In his first public speech since Tehran launched a massive drone and missile attack on Israel last week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the “success” of the country’s armed forces.
Khamenei praised the armed forces’ “successes in recent incidents” during a meeting with Iran’s top military commanders on Sunday. He was referring to the Iranian air strikes on Israel on April 13.
“The armed forces demonstrated a good image of their capabilities and strength, as well as an admirable image of the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said. “They also proved the strength of the Iranian nation’s determination at the international level,” he added.
Israel says that 99% of the more than 300 drones and missiles launched by Tehran at it with the help of the United States and other allies were intercepted by Israel, and that the intercepted aircraft caused only minor damage.
Satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press on Saturday corroborated the Israeli information.
Khamenei downplayed airstrikes by Israel and its allies against Iran, saying “the question of the number of missiles launched or the missiles that hit their targets” was “minor.”
According to its official website, “the main issue is the manifestation of the willpower of the Iranian nation and armed forces on the international stage.”
Iran’s foreign minister on Friday played down Israeli retaliatory strikes against Iran, saying the weapons used by Israel were more like children’s toys.
“What happened last night was not a strike,” Foreign Affairs Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told NCB News during an appearance at the U.N. Security Council meeting.
“They are more like toys for our kids to play with than drones,” he said.
The foreign minister said Iran had no plans to respond unless Israel launched a major attack.
His comments helped calm concerns about an imminent escalation of hostilities between the two countries that could lead to an all-out war in the wider region.
Friday’s Israeli attack was in retaliation for an unprecedented Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel, which Khamenei also downplayed, and itself a response to the April 1 attack on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus, Syria. Air raid retaliation.
The attack, widely blamed on Israel, destroyed the Iranian consulate and killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals.
Information for this report was obtained in part from The Associated Press, AFP and Reuters.
