Iran's Khamenei rejects Trump's call for surrender as thousands flee Tehran

Iranian leader warns of 'irreparable damage' if US joins fighting

20250618N Khamenei

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, responding to U.S. President Donald Trump, said Iran "will not surrender." © Reuters

DUBAI/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for unconditional surrender on Wednesday, as Iranians jammed the highways out of Tehran fleeing from intensified Israeli airstrikes.

In a recorded speech played on television, his first appearance since Friday, Khamenei, 86, said the Americans "should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage."

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