Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed Wednesday that US President Barack Obama's administration has "renounced the idea of any military actions" against the Islamic regime over its nuclear program.
Khameini spoke on a stage with a banner reading "America cannot do a damn thing," at his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's mausoleum at the 25th anniversary of Khomeini's death, reports New York Times. Senior Iranian political and military figures attended the address.
“They realized that military attacks are as dangerous or even more dangerous for the assaulting country as they are for the country attacked,” said Khamenei, adding a "military attack is not a priority for Americans now. They have renounced the idea of any military actions."
On the other hand, Khamenei claimed that the US was supporting "terrorist acts" in Iran and elsewhere, saying "they did it in Iraq, Afghanistan and some Arab countries of the region and in our country as well," referencing the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists over the last few years.
Khamenei ultimately has control over Iranian policy, despite the West's courtship with the supposed "moderate" Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. During the speech, pamphlets reading "What did we give - and what did we get?" were passed out, criticizing Rouhani over the nuclear talks currently being conducted with Western powers.
The claims of American military emasculation are Khamenei's first response to Obama's speech last week at the US West Point military academy, in which he emphasized that the US has other ways of conducting foreign policy aside from the military.
Another presumable sign of American submission was the US announcement on Saturday that it would release five Taliban terrorists in exchange for kidnapped US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, a move hailed as a victory by the Taliban.
Last month Khamenei said that Western expectations for the Islamic Republic to limit its missile program were "stupid and idiotic". In the past, he has declared that Tehran will never give up its nuclear program. He also revealed in January that the nuclear talks are merely a tactic to stall for time.
Obama's warnings in March that the military option is still on the table regarding Iran's nuclear program were called "the joke of the year" by Iran's military.