Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei makes the remarks during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the death of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in northern Iran last year, in Tehran, Iran, on May 20, 2025.
Anadolu | Getty Images
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday threatened the U.S. with “irreparable damage” if Washington follows through with a military strike against the Middle Eastern country.
“Any American military entry will undoubtedly be met with irreparable damage,” Khamenei said, according to NBC News reporting. He added that America’s potential involvement in Iran “will 100% backfire” and that “the damage they suffer will be far worse than anything Iran may face. If they enter militarily, they will face harm that they cannot recover from.”
CNBC has reached out to the White House for comment.
Iran and Tehran have been trading missile fire since the Jewish state on Friday launched an attack against Iran, saying it primarily targeted the Iranian nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency on Wednesday said two nuclear centrifuge production facilities in Iran were hit.
Trump on Tuesday warned the patience of the U.S. — a historically close ally and weapons provider of Israel — was “wearing thin,” noting that Khamenei is an “easy target.”
“We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform, stressing the White House does not want missiles “shot at civilians, or American soldiers” but nevertheless aims for Tehran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
Khamenei resisted the notion on Wednesday, saying “the Iranian people are not a people who can be forced into surrender.”
Under Trump’s second administration, the White House has been attempting to broker a deal over Iran’s nuclear program, with talks so far yet to bear fruit. Washington has previously insisted it was not directly involved in the hostilities, but Trump’s latest comments have stoked speculation over a change in strategy — and a potential direct U.S. military attack against Iranian sites.
“From the beginning, it was suspected that America was involved, and now, with their own officials’ words, this suspicion is growing stronger,” Khamenei said.
Tensions between the two historical Middle Eastern foes have been running high since the October 2023 attack on Israeli territory carried out by Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israel has since accused Iran of offensives undertaken through its network of regional allies that also include Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi groups. Tehran denies involvement.
Amid ongoing fire exchanges, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday said in a Google-translated social media update that “a tornado passes over Tehran” and “this is how dictatorships collapse.”
Earlier in the week, leaders of the world’s group of seven (G7) most advanced economies had labeled Iran a “principal source of regional instability and terror” in the Middle East and jointly called for “broader de-escalation of hostilities” regionally. Speaking on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Israel is doing “the dirty work” for the Western world, according to Google-translated comments carried by German outlet ZDF.
Markets have been avidly watching developments in the conflict, which threatens to envelop the broader oil-rich Middle East region and has driven investors to safe-haven assets, such as gold.
