Imam Khamenei: Babylon the Great’s continual miscalculations about Iran

Imam Khamenei: Americans’ continual miscalculations about Iran

In his statements, Imam Khamenei cited examples of US miscalculations on issues concerning Iran, including: the fall of the Pahlavi regime, the defeat of the 2009 sedition, and their failure to achieve the results they wanted by imposing sanctions. He considers Iran’s way, movement and progress to be far beyond the enemies’ comprehension.

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): In his statements, Imam Khamenei cited examples of US miscalculations on issues concerning Iran, including: the fall of the Pahlavi regime, the defeat of the 2009 sedition, and their failure to achieve the results they wanted by imposing sanctions. He considers Iran’s way, movement and progress to be far beyond the enemies’ comprehension. He said their miscalculations and repeated failures are due to their lack of understanding on issues concerning Iran and their lack of knowledge about the Iranian nation and the Revolution.

In examining the situation of the country, of the army and of the people, the Americans made a grave miscalculation. This is an important point. They made a miscalculation. Their false hope about the army originated from their miscalculation and this surprised them a great deal. They were surprised because they made that miscalculation.

In the documents that have been published after many years, they have acknowledged that until a little before Bahman of 1357, they could not foresee the overthrow of the Shah and the Pahlavi dynasty. They did not have any clue at all! More importantly, until a few days before the 22nd of Bahman, the Pentagon announced that the fall of the Shah’s regime is impossible. This means that they made many mistakes and miscalculations. They used to say that the army had complete control and that any ouster would be impossible.

Of course, the Iranian army was even more important than the Shah to the Americans. They believed that even if the Shah died, he was only one person and he could be replaced with another person. However, the army was really important to them and they counted on it to a great deal. However, the same army – which was so important to the Americans, on which they worked so hard and where they had 40,000 American advisors in those days – turned into an important factor in the defeat of the taghuti regime and the destruction of American hopes in Iran. God says in the Holy Quran, “But the wrath of Allah came to them from quarters from which they little expected” [59: 2]. They received a blow from an area which they did not expect at all.

Of course, they continue to make such miscalculations. In other words, the Americans have continued until today to make miscalculations regarding the issues of Iran and their political calculator is really not working. They do not understand our issues and they do not know our nation. They do not know the Iranian nation yet and that is why they constantly make a mistake. For instance, the Americans made a mistake on the issue of the 1388 sedition. The Democratic president of those days [Barak Obama] officially supported and defended the sedition because he thought that it would put an end to the Islamic Republic once and for all, but that was a miscalculation.

The same is true on the issue of sanctions. With their unprecedented and comprehensive sanctions – as they sincerely said, similar sanctions did not exist throughout history – they thought that they would bring Iran to its knees. Well, it was a miscalculation and they had a false hope.

One of those first-rate fools, whom I referred to once, said two, three years ago [John Bolton] that they would be celebrating Christmas of the year 2019 in Tehran. They were hoping that the Islamic Republic would have been ousted from power by Christmas 2019 and they would be celebrating it in Tehran. However, that person was thrown into the garbage bin of history and his boss was literally kicked out of the White House. They were both thrown into the garbage bin of history, but the Islamic Republic thankfully stands on its feet in a glorious manner. [Feb 7, 2021]

This nation is awake. This nation is committed to its faith. Praise God, this nation, its way, its movement, and its progress are still far beyond the enemies’ comprehension. We see how wrong they [the enemies] are in their analyses, opinions and understanding of the realities of this country. So they keep failing, because they do not understand our nation, Revolution and country. God, the Almighty, has willed that His flag remain flying and His religion be glorified. Why? Because the believers are committed to this religion. [May 29, 1995]

Well, one should not oversimplify things. Yes, the enemy is making miscalculations, but we should know that the problems with the enemy’s calculation system will not necessarily bring us success. We should work and endeavor hard. […] Such miscalculations exist in the area of economic matters and other areas as well. We should pay attention to this matter and benefit from it. However, we should be careful about our own mistakes too. We should be vigilant about our own errors too. I wish to refer to one of the mistakes that some people among us might make: that we become intimidated by the enemy’s power. This is a grave mistake. This is one of the mistakes that we might make. Another is to pin our hopes on him. Because of our circumstances, we might want to pin our hopes on foreigners regarding part of our affairs – economic, political and international matters. That is while such foreign countries wish to transgress, loot our resources and interfere in our affairs. This will be a great mistake. Of course, I do not want to suggest that we should exaggerate our domestic power. We should see the reality, but we should also try to improve upon it. In any case, I strongly recommend that we not become intimidated by the enemy no matter what capabilities we have. If we become intimidated, we become dysfunctional. [Feb 7, 2021]