Iran can take fight beyond its borders, Khamenei says in rare sermon
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
August 16, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2022
Iran can take fight beyond its borders, Khamenei says in rare sermon

World+Biz

Reuters
17 January, 2020, 08:20 pm
Last modified: 17 January, 2020, 08:25 pm

Related News

  • Iran will respond to EU's nuclear text by midnight on Monday, says foreign minister
  • Iran says Rushdie and supporters to blame for attack
  • Kuwait names first ambassador to Iran in over six years
  • The three major issues bedevilling talks on reviving Iran nuclear deal
  • Iranian nuclear deal limbo may serve interests of both US and Iran

Iran can take fight beyond its borders, Khamenei says in rare sermon

“Resistance must continue until the region is completely freed from the enemy’s tyranny,” Khamenei said, demanding that US troops leave neighboring Iraq and the wider Middle East

Reuters
17 January, 2020, 08:20 pm
Last modified: 17 January, 2020, 08:25 pm
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gestures as he delivers a Friday prayers sermon, in Tehran, Iran January 17, 2020. Official Khamenei website/Handout via Reuters
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gestures as he delivers a Friday prayers sermon, in Tehran, Iran January 17, 2020. Official Khamenei website/Handout via Reuters

The Revolutionary Guards can take their fight beyond Iran's borders, the supreme leader said on Friday, responding to the US killing of his country's most prominent commander and to anti-government unrest at home over the downing of an airliner.

In his first Friday prayers sermon in eight years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also told thousands of Iranians who chanted "Death to America!" that European powers could not be trusted in Iran's nuclear standoff with Washington.

Iran's nuclear ambitions have been at the heart of a months-long crisis, which briefly erupted in January into tit-for-tat military strikes between Iran and the United States.

"Resistance must continue until the region is completely freed from the enemy's tyranny," Khamenei said, demanding that US troops leave neighboring Iraq and the wider Middle East.

Washington's withdrawal in 2018 from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers and the reimposition of US sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy, led to the latest cycle of hostilities between Washington and Tehran, which have been at odds since the 1979 revolution toppled the US-backed shah.

US President Donald Trump ordered the killing in a drone strike on Jan. 3 of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, a unit of the Guards responsible for expanding Iran's influence abroad. He built up regional militias that Washington has blamed for attacks on US forces.

Iran responded with missile strikes on US targets in Iraq on Jan. 8, injuring although not killing US troops.

"The fact that Iran has the power to give such a slap to a world power shows the hand of God," said Khamenei, in a reference to the strikes, adding that the killing of Soleimani showed Washington's "terrorist nature".

The Quds Force "protects oppressed nations across the region," Khamenei said. "They are fighters without borders."

In the tense aftermath of Iran's missile strikes on US targets when Iranian forces expected US reprisals, the Guards' air defenses shot down a Ukrainian airliner in error, killing all 176 people on board, mostly Iranians or dual nationals.

It took days for the Guards, which answer directly to Khamenei, to admit their mistake, even though a commander said he had told the authorities about the cause the same day. The delay sparked protests across Iran, sometimes meeting a violent crackdown.

Trump sent tweets in Farsi and English to support the demonstrators, drawing a sharp response from Khamenei.

"These American clowns who lie and say they are with the Iranian people should see who the Iranian people are," he said in his sermon, telling Iranians to unite and show solidarity by turning out in numbers in a February parliamentary election.

Khamenei called for national unity and said Iran's "enemies" had tried to use the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 to shift attention from the killing of Soleimani.

Most of those on the flight were Iranians or dual nationals. Canada, Ukraine, Britain, Sweden and Afghanistan, which all had citizens on the flight, have demanded compensation and a thorough investigation into what happened.

Khamenei described the crash as a tragedy, but stopped short of a direct apology although the Guards and other officials have issued profuse apologies since the incident. The supreme leader also called for steps to ensure there was no repeat.

The funeral of Soleimani, long portrayed as a national hero in Iran but seen by the West as a ruthless adversary, had brought huge numbers of Iranian mourners to the streets.

But scenes of mourning for Soleimani were followed by four days of protests over the plane disaster, when demonstrators chanted "Death to Khamenei" and scrawled it on walls. "Clerics get lost," they shouted, as protests spread to several cities.

