Back to Brief on Iran
TEHRAN - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday launched a vitriolic attack on the United States, slamming the door on tentative moves towards dialogue between Tehran and the "Great Satan".
"Negotiations and relations with the bully American government are useless for us. It is even harmful for Iran and the international Islamic movement," Khamenei told a crowd assembled for prayers at Tehran University.
"The American government is the enemy of the Iranian nation, the Islamic regime and the revolution," added Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran.
"By persuading us to enter talks, the US wants to show that we have reneged on our revolutionary slogans. Our revolution led to the awakening of Islamic movements throughout the world. If we negotiate, the Americans will be very relieved."…
In his speech at Friday prayers Khamenei defended Khatami's speech, accusing the Western media of distorting its meaning to sow internal division, but at the same time mocked factions in Iran pushing for a rapprochement with the US….
And he said the US was trying to "take away from us what has been a cause of internal unity. So far animosity against the United States has been a cause of unity between our people. They want to sow discord."
The leader, whose speech was interrupted on several occasions with shouts of "Death to America," warned Iranians not to be lulled into believing that dialogue with Washington would change US policy towards the Islamic republic….
Growing Support for Khamenei's Anti-US Stand,
Agence France Presse, January 18
TEHRAN - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been receiving a growing number of support from various government and military bodies for his tough stand against the United States.
The administration, parliament, clerical establishment and the army have all issued statements defending Khamenei's tough speech on Friday, when he strongly rejected dialogue with the "Great Satan."
More than 200 deputies in the 270-member parliament signed a petition voicing "firm backing" for the leader's uncompromising stand....
The powerful Shiite Moslem clergy in the holy city of Qom, south of the capital, said Khamenei's speech "foiled a new plot by the criminal Americans, their media and agents to sow discord in the heart of our Islamic society."…
Even the moderate Culture Minister, Ayatollah Mohajerani, who is the government spokesman, said Khameni's remarks "are a response to those who distorted the president's speech on CNN."
"Some tried to distort the president's
speech and simulate that Iran had abandoned its (revolutionary) and regretted
having taking the (Americans) hostage," he said, quoted by IRNA....
Khatami Adopts More Hostile Tone Against US, Agence France Presse, January 19
TEHRAN - Iranian President Mohamad Khatami attacked the United States Monday in a strident speech completely at odds with the soft tone he used in a television interview with… CNN earlier this month.
"Our revolution delivered us from the domination of this master and we no longer succumb," he said in a speech at the mausoleum of the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
"We have seen the most harm from the United States before and after the revolution," he said.
"Even today American statesmen treat us like a master. Their arrogant spirit has caused us a lot of trouble….
"We do not need for America to get along with us and help us."
Khatami's toughened tone followed a
speech by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, last Friday in
which he threw cold water on speculation of a rapprochement with the United
States raised by the president's "address to the American people" broadcast
on CNN on January 8.
Parliament Approves $1.6 Billion Defense Budget, Agence France Presse, January 19
TEHRAN - The Iranian parliament on Monday approved a 1.6 billion dollar defense budget for the next Iranian calendar year starting in March, the official IRNA news agency reported….
Under the provisions, the Iranian armed forces are required to procure the bulk of its weapons and military equipment from state-owned manufacturers, IRNA said.
More sophisticated weaponry could be obtained from abroad through the defense ministry, it added….