So now that Barack Obama has sent a conciliatory Persian New Year message to Iranians and their leaders, is Tehran reacting favorably? According to this news account from the Islamic Republic’s state-controlled Fars News Agency, the Supreme Leader’s response is the political equivalent of ‘show me the money.’ In a speech delivered on March 22, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei discussed a few domestic issues and then responded in some length to President Obama’s video message, saying in part:
“We say that if a velvety glove covers a cast-iron hand – the move will be in vain. … Referring to American atrocities against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including seizure of Iranian assets, it’s support for Saddam in his invasion of Iran which left 300,000 Iranian martyrs, its massacre of 300 people in a missile attack against an Iranian passenger jet, Ayatollah Khamenei said “Can the Iranian nation simply forget these tragedies? … We don’t know who America’s real decision maker is: the president or the Congress. But Iranians will decide on the basis of definite calculations – not emotions.”
March 22, 2009
Islamic Republic of Iran – Fars News Agency
TEHRAN: The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, has underlined today that no other nation can deceive or intimidate the Iranian nation.
Addressing a huge crowd of Iranians on Sunday, in the holy shrine of Imam Reza (Peace Be Upon Him) in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, the Leader said that the dear and great Iranian nation, by making use of the positive things that are now occurring, would transform the Revolution’s fourth decade into a monumental period that promotes the cause of “progress and justice.”
Ayatollah Khamenei took note of the millions of fresh and educated young people, the valuable experience of the nation’s elites, officials and managers in confronting many problems, including the carrying-out of Article 44 of the Constitution and preparing the nation’s infrastructure for making the Revolution’s fourth decade one of progress and justice.
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