Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei avoided commenting on Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election or issuing a response to Israel. Instead, he stated that the “various forms of jihad continuing strongly today in Lebanon and Palestine will inevitably lead to the victory of the Resistance Front.”
Khamenei remarked that the Axis of Resistance remains “strong despite the deaths of many top leaders within these groups,” alluding to figures such as Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of Hezbollah, his deputy Hashem Safieddine, as well as Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas, his successor Yahya Sinwar, and IRGC commander Abbas Nilforushan, who was killed in Beirut in September.
Khamenei’s official website quoted him addressing members of the Assembly of Experts after their semi-annual meeting, stating: “Some people, assuming that Hezbollah has weakened, have begun criticizing Hezbollah’s actions both within Lebanon and elsewhere.”
He added: “They are mistaken and lost in illusion.”
The Iranian leader also criticized the United States and several European countries for what he described as “their role in the crimes in Gaza and Lebanon.”
However, he steered clear of discussing the results of the US election. Meanwhile, Iranian media recirculated a video clip from early 2021, shortly after Joe Biden’s election victory and just days before the first anniversary of General Qassem Soleimani’s death, in which Khamenei commented that Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “have been consigned to the garbage heap of history.”
Khamenei made no mention of Iran’s recent threats of retaliation against Israel. Previously, on Saturday, he had pledged a “harsh response” to Israeli strikes on military sites, including missile facilities and radar systems.
In part of his speech, Khamenei discussed Hezbollah’s growing capabilities, asserting: “Hezbollah is strong and will inflict a clear defeat on the Zionist entity.”
He continued: “Based on Hezbollah’s and Hamas’ past experiences in conflict, recent events will undoubtedly lead to victory for the front of truth and resistance.”
“Hezbollah has developed remarkably, to the point that the enemy, despite being equipped with all types of physical, propaganda, and economic weaponry, has not been able to defeat it—and will not be able to,” Khamenei further statet.
He concluded that Israel’s goal in the war is “to eliminate Hamas, but despite committing massacres that have claimed tens of thousands of lives and killing Hamas leaders, they have not achieved this goal.”
