TEHRAN – In his televised speech on Sunday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei delved into the raison d'être of the U.S. hostile, aggressive stance toward the Islamic Republic of Iran, offering a clear-eyed glimpse of the current state of play between Tehran and Washington.

Since the speech was delivered on a historical event, it was an opportunity to draw on recent history to ponder over present-day issues that are deeply rooted in the collective memory of ordinary Iranians who journeyed – through time- from a Western-allied oppressive regime to an independent-minded Islamic political system which draws its legitimacy and power from its own people.

For all its ups and downs, this journey had its own accomplishments and achievements. But the achievements of the Islamic Revolution have been inexorably downplayed, and in many cases distorted, by the West in a bid to foster an atmosphere of despair among the Iranian people, especially the youth. Ayatollah Khamenei brought to notice this fact during this speech, underlining the utmost importance of explaining the “important breakthroughs” of the Islamic Republic in many spheres. 

Aside from the achievements which deserve deeper disquisition, another point stood out in the Leader’s speech which is quite relevant at this moment of talks between Iran and the West in the Austrian capital Vienna. 

The talks manifest the extent to which the United States and its European allies use bullying and illegitimate sanctions to pocket more concessions from Iran all while refusing to honor the very commitments they made a few years ago. 

The talks resumed in late November and since the early days of 2022, negotiators from Iran and the P4+1 group of countries have been in Vienna to discuss how to repair what has been damaged due to the U.S. illegal behaviors. American negotiators are also present in Vienna but in separate hotels. 

Despite being the first party to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan and Action (JCPOA), Washington has refused to make up for its withdrawal and keeps insisting on getting more and giving less. This has surprised many observers who used to think that the Biden administration, and Democrats in general, are different from Republicans.

The reality, however, indicates that when it comes to Iran, Democrats and Republicans are all cut from the same cloth. And this is not Iran’s fault, according to the strategic assessment of Ayatollah Khamenei.

The U.S. enmity toward Iran, the Leader indicated, is not because some Iranians chant the well-known slogan of “Death to America.” Instead, the U.S. ever-lasting hostility toward Iran stems from a much deeper reason that has something to do with the nature of the Islamic Republic. 

“America is a sworn enemy of the Islamic system [of Iran] because this system is based on religion and epitome of the nation’s religious belief,” the Leader pointed out.

The Leader made the remarks in a live, televised speech on the anniversary of the people of Qom’s uprising against the oppressive Pahlavi regime, which took place on January 9, 1978.

He added, “The U.S.’s deep hostility and spite toward Iran stem from the Iranian people’s revolutionary, religious viewpoint on the current issues of the world. That is why the U.S., the leading arrogant power, opposes the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

This may be the reason why the Leader underlined the need to fortify religious zeal in the country because it, as he said, turns threats into opportunities. 

“Religious zeal based on reason turns threats into opportunities. An example of this is the war imposed by [Iraqi dictator] Saddam [Hossein] on Iran. The U.S., USSR, NATO, etc. united in this international war to defeat Iran, but the people’s zeal, that is based on faith, defeated all of them,” the Leader said, according to a readout of his speech published by the khamenei.ir. 

Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed to the U.S. system of calculation in its dealing with Iran, describing it as defective that leads to miscalculation. 

“The U.S. system of calculation is defective. It cannot fathom the truths about Iran. When their calculation of the existing situation is wrong, their decisions are wrong too. This is why they have been unsuccessful so far and they will continue to be unsuccessful, God willing,” he said. 

According to the Leader, another case of U.S. miscalculation was the assassination of Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani. “Enormous, amazing funerals were held for Martyr Soleimani in various cities of Iran and Iraq, and God blessed these. If they were to hold funerals for him in Syria, Lebanon and Pakistan, they would have been just as enormous,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. 

He pointed out, “In the enemy’s thinking, the martyrdom of General Soleimani was supposed to be a threat to us. However, the Muslim Iranian nation turned this threat into an opportunity. Not only was the Resistance Movement not extinguished, it has also increased as you can see.”