Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says what happened in Syria was a “joint American and Zionist plot”, even though a neighbouring country also played a role.
“There should be no doubt that what happened in Syria was plotted in the command rooms of the United States and Israel. We have evidence for this,” Ayatollah Khamenei told a group of people in Tehran Wednesday.
“One of the neighbouring countries of Syria also played a role, but the primary planners are the US and the Zionist regime,” the Leader added, apparently referring to Turkey.
Ayatollah Khamenei quashed speculations about the weakening of the resistance front after militants and Takfiri terrorists overran the Syrian capital, assuring that it would become stronger.
“This is what the resistance is, this is what the resistance front is. The more you push, the stronger it becomes; the more you commit crimes, the more motivated it becomes. The more you fight with them, the more widespread it will be, and I tell you, by the Divine Power, the domain of resistance will cover the entire region more than before.”
The Leader also dismissed some analysis that the alleged weakening of the resistance front would undermine Iran.
“That ignorant analyst, unaware of the meaning of resistance, imagines that when the resistance becomes weak, Islamic Iran will also become weak, and I say that by God’s will and power and with the permission of God Almighty, Iran is strong and powerful and will only grow more powerful.”
Plea for Lebanon and preparations for Syria
The Leader revealed that top officials of the armed forces and military organizations had written to him, pleading to go to Lebanon because they could not bear what was happening to the country and Hezbollah under an Israeli onslaught.
“Compare this with an army that cannot endure and flees,” Ayatollah Khamenei, apparently referring to the Syrian army which disintegrated in the face of advancing militants.
Ayatollah Khamenei also said Iran had made all preparations to assist Syria, but the US and the Israeli regime closed all air and land routes to the Arab country.
“We were ready even under the difficult circumstances. They came to me and said they had prepared all the means needed for the Syrians and were ready to go. But the skies were closed, the land was closed. The Zionist regime and the US closed both the skies of Syria and the land routes; it was not possible” to go, he said.
If the Syrians “had had a say against the enemy, the enemy could not have closed their skies, nor could it have closed their land routes and we could have helped them”, the Leader added.
‘Resistance will expand’
Ayatollah Khamenei said the agents of the world arrogance are happy about the events in Syria, thinking that with the fall of the Syrian government, which supported the resistance, the resistance front has become incapacitated.
“The resistance front is not a piece of hardware that breaks or collapses or is destroyed. Resistance is a faith; it is a thought; it is a heartfelt and definite decision. Resistance is a school; it is a school of belief. What is the faith of a group of people does not become weak but becomes stronger with pressure.”
The Leader explained how the spread of evil motivates resistance fighters, leading to the expansion of the resistance front.
“When they see the heinous crimes of the enemy, those who doubted whether to resist or not, will get out of doubt; they will realize that they have to stand, resist and put their lives on the line against the oppressor. This is what resistance is.”
Ayatollah Khamenei cited Hezbollah and “the calamity” that befell on the Lebanese resistance with Israel’s assassination of the group’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
“Hezbollah lost someone like Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, was this a small thing? But Hezbollah’s attacks and the power of its strong fist became more intense than before. The enemy also understood this and accepted” ceasefire, he said.
‘Militants, Americans will be evicted from Syria’
Ayatollah Khamenei touched on divisions among the militant groups in Syria, saying each group has its agenda and all seek to stake out their turf.
Ultimately, the Leader said, they will be evicted from Syria by the “zealous Syrian youth, and so will the Americans who seek to strengthen their foothold in the country”.
“Each of these attackers has their agenda and their goals are different. Some of them are seeking to seize land in the north of Syria or in the south. The US is looking to strengthen its foothold in the region.
“But time will show that, God willing, none of them will achieve their goals. The occupied areas of Syria will be liberated by the zealous Syrian youth. Do not doubt that this will happen,” he said.
“America’s foothold will not be strong either. By God’s grace and power, the US will also be expelled from the region by the resistance front,” Ayatollah Khamenei added.
