A gravely injured Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a chilling message on Saturday amidst an uneasy truce with Israel, threatening that “Iran’s navy is ready to inflict new bitter defeats on enemies.”
The Iranian Armed Forces Day message comes from the newly minted Ayatollah who has not been seen since he took control of the regime after being maimed and losing a leg in the Feb. 28 US-Israeli airstrike that killed his father, Ali Khamenei.
Now, despite Iran negotiating a truce with Israel, the absentee Ayatollah is threatening to flex Iran’s heavily depleted military.
“Just as Iran’s drones strike like lightning against the US and Zionist criminals, Israel, the brave navy is also prepared to inflict new bitter defeat on enemies,” a post from Khamanei’s Telegram account read.
“The Army is like the nation’s child, which arises from within the heart of the people’s homes,” the shadowy cleric boasted in another post.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army is now courageously defending the land, water, and flag that belong to it,” another post stated.
“Iran’s Army is standing side by side with their comrades from other armed forces, battling the two leading armies of disbelief and Arrogance,” he wrote in another post referencing the US and Israel.
“And the Islamic Army has exposed those armies’ weakness and humiliation to the world,” Khamenei laughably claimed.
But Khamenei’s crowing rang hollow with President Trump, who has insisted that Iran’s military has been completed defeated.
“Their military is destroyed, their whole navy is underwater. One hundred fifty ships are gone, their navy is gone,” Trump told reporters outside Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on April 13.
“I think Iran is in very bad shape. I think they’re pretty desperate … We had a meeting that lasted 21 hours. We understand the situation better than anybody, and Iran’s in very bad shape.”
Khamenei’s saber rattling comes in the middle of a tenuous 10-day truce between Iran and Israel which is set to expire on April 22.
Iran’s military has been able to maintain control of the Strait of Hormuz, with the nation reimposing restrictions on the critical waterway on Saturday after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iran-linked ships.
The new restrictions come one day after Trump announced the US blockade on Tehran “will remain in full force.”