No Retreat in Face of US Enmity

The Leader of Islamic Revolution said retreat is no option for Iran in the face of a bullying US, arguing that yielding to Washington's pressure would only embolden Iran's implacable foe.  

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei made the statement in a meeting with students in Tehran on Thursday, on the eve of the National Students Day on Saturday, which marks the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Iran.

The Leader said it is a misguided belief that making concessions to the US will help reduce its antagonism toward Tehran, as previous experiences prove it makes Washington only more imprudent.

"Giving in to the Americans will make them pushy and brazen, so the only way is confrontation and resistance," his official website reported him as saying.

"Historical experiences, including the case of Dr. [Mohammad] Mosaddeq, prove that Americans show no mercy even for those who have pinned hope on them," he said.

The Leader was referring to the Iranian prime minister whose democratically-elected government was overthrown by a CIA-led coup in 1953 after he nationalized the British-run oil industry in Iran.

"Mosaddeq turned to the US and trusted them to counter the British, but it was the Americans who mounted a coup against him," Ayatollah Khamenei said, adding that the US preferred a puppet like Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to be able to exploit the country.

Pointing to another example, the Leader said the US is "using all the wickedness" to sabotage the outcome of the two-year nuclear talks, the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers.

Ayatollah Khamenei had previously said Iranian negotiators budged on key sticking points in nuclear talks to let the deal be concluded, but it did not benefit the country.    

US President Donald Trump, who has adopted a harsh approach toward Iran, threatened in a speech last month to terminate the deal as he believes Iran is not complying with its terms.

This is while he had certified Iran's compliance twice since assuming office in January and the UN nuclear watchdog has repeatedly confirmed Iran's commitment to the pact.

Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to Trump's remarks that Iranians are a "terrorist nation", saying the "foolish" comment shows the US "holds grudges and hostility toward the very existence of a nation that stands against them tirelessly", not just the government.

"The US is in the true sense of word the evil and main enemy. This reality is not based on prejudice and pessimism, but rather emanates from experience, proper understanding of issues and realities on the ground," he said.

The Leader noted that the deep US hostility toward the nation has "blinded" the Americans, leading to repeated mistakes and miscalculations.

"The Americans started their hostilities from the first day of victory when the [1979 Islamic] revolution was a slender sapling and are continuing with the same futile plots today while the Islamic Republic has turned into a robust and fully-grown tree, because animosity and spite have deprived them of seeing and understanding the realities and proper assessment," he declared.