\n<\/p>\n
Pete Hegseth\u2019s remarks come a day after Khamenei pledged to keep fighting in first statement since he was named leader.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>3 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has claimed that Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been wounded in US-Israeli attacks on the country.<\/p>\n<p>During a news conference at the Pentagon on Friday, Hegseth said Khamenei \u201cis wounded and likely disfigured\u201d.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cHe put our statement yesterday \u2013 a weak one actually \u2013 but there was no voice, and there was no video. It was a written statement,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon chief did not provide evidence for his assessment, and Iran has not given any details about Khamenei\u2019s condition. Iranian leaders also did not immediately respond to Hegseth\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei on Thursday issued his first public statement since taking over as supreme leader following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on February 28, the first day of the United States and Israeli assault on Iran.<\/p>\n<p>In written remarks that were read out on Iranian state television, Khamenei said Iran would attack all US bases in the region unless they were shuttered immediately and pledged to maintain the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would like to thank the brave fighters who are doing a great job at a time when our country is under pressure and under attack,\u201d said the Iranian leader, who has not been seen publicly since the war began.<\/p>\n<p>US President Donald Trump had said earlier this week that he was \u201cnot happy\u201d with the appointment of Khamenei as Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, suggesting that he may be targeted and killed like his father.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to last. I think they made a mistake,\u201d the US president said on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>At least 1,444 people have been killed and 18,551 injured in US-Israeli attacks on Iran since the war began late last month, according to the latest figures from Iran\u2019s Health Ministry.<\/p>\n<p>While the US and Israel have said they are targeting Iranian leaders as well as military and nuclear infrastructure, Iran says thousands of civilian sites, such as schools and hospitals, have been attacked.<\/p>\n<p>During his address on Friday, Hegseth said that US and Israeli attacks have struck more than 15,000 Iranian targets since February 28.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re shooting down and destroying what missiles they still have in stock, but more importantly, ensuring that they have no ability to make more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir production lines, their military plants, their defence innovation centres \u2013 defeated. Iran\u2019s leadership is in no better shape. Desperate and hiding, they have gone underground, cowering. That is what rats do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier on Friday, Iran\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian and top Iranian security official Ali Larijani were seen at a mass al-Quds Day demonstration in the capital, Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said Hegseth\u2019s remarks were aimed primarily at a US audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHegseth is clearly trying to project \u2026 confidence and success, trying to reassure the American citizenry,\u201d Elmasry told Al Jazeera, noting that recent opinion polls show that many people in the US are opposed to the war in Iran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[The war] is very unpopular. People are seeing gas prices rise. Now Americans [US service members] are being killed \u2026 and so Hegseth and Trump are trying to project confidence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pete Hegseth\u2019s remarks come a day after Khamenei pledged to keep fighting in first statement since he was named leader. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a03 mins info United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has claimed that Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been wounded in US-Israeli attacks on the country. During a news conference […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Listen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>3 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has claimed that Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been wounded in US-Israeli attacks on the country.<\/p>\n<p>During a news conference at the Pentagon on Friday, Hegseth said Khamenei \u201cis wounded and likely disfigured\u201d.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cHe put our statement yesterday \u2013 a weak one actually \u2013 but there was no voice, and there was no video. It was a written statement,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon chief did not provide evidence for his assessment, and Iran has not given any details about Khamenei\u2019s condition. Iranian leaders also did not immediately respond to Hegseth\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei on Thursday issued his first public statement since taking over as supreme leader following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on February 28, the first day of the United States and Israeli assault on Iran.<\/p>\n<p>In written remarks that were read out on Iranian state television, Khamenei said Iran would attack all US bases in the region unless they were shuttered immediately and pledged to maintain the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would like to thank the brave fighters who are doing a great job at a time when our country is under pressure and under attack,\u201d said the Iranian leader, who has not been seen publicly since the war began.<\/p>\n<p>US President Donald Trump had said earlier this week that he was \u201cnot happy\u201d with the appointment of Khamenei as Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, suggesting that he may be targeted and killed like his father.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to last. I think they made a mistake,\u201d the US president said on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>At least 1,444 people have been killed and 18,551 injured in US-Israeli attacks on Iran since the war began late last month, according to the latest figures from Iran\u2019s Health Ministry.