TEHRAN, 5 June 2003 — Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned yesterday that any military attack against the Islamic republic would be “suicide for the aggressor,” in a speech that came amid mounting tension with the United States.
“The Iranian people know that the Islamic republic’s leaders will not lead the country to war with anybody. We would not welcome war, but the people and their leaders will defend the country from any aggression with power and determination,” Khamenei warned.
“A military attack against Iran would be suicide for the aggressor,” he said in his speech marking the 14th anniversary of the death of Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
Tens of thousands of people were at Khomeini’s vast complex on the southern outskirts of Tehran for the occasion — marked by a public holiday — and Khamenei’s defiant comments were greeted by deafening chants of “Death to America, Death to Israel.”
The crowd included woman clad in chadors, war veterans, members of the Basij volunteer militia and Revolutionary Guards and numerous religious leaders. The numbers appeared to be lower than previous years, while security was noticeably tighter.
In recent weeks Iran has been coming under mounting pressure from Washington, which alleges the country is developing nuclear weapons, supporting fugitive Al-Qaeda leaders and interfering in Iraq.
But Khamenei calmly predicted that Iran’s “enemies will not make war with us, because they know they would pay a very heavy price.”
“A war against Iran would not be war against a dictatorship or a military regime, but a war against people of Iran. But by threatening war, they want to weaken the leadership and people and push them toward treason,” said the all-powerful leader, who took charge of Iran after Khomeini’s death in 1989.
Khamenei, who has the last word on all matters of state, also gave a stiff warning to any officials urging compromise with the United States — still referred to by hard-liners as the “Great Satan.”
“If there are some officials who go against the interests of the country and the people, they will be rejected without pity,” Khamenei warned.
“Unfortunately, the instruments of enemy propaganda sometimes branch into Iran, and attempt to give the impression of divisions between our officials,” he added.
“But all Iran’s leaders are united in defense of the interests of the people and our independence.” These comments drew a chant of “Death to pro-American MPs” from a part of the crowd — in a damning reference to a group of 135 Iranian MPs who wrote an open letter to Khamenei last week calling on him to allow reforms to be implemented or risk the survival of the regime.
Hitting back at US allegations that Iran was harboring Al-Qaeda members, Khamenei asserted that “Iran does not support terrorism or host terrorists”.
But he qualified that by arguing “the millions of young Muslims who hate the American oppressors cannot be classed as terrorists.” Khamenei also hit out at the “American occupation” of neighboring Iraq.
“You accuse Iran of interfering in Iraq, but your enemy is the Iraqi people. You say that you are worried about our influence, but we say we are worried about your presence in Iraq,” Khamenei said.
He accused the US of focusing on Iran because “the Islamic revolution is behind the Islamic awakening of the Muslim world.”
“I tell the neo-conservatives in power in the United States who think they can conquer the Muslim world by force that that they cannot.”
Iran and the United States cut diplomatic ties after the 1979 revolution, and despite signs of a thaw in relations under former US President Bill Clinton, relations have again deteriorated — with US President George W. Bush lumping the country into an “axis of evil.”