To quell the demonstrations, riot police were sent onto the streets in force, lining up outside universities that were a focus for the protests. Video footage online showed protesters were beaten and also recorded gunshots and blood on the streets.

Iran's police denied firing at protesters and said officers had been ordered to show restraint.

In the bloodiest unrest the country has seen since 1979, Iranian authorities two months ago suppressed protests that erupted over sharp fuel price hikes, which have added to the suffering of ordinary Iranians already hurt by US sanctions.

In reaction to Washington's "maximum pressure" policy, Tehran has gradually scaled back on commitments to the nuclear deal, including lifting limits on its uranium enrichment.

Britain, France and Germany, which have been trying to salvage the pact, have subsequently launched the deal's s dispute mechanism over Iran's violations, starting a diplomatic process that could lead to reimposing UN sanctions.

"These European countries cannot be trusted. Even their negotiations with Iran are full of deceit," Khamenei said.

Top News

Iran / Khamenei

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • A diesel fuel tank at a supplier in the US.Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
    A storm brews in heating oil
  • Rohingya repatriation to be under UN supervision: Michelle Bachelet
    Rohingya repatriation to be under UN supervision: Michelle Bachelet
  • Bilkis Bano, one of the survivors of the Gujarat riot victims.(AP Photo)
    Eleven convicts in Gujarat gang rape, murder cases freed in India

MOST VIEWED

  • Even today, it is not obvious how the Democrats could nominate someone stronger than Biden in 2024. PHOTO: Reuters
    White House pushes three-part plan for abortion rights
  • Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 5, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
    China will step up policy support for economy, premier tells state media
  • An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test at 2:10 am Pacific Daylight Time at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, US, August 2, 2017. US Air Force/Senior Airman Ian Dudley/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
    US carries out ICBM test delayed during Chinese show-of-force over Taiwan
  • REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/
    Trump's revenge campaign takes aim at key Wyoming, Alaska Republicans
  • Group of African penguins walk across Seaforth Beach, near Cape Town, South Africa, November 3, 2020. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham
    African penguins endangered by shipping noise in Algoa Bay
  • A diesel fuel tank at a supplier in the US.Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
    A storm brews in heating oil

Related News

  • Iran will respond to EU's nuclear text by midnight on Monday, says foreign minister
  • Iran says Rushdie and supporters to blame for attack
  • Kuwait names first ambassador to Iran in over six years
  • The three major issues bedevilling talks on reviving Iran nuclear deal
  • Iranian nuclear deal limbo may serve interests of both US and Iran

Features

Photo: Collected

Welcome to the age of glass facades

8h | Habitat
Photo: Mumit M/TBS

Why artificial oyster reefs are the answer to our coastal embankments problems

8h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Anwar Group: From comb maker to owner of 20 companies

10h | Panorama
TBS Sketch

Bangabandhu and the spirit of Liberation War were killed in 1975

1d | Supplement

More Videos from TBS

Whose negligence caused loss of life in under construction projects?

Whose negligence caused loss of life in under construction projects?

10m | Videos
Shakib Al Hasan wins despite 'losing'

Shakib Al Hasan wins despite 'losing'

35m | Videos
Is there a possibility to reduce the cost of living?

Is there a possibility to reduce the cost of living?

35m | Videos
Cumilla agro entrepreneur gains success in growing tea in Lalmai hills

Cumilla agro entrepreneur gains success in growing tea in Lalmai hills

3h | Videos

Most Read

1
Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 
Banking

Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 

2
From left Afzal Karim, Murshedul Kabir and Mohammad Jahangir
Banking

Sonali, Agrani and Rupali banks get new MDs

3
Photo: TBS
Bangladesh

5 crushed to death as BRT girder falls on car in Uttara

4
Dollar price drops by Tk8 in kerb market
Economy

Dollar price drops by Tk8 in kerb market

5
Representational Image. Photo: Collected
Bangladesh

Air passengers should plan extra commute time to airport: DMP

6
Photo: Collected
Transport

Will Tokyo’s traffic model solve Dhaka’s gridlocks?

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]