Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Thursday that the United States had “gained nothing” from its attacks during the Islamic Republic’s 12-day war with Israel that saw nuclear sites hit.
In a statement published by state media, Khamenei said the United States “engaged in the war directly, convinced that its refusal to intervene would lead to the complete destruction of the Zionist regime”.
“It has gained nothing from this war,” Khamenei said of Washington, adding in his first public remarks since a Tuesday ceasefire ended the war that “the Islamic republic won, and in retaliation dealt a severe slap to the face of America”.
“They attacked our nuclear facilities, which of course would merit criminal prosecution in international courts, but they did nothing significant.”
Referring to US President Donald Trump, who had claimed to have “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme, Khamenei said that he “exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration — anyone who has heard these words has understood that there is another truth behind these words”.
Khamenei hailed his country’s “victory” over Israel, in his first public statement since a ceasefire ended 12 days of war earlier this week. “I want to congratulate the great Iranian nation… for its victory over the fallacious Zionist regime,” Khamenei said in a written statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.
Khamenei also said: “The Zionist regime almost collapsed and was crushed under the strikes of the Islamic Republic.”
China Hosts Iranian Defence Ministers
China hosted defence ministers from Iran and Russia for a meeting in its eastern seaside city of Qingdao on Thursday, against the backdrop of the war in the Middle East and a NATO summit in Europe that agreed to boost military spending.
Beijing has long sought to present the 10-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a counterweight to Western-led power blocs and has pushed to strengthen collaboration between its member countries in politics, security, trade, and science.
The Qingdao meeting of the organisation’s top defence officials comes as a fledgling ceasefire between Israel and Iran holds after 12 days of fighting between the arch-foes.
It is also being held the day after a summit of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders in The Hague, where members agreed to ramp up their defence spending to satisfy US President Donald Trump.
Beijing’s ties with Moscow are also in the spotlight. China has portrayed itself as a neutral party in Russia’s war with Ukraine, although Western governments say its close ties have given Moscow crucial economic and diplomatic support.
Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov painted a bleak picture of a world seeing “worsening geopolitical tensions” when he addressed his counterparts at the meeting.
”The current military and political situation in the world remains difficult and shows signs of further deterioration,” he said, according to a Russian defence ministry statement.
His Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, also framed Thursday’s meeting in Qingdao, home to a major Chinese naval base, as a counterweight to a world “marked by intertwined turmoil and changes”.
“It is all the more important for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to play its role as an anchor of stability,” he said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
His Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, also framed Thursday’s meeting in Qingdao, home to a major Chinese naval base, as a counterweight to a world “marked by intertwined turmoil and changes”.
“It is all the more important for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to play its role as an anchor of stability,” he said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Backing For Iran
Recent fighting between Israel, Iran, and the United States was also likely discussed in Qingdao.
Beijing refrained from offering anything more than diplomatic support to its close partner, Tehran, throughout that conflict, reflecting its limited leverage in the region and its reluctance to worsen relations with the United States.
“Public backing for Iran will come in the form of words, rather than deeds,” James Char, an expert on the Chinese army at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told AFP.
“Other than condemning the US strikes on Iran, Beijing can be expected to continue treading cautiously in the Middle East’s security issues and would not want to be dragged into the region’s security challenges,” he said.
Iran’s defence minister will likely “discuss with China the supply of weapons but I doubt China would agree”, said Andrea Ghiselli, an expert in China foreign policy and a lecturer at Exeter University.
“It would be seen as provocative by both Israel… and, even more important for China, the US, with which Beijing is trying to stabilise relations,” Ghiselli said.
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, also in attendance in Qingdao, said that SCO members should “collectively aspire to fulfil the aspirations and expectations of our people as well as tackle today’s challenges.”
“The world we live in is undergoing a drastic transformation. Globalisation, which once brought us closer together, has been losing momentum,” he said in comments his office posted on social media.
Via: Agence France-Presse
