Addressing a ceremony marking the 33rd anniversary of the passing of Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, the Leader said the enemies are seeking to pit the Iranian people against their government and the Islamic establishment but all to no avail.
The ceremony was held at the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini, south of Tehran, on Saturday.
Ayatollah Khamenei said Western countries mainly pin their hopes on the popular protests in order to overthrow the Islamic Republic.
“By launching psychological warfare, recruiting mercenaries, and staging media campaigns against Iran, they attempt to set people against the Islamic establishment,” he said.
However, the Leader noted the enemy is making miscalculations as they did before by erroneously believing that they can cause public dissent in the country.
He said they make such mistakes as they get "wrong advice" from “Iranian traitors” who say: "Count on the Iranian people to rise up against the Islamic establishment."
Ayatollah Khamenei said the Iranians’ interest in the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic establishment is growing day by day, citing the funeral procession held for Iran’s top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani.
He also underlined that the West has plundered nations all the way from Asia to Africa and South America for the last three centuries.
Ayatollah Khamenei also emphasized the enemy's lies, deceptions, and psychological warfare must be exposed.
He touched upon the recent illegal seizure of an Iranian oil tanker by Greece and the confiscation of its oil by the US, praising Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) for retaliating against Athens' act of piracy.
Days after the Iranian oil tanker was captured by Greece in its territorial waters, the IRGC naval forces seized two Greek oil tankers in the Persian Gulf over violations.
The leader said that the enemy has “accused Iran of stealing” in their media campaigns, however, “taking back what is stolen from you is not called stealing, you are the (real) thieves.”