Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei in first public statement since ceasefire says his country 'victorious'

Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday made his first public statement since the ceasefire between his country and Israel, saying that Iran "was victorious."

Khamenei's first appearance in a week was in a video broadcast on Iranian state television, in which he said that the U.S. had only intervened in the war because “it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed,” the Associated Press reported.

He also said U.S. “achieved no gains from this war.”

“The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America’s face,” Khamenei said, apparently referencing the Iranian missile attack on the U.S. base in Qatar on Monday, in which no one was injured.

Iran launched the missiles against the base after the U.S. on Saturday bombed Iranian nuclear sites. The bombing occurred about a week after Israel had first launched airstrikes against Iran's nuclear and military sites. President Trump helped negotiate a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which took effect on Tuesday.

Khamenei, 86, has not been seen in public since he took shelter in a secret location after Israel began its missile attacks on Iran on June 13.