Top Khamenei Advisor Ali Larijani: U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear sites was meant to force Tehran to surrender – but it was Trump who came begging for restraint.
Ali Larijani, senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, discussed the war with Israel in a June 29, 2025 interview on SNN.ir (Iran), downplaying the damage done to Iran by the United States.
He confirmed that on the first day of the war, he received a warning phone call from the Israelis telling him he had 12 hours to leave Iran or distance himself from Tehran — but said “no one heeded their call.”
Larijani said that Israel had the upper hand on day one, but Iran gradually gained the advantage. He claimed the U.S. had to step in to help Israel when it was “floundering.”