Even as talks over Iran’s nuclear program wind down ahead of a June 30 deadline, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched a volley of searing invective against the US on Thursday, comparing American police to brutal Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists.
Speaking at a memorial ceremony for his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini at his mausoleum in Tehran, Khamenei called to follow Khomeini’s principles according to the state-run Fars News Agency.
Those principles listed by Khamenei included the rejection of “US favored Islam” along with distrust in the “arrogant powers,” a term frequently employed by Khamenei to refer to America.
“Within the framework of these principles of thought, Imam Khomeini always stood against the US and its political and security system and supported the oppressed nations, especially the Palestinian people, fully intimately and decisively,” he said.
Khamenei then went on to condemn both ISIS in Iraq and Syria as well as the American police’s “cruel treatment of the American people,” in an inflammatory comparison between the terrorist regime committing mass beheadings and rapes with the American police.
His “cruel treatment” reference apparently points to several recent incidents such as that of a man dying while under police custody which in April led to massive violent riots in Baltimore.
The leader of the Islamic regime turned his vitriol against Israel as well, saying people in Gaza are suffering under a siege even as Israel lets hundreds of trucks bring in to Gaza humanitarian and construction materials every single day.
“That’s the reason why Palestine is still the main issue for the Islamic Republic of Iran that will never be excluded from its agenda,” he declared.
Donning a conspiracy theory tone of meddling within Iran, he said “the enemy has targeted the country’s independence and all people should vigilantly understand the enemy’s goals,” with “enemy” often being a vague reference to Israel by Khamenei.
He concluded, blaming the “enemies” for trying to cause strife among Muslims in Iran.
