Khamenei: Claims from within that we are at odds with the world are nonsense

Simultaneously with remarks by Masoud Pezeshkian regarding the 'unrealistic' portrayal of Iran by the media, Ali Khamenei criticized internal criticisms from within the government about the 'bad and estranged' relationship of the Islamic Republic with the world as 'false.' The Supreme Leader made these statements on Wednesday, October 4, in a gathering of individuals whom the media referred to as 'veterans and activists in the field of jihad and resistance.' Ali Khamenei stated: 'Today, some criticize the Islamic Republic from within, claiming that it is bad and estranged from the world; this is false, such a thing does not exist. If this means that we do not have political, economic, interaction, and visits with the world, then it is clear that this is false.' He added, 'Today we work with groups where more than half of the world's population lives in these countries. We have visits, interactions, and trade. No, these are the nonsense claims we sometimes see from some who say, 'We are estranged from everyone, we are bad with everyone,' no, we are not estranged from everyone, we are not bad.' Khamenei's remarks about having 'interaction and trade' with the world come at a time when Iran has been facing severe and increasing international sanctions for a long time. Masoud Pezeshkian at the United Nations: Iran is ready to interact with all parties of the JCPOA. The Supreme Leader's explanations regarding the global image problem of the Islamic Republic and his emphasis on 'not being estranged' from the world coincide with the Iranian President's efforts in New York to announce readiness for 'interaction' with the previous nuclear agreement parties. Masoud Pezeshkian, the President, claimed before his trip to participate in the United Nations General Assembly in New York: 'The image that the media presents of Iran does not match reality.' He also stated at the UN that Iran is ready for 'interaction' with all parties of the JCPOA and claimed that Tehran does not want to be a factor of instability and insecurity in the region. Less than two weeks after his victory in the fourteenth presidential election of Iran, he stated that the eight percent economic growth mentioned in Iran's development plans is not possible without foreign relations. However, after assuming the presidency, he has always emphasized expanding his government's support for the Iran-backed militias in the region, which could make establishing better foreign relations more difficult. On Wednesday, the Supreme Leader also claimed that 'issues like nuclear energy, human rights, and women's rights... are excuses' of the West. These remarks come at a time when, regardless of the Islamic Republic's missile and nuclear activities and regional interventions through proxy groups, violence against protesters has escalated during every period of public protests. Following citizens' failures to access fair courts, many documents of violence and human rights violations, women's rights, and minority rights have been sent to international organizations and human rights groups, and the Islamic Republic has been condemned multiple times for its actions. Nevertheless, the Iranian government has never accepted its responsibilities regarding these events and human rights violations, attributing them to the 'enemy' while ignoring documented evidence. Khamenei: Effective and valuable elements of Hezbollah were killed. In another part of his remarks, the Supreme Leader referred to the conflicts between the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon and Israel. He, like Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, confirmed that in recent Israeli attacks, 'effective and valuable elements' of this group were killed, but added that in his opinion, 'this was not a loss that would bring Hezbollah down.' Following the suspicious explosion of thousands of pagers, radios, and other communication equipment belonging to Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah stated on Thursday, September 29, in a speech that his group suffered a 'hard and unprecedented blow' from this. Hassan Nasrallah said in his speech, 'We are realistic, and this was a significant blow in terms of human and security aspects.' Pezeshkian in New York: Hezbollah cannot stand alone against Israel. Khamenei directly referred to Israel's technological superiority, saying: 'America is behind it; the Americans say: We have no intervention, we have no knowledge, they are lying. They know both and intervene.' He introduced Hezbollah as 'victorious' in the conflict with Israel without mentioning the widespread human casualties in Gaza and its destruction, as well as the situation in Lebanon. In recent days, coinciding with the escalation of Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Axios reported, citing informed sources, that this militia group requested Tehran to attack Israel. Axios reported on Tuesday, October 3, citing two Israeli officials and a Western diplomat, that Hezbollah in Lebanon requested Tehran to attack Israel following the increasing Israeli attacks in recent days, but Iran has so far refrained from doing so. Hezbollah has suffered extensive losses with the deaths of many senior military commanders and the jeopardization of its communication devices. According to Israeli officials, the country has destroyed a large part of this militia group's missile arsenal in recent days.