Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump would fail in his hardened stance towards Iran, Reuters reported.
Khamenei said Tehran is now stronger than it was during the time of the “more powerful and smarter” President Ronald Reagan.
“Reagan was more powerful and smarter than Trump, and he was a better actor in making threats, and he also moved against us and they shot down our plane,” Khamenei said in a speech carried on state television.
He was referring to an incident from 1988, in which a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian passenger plane over the Gulf, killing all 290 aboard. Washington said the incident was a mistake, but Tehran claimed it was a deliberate attack on Iran, then at war with neighboring Iraq.
“But Reagan is gone and, according to our beliefs, he now faces God’s retribution ... while Iran has made great advances in all areas since Reagan’s time,” Khamenei added, according to Reuters.
“This trend will continue under the current American president and any hopes on their part that the Islamic Republic would back off or weaken is futile,” he declared.
In October, Trump announced he would not recertify the Iran nuclear deal signed during the Obama administration, leaving its fate to Congress.
The Supreme Leader consistently verbally attacks the United States, to which he refers as the “Great Satan”.
He has insisted his country will not negotiate with the United States and must stand strong against Washington on the region’s conflicts.
Khamenei has also claimed that the “global Zionism network” dictates the United States’ and many EU members' policies vis-a-vis Iran.
