Leader Islamic Ummah Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei Calls US Officials as Cruel, Terrorist Charlatans

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei called the US officials as cruel and terrorist charlatans, saying that Iran cannot trust Washington to send aid to the country amid coronavirus outbreak due to their hostilities and while they are in shortage of medical equipment themselves.

“Today, the most sinister enemy of the Islamic Republic is the United States,” Ayatollah Khamenei said during a live address to the nation on Sunday.

“We have no shortage of enemies, but the US officials are such shameless, avaricious, lying charlatans,” he added. “They are also cruel and terrorists. We have such an enemy against us today.”

“God first told the Prophet of Islam to exercise patience against enemies, but patience does not mean to sit still and do nothing. It means to stand strong and remain true to your calculations regardless of the enemies’ deceits, and to carry on in high morale,” Ayatollah Khamenei added.

The Leader then talked about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Iran and across the world.

“Today, we are faced with a global complication. The virus brings both fear and economic problems. What is needed is patience, as well as right and wise measures. All relevant officials in the country have been given certain directives to carry out [in combating the spread of the virus],” he said.

Ayatollah Khamenei then addressed the US authorities and their repeated claim to send medical aid to Iran to combat the coronavirus.

“These words are highly strange,” the Leader said. “First of all, you [US] yourself have a shortage of medical supplies. If you have any medical aid, spend it on yourself. Also, you Americans are accused of having developed the virus yourself. You cannot be trusted. What if the medicine you delivered to Iran actually caused the virus to stay.”

“Our 40 years of experience shows that Iran has the capacity to counter any challenges and problems at any level,” he stressed.

Ayatollah Khamenei then called on everyone to comply with the instructions issued by the anti-coronavirus national headquarters in a bid to stop the spread of the virus. 

Ayatollah Khamenei’s live address took place after he canceled his regular New Year speech at the Imam Reza Holy Shrine in the city of Mashhad in line with precautionary measures to prevent the further spread of the novel coronavirus.

The speech came on the occasion of the Persian New Year and the auspicious Eid al-Mab’ath, which marks the appointment of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad to his divine mission.

The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting over 170 countries and territories around the world. The virus was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. It has so far killed more than 13,000 people and infected over 308,000 others globally.

Iran reported on Saturday 1,556 fatalities and 20,610 cases of infection. Meanwhile, 7,635 people have recovered.

The Iranian foreign ministry declared that despite Washington’s claims of cooperation to transfer drugs to Iran via the new Swiss-launched payment mechanism, the US is troubling the process amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Although US claims that medicines and medical equipment are not under sanctions, they have practically blocked the transfer of Iran’s financial resources in other countries into the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA), Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi said.

As the death toll from the virus surges, Iran intensifies its preventive safety measures. Closures of schools and universities have been extended for the next two weeks.

The government also imposed travel restrictions, specially on Iran’s north, which is among the red zones. The country has also adopted strict digital health control procedures at airports to spot possible infections.

Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced earlier this month that a new national mobilization plan would be implemented across the country to fight against the coronavirus epidemic and more effectively treat patients.

Namaki said that the plan will include all the 17,000 health centers and the 9,000 medical and clinical centers in all cities, suburban areas and villages.

He added that the plan will include home quarantine, noting that infected people will receive the necessary medicines and advice, but they are asked to stay at home.

Namaki said that people with a more serious condition will stay at the hospitals, adding that the public places will be disinfected, the entries of infected towns and cities will be controlled to diagnose and quarantine the infected cases.

He added that the necessary equipment and facilities have been provided, expressing the hope that the epidemic would be curbed.

Namaki said that the number of medical laboratories to test coronavirus infection has reached 22, and will increase to 40 soon.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says Iran’s response to the virus has so far been up to the mark. Still, it says the US sanctions are a big challenge, and Washington would be complicit in the rising death toll in Iran if it would not remove its sanctions.

The World Health Organization has considered priorities in combating coronavirus and Islamic Republic of Iran obeys and follows up priorities as defined by WHO.

The WHO is dispatching separate delegations to all countries.