All the US’ alleged plots against the Islamic Republic have failed, “just like Tom from the well-known Tom and Jerry cartoon,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei boasted.
By: Max Gelber, United with Israel
Iran’s Supreme Leader resorted to a colorful cartoon analogy to explain the rivalry between the US and the Islamic Republic, saying that all the US’ plots against Iran have failed “just like Tom from the well-known Tom and Jerry cartoon.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday addressed Iranian heads of government in honor of the Muslim month of Ramadan, during which he commented on the recent developments regarding the US- Iran enmity and the US’ withdrawal from the nuclear accord, during which he asserted that since the beginning of the Islamic revolution in 1979 and until today, the US “has committed all kinds of animosity to hit the Islamic Republic and has plotted various political, economic, military and propaganda schemes against the Islamic Republic.”
“All these actions aimed at ‘overthrowing’ the Islamic Republic, a word which is repeated constantly, is not something new,” he said, while underscoring that “all [US] plots have failed.”
Highlighting Iran’s supposed progress in the past 40 years, Khamenei again said that “all their plots have failed… just like Tom from the well-known Tom and Jerry cartoon, and they will fail again in the future. We have no doubt in the failure of the enemy, and anyone who is familiar with Islamic thought knows this.”
The US is apparently Tom the cat, while Iran seems to be Jerry the mouse, who escapes Tom’s bullying in every cartoon.
“The current US president will have no better fate than that of his predecessors, like Bush, the other neocons, and Reagan, he will be lost in history,” Khamenei said of President Donald Trump.
Threats to Renew Iran’s Nuclear Enrichment
The Iranian leader also threatened to restart the country’s nuclear program following Europe’s failure to secure the nuclear deal and its benefits for his country.
The Ayatollah also claimed that Iran had yet to realize an economic boon from agreement, and threatened that “if the Europeans linger over our demands, Iran has the right to resume its nuclear activities.” He said.
“When we see that the JCPOA [nuclear deal] was useless, one way forward is to restart those halted activities,” he stated ominously.
Iran’s leadership has released several offensive, combative and derisive statements about the US after its withdrawal form the nuclear deal and after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo publicized the US’ list of 12 demands with which Iran must comply, or face “the strongest sanctions in history.”
On Monday, a commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) slammed Pompeo and “anyone who backs” the US, saying that the Iranian people will deliver to the American official a “strong punch to the mouth.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry also lashed out at Pompeo for his “meddlesome, hostile and threatening comments.”
In a Monday statement, the Foreign Ministry said Pompeo’s “cheap, baseless, insulting and interventionist” remarks and the accusations he leveled against the “great and civilized Iranian nation” are indicative of the US’ “despair and desperation in the face of the Iranian nation.”
Iran charged that Pompeo’s remarks were a “forlorn attempt” to deflect world public opinion from Washington’s “illegal” withdrawal from the nuclear deal.