Khamenei warns Israel faces 'bitter and painful fate'
Khamenei warns Israel faces 'bitter and painful fate'
Onlookers gather in front of a building damaged in an Israeli strike on the Iranian capital Tehran. Photo: AFP
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Israel will face 'severe punishment' over its attack on his country.
Khamenei's statement was carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. It confirmed that top military officials and scientists had been killed in the attack.
"The Zionist regime [Israel] unleashed its wicked and bloody hand in a crime against Iran this morning and revealed its vile nature. With this attack, the Zionist regime has prepared a bitter fate for itself, which it will definitely receive," Khamenei said.
Earlier, an Iranian armed forces spokesperson said Israel and the United States will pay a "heavy price" following the attack.
Iranian state television quoted the spokesperson as saying that Israel had carried out attacks against Iran with US support.
It comes after Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that Israel had fully coordinated with and notified Washington before the strike.
The spokesperson for the United Nations chief, Antonio Guterres, said that the Secretary-General "is particularly concerned by Israeli attacks on nuclear installations in Iran while talks between Iran and the United States on the status of Iran's nuclear programme are underway."
"The Secretary-General asks both sides to show maximum restraint, avoiding at all costs a descent into deeper conflict, a situation that the region can hardly afford."
Oman, which is mediating those talks said it considers the Israeli strikes as "a dangerous, reckless escalation, representing a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter."
It added that it "holds Israel responsible for this escalation and its consequences, and calls upon the international community to adopt a firm and unequivocal stance to halt this dangerous course of action".
Australia and New Zealand's governments have also condemned the Israeli strikes.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was 'alarmed by the escalation' between Israel and Iran, which she said risked further destabilising an already volatile region.
New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the strikes were 'a huge concern' for his government and 'potentially catastrophic' for the Middle East. 'The risk of miscalculation is high,' he said.
The two countries were among five that enacted travel and financial sanctions on two far-right Israeli government ministers on Wednesday, accusing them of 'inciting extremist violence' against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, meanwhile, will hold an economic security meeting on Friday to discuss Israel's strike on Iran, media there reported. (Reuters/AP)
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Last updated: 2026-06-13 HKT 12:13
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