Iran's supreme leader Khamenei warns US and Israel of 'crushing response'

Tehran's response 'will be wise, powerful and beyond the enemy’s comprehension'

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei greets the crowd during a meeting with Iranian students in Tehran, on November 2. EPA

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the US and Israel they will “undoubtedly receive a crushing response” for their actions against his country.

“Enemies, including America and the Zionist regime, should know that they will undoubtedly receive a crushing response for what they do against Iran and the resistance front,” Mr Khamenei said in an X post on Saturday.

He made the comments during a speech to students before the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran. Hardline students had led the act, shortly after the Islamic revolution that ousted the US-backed Shah.

Regional tensions have risen since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, drawing in those Iran-aligned groups and others from Iraq and Syria. Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel exchanged cross-border fire for about a year after an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year by Hamas militants.

On October 26, Israel conducted air strikes on military sites in Iran in response to Tehran's October 1 attack on Israel, itself retaliation for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander. At least four soldiers were killed in the attack which Iran said caused “limited damage” to a few radar systems. Iranian media said a civilian was also killed.

Mr Khamenei paid tribute to those killed, saying their efforts in confronting Israel “will not be forgotten”.

Israel has warned Iran against responding to Israel's attack. On Friday, the US announced the deployment of additional military assets to the Middle East, including ballistic missile defence destroyers and long-range B-52 bomber aircraft, serving as a warning to Iran as it and Israel trade retaliatory strikes.

Mr Khamenei said Iran was “certainly doing everything that should be done to prepare the Iranian nation, whether in terms of military, in terms of weapons, or in terms of political work”.

On Saturday, Gen Mohammad Ali Naini, a spokesman for Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard that controls the ballistic missiles needed to strike Israel, warned that Iran's response “will be wise, powerful and beyond the enemy’s comprehension.” He made the comments in an interview with the semi-official Fars news agency just before Mr Khamenei's remarks were released.

“The enemy should learn that it cannot commit any evil,” Mr Naini was quoted by the Fars news agency as saying. “It will undoubtedly receive a crushing response to its evildoing.”

Iran will mark the 45th anniversary of the US Embassy hostage crisis on Sunday, following the Persian calendar. The November 4, 1979 storming of the embassy by students led to the 444-day crisis, leading to the strained relationship between Tehran and Washington.