisal for the Yemeni support of the Palestinians in Gaza.
The daily newspaper highlighted that although the Yemeni support operations in the Gaza Strip have stopped since the ceasefire agreement came into effect nearly two weeks ago, Israel’s threats against Sana’a have not stopped.
Recently, Israeli Channel 12 confirmed that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet was planning to continue strikes against Yemen even after the war in Gaza was over.
The channel, citing an unnamed senior Israeli security official, said the cabinet has decided to treat the Yemen issue apart from the Gaza war, so that the military confrontation with Yemen will continue after the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Last December, a Yemeni official said they had uncovered a spy ring working for the Mossad secret service and the CIA.
In an official statement, Ansarullah said the spies were tasked with identifying and monitoring Yemeni military sites, such as those of missile, drone, and naval forces, as well as weapons depots, and with locating and collecting information on political and military figures and other individuals in Yemen.
The spy ring was reportedly operated by a Saudi man named Hamid Hussein Majali, who has been active in Yemen since October 7th, 2023, trying to recruit locals to conduct espionage activities and obstruct the Yemeni military’s retaliatory strikes against Israeli interests in support of Gaza.