Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the definite policy of the Western media hostile to Islam and Iran is to distort the realities through telling “professional lies”
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said the Iranian media should take on the “absolute and immediate duty” to confront what he called the Western media’s invasion.
Khamenei made the remarks on Tuesday during a meeting with the Iranian Air Force Commanders, according to Khamenei’s website.
He added that the definite policy of the Western media hostile to Islam and Iran is to distort the realities through telling “professional lies”.
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The top Iranian leader accused the Western media of trying by all means to distort the realities of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and its founder, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, while denying the revolution’s advancements and positive aspects.
He said media dictatorship is a type of despotism set up and used by Western powers despite their claimed freedom of speech, which is evident in the removal of Qassem Soleimani’s name from major social media platforms, Xinhua news agency reported.
Soleimani, former Commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, was assassinated by the US with a drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
Khamenei called on all Iranians, particularly the officials of the state media and media outlets owners, to report the country’s true realities and achievements to counteract the enemy’s tactics.
Vienna Talks
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said dispatching a comprehensive team to the talks in Vienna on the restoration of the 2015 nuclear deal shows the Islamic Republic’s serious will to pursue a diplomatic solution.
Raisi made the remarks on Thursday during his meeting with foreign ambassadors to Iran on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, according to the Iranian presidency’s website.
“Everyone knows the Islamic Republic has never left the negotiating table and has always entered talks with determination and initiatives,” he added.
He said the current situation regarding the 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is the consequence of US failure to honour its promises under the agreement and certain parties’ inaction to the sanctions.
The Iranian President stressed pursuing a diplomatic approach will be effective and sustainable only when all sides show commitment to it in practice, Xinhua news agency reported.
Raisi noted that Iran has always highlighted the importance of peaceful coexistence and the establishment of appropriate and balanced relations with other countries without any foreign interference, as well as the need to pursue dynamic and constructive diplomacy to resolve regional and international problems.
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He said, using weapons of mass destruction is in no way part of Iran’s military plans and defense doctrine, noting that “we have always announced that our nuclear activities are solely focused on peaceful purposes and aimed at taking transparent and legal advantages from technology in energy, industry, agriculture and medical sectors”.
meanwhile, Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, says Iran will continue its development of missile power to deter its enemies.
Making the remarks in the unveiling ceremony of a ballistic missile in the capital Tehran, Bagheri said the missile power against aggressors and oppressors of the Islamic republic has become more powerful and “will continue its path of growth, promotion and excellence both in terms of quantity and quality,” official news agency IRNA reported.
Earlier, Iran unveiled a ballistic missile named Kheibar Shekan with the range of 1,450 kilometres, as the country is celebrating the 43rd anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
It belongs to the third generation of long-range missiles owned by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, reported Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
The missile uses solid fuel and is capable of maneuverability to pass through the missile shield in the landing phase, according to the report.
The US has long suspected that Iran’s development of ballistic missiles might add to their capability of carrying nuclear heads. Iran, which has repeatedly said that its nuclear program is peaceful, insists that its missile program is for deterrent purposes.
