Iran's supreme leader says Western sanctions will not impede Tehran's progress, but will instead deepen hatred of the West in the hearts of the Iranian people.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his remarks Sunday at a ceremony to mark the 23rd anniversary of the death of the founder of the Islamist Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The program was held at the mausoleum of the late ayatollah in Tehran.
Khamenei said the U.S. and its allies lie about Iran's nuclear programs to cover up their own problems. He said the political and media talk about the dangers of a nuclear Iran is unfounded.
He said ” what they are and should be afraid of is not a nuclear Iran, but an Islamic Iran.” VoA.
Khameni is the Supreme Leader of Islamist Iran for life, having suceeded Khomeni, and has absolute power over everything in the nation, including impeachment power over Achdiminijihadist. He was chosen by the "virtuous" Muslim clerics he helped to select for the job, while he was still 1 of 12 members of the Guardian Council under his predecessor. A central tenet of both Supreme Leaders has always been opposition to the United States.