Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei: Enemies trying to attack Iran's points of strength
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said in his New Year address at the holy shrine of Prophet Mohammad’s 8th Infallible Heir, Imam Reza (AS), in Mashhad on Tuesday said it is the habit of “our enemies to try to attack our points of strength.”
He said the Iranian nation is made up of pious and patriotic believers, “and this is among our most important points of strength.” Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out that the Islamic Revolution in contrast to other revolutions in history that soon fizzled out has successfully resisted against and confronted the strongest world powers, their sanctions, their media tirade, their Iranophobia and their Islamophobia.
The Leader referred to the recent incidents of riots in a few parts of Iran triggered by the US president and certain heads of European regimes and their feverish media campaign to magnify the acts against the state of a few thugs, traitors, and terrorists in a bid to portray the Islamic system as weak, but as the whole world saw, the road rallies throughout Iran marking the 44th anniversary of the triumph of the Islamic revolution on February 11 were more populous compared to the past years.
He told the huge gathering amidst chants of God’s Majesty and Death to the US and the hypocrites, that the scientific and technological advancements are the other points of strength of the Islamic system in the face of the intense US sanctions, in various sectors, including health sector, nuclear projects, aerospace, biotechnology, construction of refineries, hospitals.
Ayatollah Khamenei said “Iran's relations with the West are at a low ebb, while with the US, we do not have relations, but we have strengthened our relations with the rest of the world, including the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, contrary to the enemy propaganda that we are isolated.”
He, however, said the Islamic Republic is facing weakness in some 4 or 5 sectors, the most important which is the fields of economy, some of which are rooted in the past and some are due to the mostly state-owned economic system.
The Leader recalled that though privatization laws were passed years ago, economic justice was not fully achieved as some of these measures were semi-governmental, which is indeed not a good sign, and some other state corporations were not transferred to the private sector.
He expressed regret that although crude oil is Iran’s most important export, “the importers have benefited more than us, who produced, processed, loaded and exported it.”
Another point of weakness of Iran, he said, “was attachment to the US dollar, in contrast to many countries which have rid themselves of the hegemony of the US dollar. We must follow suit.”
Ayatollah Khamenei who named the new calendar year 1402 solar hijri, as “Year of Inflation Control and Increased Production”, called for rapid economic growth, saying: “Today we have reached 8% economic growth annually, while a decade ago we either had a negative growth or as low as 1%. We need accelerated growth for our goal of economic blossoming.
He said that reliance on the people's might is the best way to harness inflation, and lower the expensive consumer goods' prices.
