Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for national unity, accusing “enemies” of seeking to sow discord among Iranian officials. At the same time, Khamenei criticized those trying to raise women’s issues and generational differences.
In an annual address to Iran Air Force commanders, Khamenei claimed that the main target of enemies was to bring Iran to its knees and to destroy it by stoking rifts and suspicion.
Khamenei described “national unity” as an essential requirement for the present time.
Likening national unity to a dam and robust wall standing against the enemy, Khamenei said this unity has played a significant role in the victory of the 1979 revolution and its progress in past years.
“Today, we need to increase this (national) unity as much as possible,” said Khamenei.
“There is nothing wrong with political disagreements, differences in viewpoints, and natural disagreements, but they must not end in slander,” added the Iranian leader.
Khamenei accused the US of trying to bring his nation to its knees despite a letter he received from former US President Barack Obama.
“Of course, they (enemies) say the opposite, as the president of the US wrote to me about 15 years ago, saying explicitly that ‘we do not intend to change your government.’ But we had reports at the same time that they were planning in their centers to destroy the Islamic Republic.”
Khamenei linked attempts to eliminate the Iranian regime to its regional role and said that his country has managed to take a strategic and important region out of the grasp of the “enemies.”
The leader’s speech comes days after the Iranian judiciary announced he had approved amnesty for tens of thousands of prisoners, including some detainees from recent anti-regime protests.
Demonstrations have been rocking Iran in the wake of the death of a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, last September. Amini died in the custody of Iran's notorious morality police that took her in for violating Iran’s strict dress code.
