Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has claimed the United States is bullying Tehran to become "obedient," a request he termed as "offensive," and vowed that the nation would persist in resisting such pressure.
Speaking in Tehran on Sunday, Khamenei dismissed direct negotiations with Washington, saying that the U.S. enmity has never changed since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, a report by Xinhua citing Iran's official news agency IRNA said.
He described the June 13 attack on Iran, saying that networks affiliated with the US convened in a European capital the next day to make plans for creating a "post-Islamic Republic" structure, even going so far as to propose bringing back a monarchy. Those plans, he said, were thwarted by the strength of the Iranian people and state institutions.
Khamenei also asserted that the occasional strikes by Israel and the US in June, targeting strategic nuclear sites and prompting Iranian reprisals, were an attempt to destabilize the nation.
He emphasized that following "Iran was attacked" by Israel at the start of the conflict, "American agents" met in Europe "to decide what government must govern Iran after the Islamic republic.
The Supreme Leader also appealed for Iranian national unity and asked citizens to support President Masoud Pezeshkian. He warned that Iran's opponents are trying to create divisions in the nation.
Moving on to regional matters, Khamenei denounced Israel's continued Gaza campaign, demanded Western countries to pull their support for it, and called attacks launched on Israel by Yemen's Houthi movement as valid.
Ties between Tehran and Washington have been cut since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the following US embassy hostage crisis. During the intervening decades, the United States has levelled repeated sanctions against Iran, most recently regarding its nuclear program.
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