Nine things Khamenei hates about you

The following are key points from the speech delivered on July 18, 2015, by Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at Eid al-Fitr prayers in Tehran. The full translated text of the speech is available here.

1. Praise for Iranian calls of “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”:

“The picture that the enemy tries to portray about the people of Iran — unfortunately some obtuse individuals repeat this — by using propaganda, is deviant and wrong… The slogans of the people of Iran showed what our orientations are. On Quds Day, the slogan of “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” shook the scene of the country. And these slogans were not particular to Tehran and large cities. The entire country stood under the umbrella of this movement. Dear God, accept what the people of Iran have done with Your mercy and kindness.

2. Conditional backing for last week’s nuclear deal with the P5+1 powers, and for President Rouhani and the team that negotiated it:

“A word of thanks to officials in charge of these long and arduous negotiations — the honorable President and particularly the negotiation team who really made great efforts and worked hard. They will certainly be divinely rewarded whether the document that has been prepared will — through its determined legal procedures — be ratified or not. We have said this to those brothers in person as well. Of course in order to ratify this document, there is a clear legal procedure that, by Allah’s favor, has to be taken. We expect that these officials take the interests — interests of the country, interests of the people — into consideration by paying careful attention, so that when they deliver the matter to the people, they can do so with their heads held high in front of Allah the Exalted as well.”

3. A pledge of ongoing support to regional allies, including the Palestinians, against their enemies:

“Whether this document is ratified or not, we will not abandon our regional friends: the oppressed people of Palestine, the oppressed people of Yemen, the people and government of Syria, the people and government of Iraq, the oppressed people of Bahrain and the sincere mujahids of the Resistance in Lebanon and Palestine. These people will always enjoy our support.”

4. No warming of relations with America, and no change in opposition to what America emblemizes:

“Our policy towards the arrogant government of America will not change in any way despite these negotiations and the document that has been prepared. As we have said many times, we have no negotiations with America on different global and regional issues. We have no bilateral negotiations with America. Sometimes, we have negotiated with them in exceptional cases such as the nuclear issue and we have done so because of our interests… The American policies in the region are 180 degrees the opposite of the policies of the Islamic Republic.”

5. Denial of Hezbollah terrorism, and accusation of Israeli terrorism:

The result of a 10-, 12-year struggle with the Islamic Republic is that they have been forced to tolerate the operation of several thousand centrifuges in the country

“The Americans accuse Hezbollah and the Lebanese Resistance — who are the most self-sacrificing forces in their country in the area of national defense — of terrorism. There is no injustice worse than this. This is while they support the terrorist child-killing government of Zionism. How can one do business, negotiate and reach an agreement with such a policy?”

6. Derision of the US government’s account of the nuclear deal:

“In the recent days that the negotiations have been concluded, the American excellencies — their male and female officials — are busy blustering… They claim that they have dragged Iran towards the negotiating table, that they have made Iran surrender, that they have obtained such and such concessions from our country and other such claims. However, the truth is something else… They know that what prevents the Islamic Republic from building nuclear weapons is not their threats and intimidating behavior. There is a religious barrier behind this and they know the significance of this fatwa, but they still claim that it was they who prevented Iran. They are not honest with their own people and they do not tell them the truth. On various other matters, they say that they have adopted such and such a measure about Iran’s nuclear industry and that they have forced Iran to surrender, but they can only see Iran’s surrender in their dreams.”

7. A vow that Obama will never prevail against Iran:

From the beginning of the Revolution until today, five other US presidents died or were lost in history dreaming that they would force the Islamic Republic to surrender. You too will enjoy the same fate. You too will never achieve the dream of forcing the Islamic Republic to surrender. There was one point in the statements that the American president made in recent days: he admitted to America’s past mistakes. Of course, he said a hodgepodge of things. He admitted that the Americans made a mistake in Iran on the 28th of Mordad (a reference to the 1953 overthrow of prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh). He admitted that the Americans made a mistake in helping Saddam Hussein. He admitted to two, three mistakes, but he did not mention tens of others. He did not speak about the 25-year oppressive and treacherous rule of the second Pahlavi monarch. He did not speak about the many instances of torture, looting, massacre, disaster and calamity that were caused by America. He did not speak about the destruction of the Iranian peoples’ dignity and America’s efforts to trample upon their domestic and foreign interests. He did not speak about the Zionists’ domination, the killing of Iranian passengers on a passenger plane (Iran Air flight 655, downed in the Gulf in 1988) and many other things. Nonetheless, he mentioned a number of mistakes… In the present time too, you are busy making mistakes in different places in the region and particularly towards the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran. In a few years, someone else will turn up and show you your mistakes, just as today you are admitting to the mistakes that your predecessors made.”

8. Boasting that Iran has forced the West to accept its nuclear industry:

“It is 10, 12 years now that six great global powers — which are among powerful countries in the world in terms of economic wealth — have been sitting in front of Iran, trying to prevent it from pursuing its nuclear industry… The result of a 10, 12-year struggle with the Islamic Republic is that they have been forced to tolerate the operation of several thousand centrifuges in the country. They have been forced to tolerate the continuation of this industry in our country. They have been forced to tolerate the development of this industry and the continuation of research on it. Research and developing the nuclear industry will continue. The cycle of the nuclear industry will continue. This is what they have been trying to prevent for many years, but today they have signed on paper that they have no problem with our nuclear industry… This has been achieved because of the people’s resistance and steadfastness and our dear scientists’ courage and innovation.

9. America will lose should war break out:

“An individual has said that he can destroy Iran’s army. Our predecessors used to call such statements, “boasting among strangers.” … Should any war break out — of course we do not welcome and begin any war — he who will emerge humiliated out of it, will be transgressing and criminal America.”