Iran's Leader: The U.S. is the one that should leave the region, not the Islamic Republic

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, stated on Monday that "war, insecurity, and bloodshed in the region" are caused by the U.S. presence, and "the one that should leave the region is the U.S., not the Islamic Republic." In remarks made to workers and entrepreneurs on Labor Day, Khamenei also emphasized that the "era of impunity" is over, without directly referencing recent events in Syria, including an alleged Israeli attack on a military base in Syria where several Iranians were reportedly killed. He compared Donald Trump to other U.S. presidents, labeling them as "immoral and ridiculous," and stated that Americans know that "if they engage in military conflict with Iran, they will suffer significantly more damage." The missile attack on Sunday night on targets in Syria, including a storage facility for ground-to-ground missiles, left at least 26 dead, but while sources like the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claim that most of the casualties were Iranian, Iranian media have denied this based on informed sources. Iran's presence near Israel's borders in Syria has raised concerns for Israel, and Israeli officials have emphasized that they will not hesitate to respond to the actions of the Islamic Republic, even in the form of direct attacks on Iranian territory. Recently, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, in a congressional meeting and during a visit with his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, did not rule out the possibility of conflict between Israel and Iran over Iran's military presence in Syria, adding that "he can imagine how this conflict might start but cannot guess how far and where it might escalate." In recent days, the U.S. Secretary of State traveled to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel shortly after his appointment, with reports indicating that the main goal of this trip was to garner support from America's regional allies for potential new sanctions against Iran. However, on Monday, the Iranian leader stated that the U.S. does not want to bear the costs of confronting the Islamic Republic and is seeking to "provoke some of the less informed governments in the region" and "create discord and conflict within the region." He warned regional countries that "if they confront the Islamic Republic, they will certainly suffer defeat." Khamenei also emphasized that the U.S. government is currently focusing on an economic and cultural war against the Islamic Republic, stating that "the economic war room against the Islamic Republic is the U.S. Treasury Department." He added that to counter this "economic war," reliance on domestic capabilities and support for domestic products is essential. Khamenei stated that he does not believe in severing ties with the world but emphasized that reliance should not be placed outside the borders. He reminded that "the world is not just the U.S. and a few European countries" and that connections should be made with various countries. Last fall, the U.S. President tasked the Treasury Department with designing new sanctions against Iran, especially concerning the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as part of his new strategy towards Iran. Since then, the U.S. has repeatedly added various individuals and entities to its sanctions list in connection with Iran's missile program and cyber activities attributed to Iran. Recently, as the three European powers involved in the JCPOA proposed sanctions regarding Iran's missile program and regional presence to the European Union to encourage the U.S. to remain in the nuclear deal, the U.S. has also sought sanctions from other countries against Iran's missile program. Meanwhile, the expiration of Donald Trump's deadline regarding the reform of the JCPOA may mean the reinstatement of some of the sanctions against Iran that the U.S. President suspended periodically under the nuclear agreement. Trump has stated that if the "catastrophic flaws and deficiencies" of the JCPOA, such as its exclusion of the missile program, are not corrected, he will not extend the suspension of Iran's sanctions and may even withdraw from it. In response, Iran, which has previously stated that it has various options in response to a potential U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, indicated through Abbas Araqchi, the Deputy Foreign Minister, that whether or not the U.S. exits the JCPOA, the continuation of this situation will not be tolerable. He told ISNA that they have prepared options for all scenarios and have special measures in place, and any possibility, including a return to pre-JCPOA conditions, could exist.