News Desk : Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to continue punishing “the Zionist enemy” in his first public statement following US-backed Israeli airstrikes on Iran.

In a post on X, Khamenei stated, “The Zionist enemy has made a big mistake, committed a big crime; it must be punished and it is being punished right now.”

The post was accompanied by an image depicting a burning skull bearing the Star of David amid flaming buildings.

Khamenei’s remarks come as Iran grapples with escalating conflict after US forces joined Israel’s attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog reported no increased off-site radiation levels following the bombings. Iran claims over 400 deaths and 3,056 injuries since Israel’s offensive began on June 13, while Israel reports 24 fatalities from Iranian counterstrokes.

The ISNA news agency says at least three people have been killed after an Israeli drone hit an ambulance in central Iran.

“The ambulance… was en route to transfer a patient when it was severely damaged by a drone strike,” the agency reported, quoting Hamidreza Mohammadi Fesharaki, the governor of Najafabad county in the central Isfahan province.

“All occupants of the ambulance – including the driver, the patient, and the patient’s companion – were martyred.”

Fesharaki added: “The impact of the drone caused the ambulance to veer off course and collide with a passing vehicle.”

US President Donald Trump hinted at regime change in Tehran, stating, “If the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again, why wouldn’t there be a regime change?”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian countered, asserting that “the Americans must receive a response to their aggression.”

Hardline voices in Iran are intensifying calls for retaliation. State television’s Channel 3 displayed a map of US military bases in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Iraq, within range of Iranian missiles. Anchor Mehdi Khanalizadeh declared, “All US citizens and military personnel are legitimate targets,” accusing the US of abandoning diplomacy for bloodshed and warning of “up to 50,000 US soldiers’ coffins” returning to Washington.

Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the Khamenei-appointed Keyhan newspaper, urged immediate missile strikes on US naval forces in Bahrain and renewed calls to close the Strait of Hormuz, blocking access to ships from the US, UK, France, and Germany.

Hardline parliamentarian Hamid Rasaei, aligned with the Paydari faction, advocated for attacks on US bases in Saudi Arabia.

As Israel and Iran exchange attacks, the region braces for Tehran’s next move amid fears of a broader conflict.