Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Iran was in the throes of a ”soft war” with its enemies abroad, and that events after the disputed presidential election in June were part of this.
Speaking to thousands of members of the volunteer Basij Islamist militia, the all-powerful cleric said countries hostile to Iran were trying to create an atmosphere of conflict inside the country.
”Presently the fight against the enemy’s soft war is our main priority,” he was quoted as saying by English-language Press TV on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Basij.
”The enemy has put soft war on its agenda after its arrogance faced failure in confronting the Islamic establishment during the first decade after the Islamic Revolution.
”As long as there is Basij, the Islamic republic will not face any threat.”
Khamenei said the soft war was being waged using a ”mixture of cultural means and advanced communication equipment to spread lies and rumours and cause doubt and divisions among the people”.
He cited the unrest after the June election that saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected president as an example of ”soft war”.
”The enemy sought to drive a wedge between the people and the government, but thanks to the vigilance and alertness of the nation, it failed to achieve its goal,” Khamenei said.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians opposing Ahmadinejad’s re-election took to the streets in Tehran, and thousands of Basij members were deployed to crack down on them.
Officials, Khamenei among them, accused several countries and some foreign media networks of fuelling the protests. — AFP
