Trump-Iran latest: Supreme leader claims ‘victory’ ahead of US news conference defending strikes on nuclear sites

In comments on X, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei claimed his regime beat Israel during the 12-day war.

“With all that commotion and all those claims, the Zionist regime was practically knocked out and crushed under the blows of the Islamic Republic,” the post said.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the US entered the war to save Israel.

He said the US felt that if it did not enter the war, Irsael would be completely destroyed, according to Reuters.

President Donald Trump has announced that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will host a press conference on Thursday “in order to fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots” amid the ongoing row over the extent of the damage done to Iran’s nuclear facilities during Saturday’s B-2 bombing raid.

“These Patriots were very upset! After 36 hours of dangerously flying through Enemy Territory, they landed, they knew the Success was LEGENDARY, and then, two days later, they started reading Fake News by CNN and The Failing New York Times. They felt terribly!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The administration was quick to declare that “Operation Midnight Hammer” – which saw the U.S. join Israel’s offensive against Tehran by dropping “bunker-busting” Mass Ordnance Penetrator bombs on its Fordo, Natanz, and Esfahan facilities – had been a complete success and “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has celebrated Iran’s “victory” over Israel in a post on X.

“I offer my congratulations on the victory over the fallacious Zionist regime,” he said.

Families of hostages held in Gaza say now is the perfect time to put pressure on Hamas to release them, after the US strikes on Iran gave hope that there is a window of opportunity to secure their freedom.

Over the past four decades, Iran built up a network of militant proxy groups it called the “Axis of Resistance” that wielded significant power across the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and militias in Iraq and Syria.

Hamas may have envisioned the October 7, 2023, attack as a catalyst that would see other Iranian-sponsored militants attack Israel. While Hezbollah and the Houthis launched projectiles toward Israel, the support Hamas had counted on never fully materialized. In the past two years, many of those Iranian proxies have been decimated, changing the face of the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s involvement in securing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran has also given many hostage families hope that he might exert more pressure for a deal in Gaza.

The Israeli government team coordinating hostage negotiations has told the families it now sees a window of opportunity that could force Hamas to be “more flexible in their demands,” said Liran Berman, whose twin brother has been held captive in Gaza for 629 days.

“Now it’s the time to pressure them and tell them, look, you are on your own. No one is coming to your help. This is it,” Berman said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will deliver a televised address shortly, according to his official X account.

Donald Trump vowed to “save” Benjamin Netanyahu as he hit out at the Israeli prime minister’s “witch-hunt” corruption trial.

Trump claimed Israel’s prime minister was a “great hero” and “warrior” who faced politically motivated charges and called for the trial to be cancelled.

The president’s intervention comes as Netanyahu’s cross-examination, which began on 4 June, is set to resume on Monday. He faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust and denies all of them.

“Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Netanyahu was indicted in 2019. He pleaded not guilty after the trial, involving three criminal cases, began in 2020.

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The Pakistani government’s support for Donald Trump’s personal quest to win a Nobel Peace Prize has caused a political firestorm in the country, with many calling on prime minister Shehbaz Sharif to rescind the nomination in the wake of the US bombing of Iran.

Opposition leaders, activists, and civil society members have denounced the nomination of the American president for the prestigious peace award as an act of “crass flattery” and national humiliation.

Its nomination of the US president for the peace award has put Pakistan in an awkward diplomatic position. Islamabad has staunchly and consistently supported the Palestinian cause and stayed firmly on the side of its neighbour Tehran throughout its conflict with Israel.

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