Imam Khamenei: U.S. is not Stage Managing Popular Uprisings

Imam Khamenei made the remarks in an address to a number of Foreign Ministry officials and Iran’s ambassadors to foreign countries during a meeting in Tehran on Wednesday.

The world’s political arrangements are undergoing dramatic changes, and “great events are occurring in the region, Europe, and in the world, which should be monitored with full vigilance,” Imam Khamenei said.

“In the 1960s, certain developments took place in a number of Arab countries, and Eastern Europe witnessed great events, but current development in the region and the chain of protests in the West are fundamentally different than those developments in terms of depth and greatness,” he added.

The developments currently unfolding in the world are different than those of the past since they are anti-U.S. and popular in nature and manifest the people’s effective presence on the scene, Imam Khamenei stated.

“Some assume that the United States is stage managing these developments behind the scenes, but it is sheer delusion, just as 30 years ago some were under the illusion that the Islamic Revolution was engineered by the United States,” he said.

Imam Khamenei added, “The great movement of the nations is a sign of their awakening, and this awakening has an Islamic background according to many undeniable facts. However, this Islamic awakening does not mean that they all want an Islamic government or approve of the model of Iran’s Islamic government.”

The fact that Western media outlets have predicted and acknowledged that Islamists will emerge victorious in the elections that will be held in countries in transition also prove the Islamic nature of regional revolutions, Imam observed.

Imam Khamenei also criticized the U.S. for adopting a double-standard approach toward the developments occurring in Egypt and other countries, adding that any popular, democratic, and patriotic person who comes to power in a country will definitely oppose the United States and the Zionist regime.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Imam Khamenei told Foreign Ministry officials to keep a close eye on international developments and said that the country’s foreign policy apparatus should clearly and effectively convey the noble message of the Islamic Republic of Iran at this sensitive juncture.

“The unprecedented and deep events of the region and the world should be vigilantly observed, and an effective role should be played in this regard through wise and insightful decisions and measures,” Imam said.

Imam Khamenei went on to say that the hegemonistic powers’ hostility toward the Islamic Republic has created a number of stumbling blocks in the path of Iran in general and the diplomatic apparatus in particular.

“Islam has been opposing the foundations and principles of hegemony, which are oppression, aggression, and occupation. That is why the global bullies are extremely fearful about the peoples’ inclination toward Islam,” Imam Khamenei stated.

Imam added that the country is making steady progress in all areas, although there are still problems which should be resolved, but the enemy is seeking to blow weaknesses out of proportion and play down Iran’s achievements.

Prior to Imam Khamenei’s address, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi delivered a speech in which he enumerated the Foreign Ministry’s achievements.