Iran's supreme leader says his country has delivered "a good slap in the face to the United States."

BarcelonaIran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke Thursday for the first time since the end of the war with Israel, saying his country had delivered "a good slap in the face to the United States." In a televised address to the nation in which he took a firm stance against the White House, Khamenei stressed that the US "did not achieve any significant success" by attacking Iran's nuclear facilities. Furthermore, he criticized the Donald Trump has crafted an "unusually exaggerated" account of events in an attempt to "distort the truth."Instead, he took pride in the attack he launched on "one of the key US bases in the region," in Qatar, while Washington "tried to downplay it," he says.

Khamenei, who has declared Iran's victory against Israel, explained that Trump asked Iran to "surrender." A request that, according to the supreme leader, was "too big for the mouth of the president of the United States." "For a great country and nation like Iran, the mere mention of surrender is an insult," he said. For the leader of the ayatollahs, Trump has made it clear that Americans have been opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran from the beginning. In this sense, the leader criticized the United States for clinging to pretexts such as the nuclear program, women's rights, or human rights, when deep down they only want "Iran to surrender."

Precisely US attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities are under scrutiny this week, after the press leaked intelligence reports denying the destruction of the plants, and the CIA director came out to deny them, claiming that the impact of the projectiles had caused "severe damage."

This afternoon, the US Secretary of Defense provided details of the attacks on the Iranian facilities. Pete Hegseth insisted that the US bombing "absolutely destroyed" Tehran's nuclear capabilities and dodged the issue, stating that he was unaware of any reports suggesting that anyone had moved enriched uranium from the plants before the attack. The defense secretary vehemently defended what he called "the most complex and secretive military operation in US history" and lashed out at the press for echoing preliminary intelligence reports that estimated Iran's nuclear program would only be set back about six months, rather than years.

Challenge to the International Atomic Energy Agency

Meanwhile, Iran's Guardian Council approved this Thursday a plan for the Islamic Republic to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The measure, which still needs to be approved by the country's president to become effective, was approved on Wednesday by Parliament.

This represents a step backward in the negotiations with Washington over Iran's nuclear program, as the plan entails banning the IAEA from entering Iran and expelling all inspectors. Furthermore, Iran's state nuclear agency will be prohibited from sharing information or reports on Iran's nuclear program with the international body, which is precisely what the negotiations with the White House were trying to avoid.

The Guardian Council is made up of six Islamic experts chosen by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and six jurists elected by Parliament. However, the text stipulates that cooperation with the agency could resume if Iran is guaranteed the safety of its nuclear facilities and scientists—at least eleven have been killed in Israeli attacks—and if Iran is given the green light to continue enriching uranium.