US Trying to Stir Public Discontent

Defense Minister Amir Hatami said the US has resorted to a strategy to hit Iran by creating and fomenting public discontent and driving a wedge between the people and officials. “Today, a coalition of reactionary and hypocritical regimes led by the United States is trying to portray the conditions in Iran  as critical,” Hatami said at a meeting of senior officials of the Defense Ministry in Tehran on Tuesday. “The coalition is trying to drive a wedge between the Islamic [ruling] system and the people by waging psychological warfare and spreading public discontent,” he added. Over the past four decades, Iran has overcome challenges and often difficult situations in an “unfair and unequal battlefield”, like the Iraqi imposed war in the 1980s, internal dissension, sanctions and international alliances, he said. Hatami said the Islamic Republic is much stronger and more unified than before and has “an active deterrent power” to counter foreign threats.

The remarks came days after protesters in Tehran swarmed the historic Grand Bazaar on June 18 and forced shopkeepers to down shutters, months after similar demonstrations in other cities. The protests erupted after the Iranian rial dropped to 90,000 to the US dollar in black market despite government’s failed bids  to prop up the national currency.