On the anniversary of the Popular Uprising of the People of Tabriz, which took place on February 18, 1978, thousands of people from the East Azerbaijan province met with Ayatollah Khamenei this morning.
During the meeting, Leader of Islamic Revolution said while the US’ enmity with Iran has always been apparent, Europe meanwhile is trying to ‘trick’ the country.
“I’m not telling the officials what to do, but I’m advising them to exercise caution [in dealing with Europe], so that they will not be tricked by them and cause problems for the country,” he added.
Iran is currently holding talks with the EU for the launch of a trade mechanism that promises continuation of trade with the Islamic Republic in the face of US sanctions, as a means to convince Tehran to stay in the nuclear deal despite Washington's withdrawal from the agreement back in May.
“The enemy sometimes shows his teeth, sometimes his fists, and sometimes his smile; all of these [tactics] are the same; even their smile is out of animosity,” he stressed.
"Their filthy and hostile hearts are filled with animosity against Islam and the Islamic Revolution," he added.
"Our enemy is weak today. I have previously repeated that the enemy cannot be considered weak; however today, you can see that our main enemy, that is the United States, is in trouble: it is suffering from domestic and foreign problems, as well as conflicts among their senior officials. The US suffers from a curious amount debt. Its people and youth struggle with depression. Look at how they are stuck in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan."
The Leader further described the officials of the United States as lacking wisdom and prudence, saying "the wisdom-lacking or first-class fools representing the heads of the American regime get enraged and are franticly doing anything they can: they hold Warsaw summit to call their intimidated, weak allies to make decisions against the Islamic Republic, but they fail. This is also a sign of the enemy’s weakness. When the enemy is weak, it starts to huff and puff. The huff and puff should not scare the officials. When the Islamic Republic was a weak sapling, they could not do a single thing; now, they won’t be able to do anything."
Ayatollah Khamenei slammed the Persian Gulf states who engaged in a coalition with the Zionist regime and the hostile regime of the United States and added, "heads of many Persian Gulf states that sat with the Zionist regime and the US in Warsaw summit to form an alliance against Islam, Muslims and the Islamic Republic have become disgraced. Of course, they have already been disgraced in the eyes of their own nations, too."
The Leader then thanked the nation for their huge turnout to the Feb. 11 rallies in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, adding “the enemies would deny that millions of people took to the streets, but they know the truth, and they know that they can inflict no harm on a nation that has such a strong presence at the scene.”
Ayatollah Khamenei also paid homage to the martyred IRGC members who lost their lives in a terrorist attack and praised the efforts by the corps in protecting the borders of the Islamic Republic; "the martyrdom of the young members of the IRGC reminds us at what expense we are provided with security," he added.
MNA/4545558/PR