Iran's Supreme Leader takes chilling swipe at US – still not seen in public during war

Iran’s Supreme Leader has taken a chilling swipe at the US – but still hasn’t been seen in public since the start of the war more than three months ago.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement that the “malicious enemy” has been defeated with “a decisive blow”. The message was read out on Thursday during a ceremony marking the 37th anniversary of the Islamic Republic’s founder Ruhollah Khomeini’s death, and said: “I tell the dear Iranian nation that the malicious enemy … is now experiencing a profound and meaningful humiliation, both on the military battlefield and in the public arena and it is now focused on trickery.

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“The system of domination, which created a garrison called Israel nearly 80 years ago, does not accept the existence of a strong and independent Iran, endowed with various advantages, on the eastern frontier of the false and fictitious geography of ‘Greater Israel’ — east of the Euphrates.”

Iran’s new Supreme Leader has reportedly not been seen in public since his appointment in March and many reports suggested he sustained serious injuries in the strikes.