Tensions simmer in the Middle East as Iran’s streets fill with demonstrators decrying economic woes, while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei releases a scathing video message via the Iranian Embassy in India’s X account. Speaking amid threats from US President-elect Donald Trump, Khamenei gloated over America’s repeated defeats against the Islamic Republic.
‘They’ve done everything—military strikes, security breaches, economic sabotage, cultural wars, labor disruptions—but they’ve lost,’ Khamenei said. He highlighted four decades of unyielding opposition, claiming no nation has faced such comprehensive pressure yet emerged stronger. ‘Iran today is robust and thriving, against their will.’
Praising the Islamic governance model, Khamenei credited it for breakthroughs in key fields like science and international diplomacy, unlike fragile alternatives dependent on foreign powers. Iran’s leadership has pointed fingers at the US and Israel for stoking the current unrest that began late December, fueled by currency devaluation and skyrocketing costs of food and necessities.
In a drastic measure, Iranian officials severed internet and phone connections across the country over 60 hours ago to quell spreading violence, with services still offline. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi slammed Washington for encouraging riots, drawing parallels to interventions elsewhere.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf upped the ante, vowing retaliation against US forces and maritime assets if America meddles in the protests. With Israel potentially in the crosshairs, the world watches as verbal sparring risks igniting broader conflict, testing the limits of Iran’s defiance.