<\/p>\n<p>While the US and Israel have said they are targeting Iranian leaders as well as military and nuclear infrastructure, Iran says thousands of civilian sites, such as schools and hospitals, have been attacked.<\/p>\n<p>During his address on Friday, Hegseth said that US and Israeli attacks have struck more than 15,000 Iranian targets since February 28.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re shooting down and destroying what missiles they still have in stock, but more importantly, ensuring that they have no ability to make more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir production lines, their military plants, their defence innovation centres \u2013 defeated. Iran\u2019s leadership is in no better shape. Desperate and hiding, they have gone underground, cowering. That is what rats do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier on Friday, Iran\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian and top Iranian security official Ali Larijani were seen at a mass al-Quds Day demonstration in the capital, Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said Hegseth\u2019s remarks were aimed primarily at a US audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHegseth is clearly trying to project \u2026 confidence and success, trying to reassure the American citizenry,\u201d Elmasry told Al Jazeera, noting that recent opinion polls show that many people in the US are opposed to the war in Iran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[The war] is very unpopular. People are seeing gas prices rise. Now Americans [US service members] are being killed \u2026 and so Hegseth and Trump are trying to project confidence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pete Hegseth\u2019s remarks come a day after Khamenei pledged to keep fighting in first statement since he was named leader. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a03 mins info United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has claimed that Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been wounded in US-Israeli attacks on the country. During a news conference […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has claimed that Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been wounded in US-Israeli attacks on the country.<\/p>\n<p>During a news conference at the Pentagon on Friday, Hegseth said Khamenei \u201cis wounded and likely disfigured\u201d.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cHe put our statement yesterday \u2013 a weak one actually \u2013 but there was no voice, and there was no video. It was a written statement,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon chief did not provide evidence for his assessment, and Iran has not given any details about Khamenei\u2019s condition. Iranian leaders also did not immediately respond to Hegseth\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei on Thursday issued his first public statement since taking over as supreme leader following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on February 28, the first day of the United States and Israeli assault on Iran.<\/p>\n<p>In written remarks that were read out on Iranian state television, Khamenei said Iran would attack all US bases in the region unless they were shuttered immediately and pledged to maintain the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would like to thank the brave fighters who are doing a great job at a time when our country is under pressure and under attack,\u201d said the Iranian leader, who has not been seen publicly since the war began.<\/p>\n<p>US President Donald Trump had said earlier this week that he was \u201cnot happy\u201d with the appointment of Khamenei as Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, suggesting that he may be targeted and killed like his father.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to last. I think they made a mistake,\u201d the US president said on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>At least 1,444 people have been killed and 18,551 injured in US-Israeli attacks on Iran since the war began late last month, according to the latest figures from Iran\u2019s Health Ministry.<\/p>\n<p>While the US and Israel have said they are targeting Iranian leaders as well as military and nuclear infrastructure, Iran says thousands of civilian sites, such as schools and hospitals, have been attacked.<\/p>\n<p>During his address on Friday, Hegseth said that US and Israeli attacks have struck more than 15,000 Iranian targets since February 28.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re shooting down and destroying what missiles they still have in stock, but more importantly, ensuring that they have no ability to make more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir production lines, their military plants, their defence innovation centres \u2013 defeated. Iran\u2019s leadership is in no better shape. Desperate and hiding, they have gone underground, cowering. That is what rats do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier on Friday, Iran\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian and top Iranian security official Ali Larijani were seen at a mass al-Quds Day demonstration in the capital, Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said Hegseth\u2019s remarks were aimed primarily at a US audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHegseth is clearly trying to project \u2026 confidence and success, trying to reassure the American citizenry,\u201d Elmasry told Al Jazeera, noting that recent opinion polls show that many people in the US are opposed to the war in Iran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[The war] is very unpopular. People are seeing gas prices rise. Now Americans [US service members] are being killed \u2026 and so Hegseth and Trump are trying to project confidence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pete Hegseth\u2019s remarks come a day after Khamenei pledged to keep fighting in first statement since he was named leader. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a03 mins info United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has claimed that Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been wounded in US-Israeli attacks on the country. During a news conference […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}