Khamenei's Reaction to Trump's Remarks: People Will Respond to Threats on February 11

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, announced on Tuesday, February 7, that the people of Iran will respond to the threats of the U.S. President on February 11, the anniversary of the 1979 revolution. According to Khamenei's website, he expressed this during a meeting with commanders and staff of the Air Force in Tehran. The leader stated: "The new U.S. president says we should be grateful to Obama! Why? Should we be grateful for ISIS and the fire in Iraq and Syria and the open support for the 2009 sedition? It was he who brought crippling sanctions against the Iranian nation." Khamenei had previously accused the U.S. of supporting ISIS. Contrary to Khamenei's statements, U.S.-led coalition forces have long been bombing ISIS positions in Iraq and Syria. Donald Trump, the U.S. President, and Barack Obama, the former president, have declared the destruction of ISIS as their goal. Khamenei's criticism of the U.S. role in Syria comes at a time when Iran, alongside Russia, has been a main supporter of Bashar al-Assad, with the number of Iranian casualties in the Syrian civil war exceeding "a thousand". Recently, Obama accused Iran of killing civilians in Aleppo. Khamenei, who refers to the 2009 election protest movement as sedition, spoke of Obama's support for the protesters, while Obama has been criticized in the U.S. for what has been termed a lack of support for the 2009 presidential election protesters. In part of his remarks, Khamenei noted that the former U.S. president "did not get what he wanted" and added: "No enemy can paralyze the Iranian nation." Khamenei further stated that "[Trump] says fear me! No; the people will respond to these words on February 11 and show what position the Iranian nation takes against threats." Khamenei's remarks refer to Trump's statements in recent days. Since Donald Trump's rise to power in the U.S., especially after Iran conducted a ballistic missile test on January 30, the verbal war between the two sides has intensified. Trump has repeatedly warned Iran not to "play with fire." In his latest comments in an interview with Fox News, he again criticized the nuclear deal with Tehran, stating that the Iranian government has since become "more brazen" and has shown "complete disrespect" to the United States. Trump added in this interview aired on February 6, "Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism." The U.S. has repeatedly accused the Iranian government of supporting terrorism. These statements have been repeated both during Obama's administration and now under Trump's. Iran has always rejected these claims and, in return, accused U.S. allies in the region, such as Saudi Arabia, of supporting terrorism. On February 4, Trump tweeted: Iran "does not understand how kind President Obama was to them; but I am not like that." Mike Pence, the U.S. Vice President, also warned Iran, stating that it should look at the calendar and realize that a new president has taken office in the White House. In an interview with ABC News, he emphasized that Iran should not doubt the seriousness of the new U.S. president. Michael Flynn, Trump's National Security Advisor, also warned a few days ago in a statement that the U.S. government will no longer tolerate Iran's provocative actions that threaten American interests, stating that "the days of overlooking Iran's hostile and aggressive actions towards the U.S. and the international community are over." Meanwhile, Bahram Qasemi, the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, on Monday, February 6, noted that the new U.S. government is still "far from full establishment," adding, "In a way that is reasonably expected, the government does not exist as an established government." The Foreign Ministry spokesman commented on the statements of American officials, saying, "Contradictory statements are being made that do not align with each other. Some statements are unfriendly, hostile, and even threatening, and we are not surprised by that. It is not very important to us." Qasemi pointed out that "realities will show themselves in due time and impose conditions on others," adding, "We are waiting for the situation to advance a little further and to have a more accurate and better assessment of the U.S. government." He emphasized that "we must wait and not speak too hastily" and added, "Let us wait to see how the U.S. government ultimately intends to act regarding its internal issues, Europe, and the world, which has created chaos. We must be patient and speak less and observe more." The Foreign Ministry spokesman added: "We do not need to test them, and Trump's actions have gone beyond testing, and we have a precise and deep understanding of the opponent, and what happens is based on the planning that has been done." Kamal Kharrazi, head of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, also stated in an interview with the Jamaran website on November 24 that "it is too early to comment on Trump's positions," adding, "We are prepared for any developments that may occur." Nevertheless, a significant number of Iranian political and military officials have recently made strong verbal attacks against the U.S. president and his policies and views.