TEHRAN: Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei has declared that the United States is suffering an irreversible decline in both its military strength and its international influence, framing Iran’s confrontation with Washington as part of a wider struggle between what he called the “Front of Truth” and the “Front of Falsehood.”
In a message marking Iran’s National Day of Fighting Global Arrogance and National Students Day, the Leader said the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US Embassy in Tehran carried renewed meaning amid what he described as continued American and Israeli aggression against Iran, reported by Tasnim News Agency.
“Today, the declining power and hegemony of the United States has suffered an irreversible fall in both dimensions of its power: its hard military power and its international soft power,” he said, adding that he believed this process of collapse was accelerating.
Ayatollah Khamenei traced Iran’s dispute with the United States to the 1953 coup that overthrew Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, arguing that Washington had since sought to control Iran’s resources and suppress its independence. He accused the US of supporting opposition groups, imposing sanctions, backing Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war, assassinating General Qasem Soleimani, freezing Iranian assets, and launching direct military attacks.
He portrayed Iran’s resistance as a defensive and moral struggle, saying American efforts to weaken or divide the country had repeatedly failed against the determination of the Iranian people.
The Leader pointed to the situation in the Persian Gulf, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, as evidence that the United States’ image of invincibility had been shattered. He said Iran’s control over the strategic waterway and its destruction of US military bases in the region were responses to American aggression during what he called the “Third Imposed War.”
He warned that any repetition of such attacks would meet a “much more extensive” response. He also linked Iran’s position to the wider resistance movement across Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, presenting it as the beginning of a new regional and global order.
Turning inward, Ayatollah Khamenei urged national unity, social cohesion and closer cooperation between Iran’s people and officials. He said the country’s strength depended on protecting citizens’ livelihoods, dignity and independence, while officials must serve with dedication and remain close to the public.
He placed particular hope in young Iranians, students and schoolchildren, calling on them to reject despair and embrace confidence, knowledge, ethics and hard work. “They must conquer the bright realm of hope and ‘We can,’” he said.
The message ended with a warning against concessions to Washington. Ayatollah Khamenei argued that the United States sought Iran’s unconditional surrender, and that even minor accommodation would endanger the sacrifices made by generations of Iranians.
His remarks come at a moment of heightened tension in the region, with the conflict’s consequences still shaping politics, security and daily life across the Middle East.__Photo courtesy Tasnim News Agency
