'Thunder' will fall on Israel if it attacks: Iran
Khamenei also said that the international community's suspicion that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons is based on a "lie" and he insisted that sanctions imposed on his country were ineffective and only strengthened its resolve.
His speech, broadcast on state television to mark the 1989 death of his predecessor and founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, contained no sign Iran was prepared to make any concessions on its disputed nuclear programme.
Instead, it was infused with defiance and Khamenei's customary contempt for Iran's arch-foes Israel and the United States.
If the Israelis "make any misstep or wrong action, it will fall on their heads like thunder," Khamenei said.
The Jewish state, he added, was feeling "vulnerable" and "terrified" after losing deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak as an ally.
Allegations
that
Iran
was
trying
to
develop
atomic
bombs
were
false,
Khamenei
also
said.
"International
political
circles
and
media
talk
about
the
danger
of
a
nuclear
Iran,
that
a
nuclear
Iran
is
dangerous.
I
say
that
they
lie.
They
are
deceiving,"
Khamenei
said.
"What
they
are
afraid
of
--
and
should
be
afraid
of
--
is
not
a
nuclear
but
an
Islamic
Iran."
He
added:
"They
invoke
the
term
'nuclear
weapons' based
on
a
lie.
They
magnify
and
highlight
the
issue
in
their
propoganda
based
on
a
lie.
Their
goal
is
to
divert
minds
and
public
opinion
from
the
(economic)
events
that
are
happening
in
the
US
and
Europe."
Western economic sanctions imposed to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear programme were having no effect, Khamenei insisted. Their only impact, he said, was "deepening hatred and animosity of the West in the hearts of the Iranian people." Khamenei called the stance by the United States and its Western allies "crazy".
AFP