Iran: Khamenei slams US again

Iran: Khamenei slams US again
Ali Khamenei receives a group of Iranian students on November 2, 2016. (Khamenei.ir)

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Wednesday slammed the US presidential candidates for revealing what he called the moral shortcoming of the United States, while opposing restoring ties with it.

Khamenei was speaking to students ahead of the anniversary of the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979.

Khamenei said the comments Clinton and Trump had made in the presidential debates “are sufficient for the annihilation of the reputation of the United States.”

He reiterated his remarks on Twitter and cast the presidential candidates’ debate performances as a confirmation of what Iran had already said about the United States.

“In US presidential #debates two candidates revealed facts & calamities from US parts of which we had told before but some didn’t believe it,” Khamenei said.

The hard-line ruler — whose nation the United States has designated a state sponsor of terror and called out for “severe restrictions on civil liberties” as well as a “disregard for the physical integrity of persons” — also said the “US system is far away from values of humanity. ‘Death to America’ means death to a system which has nothing to do with humanitarian values.”

On Twitter, Khamenei said Clinton and Trump underscored America’s “collapse of humanitarian values” and described the US as a racist country where 1% of the population has access to 90% of the wealth.

Rouhani slams US candidates

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani on 23. October criticized the US presidential candidates’ behavior.

“Did you see the debate and the way of their speaking, accusing and mocking each other? Do we want such a democracy in our country? Do we want such elections in our country?” Rouhani said, speaking to a crowd in the Iranian city of Arak.

“You see the United States that claims it has had democracy for more than 200 years,” he said in comments broadcast live by state TV. “Look at the country, what the situation is where morality has no place.”

Rouhani said that during his September visit to the United Nations general assembly in New York, he was asked which of the candidates he preferred.

“I said, ‘What? Should I prefer bad to worse or worse to bad?’”

Rouhani’s speech marked his first public comment on the U.S. election.

Iranian state TV has broadcast two of the debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in full. It has closely followed the campaign, often highlighting economic and social problems in the US and the most confrontational debate segments.

Khamenei opposes restoration of ties with the US

According to Iranian state media, Khamenei also dismissed negotiations with the United States, saying such talks “will not resolve our problems.” He added, “We should resolve the problems ourselves and with reliance on our capabilities and the young forces inside the country.”

Despite allowing Iran to sign an agreement with the United States, the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany limiting Tehran’s nuclear program, Khamenei has continued to criticize negotiations with the United States.

Khamenei recalled his numerous warnings over the US role during the process of nuclear negotiations with Iran, saying, “Currently, it is not only me saying that they break their promises, but Iranian authorities, and even the nuclear negotiators themselves, speak of the US breaching its pledges.”

Washington’s main goal is to hinder the Iranian nation’s progress, according to Khamenei, adding that the US has never stopped its hostilities towards Tehran.

“How would a government, which has never stopped its hostilities towards the Iranian nation even for a single second, solve the country’s issues,” asked Khamenei.

Clinton has indicated her support of the deal, and Trump has made his opposition to the Iran deal a regular feature of his campaign.

The Iranian regime plays the trick well, as the politicians make agreements, that benefits Iran, with the west while the hardliners address the public saying that despite these agreements the west is still the devil we mustn’t trust. Thus, they achieve their goals economically and politically without loosing the grip on the Iranian people’s minds.