Ayatollah Khamenei Celebrates Mass Murder, Declares Victory: “We Broke The Back Of The Rioters”

Khamenei today: “We broke the back of the rioters. The day of the successful crackdown will be remembered as a day of celebration for years to come.”

He has become so emboldened that he is shamelessly calling the massacre of tens of thousands of Iranians a “celebration.”

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is speaking like a man who believes he has won. As nationwide protests subside and U.S. threats go unenforced, Iran’s supreme leader has openly branded the mass killing of protesters a “celebration,” boasting that the regime “broke the back of the rioters.” His rhetoric reflects an emboldened regime claiming victory, shifting blame for its own atrocities onto the United States, and signaling to Iranians—and the world—that terror, not restraint, remains the Islamic Republic’s chosen instrument of rule.

Khamenei today: “We broke the back of the rioters. The day of the successful crackdown will be remembered as a day of celebration for years to come.” 👇

He has become so emboldened that he is shamelessly calling the massacre of tens of thousands of Iranians a "celebration." pic.twitter.com/gW3zDzpAps

— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) January 17, 2026

Iran’s Khamenei Is Talking About Trump Like a Man Who Just Won a War

By Robert Spencer, Jan 17, 2026:

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran is talking like a man who has just won a war, and maybe he has.

The nationwide demonstrations have largely subsided. President Donald Trump has not yet made good on his Jan. 2 statement that “if Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” or on Jan. 13 assurance to the Iranian protesters that “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.” In fact, the president appears to have walked all that back, writing on Friday: “I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!”

The situation is fluid. Trump could still be planning a strike against the Islamic Republic. His credulous statements appearing to accept Iranian officials’ false claims that the Islamic regime halting the execution of protesters could be a strategic feint designed to lull the mullahs into complacency.

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If that is the case, the strategy is working wonderfully, for on Saturday morning, Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made a series of statements that sounded for all the world as if he were the victor in a hard-fought war who was now surveying all that had happened and meting out blame accordingly, like the Allies at Nuremberg after World War II.

“We find the US President guilty,” Khamenei declared magisterially, “due to the casualties, damages and slander he inflicted upon the Iranian nation.” Casualties? Yes, Khamenei appeared to be blaming Trump for his own regime’s mass execution of protesters.

And the supremo wasn’t finished. Flush with apparent victory, he added: “From the beginning of the Islamic Revolution until today, the US has lost its dominance over Iran. And they want to bring Iran under their military, political & economic domination again. This isn’t [solely] related to the current US president either! It’s a general US policy.”

It wasn’t enough, however, to proclaim that the Islamic Republic had broken the alleged U.S. “dominance.” Khamenei appeared intent upon punishing the guilty, particularly Trump, saying: “In the numerous seditions in Iran in the past, it was usually the press & second-tier US or European politicians who were interfering. The unique feature of this sedition was that the US President himself interfered in this sedition & encouraged the seditionists.”

Warming to his theme, Khamenei continued: “The US President sent a message to the seditionists saying he would support them and provide military support. In other words, the US President himself was involved in the sedition. These are criminal acts.” And: “The US President introduced the groups who committed acts of vandalism, arson, and murdered people as ‘the Iranian nation.’ He uttered an appalling slander against the Iranian people. We find the US President guilty for this slander.”

There is more. Read the rest here.