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Special Features

Khamenei: "Islam Makes Iran Invincible"

October 5, 2018
Reza HaghighatNejad
5 min read
“We will slap America once again,” Ayatollah Khamenei told more than 70,000 Basijis at Azadi Stadium
“We will slap America once again,” Ayatollah Khamenei told more than 70,000 Basijis at Azadi Stadium

The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has used a speech in Tehran’s famous Azadi Stadium to push an “Islam first” nationalist agenda, telling Iranians they should be proud of Iran’s “prestige in the region and world,” its invincibility and the respect it commands.

During the speech to a crowd of 70,000 Basijis on the morning of October 4, the leader also took the opportunity to castigate President Donald Trump and the United States, dismissing the president’s plans for regime change in Iran as nothing more than a daydream and lashing out at US sanctions.

The speech, which ran to almost 70 minutes, was organized by the Basij, a subsidiary of the Revolutionary Guards. The audience was made up of both men and women. Although women are banned from stadiums to watch sporting events, they are often allowed entry for religious or political ceremonies.

Khamenei started his speech by adopting a nationalistic stance. “The gist of my speech today,” he said, “represents first, Iran’s majesty; second, the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic; third, the Iranian nation’s invincibility.” But with this, he immediately introduced a dichotomy between “Iran” and “the Islamic Republic” — a politically significant move, not least because critics accuse Khamenei of caring more about religious interests and the expansion of Shia Islam and not much about the national interests of Iran.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Leader did his best to cover up the dichotomy. He said Islam had made it possible for Iran to maintain its territorial integrity and stand “single-handedly” against “World Arrogance”, the Islamic Republic’s term for western imperialism, in particular America's brand of imperialism. “I point to the invincibility of the Iranian nation — which is, of course, because of Islam,” he declared. “This invincibility can be observed in the nation's victory...against Saddam's invasion and the resistance against enemies' conspiracies over 40 years.”

Two-Faced Traitors

Khamenei may have started out his speech with a nationalist tilt, but he but eventually swung toward an Islamist point of view, expropriating Iran to the benefit of “Islam.” The first step toward maintaining the Islamic Republic’s power, he said, is to “recognize and understand the presence of the enemy.” Those people who deny America’s enmity are two-faced traitors, he added.

According to the Supreme Leader, the first battlefield against the enemy is “Islam and Islamic faith.” The US, he said, “has been slapped by Islam and carries a grudge in its heart.” He said US hostility was not only a reaction to Iran’s “Death to America” chants, but also about its fear that “an Islamic power will rise up in this region."

Khamenei denied that the Islamic Republic was in a weak position. He told the crowd the US presented “an extremely distorted image” of “Islamic Iran,” dismissing any idea that the country was in a weak position. “Recently I heard that the president of the United States said to some European leaders: ‘wait for two to three months. The Islamic Republic will meet its end.’” Such an idea was “wishful thinking” from “a miserable man,” he said.

He also used the speech to warn about the powerful danger of the media. Conjuring an image of war between “Arrogance and the Islamic Republic," Khamenei said the enemy uses media as a weapon. “Currently, the enemy is using the media as tools to influence our public opinion,” he said. “Media tools are important tools, and in the hands of the enemies, they are dangerous tools. Media tools are like chemical weapons in military wars. Chemical weapons don’t destroy tanks or equipment, but they eliminate humans...Media tools work in the same way. TV, cyberspace and social networks are used against our public opinion today.”

 

Another Slap in the Face

He did concede that the country was encountering difficult times. “We do have economic problems. We have an oil economy, which is a major shortcoming.” But he said that people could have confidence that the Iranian economy “had great capability” to fight off attempts to destroy it through sanctions. These sanctions would fail, he said, and this would amount to another slap in the face for the US.

At the height of the previous round of sanctions in 2011 and 2012, Khamenei interpreted the sanctions as a great opportunity for the Iranian economy to be self-sufficient. Today, he said, the country is no longer “passive and drowsy” even as it faced new problems. This signaled a shift in message from the leader’s previous speeches, adopting a more cautious tone. However, he appears steadfast in his belief that sanctions can provide a good opportunity to get the Iranian economy moving.

This kind of talk helps mask any concern the Supreme Leader might be harborging about sanctions. His concluding remarks had the same effect. He said he rejected any notion that Iran should compromise with the United States and would do so “as long as I live.” It’s the kind of grand statement he favors, and echoes a 2016 statement that he would stand up to America as long as he lives.  

In recent years, Khamenei and President Rouhani have repeatedly told the public about their differing views on foreign policy, but at the moment it seems as though Rouhani has retreated in the face of the Supreme Leader’s offensive or, at least, he does not want to fight him in public.

Ayatollah Khamenei clearly enjoys talking in a hostile manner about the United States, finding it easier to express his views about Iran’s foreign policy and its unwillingness to compromise with America than he does addressing the more urgent matters the Iranian people face in their everyday lives. This costly and ideological view has now become Khamenei’s entire life. His preoccupation with the “enemy” means he never has anything new to say. But without it, he would have nothing to say at all.

 

Read more: 

Khamenei vs Rouhani: A Battle for the Future of Iran? 

Khamenei’s “Heroic Flexibility 2.0”

Khamenei Dismisses Hijab Protesters as “Insignificant and Small”

 

 

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