Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a strong warning to the United States and Israel on Monday, as the conflict between Iran and Israel entered the eleventh day with mounting civilian deaths and attacks on strategic infrastructure, including Iran’s nuclear plants.
In a strongly worded post on X (formerly Twitter), Khamenei wrote, “The punishment continues. The Zionist enemy has made a big mistake, committed a big crime; it must be punished and it is being punished; it is being punished right now.” The comments followed escalating tensions after US airstrikes struck three nuclear facilities in Iran.
Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, addressed an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Sunday, called after U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure. He accused Washington of sabotaging diplomacy and taking the region to the verge of all-out war. “The United States chose to annihilate diplomacy with these attacks. Iran had constantly alerted the belligerent US regime against rushing into this quagmire,” Iravani stated. He went on to blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for tricking US President Donald Trump into acting in Israel’s strategic goals, saying that the US is engaged in yet another “expensive and unfounded war.” At Sunday’s UN Security Council meeting, Iravani criticized US and Israeli conduct as “a gross and manifest violation of international law.” He again claimed that Iran never abandoned the negotiating table, pushing back against Western claims that Tehran had withdrawn from diplomacy. “What is the conclusion one can draw from all this?” Iravani asked. “From the point of view of the Western nations, Iran has to ‘go back to the negotiating table’. But as the Iranian foreign minister retorted, how can Iran go back to something it never did?” he added.
Death Toll Mounts: 950 Dead, 3,450 Injured In Iran
The Washington-based Human Rights Activists reported on Monday that at least 950 individuals have been killed and 3,450 injured in Iran since Israeli airstrikes commenced earlier this month. The organisation said it had confirmed the deaths of 380 civilians and 253 members of Iran’s security forces, with the remaining still being identified. Although Iran’s government has not put out regular casualty reports, its Health Ministry admitted Saturday that 400 have been killed and more than 3,000 wounded.
The conflict has raised global concerns internationally, with both sides fearing it could spread outside of Iran and Israel and draw the larger Middle East into war. Several global leaders have called for restraint, but the situation keeps deteriorating. Iranian military and political leadership are still defiant, saying that any future attacks will be strategic, proportionate, and measured. As global attention turns to the region, the prospects for diplomacy appear dim-replaced by a dangerous cycle of strikes and counterstrikes, with civilians increasingly caught in the crossfire.