In a post on his X account on Thursday, Baqaei said, “This savage, unprovoked, and utterly unjustified aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran extends far beyond the battlefield. It reverberates through global markets, driving up energy prices, destabilizing currencies, and eroding the purchasing power of ordinary people around the world.”

“Yet for us Iranians, the cost is immeasurably higher: our people are being brutally slaughtered as the aggressors deliberately target civilian areas and any location they believe will inflict the maximum possible suffering and loss of life.”

The US and the Israeli regime launched joint military aggression on Iran on February 28 some eight months after they attacked the country in June last year. Both attacks came as Tehran was in the midst of diplomatic talks with Washington over its peaceful nuclear program.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei was assassinated in a US-Israeli terrorist airstrike targeting his residence and office early on Saturday.

Analysts see this as proof of US preference for military force over diplomacy. In response, Iran carried out targeted, proportionate self-defense strikes against Israeli positions and US regional bases, warning that further aggression will face a harsher response.