In first appearance since ceasefire, Iran's leader declares 'victory' and warns US

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, declared victory after 12 days of war, which culminated in an Iranian attack on the largest US base in the region in Qatar, after Washington joined in on Israeli air strikes.

"The Islamic Republic has given a slap in the face to America. We have attacked one of its important bases in the region," Khamenei said.

Similar to his previous speech more than a week ago, Mr. Khamenei appeared at an undisclosed indoor location, behind a brown curtain, between the Iranian flag and a portrait of his predecessor Ruhollah Khomeini.

In a pre-recorded speech broadcast on state television, Khamenei pledged that Iran would not surrender despite calls from US President Donald Trump.

"US President Trump has exposed the truth and made it clear that the Americans will not be satisfied with anything less than surrender... such an event will never happen," Mr Khamenei affirmed.

“The fact that the Islamic Republic has the ability to access important American centers in the region and can act against them whenever it deems necessary is not a small thing, it is a big thing, and it could be repeated in the future if an attack were to occur,” he added.

Asked on June 25 whether the United States would strike again if Iran resumed its nuclear enrichment program, President Trump replied “absolutely.” Tehran has for decades denied Western accusations that it is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Mr Khamenei said the US had "achieved nothing" after attacking Iran's nuclear facilities, and that Washington went to war to "save" Israel after Tehran's missiles penetrated its multi-layered defense system.

"The US went directly to war because it felt that if it did not intervene, Israel would be completely destroyed. It went to war to save them," he said. "The US attacked our nuclear facilities, but could not do anything important... The US president gave an extraordinary performance and he needed to do so."

President Trump claimed over the weekend that the US deployment of a 30,000-pound bomb had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, but an initial assessment from one of his administration’s intelligence agencies appears to contradict that claim.

On the Israeli side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also declared "a historic victory" on June 24 after the fragile ceasefire took effect, saying that Israel had achieved its goal of eliminating the nuclear and ballistic missile threat from Tehran.

Immediately after Mr. Khamenei's speech, Mr. Netanyahu posted a message with a photo of him and President Trump holding hands with the content: "We will continue to cooperate to defeat our common enemies."