US gained nothing from strikes, Iran's supreme chief says

[ad_1] Jacqueline Howard & Adam Durbin BBC Information

Watch: Iran dealt "heavy blow" to US, says Khamenei

Iran's supreme chief has insisted the US "gained no achievements" from strikes on its nuclear services, in his first public tackle since a ceasefire with Israel was agreed on Tuesday.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei mentioned the strikes didn't "accomplish something important" to disrupt Iran's nuclear programme, and described the retaliation towards an American air base in Qatar as dealing a "heavy blow".

It got here as Washington doubled down on its evaluation that the strikes had severely set again Iran's nuclear capabilities.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned intelligence gathered by the US and Israel indicated the operation had "destroyed" the programme.

US President Donald Trump has mentioned the strikes towards three key nuclear websites inside Iran had "completely obliterated" them and responded furiously to reviews citing unnamed American officers suggesting the harm might have been much less intensive than anticipated.

Talking alongside senior common Dan Caine at a Pentagon press convention on Thursday morning, Hegseth mentioned the mission was a "historic success" that had "rendered [Iranian] enrichment services inoperable".

Throughout an at instances combative trade with reporters, Hegseth additionally mentioned the US was "not conscious of any intelligence" which indicated the enriched uranium had moved out of Fordo - the deeply buried facility which the US focused with highly effective so-called buster bombs - previous to the strikes.

Watch: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees Dan Caine reveals check footage of "bunker busters" utilized in Iran

Khamenei, who had been largely out of public view since direct battle with Israel broke out on 13 June, launched a televised tackle on Thursday morning, ending a week-long public silence.

The supreme chief has reportedly been sheltering in a bunker and limiting communications, which has sparked hypothesis about his whereabouts. Iranian authorities didn't disclose the place he was talking from on Thursday, although a senior official acknowledged he was in a secure place earlier this week.

Khamenei used Thursday's video tackle to threaten to hold out extra strikes on US bases within the Center East if Iran was attacked once more, and declared victory over each Israel and the US.

Khamenei mentioned Trump had "exaggerated" the impression of the nuclear website strikes, including: "They could not accomplish something and didn't obtain their goal."

Referencing the assault on the US' air base in Qatar, Khamenei mentioned: "This incident can be repeatable sooner or later, and will any assault happen, the price for the enemy and the aggressor will undoubtedly be very excessive."

Nobody was killed throughout that assault, which Trump mentioned had been flagged earlier than it was launched. The US says the bottom was not broken.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/0d40/live/17aef880-528b-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/0d40/live/17aef880-528b-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0d40/live/17aef880-528b-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/0d40/live/17aef880-528b-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/0d40/live/17aef880-528b-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/0d40/live/17aef880-528b-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/0d40/live/17aef880-528b-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0d40/live/17aef880-528b-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.png.webp" loading="eager" alt="Map of northern Iran showing three nuclear facilities hit by US weapons. The map shows Tehran in the north and, moving south, the three targets of Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. Fordo is annotated to say: “Bunker buster” bombs used on key nuclear site." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Direct confrontation broke out between Iran and Israel on 13 June, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned that "if not stopped, Iran may produce a nuclear weapon in a really brief time".

A day earlier the worldwide nuclear watchdog's board of governors declared Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the primary time in 20 years.

Iran has maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian functions alone and that it had by no means sought to develop a nuclear weapon.

On Thursday, Iran permitted a parliamentary invoice calling for an finish to the nation's co-operation with the Worldwide Atomic Power Company (IAEA), that means it's not dedicated to permitting nuclear inspectors into its websites.

Iran's well being ministry mentioned 610 individuals have been killed in the course of the 12 days of air assaults, whereas Israeli authorities mentioned 28 killed.

The US turned immediately concerned final weekend, hanging services in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, earlier than Trump sought to quickly mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

The ceasefire appeared shaky at first, with Iranian strikes and Israel earlier than an outburst from Trump

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi mentioned on Wednesday that there was an opportunity Tehran had moved a lot of its extremely enriched uranium elsewhere because it got here beneath assault.