Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a televised video conference commemorating the 1979 Islamic Revolution, in Tehran, Feb. 17, 2022. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused what he describes as the “mafia-like regime” of the U.S. for creating the Ukraine-Russia crisis by adopting foreign policies that “feed on various crises”.
Iran wishes for the war in Ukraine to end but believes the crisis is rooted in the policies of the U.S. and other Western nations, Khamenei said in a televised speech.
“The U.S. regime creates crises, lives off of crises and feeds on various crises in the world. Ukraine is another victim of this policy,” Khamenei said.
“We are against war and destruction, anywhere in the world,” Khamenei added. “We are against killing people, the destruction of people’s infrastructure”.
Russia, whose troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 21, is a strategic partner for Iran, which has been under Western sanctions for years. While Iran and the U.S. have been foes for decades, Iran and Russia have deepened trade ties and have been allies in the Syrian conflict.
Iran and the U.S. have been bitter foes since the 1979 Islamic Revolution toppled the U.S.-backed monarch Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Iranian students took more than 50 U.S. embassy staff hostage in Tehran for more than a year.
Both countries are now engaged in efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal hammered out with President Barack Obama that offered Iran sanctions relief in return for curbing its nuclear program. U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018.
Trump, who appeared during his presidency to have a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, echoed Khamenei’s sentiments. After emerging from a self-imposed political quiet time on Feb. 26, 2022, Trump blasted President Joe Biden and NATO over the war in Ukraine, and used the opportunity to reiterate his claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
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The U.S., European allies and NATO members have imposed severe sanctions on Russia and are supplying Ukraine with weapons and defense equipment.
“As everyone understands, this horrific disaster would never have happened if our election was not rigged,” Trump told his supporters gathered on Feb. 26 for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida.
“The problem is not that Putin is smart, which of course he’s smart,” Trump said. “But the real problem is that our leaders are so dumb.”
Photo: Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a televised video conference commemorating the 1979 Islamic Revolution, in Tehran, Feb. 17, 2022. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
