Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting with a number of university and high school students on Saturday ahead of the National Day of Fight against Global Arrogance.
The 13th day of the Iranian calendar month of Aban, which falls on November 4 this year, also known as the Student Day in Iran, marks the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US embassy by Iranian students in Tehran.
Speaking at the meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei noted the forty years of conflict between the US and Iran, which encompasses all types of aggression launched from the enemy side, from military and economic war to a media war.
He said the US objective was to regain its control over Iran, which it lost after the Islamic Revolution and never managed to get it back.
“The important fact here is that in this 40-year-old conflict, the US has been on the losing side and the Islamic Republic of Iran on the winning side. The reason for the US defeat is that it was them who started the attack, but they failed to achieve their objectives,” the Leader said.
"The world opposes every decision the US President makes; not only the people but also the governments oppose him," Ayatollah Khamenei said, adding "The current US president’s measures have made the situation worse for the US and liberal democracy, making them lose their remaining grace."
The US today is far weaker than the US of forty years ago, he said, adding that many prominent American politicians believe that the US soft power has been exhausted.
“Even their hard power, that is their economy and militarism, is on the decline,” the Leader said, adding “the US’ military forces are severely confused and that is why they have to resort to help from organizations such as Blackwater in order to advance their military objectives.”
The Leader tapped on US economic crisis as another symptom of a decline and said, "the same is true about US economy. It suffers from more than $15 trillion dollars public debt and $800 billion budget deficit."
As another indication of US defeat, Ayatollah Khamenei asserted, "the US failed to infiltrate the independence-seeking spirit among the Iranian youth. Our youth, across the country, have independence-seeking emotions. Some of them are not even very religious, but they are sensitive to the issue of foreign domination."
Indicating that today’s young generation in Iran, if not more exigent than the youth during the revolution, are not less vigorous, he reiterated “these [independence-seeking] emotions have gradually spread to the youth in other countries, in particular, our neighbouring countries, as well."
"Of course, the US regards Iran as responsible for a part of [anti-American sentiments], as neighbouring countries oppose US forces. They blame us for that: Well, you have no right to blame us! The people of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Pakistan hate you [the US government]; are we responsible for it? Why does the US government not understand that nations detest it? They have been exploiting them, as a result, the people hate them."
Ayatollah Khamenei dubbed US sanctions on Iran as futile, adding "through sanctions, the US sought to curb Iran’s economy; however, as a result of the sanctions, a movement towards self-sufficiency expanded in Iran. The Iranian nation used to import products for many years, but now, they have developed a habit of producing everything."
The United States is doomed to decline and fall as the Islamic Republic of Iran has been gaining more and more self-sufficiency in the past forty years, the Leader stressed; "contrary to the US's decline, the Islamic Republic started from scratch and has been advancing during the past 40 years. Today, we witness a serious movement towards political and industrial independence in Iran," he said.
The Leader then advised the Iranian youth to never forget the US animosity and do not be deceived by their smiles; "sometimes, they say, 'we are not opposed to the Iranian nation, but to the Iranian government'; they lie. The government of the Islamic Republic is nothing without the nation. The US animosity targeted the Iranian nation even before the revolution, via its agents inside Iran," he added.
Ayatollah Khamenei further voiced confidence that Iran's future will be greatly better than the present time, and that Iran will have the upper hand in international events.
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