Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has warned Iranians against internal divisions, claiming that the United States and Israel, having failed militarily, have now shifted their focus toward destabilising Iran from within.
Speaking in a message released Thursday to mark the 37th anniversary of the death of Islamic Republic founder Imam Khomeini, Khamenei declared that Iran’s enemies had suffered a “profound and meaningful humiliation” on the battlefield and were now resorting to what he called hybrid warfare tactics.
“The malicious enemy, having been defeated in its confrontation with your brave sons in the Armed Forces… has concentrated its efforts on two objectives: weakening the people’s resilience and creating miscalculations among the country’s officials,” he said.
In a written message, Khamenei said the “oppressive system” led by the United States cannot accept a strong and independent Iran and described Israel as a “fabricated outpost” of that system.
Khamenei described the United States as the driving force behind an “oppressive system of domination” and characterised Israel as a “fabricated military outpost” created nearly 80 years ago to serve that system’s interests in the region. He argued that this system fundamentally cannot tolerate a strong, independent Iran sitting on what he called the eastern border of a so-called Greater Israel project.
According to Khamenei, the enemy’s primary weapons in this new phase are psychological, sowing doubt, despair, fear, and discord among ordinary Iranians and their leadership. He called on all Iranians to counter these efforts through unity, vigilance, and mutual trust, warning that anyone who spreads cynicism or pessimism, even unintentionally ,is effectively doing the enemy’s work.
“Any act that causes pessimism and disappointment among the people is considered a kind of aid to the enemy of this country and its people,” he said.
The message carried weight not just for its content but its timing. It was delivered before millions of Iranians gathered at Imam Khomeini’s mausoleum in southern Tehran, where mourners from across the country and devotees from abroad came together to mark the occasion and reaffirm their allegiance to the ideals of the 1979 Revolution.
Khamenei’s remarks come at a particularly tense moment, with US-Iran nuclear negotiations currently deadlocked and both sides trading barbs over frozen funds, enriched uranium stockpiles, and regional security.
His statement, at the moment, as a post-military-victory phase, rather than a period of ongoing vulnerability, appears aimed squarely at shoring up domestic morale and projecting confidence at a time when economic pressure and diplomatic uncertainty continue to weigh heavily on the Iranian public.
