Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei claims Israel’s June airstrikes aimed to collapse Iran’s system, while warning of more powerful retaliation against the U.S. and its allies.
In a sharply worded statement on Wednesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel of orchestrating last month’s 12-day military offensive with the intent to destabilize the Islamic Republic and provoke regime collapse through civil unrest.
Speaking to top judiciary officials, Khamenei claimed the strikes were “calculated to paralyze the state” by eliminating key figures and hitting high-value targets within Iran. “Their aim was to break the backbone of the system and spark protests that would bring people to the streets,” he said, as reported by AFP and excerpts posted to his official website.
The allegations come in the wake of Israel’s intense aerial campaign launched on June 13, which resulted in the deaths of several senior Iranian military leaders and nuclear experts. During the strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News that the operation “certainly could” catalyze political change in Iran, adding that “the Iranian regime is very weak”—though he stopped short of declaring regime change as a direct objective.
Further escalating the regional crisis, the United States launched precision strikes on June 22 against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz. Iran retaliated quickly, firing missiles at the U.S. Al-Udeid Airbase in Qatar. Khamenei hailed Iran’s response as a “major blow” and ominously warned, “far stronger strikes can be delivered to the U.S. and its partners.”
In contrast, U.S. President Donald Trump sought to downplay the severity of Iran’s retaliation at the time, stating that Tehran had given “early notice” of the missile attack and dismissed it as “very weak.”
The back-and-forth raises growing concerns about the possibility of sustained escalation in the region, as both Iran and Israel double down on military posturing and the U.S. continues to flex its strategic influence over Iran’s nuclear trajectory.
