No Enmity Towards American People

December 27, 1998 - 0:0
The relations between Iran and the U.S. have undergone many ups and downs in the past half a century. Washington was a staunch supporter of the monarchical Iran before it was toppled due to the victory of the Islamic Revolution. The U.S. intended to make Iran act as a gendarme in the region, charged with protecting and furthering the regional interests of the West, in general, and the United States, in particular.

The U.S., through its clout with the Pahlavi regime, also encroached on the rights of the Iranian people. For, instance, the American nationals living in Iran enjoyed unprecedented rights. Also, they could get away with committing crimes in Iran, as the courts in this country were not allowed to try Americans and had no jurisdiction over them. Besides, in every ministry and state organization in Iran, there were scores of Americans who, under the title of advisors, were engaged in conducting lucrative business and serving their own interests.

However, such encroachments were mainly due to the subservience of the despotic Pahlavi regime to the U.S. and hegemonic policies of the White House policy-makers. On Friday, addressing an unusually large gathering of worshippers at Friday prayers, Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei also touched on the issue of Iran's ties with the U.S., underlining that Islamic Republic of Iran has no enmity toward the American people.

We hope that the same feeling also exists on the part of the American people toward the Iranian nation. In actual fact, the two nations have a lot to exchange in the areas of commerce, trade, technology, the latest scientific achievements and so many other areas of cooperation. Iran is willing to have friendly relations with all nations across the globe and its doors are open to all those countries which seek relations with Iran based on mutual interest and respect.

As Ayatollah Khamenei told the worshippers, Tehran's relations are continuing with other countries from Europe, Russia, Asia, Africa and all other regions in the world. He underlined the importance of ties with the American people and made it clear once again that Iran had no enmity toward the American nation. Nevertheless, given the bitter experience of the past, the he noted that Iran did not trust the U.S. Administration.