Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Thursday that his country had delivered a 'slap to America's face' by striking a US air base in Qatar and warned against further attacks in his first public comments since a ceasefire agreement with Israel. Khamenei's prerecorded speech that aired on Iranian state television, his first appearance since June 19, was filled with warnings and threats directed toward the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic's longtime adversaries.

The 86-year-old, a skilled orator known for his forceful addresses to the country's more than 90 million people, appeared more tired than he had just a week ago, speaking in a hoarse voice and occasionally stumbling over his words. The supreme leader downplayed US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites Sunday using bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles, saying that US President Donald Trump ' who said the attack 'completely and fully obliterated" Iran's nuclear programme ' had exaggerated its impact.

'They could not achieve anything significant,' Khamenei said. Missing from his more than 10-minute video message was any mention of Iran's nuclear programme and the status of their facilities and centrifuges after extensive US and Israeli strikes. His characterisation of Monday's strike on the US air base in Qatar contrasted with US accounts of it as a limited attack with no casualties.