Ayatollah Ali Kamenei Echoes Battle With Israel Without Dozens Of Pity

JAKARTA - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said fighting with Israel began.

"On behalf of Your Majesty Haidar, fighting begins," Ali Khamenei said in a post on X quoted by CNN, Wednesday, June 18.

Haidar is a name often used for Ali, who Shia Muslims consider the first Imam and successor to the Prophet Muhammad.

Iranian leaders also posted on their English X account "We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime. We will show no mercy to the Zionists," Khamenei said.

Earlier Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed its operations would not end until all Iranian nuclear and missile facilities were destroyed.

"We continue to strike nuclear targets to deepen achievements, in accordance with plans and at appropriate times for us," Chief Directorate of IDF Operations Major General Oded Basiuk said in a phone call with reporters.

The IDF says they are in the middle of an operation, not at the end. The end goal is to destroy the "existent threat" of Iran's nuclear program and its missile lineup.

"We attack the terror regime, not the people, who deserve a better future. Those who endanger us are the leaders in Tehran, not the people walking on the streets of Shiraz," explained Major General Basiuk.

The military said it would continue to attack nuclear facilities and related targets, including nuclear scientists, as well as ballistic missiles, air defenses, military command centers, and other targets deemed "critical" to the Iranian regime.