Khamenei did not appear on camera, and an Israeli assessment indicates he was wounded in the war’s opening salvo. He called for the struggle against the United States and Israel to continue, saying the Strait of Hormuz should remain closed. We will be forced to continue these attacks,” he said. Lebanese authorities say almost 700 people have been killed, including nearly 100 children, over the past week. The international charity War Child said that roughly one in 10 children in Lebanon were among the displaced.

Source: The Irish Times March 12, 2026 22:09 UTC