MEMRI analysis on Khamenei threats

Special Dispatch-Iran
June 6, 2006
No. 1181

Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei: The U.S. "Will Never Be Able to Guarantee the Safe Supply of Energy in This Region"

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The following are excerpts from a speech by Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, which aired on the Iranian News Channel on June 4, 2006.

TO VIEW THIS CLIP, VISIT: MEMRI TV clip of Khamenei's speech.

"We Do Not Need a Nuclear Bomb - We Do Not Have any Target Against Which to Use a Nuclear Bomb"

Ali Khamenei: "When Iran progressed bravely in nuclear technology, it won the support of 116 non-aligned countries. The Organization of the Islamic Conference supported Iran. All the independent governments support Iran. At times, some [European countries] function as intermediaries. They repeat what America says, because of the American pressure, and because they do not feel comfortable standing up to the U.S. They quietly say that this is what they were asked to say by the Americans, and not their own opinion."
[...]
"We have good relations with Russia as well. The Russians know full well what would have happened to them if there was a pro-American government in Iran."
[...]
"They claim Iran is pursuing the nuclear bomb. This is an unfounded claim and a complete lie. We do not need a nuclear bomb. We do not have any target against which to use a nuclear bomb. We believe that using nuclear weapons runs counter to Islamic laws."
[...]
"We have no aspirations to take over the world. Thus, we do not need a nuclear bomb, unlike the Americans, who want to control the world by force. Our nuclear bomb and explosive capabilities are our faith, our youth, and our people."
[...]
"I Say to [the U.S.]... Yours is the Most Hated Government in the History of the U.S... [While] Our Government is One of the Most Popular"

Ali Khamenei: "To the American officials, and to the team that is running America today, and has aspirations to lead the world, I have a few things to say. I wish they would listen. I wish they would think. I wish they would understand. I say to them: Compare yourselves to our government. Compare your president to ours. Today, even within America, yours is the most hated government in the history of the United States. Their own surveys revealed this to the entire world. Today, in the view of the American public, the current administration is the most hated in the history of the United States. Compare this to our government. Today, our government is one of the most popular, in the past century, from the constitutional revolution to this day."
[...]
"Wherever your president, Mr. Bush, goes, throughout the world, he encounters demonstrations and the hatred of the people. This is the case in Europe, Asia and Africa.

"In Latin America, governments rise to power with the slogan of resisting America. Look at what is happening in Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, and in many other Latin American countries. The presidential candidates who voice anti-American slogans are elected."
[...]
"Compare the message our president sent to the American president to the impolite with the stupid message of the Americans, which was published a few days ago worldwide... This message did not conform to diplomatic norms, and was full of the kind of conceit that leads to stupidity, and full of threats and absurdities."

"You Will Never Be Able to Guarantee the Safe Supply of Energy in This Region"

Ali Khamenei: "If you had been able to harm the Islamic republic, you would not have wasted a single minute in the past 27 years. The former American secretary of state explicitly said that he must uproot the Iranian people. He went to hell, but the Iranian people has grown from day to day."

Crowd: "Death to America. Death to America. Death to America. Death to America. Death to America, Death to America."
[...]
Ali Khamenei: "In an attempt to threaten Iran, you claim you can guarantee the flow of energy in this region. You are wrong. If you make the slightest mistake regarding Iran, the flow of energy in this region will surely be jeopardized seriously. You must know this."

Crowd: "Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Khamenei is the leader. Death to those who reject the rule of the Jurisprudent. Death to America. Death to England. Death to the hypocrites [Mojahedin-e Khalq] and Saddam. Death to Israel."

Ali Khamenei: "You will never be able to guarantee the safe supply of energy in this region."
[...]
"We adhere to our ambitions and to our national interests. Whoever threatens our interests will feel the sharp wrath of this people."

Crowd: "Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Allah Akbar. Khamenei is the leader. Death to those who reject the rule of the Jurisprudent. Death to America. Death to England. Death to the hypocrites [Mojahedin-e Khalq] and Saddam. Death to Israel."

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