Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said US President Donald Trump and other American officials' recent remarks against Iran and elections indicate that they have been stunned by the overwhelming reactions to their assassination of IRGC Qods Force Commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani. RNA - "Elections are a source for strengthening the country. Look at how US propaganda seeks to separate the people from the Islamic system. They create think tanks to plot this. They seek to distance the Iranian youth from the Islamic system, but they won’t succeed," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing a large number of Iranian people from East Azarbaijan province in Tehran on Tuesday.
"Enemies and friends are watching. Enemies want to see the result of these economic problems, the Westerners’ deceit in their promises to us, and the US pressures on the people. Our friends watch worriedly, but we always tell them not to worry. The Iranian nation knows what it’s doing," he said.
"Taking part in the elections nullifies many of the vicious plots of the US and the Zionist regime against Iran. These elections repel the schemes and ploys of the enemies of Iran," Ayatollah Khamenei added.
"Iran should become stronger; this frustrates the enemy. One manifestation of strength is having a strong Majlis [Parliament]. The more participation there is in the election, the stronger the Majlis will be. This is one factor for strengthening the Majlis," he continued.
"A point about the recent US gibberish. These fools have lined up to comment on the Iranian nation, its system and the elections. Some of this is aimed at influencing the election results and disappointing the people, and part is due to their passivity after the assassination of Haj Qassem," the Leader stated.
"After the crime committed by the US in the Baghdad Airport, the Americans - the US President and his cohorts - became truly passive. Throughout the world and the US, they were greatly blamed for their horrible act, and it gave the opposite results," he said
"The US wanted to eliminate Hajj Qasem so that they could dominate over the region. It turned out the other way. The massive rally by the Iraqi people, the move by the Syrian people, the case of Aleppo and other matters were the opposite of what the US wanted," he explained.
"The Quran states from the voice of the Muslims that they will have one of two excellent things, victory or martyrdom. Martyr Soleimani achieved both. He was victorious in the battlefield in the region, while the US and its cohorts were defeated. And, he also achieved martyrdom," Ayatollah Khamenei stressed.
"The martyrdom of Gen. Soleimani was a bitter loss, but it put many nations next to Iran’s side. This deep sympathy of other countries shows the Islamic Revolution’s deep strategic power. In a matter, which was so bitter in appearances, God has put an interior that is all victory," he said.
"The Americans decorate a facade to deceive others and to scare some. But, just as the magnificence of the Titanic didn’t prevent her from sinking, the glory of the US won’t prevent it from sinking. And, it will sink," the Iranian Leader reiterated.
"We are against the rule of oppression and arrogance. This is what we mean by “America.” Today, the peak of arrogance is the US, which is controlled by the wealthy Zionists and their corporate owners. The US is a manifestation of oppression. Thus, they’re abhorred by the world," he said.
"The US has tens of military bases in countries around our country. But, if something happens one day, these military bases won’t have any use for them, nor for those poor countries who pay for them and have hopes in them," the Iranian Supreme Leader warned.
Lieutenant General Soleimani was assassinated in a US drone strike on Baghdad International Airport in Iraq on January 3.
The airstrike also martyred Deputy Commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The two were martyred in an American airstrike that targeted their vehicle on the road to the airport.
Five Iranian and five Iraqi militaries were martyred by missiles fired by the US drone at Baghdad International Airport.
On January 8, the IRGC Aerospace Force started heavy ballistic missile attacks on US Ein Al-Assad airbase in Southwestern Iraq near the border with Syria and a US operated airbase in Erbil in retaliation for the US assassination of General Soleimani.
Ein Al-Assad is an airbase with a 4km runway at 188m altitude from sea levels, which is the main and the largest US airbase in Iraq. Early reports said the radar systems and missile defense shields in Ein Al-Assad failed to operate and intercept the Iranian missiles. Unofficial reports said the US army's central radar systems at Ein Al-Assad had been jammed by electronic warfare.
The second IRGC reprisal attack targeted a US military base near Erbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan Region in the second leg of "Martyr Soleimani" reprisal operation.
Iraq said the attacks had not taken any toll from its army men stationed at these two bases. The US army had blocked entrance into Ein Al-Assad to everyone, including the Iraqi army.
It was the first direct attack on the US army ever since world war two.
The IRGC officials said none of the missiles had been intercepted.
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