US Sanctions Aim to Turn People Against System: Ayatollah

TEHRAN - US economic pressure on Iran is intended to turn Iranians against their government, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei said on Saturday.

"If the U.S. was able to overpower the Islamic system, it would not have needed to form a coalition with notorious countries of the region to create chaos, unrest and insecurity in Iran," Ayatollah said at a ceremony in the Iranian capital.

The leader's remarks, made during a graduation ceremony of new cadets of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) at Imam Hussein University in Tehran, came amid a US push to strangle Iran through the "strongest sanctions in history."

US President Donald Trump, after withdrawing from the landmark nuclear deal, has ramped up pressure on Washington's allies to cut off purchases of Iranian oil, which accounts for 60 per cent of the Islamic republic's income.

The country's rial currency has lost up to 40 per cent of its value after U.S pulled out of 2015 nuclear accord.

"The enemy's plan is to create gaps and separations between the establishment and the people, and this design reflects their stupidity because they do not know that the Islamic Republic is nothing but the Iranian nation and these two cannot be separated," the Leader said. 

"The purpose of the current economic pressures is to make people fed up, but with divine power, we will increase our bond with the people day by day, and by preserving our coherence, we will strengthen the faithful, motivated and proactive youth," Ayatollah Khamenei said.

President Trump has been trying to mobilize Persian Gulf Arab states against Iran in a bid to check the growing role of the Islamic Republic in the region. 

Ayatollah Khamenei said the regional coalitions formed by the US against the Islamic Republic show the Iranian nation's power and authority.

"If the US had been able to achieve its objectives alone, it would have not needed to form coalitions with disgraceful and reactionary states," the Iran leader said. 

"They bring to bear economic pressure to separate the nation from the system ... but six U.S. presidents before him tried this and had to give up," Iran leader said, referring to Trump.

"Due to the strength and progress of the Islamic Republic of Iran, American enmity has increased and, of course, the hatred of the Iranian nation for the United States has been increasing day by day," he added. 

Supreme leader's speech came three days after sporadic protests in Tehran and other cities in which hundreds of traders in the bazaar closed their shops to voice anger at the rial's plunge. Such merchants have mostly been loyal to the leadership since the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew the US backed monarchy.

"President Trump will suffocate Iran's dictatorial ayatollahs", said Rudy Giuliani his close ally on Saturday, suggesting his move to re-impose sanctions was aimed squarely at regime change.

Trump's personal lawyer was addressing a conference of the Paris-based group of exiled Iranians opposed to the Islamic Republic.

The United States has told allies to cut all imports of Iranian oil from November and is unlikely to offer exemptions, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday. 

At the same conference last year, John Bolton, who was appointed Trump's National Security Advisor in April this year, told NCRI members they would be ruling Iran before 2019.

State news agency IRNA reported that top government officials including President Hassan Rouhani and the heads of parliament and the judiciary had met to discuss the prospective U.S. sanctions.

"Various scenarios of threats to the Iranian economy by the U.S. government were examined and appropriate measures were taken to prepare for any probable U.S. sanctions, and to prevent their negative impact," IRNA said.

Measures to achieve self-reliance in gasoline production were among issues discussed, IRNA said.