Iran’s Supreme Leader Condemns U.S. in First Public Speech Since Ceasefire

In his first public remarks since the ceasefire agreement that paused weeks of escalating violence across the Middle East, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a fiery and defiant speech on Thursday, directly attacking the United States and its regional allies. The 85-year-old leader described the U.S. as the “primary architect of chaos” and hailed Iran’s resilience as a symbol of Islamic strength and resistance.

The address, delivered from Tehran’s Grand Mosalla complex during Friday prayers, was attended by thousands of supporters waving Iranian flags and portraits of the late Qassem Soleimani. The crowd erupted in chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” as Khamenei took the podium for what analysts are calling one of his most aggressive speeches in recent years.

A Message of Victory and Defiance

“The American regime, with all its money, missiles, and military bases, has failed once again to subdue the will of our people and the spirit of the resistance,” Khamenei declared. “They tried to save the Zionist regime from collapse, but they only exposed their own vulnerability.”

Referring to the U.S. deployment of naval and air forces to the Persian Gulf during the recent conflict, Khamenei accused Washington of “igniting war under the guise of peace” and manipulating ceasefire negotiations to favor Israel’s security interests over regional justice.

“The so-called peace talks were nothing but American attempts to reset the battlefield,” he said. “But the resistance cannot be extinguished by agreements signed in foreign embassies.”

Ceasefire Context

The recent ceasefire, mediated by the United Nations and supported by Qatar and Turkey, brought a temporary halt to hostilities that saw missile exchanges between Iranian-aligned militias and Israeli forces, drone attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria, and heightened tensions in the Red Sea. While Iran officially denied direct involvement in certain attacks, it maintained its support for groups like Hezbollah and the Houthis, calling their actions “legitimate responses to Zionist aggression.”

In Washington, U.S. officials welcomed the ceasefire but cautioned that Iran remained a destabilizing force. “We want to reduce tensions, but Iran must stop fueling proxies and abide by international norms,” Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield said earlier this week.

Khamenei’s speech dismissed such statements as hypocritical. “The Americans speak of peace while their hands are stained with the blood of innocent Palestinians, Syrians, and Yemenis,” he said.

A Shift in Tone and Strategy

Khamenei’s appearance comes after weeks of speculation about his health and possible internal divisions within Iran’s ruling elite. Some Western analysts had interpreted his silence during the peak of the conflict as a sign of political pressure or health-related retreat. But Thursday’s speech — energetic, hour-long, and unscripted — seemed aimed at dispelling such doubts.

He praised the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and called their recent cyberattacks on U.S. military networks “an act of strategic brilliance.”

“This war was not fought just on the battlefield,” Khamenei said. “It was fought in the skies, in cyberspace, in the hearts of our youth. And in every arena, we held our ground.”

He also warned regional governments that had supported the U.S.-led coalition: “Those who welcomed American bombers today will one day face the flames they helped ignite.”

Implications for U.S.-Iran Relations

The speech marks a serious setback for diplomatic hopes in Washington, where President Harris’s administration had recently expressed interest in restarting nuclear negotiations. The 2025 ceasefire had raised hopes that Tehran might return to the negotiation table under a new framework that expanded beyond nuclear concerns to include regional stability and missile development.

But Khamenei’s rhetoric suggested no such shift. “Negotiations with the enemy are a trap,” he declared. “We do not negotiate with those who seek our destruction.”

Diplomatic sources inside Iran told The World Ledger that President Ebrahim Raisi, who has taken a harder line since the conflict began, is unlikely to oppose Khamenei’s stance.

“Raisi was elected to carry the banner of the revolution forward,” said Dr. Samira Rouhani, a political analyst at the University of Tehran. “He will not move without Khamenei’s blessing, and this speech signals that confrontation — not conciliation — is still the dominant narrative.”

Regional and Global Reactions

Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid responded swiftly to the Supreme Leader’s address, calling it “a tired performance by a dictator clinging to relevance.” Meanwhile, Hezbollah’s secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah praised the speech, stating it showed Iran “stands firmly with all resistance movements.”

China and Russia, two of Iran’s most strategic partners, have so far remained quiet, likely weighing how the Supreme Leader’s harsh language might affect ongoing multipolar diplomatic balancing in the region.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres urged all parties to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric and focus on humanitarian recovery. “Words can fuel wars just as easily as missiles,” he warned.

Looking Ahead

Khamenei concluded his speech with a warning and a promise: “Let the world hear this — we are not tired, we are not broken, and we will never bow to imperialist powers. The resistance is eternal.”

While the ceasefire remains intact for now, Thursday’s speech may harden positions on all sides and set the tone for the next phase of U.S.-Iran tensions. Whether this leads to renewed conflict, frozen diplomacy, or back-channel bargaining remains to be seen.

One thing, however, is clear: Ayatollah Khamenei has no intention of stepping away quietly from the geopolitical spotlight.