Khamenei Declares “The Battle Begins” as Israel and Trump Press for Iran’s Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict

By: Fern Sidman

In a chilling escalation of rhetoric and warfare, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a menacing proclamation early Tuesday declaring, “the battle begins,” hours after President Donald Trump demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender.” As The New York Post reported, the Supreme Leader’s post on X referenced Islamic history and invoked the imagery of divine vengeance, signaling that Tehran is preparing for a protracted and possibly catastrophic confrontation with Israel and the West.

“In the name of #Haider, the battle begins. Ali returns to #Khaybar with his Zulfiqar,” Khamenei wrote in Farsi, drawing from Islamic lore in a symbolic invocation of the sword used by Imam Ali at the ancient Battle of Khaybar—a metaphor unmistakably intended to ignite religious fervor and rally Iran’s base for war.

The ominous post, covered by The New York Post, was immediately followed by state media threats of a “surprise” to be delivered Tuesday night into Wednesday—one that “the world will remember for centuries.” That cryptic warning preceded a dramatic series of airstrikes, counterstrikes, and aerial defenses that marked one of the most intense 24-hour escalations in the six-day-old war.

Shortly after midnight Wednesday, air raid sirens wailed across northern Israel. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that three Iranian drones were intercepted over the Golan Heights, which The New York Post report detailed alongside broader reporting on Iranian missile barrages directed at Tel Aviv. Explosions lit up the skies above central Israel as Iran launched two successive missile waves, a significant though degraded show of force.

In retaliation, the IDF launched what may prove to be the most significant Israeli air assault on Iranian soil in decades. According to the information provided in The New York Post report, fifty Israeli fighter jets conducted targeted bombing runs on high-value strategic targets near Tehran, including a centrifuge production facility and various weapons manufacturing plants—strikes Israel described as direct blows to Iran’s nuclear and missile development capacity.

“These strikes directly degrade Iran’s ability to threaten Israel and the region,” the IDF wrote on X, as quoted by The New York Post. In a rare civilian advisory, Israeli officials called for the evacuation of Iranian residents in southwestern Tehran, suggesting more strikes may be imminent.

Iranian state media confirmed that multiple sensitive sites had been struck, including a university affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the notorious Khojir ballistic missile facility. According to military analysts interviewed by The New York Post, these strikes were designed not only to damage physical infrastructure but to signal to Tehran that no asset is beyond Israel’s reach.

Khamenei’s regime has responded with defiant propaganda. His X account has published a barrage of digital posters showing Iranian missiles raining down on Israeli cities, fireballs engulfing the Star of David, and slogans calling for jihad. But analysts are questioning how much firepower Tehran has left.

The New York Post report noted that Iran has suffered a staggering loss of arsenal since the opening hours of Israel’s “Operation Rising Lion,” a preemptive campaign launched late last week that began with simultaneous attacks on nuclear facilities and uranium enrichment sites. According to U.S. defense assessments, Israel has successfully destroyed much of Iran’s air defense system, securing airspace dominance over the Iranian capital.

President Trump, speaking on Truth Social, confirmed the extent of the devastation: “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” he wrote, boasting of American-made defense capabilities. “Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment… but it doesn’t compare to American-made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.”

In a statement that raised both eyebrows and alarms, Trump revealed the U.S. has precise intelligence on Khamenei’s whereabouts. “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” he said. “He is an easy target… but we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.”

While Trump clarified that no assassination order had been given “for now,” the implication was unmistakable: Khamenei’s personal safety is contingent upon Tehran’s behavior.

The cost to Iran has already been enormous. According to the information contained in The New York Post report, multiple high-ranking IRGC officials and top nuclear scientists have been killed in Israeli strikes. Tehran’s once-formidable missile program has been gutted, with satellite images and data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) confirming widespread destruction of missile silos, munitions factories, and storage sites.

The shift in Iran’s missile tactics—dropping from barrages of 200 to barely three dozen per wave in recent days—underscores what the New York Post called “a hemorrhaging of Iranian military capacity.”

What began as a tit-for-tat exchange now seems to be spiraling toward the brink of decisive defeat—or a broader war. While Israel continues its precision strikes and Trump tightens the noose diplomatically and militarily, Khamenei’s declaration that “the battle begins” may turn out to be more a prophecy of his regime’s unraveling than a promise of triumph.

For now, the skies over Tehran belong to Israel—and the clock on Iranian defiance may be running out.