The aging leader’s message was defiant but somber, delivered in front of a tan curtain flanked by an Iranian flag and a portrait of his predecessor.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei congratulated Iranians for what he described as a victory over Israel and the United States, in defiant remarks published on state media that appeared to be his first public statement since U.S. war planes bombed three of the country’s nuclear facilities.