Khamenei: "The Iranian People's Hatred for America Is Profound"; Larijani: America Should Beware of Our Martyrdom-Seekers

Following recent reports in the West regarding the possibility of opening an American interest office in Tehran, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in an October 29, 2008 speech to students, which was quoted on Iranian TV, that "the Iranian people's hatred for America is profound." This statement was apparently meant to put an end to any debate on the American proposal. Khamenei added: "The reason for this [hatred] is the various plots that the U.S. government has concocted against Iran and the Iranian people in the past 50 years. The Americans have not only refused to apologize for their actions, but have continued with their arrogant actions." Khamenei said further that the confrontation between Iran and the U.S. would lead "the arrogant American regime to a dead end," and stressed that "anyone who wished to trample the identity and independence of the Iranian nation would have his hand cut off by it." [1] Due to Iran's growing fear of a U.S. military strike, senior Iranian leaders have been threatening the U.S. in the recent days with suicide attacks on its forces in the region, and have been warning about the annihilation of Israel. Following are excerpts from the threats: Larijani: America's Adventurousness Will Have a Price Following the recent U.S. strikes in Pakistan and Syria, Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani threatened suicide attacks against the U.S. Speaking in the Majlis, he warned the U.S. that "its adventurousness would have a price that it would not be able to control," and that the response to its aggression would not take the form of diplomatic protest. He added that "the way to prevent this American behavior, which was reflected in acts of aggression, is to react in a strong and unpredictable way that was bequeathed to us by the martyr Fahmideh, [2] and employed by Hizbullah in the 2006 Lebanon War, which constituted a ringing slap [in the] Zionists' [face]... "The weak point of the Americans and the Zionists is that they lack a force of jihad fighters and martyrdom-seekers. The military experience of recent decades has shown that military power does not depend on advanced [technological] means but on the ability to take risks - an ability that is grounded in a strong will, as the martyr Fahmideh taught us... "America should not think that its escapades will have no [consequences]. It must be careful not to throw its weight upon the mines of martyrdom-seekers. It was not without reason that Imam [Khomeini] honored the martyr Fahmideh as a role model for the nation - for his sacrifice embodies the very essence of Jihadi Islamic thought and spirit, and he set out a new path for a world steeped in materialism. "Today, this path [of martyrdom] has defeated the unilateral aggressiveness of America and the Zionists, and has forced them to withdraw." [3] Javani: An Attack on Iran Would Bring About the Annihilation of Israel IRGC Political Bureau Chief General Yadollah Javani threatened that a military strike on Iran by the U.S. and Israel would prompt "a crushing counterblow by Iran and its allies in the region and will trigger a Palestinian popular uprising in the occupied territories, which will cause Khomeini's ideal of erasing Israel from the pages of history to be realized, and bring about a great day for the Palestinians and the Muslim nation by delivering holy Jerusalem from [Israel's] cruel claws." Javani added: "Iran has considerable means, abilities, and resources at its disposal in Iran [itself], as well as in the Middle East and in the Muslim world [at large], and even among the oppressed peoples. Most of these resources, and the ways they can be used to confront enemies like America and the Zionist regime, are unknown [to these enemies]... [though] America knows well how vulnerable they are in the Middle East... Javani stated further: "All of Israel's territory lies within the range of Iran's missiles and those of its allies in the region, so Israel should not feel too smug about its anti-missile [defense] systems." He also threatened that Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz for a long time, and thus bring the global economic crisis to a "horrible level." [4] High-Ranking Iranian Commanders: We Will Teach Our Enemies a Crushing and Unforgettable Lesson IRGC Deputy Commander General Mohammad Hejazi said, in a similar vein, that Iran's armed forces, under the command of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, would teach Iran's enemies an unforgettable lesson if they chose to attack it. [5] Iranian Defense Minister Mustafa Mohammad Najjar said that Iran had sophisticated weapons and could neutralize the enemies' threats on land and in the air, and in [the area of] electronic warfare. He added that Iran's military would react with a crushing response to the various threats posed by Iran's enemies. [6] [1] IRNA, Mehr (Iran), October 29, 2008; Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), October 30, 2008. [2] Mohammad Hossein Fahmideh was the first Iranian martyrdom-seeker: a 13-year-old boy who strapped explosives to his body and lay under an Iraqi tank in 1980, during the Iran-Iraq war. Fahmideh has become an icon of martyrdom in Iran; he has been commemorated in films and TV programs, and his portrait appears on stamps and bills. [3] IRNA (Iran), October 29, 2008. [4] Sobh-e Sadeq (Iran), October 27, 2008. [5] IRNA (Iran), October 28, 2008. [6] Jomhouri-ye Eslami (Iran), October 29, 2008. ...