TEHRAN - At the end of his speech on Sunday with the families of the martyrs of security, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pointed to Israel’s pre-dawn attack on Iran on Saturday. Although his remarks were brief, they carried great significance as his first reaction following the assault on Iran.

The first noteworthy point is that the meeting took place in the same venue where the Leader holds meetings with the people. It demonstrated that despite some recent claims by certain Western and pro-Israel media outlets that the Iranian leader is in hiding, his scheduled meetings are continuing at the same place.

In the meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei approached the subject realistically, criticizing both the exaggeration of the Israeli attack and warning against downplaying it. This logical approach comes at a time when Tel Aviv is attempting to amplify the incident, claiming it has achieved all its objectives, while simultaneously asserting that Iranian officials are trying to downplay the operation to avoid a response. The position of the Leader, as the foremost authority in the country, refutes this claim and indicates that the policy of the Islamic Republic is grounded in realism.

This realism has led him to publicly and explicitly emphasize the necessity of responding to Israel's attack, instructing the country's officials to decide on the manner of the response. The objective that Ayatollah Khamenei outlined regarding the aggressive Israeli regime is both intelligent and strategic: changing the enemy's miscalculations. 
Israel believed that Iran, for various reasons, fears war, and this fear allows the regime to strike Iran without hesitation. The Islamic Republic of Iran aims to demonstrate in practice to the enemy that this assumption is incorrect. Although Iran does not desire war, it is not willing to pay any price to avoid it.

Conflict and security are often two opposing concepts, but sometimes engaging in a conflict is necessary to achieve security. Iran's retreat in the face of the Israeli regime, which has massacred around 50,000 people in Gaza and Lebanon since October of last year and has crossed all red lines in its crimes, would be tantamount to suicide. History has shown that nothing but power can prevent the invasions and crimes of this illegitimate regime, and security is not a matter that can be compromised or traded. Displaying weakness in this regard opens the Pandora's box.

Two factors can lead to doubt and errors in decision-making and taking action: first fear and second reliance on the empty promises of the West regarding an end to the conflict. Over the past three decades, Ayatollah Khamenei has shown that despite his intelligence and insightfulness in decision-making, he harbors no fear of the enemy's threats and simultaneously does not fall for empty promises. Today’s security in Iran, despite all challenges and heavy external threats, is owed to this man.