Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Ayatollah Ali KhameneiReuters

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Sunday said the Islamic Republic must stand strong against Washington on the region’s conflicts.

“The Americans insist we negotiate with them on regional issues, especially on Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen,” Khamenei said in a speech to commanders of the elite Republican Guards quoted by AFP.

“What is their main goal for requesting these talks? They have no aim but to prevent the presence in the region of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the main factor of America’s failures,” he charged.

Major generals Mohammad Ali Jafari, the Revolutionary Guards chief, and Qassem Suleimani, head of its foreign operations wing, the Quds Force, were among hundreds of members who attended the speech, according to AFP.

Khamenei, whose country has not had diplomatic relations with Washington since 1980, stressed that military power and intimidation were the most effective means to keep foreign threats at bay.

“In past years, some officials have said the removal of military threat and war were due to certain measures, but it’s not true,” he said, adding, “The sole factor of removing military threats has been and will remain military and defense power and the creation of fear in the enemy.”

Khamenei often launches verbal attacks against Iran’s “enemies”, mostly against the United States, to which he refers as “the Great Satan”, and Israel.

In the past, he has ruled out his country having ties with the United States or “the Zionist regime” – that is, Israel – claiming he had proof that the United States was planning a coup in Iran.

Khamenei has also referred to Israel as a “cancerous tumor” and also predicted several months ago that the Jewish state will not exist in 25 years.