TEHRAN: Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is keen to develop ties with the rest of the world, which is "not merely" the United States and European countries.
The all-powerful leader’s remarks, published on the khamenei.ir website, come with the United States threatening to quit a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with the Islamic republic. "I don’t believe in cutting ties with the world but relying on the outside of the borders is a mistake within a mistake," Khamenei was quoted as saying.
"We must certainly be wise, smart and resolute in our relations with the world, but we should also know that the world is not merely America and several European countries. "The world is big and we must have relations with different countries," he added, according to extracts of a speech he gave in Tehran published on his website.
Khamenei is also quoted as blasting the US Treasury Department, denouncing it as an "economic war chamber against the system of the Islamic republic". Since taking office in January 2017, US President Donald Trump has adopted a tough stance against Iran and repeatedly denounced the landmark nuclear deal which Tehran reached with world powers to curb its nuclear programme.
Trump has said the deal -- which Iran signed with Britain, France, China, Russia, the United States and Germany -- must be "fixed" by May 12 or Washington will walk away. Most world powers however say the nuclear deal is working as intended for now and is the best way to keep Iran from acquiring the bomb.
During Sunday’s speech, Khamenei also accused the United States of waging an "economic and cultural war" against Iran, according to his website."The Americans are trying to provoke the Saudis and certain countries in the region and pit them against the Islamic Republic but if they have wisdom, they should not be deceived by the United States," he said.
His remarks came a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Saudi Arabia where he called for unity among the Persian Gulf countries, deeply divided over Qatar, in order to face Iran."The Americans do not want to suffer the cost of confronting the Islamic Republic and the powerful nation of Iran themselves; they want to make some states in the region shoulder it," he told a group of workers and entrepreneurs in Tehran ahead of Labour Day.
"Some countries in the region should know that if they face the Islamic Republic of Iran, they will definitely be hit and defeated," Ayatollah Khamenei added. He said US military presence in West Asia is the cause of insecurity, war and violence. "For this reason, the Americans' feet must be cut off from this region and they must leave West Asia," he added.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the one who has to leave the region is America, not the Islamic Republic of Iran. "We are from here, and the Persian Gulf and West Asia are our home, but you are the outsider with mischievous aims, seeking to instigate sedition."
"The US incites the Saudis in order to create a conflict in our region. Why don’t they incite the Zionists? Because they want Muslims to fight against Muslims,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. He touched on the long-held US animosity with Iran, saying Washington is currently waging an economic war against the Islamic Republic.
"Today, the war waged against us is funded by US Department of Treasury. How do we encounter it? We invest in on our own economy," Ayatollah Khamenei said. “I previously mentioned during the term of another US president, the time of hit-and-run is past. They know that if they attack, they will receive much, much stronger blows."
The US has now focused its attention on an economic and cultural war on Iran which has come under new sanctions despite a nuclear agreement with world countries. "Supporting Iranian goods is one of the best and most effective ways to counter the economic designs of the enemies, because they have found out that they will not be able to succeed in a hard military war."
