Khamenei delivers fiery message, without hint of compromise, to Obama administration
Los Angeles Times
18-Feb-2010

Iran's supreme leader delivered a fiery speech Wednesday in a meeting with supporters in the city of Tabriz, offering not a single hint that the country was ready to make a deal with the United States over its nuclear program, or anything else for that matter.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton toured the region and described Iran as a budding military dictatorship, said his nation "will never back down from its positions and it could by no means be intimidated by threats and oppositions."

He said Iran opposed not just U.S. ambitions in the region but the entire American-dominated global system.

"We make it clear here that we are opposed to several countries dominating the world and we will fight this system and will never let several governments play with the fate of the world," he said in comments posted to his website. "They utter lies against Iran over its nuclear programs, human rights record and democracy because the Iranian nation is steadfast and firm."

More excerpts from his comments below.

On Clinton's visit to the region:

"The Americans have once more dispatched their agent to roam in the Persian Gulf and repeat the same lies against Iran. But nobody believes these lies because the United States never seeks to serve the interests of nations in the region and it has even trampled upon this region for its own illegitimate interests."

On Clinton's accusation that... >>>

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