The remarks were made by Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the head of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, in an address to a ceremony held in Tehran to mark the beginning of ten-day celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.
“In these forty years, the entire world tried to destroy the Islamic ruling system. All world powers believed the Islamic government would be limited, and would collapse after a couple of years,” Ayatollah Jannati said on Friday.
However, he added, we saw that the US and all world powers failed in their efforts to oust the Establishment of Iran.
“World powers imposed eight years of war on us [during the 1980s] and we managed to strongly resist the foreign aggression at a time when no one thought we would survive the enemy’s military power,” he went on to say.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranian people were killed in the eight-year war Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein imposed on Iran with the support of the US, the Soviet Union, and other world powers. Many more were also affected by chemical weapons like mustard gas used by the Iraqi regime.
“Today, the damn US is doing whatever it can to destroy the Islamic system…. It urges other countries not to work with Iran. And those intoxicated by the petrodollars have come to the US’ help in order to break the power of Islam,” Ayatollah Jannati said.
“They have so far failed to do anything, and will fail in the future, as well,” he added.
The 40th anniversary of Iran’s revolution comes as hawkish US national security adviser John Bolton said in 2017 that “the Ayatollah Khomeini’s 1979 revolution will not last until its 40th birthday.”
“The outcome of the [US] president’s policy review should be to determine that the Ayatollah Khomeini’s 1979 revolution will not last until its 40th birthday. And that’s why, before 2019, we here will celebrate in Tehran!” he told a terrorist MKO convention in Paris.
In his Friday comments, Ayatollah Jannati also criticized certain Iranian officials who seem to be intimidated by the US’ pressures. “Damn these wrong thoughts existing in the minds of certain officials who feel it is the Americans and Westerners who can resolve our problems.”
“The US government is on the decline, and today no one, even its allies, listens to Washington and is afraid of the US. We should not show any fear as well,” he added.
Back on Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani called on all Iranians to stay united in the face of threats posed by the United States and its allied reactionary regimes in the region, noting that unity is what will enable the nation to overcome the ongoing tough economic situation caused by the sanctions.
The president made the remarks during a ceremony at the Mausoleum of late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, in Tehran, where he and his cabinet members renewed their allegiance with the ideals of the Islamic Revolution and paid tribute to Imam Khomeini and martyrs.
“Today, we all need to form a united front against the US, its supporters and the reactionaries in the region,” Rouhani said. “If we preserve our unity, we can cope with the problems. The government and people shall overcome the existing difficulties with the guidance of Leader [of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei].”
“Today, the entire world condemns the US plots against our nation and supports Iran,” he noted.