Iran's supreme leader said on Thursday that the United States and Israel had been dealt a "decisive blow" in the Middle East war, after the government reported "no tangible progress" in negotiations on ending the conflict.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei's message, read out by a prayer leader at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of the Islamic republic's founder, came after the US House of Representatives passed a resolution seeking to halt American military action in Iran .
Weeks of talks marked by threats and flare-ups of violence have failed to secure a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for global energy flows.
The US and Iran have sent divergent messages, with Tehran insisting on steep conditions for progress, even as President Donald Trump again voiced optimism , telling reporters a deal "could happen... over the weekend".
In his message, Khamenei said his country's enemies, after "facing a decisive blow", were now "experiencing a deeply meaningful and profound humiliation".
Khamenei has not been seen in public since being wounded in strikes that killed his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei in the opening salvo of the US-Israeli bombing campaign on 28 February.
Every 4 June since 1989, the elder Khamenei had delivered a speech at the commemoration of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's death.
This year, however, an empty chair bearing his portrait stood at the mausoleum, according to footage broadcast from the site. Rebuke to Trump Trump is under pressure to find a way out of the war, which has delivered a shock to markets and proven unpopular at home as midterm elections loom .
But in spite of a ceasefire that has largely held since April, progress towards a final deal has been halting and punctured by sporadic episodes of violence. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said on Wednesday that "communications with the Americans have not been cut off... but no tangible progress has been made in the negotiation process".
Four lawmakers from Trump's Republican party joined Democrats on Wednesday to vote 215-208 in favour of a resolution ordering the withdrawal of American troops from the Iran war.
"This is a loud and unambiguous message to Donald Trump on behalf of the American people: it's time to end his deeply unpopular and illegal war of choice in Iran," Democrats posted on X.
The resolution was largely symbolic, however, as the US president can veto it if it gains Senate approval.
At a congressional hearing, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpiles were at the centre of discussions with Tehran.
The UN's nuclear agency said in a confidential report seen by AFP on Thursday that a lack of access to verify nuclear material in Iran posed a "proliferation concern", calling on the Islamic republic to "engage the agency constructively".
Washington insists Tehran must turn over its near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, agree to curb its nuclear activities and reopen Hormuz.
Iran, however, has long claimed a right to enrichment, and has also preconditioned a deal on halting the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel is striking several pats of the country, notably the south.