The Third Television Message Addressed to the Iranian Nation Following the Attack of the Zionist Regime

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Greetings and abundant blessings to the dear and great nation of Iran. First, I pay tribute to the esteemed martyrs of the recent events; the martyr commanders, the martyr scholars who were truly and justly valuable for the Islamic Republic and served, and today they receive the reward for their outstanding services in the presence of the Lord, God willing.

I find it necessary to congratulate the great nation of Iran. I extend several congratulations to the nation: One is the congratulations on the victory over the fake Zionist regime. The Zionist regime, with all its noise and claims, has been nearly defeated and crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic. The thought that such blows could be inflicted on the regime by the Islamic Republic never crossed their minds, and it happened. We thank God for helping our armed forces, who were able to penetrate their advanced multi-layered defense and level many of their urban and military areas to the ground with the pressure of their missiles and the strong assault of their advanced weapons! This is one of the greatest divine blessings; it indicates that the Zionist regime should know that aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran comes at a cost, it incurs costs for them, and creates a heavy burden for them. And thanks be to God, this event occurred; the honor belongs to our armed forces and our dear people who created, trained, supported these armed forces from within themselves and strengthened their hands to carry out such a great task.

The second congratulations pertains to our dear Iran's victory over the American regime. The American regime entered into direct war because it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed. It entered the war to save it, yet it achieved nothing from this war. They attacked our nuclear facilities — which, of course, is independently worthy of legal pursuit in international courts — but they could not accomplish anything significant. The President of the United States exaggerated in describing what had happened; it became clear that he needed this exaggeration; anyone who heard those words understood that beneath the surface of these statements lies another truth. They could not achieve their intended goals, and they exaggerate to cover up the truth and keep it hidden. Here too, the Islamic Republic emerged victorious, and conversely, the Islamic Republic dealt a heavy blow to the United States; it attacked one of the important American bases in the region, Al-Udeid, and inflicted damages. Those who had exaggerated in that matter tried to downplay this incident, claiming nothing happened, while a significant event had indeed occurred. That the Islamic Republic has access to important American centers in the region and can act against them whenever deemed necessary is not a small incident; it is a significant event, and in the future, this incident can be repeated; should an aggression occur, the cost for the enemy and the aggressor will certainly be high.

The third congratulations is for the extraordinary unity and solidarity of the Iranian nation. Thanks be to God, a nation of about ninety million people stood united, in one voice, shoulder to shoulder, without any differences in their demands and objectives expressed, they stood firm, shouted slogans, spoke out, and supported the actions of the armed forces, and this will continue. The Iranian nation demonstrated its nobility, its distinguished and outstanding character in this matter and showed that when necessary, one voice will be heard from this nation, and thanks be to God, this event occurred.

The point I want to present as a fundamental aspect of my remarks is that the President of the United States, in one of his statements, said Iran must surrender. "Surrender!" The discussion is no longer about enrichment, it is no longer about the nuclear industry, it is about the surrender of Iran. Of course, this statement is very grand for the mouth of the President of the United States. The magnificent Iran, Iran with this history, Iran with this culture, Iran with this steel resolve, the term "surrender" for such a country is a source of mockery for those who know the Iranian nation. However, this statement revealed a truth; the Americans have been in opposition to the Islamic Iran since the beginning of the revolution, they are grappling, and each time they have a pretext: once it is human rights, once it is defending democracy, once it is women's rights, once it is enrichment, once it is the core issue of the nuclear matter, once it is the issue of missile development; they bring various excuses, but the essence of the matter is nothing more than the "surrender of Iran." Previous ones did not say this because it is unacceptable; it is unacceptable in any human logic to tell a nation to come and surrender, thus they concealed it under other titles. This person revealed that truth, showed and made it clear that the Americans are only satisfied with the surrender of Iran and nothing less. And this is an important point! The Iranian nation should know that this is the reason for the opposition to America, and this great insult to the Iranian nation is what the Americans are doing, and such an event will never happen; it will never happen.

The Iranian nation is a great nation, Iran is a strong and vast country, Iran has an ancient civilization; our cultural and civilizational wealth is hundreds of times greater than that of America and similar countries. That someone expects Iran to surrender to another country is one of those nonsensical statements that will certainly be a source of mockery for wise and knowledgeable individuals. The Iranian nation is dear and will remain dear, it is victorious and will continue to be victorious by divine grace. And we hope that the Almighty God always preserves this nation under His grace with dignity and honor, elevates the ranks of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), and makes the presence of the Awaited Savior (may our souls be sacrificed for him) pleased and satisfied with this nation, and may His support be a backing for this nation.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.