Iran would respond to any future U.S. attack by striking American military bases in the Middle East, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday, in his first televised remarks since a ceasefire was reached between Iran and Israel. Khamenei, 86, claimed victory after 12 days of war, culminating in an Iranian attack on the largest U.S. base in the region, located in Qatar, after Washington joined the Israeli strikes. “The Islamic Republic slapped America in the face. It attacked one of the important American bases in the region,” Khamenei said.
