US infiltrating Iran with sex and money, Khamenei charges

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei accused the US of using “money and sexual attractions” to try to infiltrate the Islamic Republic and warned Iranians not to fall into the “enemy’s trap.”

Khamenei told Revolutionary Guard commanders that authorities should take concerns about “infiltration” seriously and political factions should not use the issue against each other.

“The enemy sets up a network within a nation and inside a country mainly through the two means of money and sexual attractions to change ideals, beliefs and consequently the lifestyle,” he said.

His comments appeared to lend support to a recent wave of arrests of pro-Western writers and journalists, which hard-liners in the judiciary and security services have said is necessary to prevent Western infiltration.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani criticized the arrests earlier this month, saying hard-liners are “exaggerating the issue” and misusing Khamenei’s warnings as an excuse for the detentions.

The recent arrests of pro-Western writers, journalists and filmmakers are widely seen as part of a backlash by hard-liners in the wake of the landmark nuclear agreement reached with the US and five other world powers last summer. Hard-liners fear the deal could lead to a broader rapprochement between Tehran and Washington that would undermine and ultimately end the Islamic Republic.

Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, said that “if some are making factional use of this (infiltration), it’s a mistake. But these words should not lead to ignoring and forgetting the main issue of infiltration.”

Khamenei also said Iran will do “everything it can” to support the Palestinian resistance against Israel, according to French daily Le Figaro.

The Iranian leader completely rejected the American use of the term “terrorism” to describe the ongoing wave of Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis.

According to Reuters, “Khamenei criticized those who call Palestinians ‘terrorists’ saying they were people protesting the occupation of their land.”

Khamenei was speaking a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Israel and the Palestinian territories and said he supported Israeli efforts to defend itself against Palestinian terror attacks that have seen near daily shootings, stabbings and car-rammings in Israel and the West Bank.

“Despite all the efforts of the Arrogance [the United States] and even with the cooperation of Arab states, the Palestinian intifada started in the West Bank,” Khamenei said in an address aired on national TV. “We will defend the Palestinian national movement by all means and as long as we possibly can.”