Tehran, Jan 1, IRNA – Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Wednesday strongly condemned US air raids on Hashd al-Shaabi Iraqi Shia volunteers, saying that they are taking revenge from the Iraqi Shia group for fighting ISIS.

Speaking to thousands of nurses on the National Day of Nurses, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the Popular Mobilization Forces of Iraq were attacked by the US because they has destroyed and crippled Daesh (the ISIS) that was American-made.

The Leader strongly responded to a threat made by US president, saying that Iran will react appropriately to any provocative act of aggression by the United States and is well-prepared to defend national sovereignty.

The Leader held the US accountable for imposing atrocity wars on the Afghan and the Iraqi people.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the US perpetrated war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq giving examples of the war crimes the US private security company had committed in Iraq, adding that the visits of the US officials to their bases in the region is another example of belittling the people of the region, which brought hatred and anger.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that it is noteworthy that when suck things happen to the US, you can see that anti-US feelings erupt, like what happened in Baghdad and the entire Iraq. But again that guy tweeted that "Iran is accountable for that and the US will respond to Iran".

Addressing US president Donald Trump, the Supreme Leader said, "First, that's very ignorant of you to do so. Second, you are not logical."

"The people of this region hate the US. You have committed crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan; you have killed people," the Supreme Leader said.

The Leader said that the hatred of the people of Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan will erupt somewhere. The hatred is the result of US political and security moves in the region.   

Ayatollah Khamenei said that if Iran decided to fight against a country, it will do it openly. Iran is committed to the interests of the people, country, and the esteem and progress and if anyone threatens that, Iran will, with no hesitation, stand up to them and strike a blow.

Referring to the Day of Insight (December 30), he said that people of Iran took to the streets and neutralized a deeply rooted plot.

The Leader referred to the recent protests in Iran and said that the people have some rightful demands and when their demands and expectations are not met, they protest. But sedition under that pretext is a move of the enemy.

People protested and the ones that the enemy had prepared beforehand entered the arena fast to vandalize. The people once again showed insight and distanced themselves from the saboteurs.

The Leader said that the main players of the riots had attempted to attack petro reserves, wheat silos, and public property were in connection with foreign intelligence services.

The Leader said that one of the diplomats that was in Washington those days said that on the first day of riots the Americans were very happy and but when the unrest came to an end, they got really sad, which shows the US "idiocy".   

9417**1416

Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish