Iran’s supreme leader broke months of silence Thursday with a written declaration that his country had defeated the United States and Israel, a claim that landed amid stalled negotiations, fresh violence across the region, and growing questions about whether the man issuing it remains in control.

“The malicious enemy has been defeated in its confrontation with the Armed Forces,” the statement attributed to Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei declared. “Since it has received a decisive blow both in military combat and in [Iran’s] public squares and streets, it’s experiencing a profound, significant humiliation.”

The circumstances of the message’s delivery told their own story. Khamenei has not been seen in public since being wounded in the strikes that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, in the opening salvo of the US-Israeli bombing campaign on February 28. Every June 4 since 1989, the elder Khamenei had personally delivered the speech marking the death of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. This year, an empty chair bearing his portrait stood at the mausoleum while a prayer leader read the message aloud.

The triumphant tone contrasted sharply with the state of play. Iran’s own government reported “no tangible progress” in negotiations to end the conflict, and weeks of talks marked by threats and flare-ups of violence have failed to produce a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for global energy flows.

Analysts noted the message may be aimed less at Washington than at Iranians themselves. Khamenei accused the enemy of seeking to “plant the seeds of doubt, despair, fear, mistrust and division” among the public, and called for unity to “neutralize their sinister plot.”

The unexpected victory proclamation may signal an approaching peace deal, for which he appears to be preparing the Iranian nation. A leader who has declared the war won can more easily sign the agreement that ends it.

Washington, meanwhile, is speaking in two voices. President Donald Trump again voiced optimism, telling reporters a deal “could happen” soon, and reports indicate the administration is demanding the signing of a deal in Geneva next week. But Trump also told reporters Thursday that the US does not need an agreement at all to secure Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, saying America could “get it right now” and that the material is “entombed” under constant surveillance. The Wall Street Journal reported this week, citing US officials, that Trump told aides he will only end the ceasefire with Iran if Tehran kills American troops.

The gaps between the sides remain wide. Tehran insists any arrangement must address the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon, and is demanding access to “liquid cash” from billions in frozen assets as part of the first phase of any agreement. Intermediaries have spent days trying to bridge the differences. Washington is pressing Iran to reopen Hormuz, curb nuclear activity, and address its highly enriched uranium stockpile.

The political ground in Washington is shifting as well. The US House of Representatives passed a resolution seeking to halt American military action in Iran, a symbolic but pointed rebuke of Trump’s handling of the war.

On the ground, the conflict continued to smolder. An Iranian drone attack on Kuwait’s airport killed one person and suspended flights this week, and the US embassy in Jerusalem warned citizens that the “security environment can change quickly,” advising them to locate their nearest shelter.

The declaration of victory also came a day before CNN revealed the scope of what Iran absorbed during the war: a covert network of Israeli bases in Azerbaijan, Iraq, the UAE, and Somaliland that placed elite forces along three sides of Iran’s periphery and enabled sustained strikes deep inside the country.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)