“You spent $ 7 trillion on the Middle East, but you still have to go there secretly, which actually indicated your confession to your inability, humiliation and, of course, the legitimacy of the people who chant "Death to America”, Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami said during his speech at Tehran Friday prayers in reference the US President Donald Trump’s secret visit to a military base in Iraq on Wednesday, which has sparked condemnation of various political groups in the neighboring country, calling for withdrawal of the US troops there.
Khatami also referred to the withdrawal of US troops from Syria and added "there is no doubt that this takes place as a result of the United States’ defeat in the region as they themselves have admitted to and the resignation of the US Secretary of Defense showed it."
The senior Iranian cleric went on to say “Trump has lied 7,000 times during 700 days in office.”
Elsewhere in his speech, he referred to the ongoing public protests in France, saying “these cases, along with the collapse of the ruling structure of America, are in fact a sign of violation of all human values.”
Ayatollah Khatami further described the United States as “a stain on the honor of the whole Christian world.”
MNA/FNA13971007000195