Mojtaba Khamenei Warns Iranian Citizens, Says Enemies Are Already Fractured

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has issued a stern statement regarding the current conflict situation in the country. In a statement read on Iranian television on Friday (20/3/2026), Khamenei praised the steadfastness of the Iranian people in commemorating Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which he said marks the beginning of a year of “resistance economy under national unity and national security”. He also stated that Iran’s enemies are being “defeated” and cracks have emerged on the enemy side. “At present, because of the unity that has been created among our fellow countrymen, regardless of differences in religious origins, intellectual, cultural, and political backgrounds, the enemy has been defeated,” Khamenei said in his statement, quoted from Al Jazeera on Saturday (21/3/2026). The new Supreme Leader of Iran stated that although the United States (US) and Israel believe the Iranian people will overthrow the government, he called it a major miscalculation. “The war was launched under the delusion that if the regime’s leadership and certain influential military figures achieve martyrdom, it would instil fear and despair in our beloved people. And through this means, the dream of dominating Iran and then dividing it would be realised,” Khamenei explained. “On the contrary, cracks have emerged on the enemy side,” he added. Khamenei also denied that Iran or its allied forces were responsible for attacks on Turkey and Oman. According to him, those were “false flag” incidents used by Iran’s enemies. “Those incidents are false flag operations used by Iran’s enemies to sow discord among neighbouring countries, and this could happen in other countries as well,” he said. Mojtaba Khamenei himself has not been seen in public since becoming Supreme Leader, replacing his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the war on 28 February. Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also delivered a Nowruz message, reiterating that his country does not want nuclear weapons. He also repeated Khamenei’s statement, saying Iran is not seeking war with its neighbouring countries. “Our difficulties are the result of enemy interference. Dear neighbours surrounding us, you are our brothers… We come to resolve all these differences with you,” Pezeshkian said. He also stated that Iran proposes to achieve peace and stability in the region by forming a regional security structure from Islamic countries. “We do not need the presence of outsiders in this region,” he added.