(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - During his speech, the Leader also commented on the situation in Bahrain, noting, "The Bahraini people are truly oppressed. The Bahraini people are being suppressed by an authoritarian and dictatorial regime for no reason. Their protest is being dealt with in the most violent way possible. What do they (the people) want? They are demanding the most fundamental rights that the people have in democratic countries.”
"With the grace of God, all endeavors in the region will come to fruition,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, referring to the wave of pro-democracy uprisings rolling across the Middle East and North Africa.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei commented on the commotion that certain Western countries have raised about Iran’s nuclear program, noting, "The Westerners, including the Americans, are taking crazy measures. They are blowing Iran’s nuclear issue out of proportion with the aim of diverting attention from their own problems. They have made Iran’s nuclear issue the most important issue in the world, while the reality is different. They deceitfully talk about nuclear weapons. They deceitfully hype issues in their media campaigns. Their intention is to divert the attention of the world’s people from the events occurring in the United States, from the events taking place in Europe. However, they will not be successful.”
He added, "International media and organizations are talking about the danger of a nuclear Iran, saying, ‘A nuclear Iran is dangerous.’ I say that they are lying. They are deceitful. What they are afraid of and should be afraid of is not a nuclear Iran, it is Islamic Iran.
"It is Islamic Iran that has triggered an earthquake that is shaking the pillars of the hegemonistic powers. The Iranian nation has proved that a nation can make true progress without dependence on the United States, without reliance on the self-proclaimed powers.”
On the sanctions imposed on Iran over the allegation that it is seeking to produce nuclear weapons, Ayatollah Khamenei stated, "Sanctions cannot prevent the Iranian nation from making progress.”
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