Iran’s Khamenei: Impact of Israeli strikes ‘should neither be downplayed nor exaggerated’

In his first public comments since Israel’s airstrikes on military targets in the early hours of yesterday morning, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei says Tehran officials should determine how best to respond.

According to the state IRNA news outlet, Khamenei says Israel has “made an error of calculation” and the strikes “should neither be downplayed nor exaggerated.”

Israel “should understand the strength, will and initiative of the Iranian nation,” Khamenei says in the statement.

Israel’s widespread airstrikes in Iran yesterday crippled Tehran’s ability to produce long-range ballistic missiles in a blow that will be hard and time-consuming to recover from, and rendered crucial energy facilities vulnerable to future attacks by destroying air defense batteries protecting them, according to multiple reports citing Israeli, American and Iranian officials, as well as satellite images analyzed by experts.