Khamenei: US will suffer 'irreparable damage' in case of military action against Iran

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cautioned the United States of "irreparable damage" it will suffer in case of American military action against Iran, stressing that the Iranian nation will never surrender.

In a televised message on Wednesday, Khamenei said the country will strongly fight the imposed war in the same way that it will stand against an imposed peace, emphasizing that Ian will not surrender to anything imposed by anybody.

Speaking about Khamenei, US President Donald Trump said in a message on Truth Social platform: "We know exactly where the supreme leader is hiding," he wrote. "We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now ... Our patience is wearing thin."

Three minutes later he posted, "Unconditional surrender!"

His message is construed by many outsiders as indicating an aggressive posture of joining Israel in military operation against Iran, which will certainly please the Israeli cabinet.

Dismissing the threatening comments by the US president, Ayatollah Khamenei said the wise individuals that are familiar with the Iranian nation and history would never talk to Iran with the language of threat, because it is impossible for the Iranian nation to surrender.

He warned that the Americans must bear in mind that any military engagement against Iran will undoubtedly inflict irreparable damages on them, Iran's Tasnim News Agency reported.

The US is deploying more fighter jets and air carriers to the Middle East, and Trump and his team were considering a few options, including joining Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Reuters cited three US officials as sources.

Khamenei praised the Iranian nation for its decent, courageous and timely behavior in the face of the "stupid and evil" act of aggression by Israel.

He hailed the Iranian people's reaction as a sign of growth and the consistency of its rationality and spirituality.

Earlier, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) said Iran has sent a message to the Israeli regime's warmongering ally, the United States, by striking Israeli targets with a new advanced hypersonic missile.

The I.R.G.C. said in a news release early on Wednesday, following the 11th wave of punitive Iranian strikes on Israel, that first-generation Fattah missiles, used in the latest salvo, repeatedly penetrated Israeli air defenses and "sent the message of Iran's might to Tel Aviv's warmongering ally, which has delusional wishes," Iran's IRNA agency reported.

Hours earlier, Iran began hitting Israeli targets. Footage captured from inside the occupied territories showed Iranian missiles making impact on ground targets, and the Israeli "Iron Dome" system was seen malfunctioning for a second night in a row and lobbing presumably defense projectiles onto Tel Aviv and causing fires.