Arrogant powers seek to bring back Iran to dependence: Leader
Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warned Sunday the main goal of arrogant powers and global Zionism was to return Iran to the era of dependence and no-identity.
“Their enmity toward the Iranian nation will not dwindle or stop even if we back down on our stances,” Ayatollah Khamenei said while addressing a ceremony in Tehran to mark the 34th departure anniversary of his predecessor, Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Revolution.
“Many times, our retreats made them march forward and they become more aggressive. The enemies are not satisfied with our retreats, they want to take Iran back to the way it was before the 1979 Revolution,” he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei noted that the enemies seek to “disappoint” Iranian youths by focusing on problems in the country.
Referring to the riots that broke out last September after the death of a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, the Leader said that the enemies have made several attempts against Iran but have failed in most of them, the latest being the riots last autumn.
He said that the riots were “devised in Western think tanks” and supported by their “extensive financial, media, and weaponry” aide.
Ayatollah Khamenei further noted that those behind the riots “thought that the Islamic Republic was over and that they could recruit the Iranian nation; the ignorant were wrong again.”
The Leader also praised Ayatollah Khomeini as “one of the preeminent figures in our history and not just in our time.” Such figures, he maintained, “cannot be erased from the history’s memory ... and cannot be removed or distorted,” Press TV reported.
Ayatollah Khomeini passed away at 86 years old in 1989, nearly ten years after the Islamic Revolution toppled the US-backed shah of Iran.
He founded the Islamic Republic after a referendum in 1979 when more than 98 percent of Iranians who could vote said ‘yes’ to the Islamic Republic.