'No Mercy to Zionists': Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei Hits Back at Donald Trump

Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei warned Israel in a series of posts on X early on Wednesday, June 18, saying, "We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime. We will show the Zionists no mercy." Khamenei's tweets came after US President Donald Trump's threats to Iran, who had called for "unconditional surrender." 

We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime.
We will show the Zionists no mercy.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 17, 2025

Khamenei further said in the post, " The battle begins," with a painting-type image of a man with a sword entering a castle gate, resembling the historic battle of Khaybar.

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Donald Trump, in a series of posts on his social media platform Truth Social, had claimed that the US had full control of Iranian airspace and warned that Khamenei was within their reach. "We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now," Trump had wrote.

"But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" He later followed up with a post calling for Iran's "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"

VIDEO: Iranian missiles and Israeli air defence systems light up the sky over Birqin, in northern West Bank on June 18, 2025.

After decades of hostility and a long-running shadow war waged through proxies and covert attacks, Israel and Iran are exchanging direct fire with… pic.twitter.com/Nl8j8RRVFe

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 18, 2025

Iran has fired a barrage of missiles in the early hours of Wednesday at around 12.30, targeting Tel Aviv in Israel, including around 15 projectiles. The second barrage was fired late, after 40 minutes, with 10 rockets, prompting sirens in central parts of the country. However, no casualties or injuries have been reported yet, while infrastructure and several vehicles were damaged in the attack.