The US-Iran nuclear agreement seems to have become more distant after a tough speech by Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader. To a crowd of tens of thousands of people gathered to celebrate the 36th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruholla Musavi Khomeini, patron of the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution, Khamenei rejected the US proposals, which demand that Iran abandon uranium enrichment, considered a key element in the nuclear industry, as one of the Persian country’s steps towards strengthening its independence, a term Khamenei emphasized.
The Iranian leader’s response was direct: “They can’t do a damn thing about it,” he declared, inflaming the crowd that packed the Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini, where the ceremony was to take place. The mausoleum houses the remains of the religious man, his wife Khadjeh Saqafi and their second son, Ahmad.
“The proposal [on Iran’s nuclear program] the Americans presented is 100% contrary to the slogan ‘We can’,” declared Ayatollah Khamenei, about the pillars of the Islamic Revolution on the country’s independence.
Khamenei also said that Iranian independence implies “not waiting for the green light” from the United States.
“Why are they interfering in Iran’s decision whether or not to proceed with enrichment? They have nothing to say,” said Khamenei.
Shouting “Down with the US” and “Down with Israel”, Khamenei also condemned the genocide promoted by the Zionist regime in the Gaza Strip, and said that countries, especially Islamic ones, that insist on maintaining ties with Israel will be “marked by shame”. “An alliance with the Zionist regime will not leave them safe, because the Zionist regime is crumbling,” he said.
BdF attended the ceremony marking the anniversary of Khomeini’s death, which was not allowed to be filmed or photographed. For security reasons, everyone was instructed to leave their cameras, cell phones, and other personal belongings at the hotel.
Since Israel assassinated in July 2024 the political leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in the middle of the Iranian capital, Tehran, which also left nine people dead and thousands injured in Lebanon in September of the same year by blowing up pagers used by members of Hezbollah, the precaution doesn’t sound exaggerated.
BdF left for the event at 7 a.m. (Tehran time) on Wednesday (4) in buses organized to transport international delegations. Journalists, religious figures, scholars and political representatives from Russia, Afghanistan, Turkey, Venezuela and other countries woke up early to follow the speech by the leader of the country that represents the largest military force resisting the occupation of Palestine.
Passing through the tree-lined streets of Tehran, one can see everywhere symbolic images of a country marked by war. Men killed in the countless battles Iranians have fought since the 1979 Islamic revolution, treated as martyrs, are printed on posters and billboards and painted on the sides of buildings. Faces like those of President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash in 2024, General Qassem Soleimani, assassinated by the US in January 2020, and many others, less known in the West.
Apart from them, the two most present faces are those of the late leader Khomeini and his successor, Khamenei. On Wednesday morning, they were almost omnipresent on the route to the mausoleum. Iranian national flags and black flags adorned overpasses, symbolizing the mourning for Khomeini.
After just over an hour, the buses arrived at the mausoleum. The site is huge. Its dome and towers can be seen from far away in the flat, dry landscape. Dozens of vehicles arrive at the site, with men wearing red headbands, a symbol of the war fought against Iraq between 1980 and 1988. Women in full black gowns, only with their faces exposed, carry children, some dressed in military-like clothes.
Policemen and soldiers from the Revolutionary Guard were responsible for security. We are first searched at the entrance. Soon afterwards, we are told to take off our shoes and hand them in to a locker, along with any other objects – a notebook and a pen, in the case of journalists. Everything is placed in a sealed plastic bag in exchange for a ticket with a number written in Farsi.
With our socks on, we went to a place where they handed out water, juice and a cookie. From there, a second search, this time looking for something in the reporter’s curly afro hair. Nothing found, we headed for the entrance.
The temple is astonishingly beautiful. From the outside, it’s impressive for its size. Inside, the mosaics and colorful patterns on the inside walls, the gigantic chandeliers on the ceiling and everything else are dazzling. In the center, in a small greenish building, lies the body of Khomeini.
Khamenei was already speaking at a central desk when we managed to get to our seats and pick up the devices with simultaneous translation into English. A crowd accompanied him. It could be estimated that almost 100,000 people.
His speech was based on religiosity, which is treated as an identity element of the Iranian people – at least for the government built after the revolution, which created a religious state in the country. The successor to the Ayatollah who led the 1979 revolution recalls the principles of the Islamic revolution, defined by Khomeini, the physical and spiritual leader of this successful revolt by a periphery country against the interests of the Western powers. It extols the principle of independence, which led the country to build a high-tech military and industrial complex, with the capacity to build drones such as the Shahed, which was essential for Russia at a certain point in the war against Ukraine, manufactured by the Iranian state company Hesa.
“Independence is following your own path, no matter what the US, Europe or other nations say,” said Khamenei.
It was the cue to get into the subject of the nuclear agreement. Khamenei described the importance of the research carried out “by young Iranian scientists” which has led the country to be one of the few – “less than ten countries”, according to the Ayatollah – to have mastered the complete cycle of the nuclear industry. “And its applications are not just for producing clean, cheap energy,” he added.
“The nuclear industry is a mother industry. It affects many scientific fields. Uranium enrichment is the key to the nuclear issue, and the enemies have focused on enrichment,” he said.
The key issue in the dispute is the enrichment of uranium, the process that makes the ore active as a source of nuclear energy. The US wants Iran to give up the right to carry out this process, making the Persian nation buy already enriched material from other countries – including the US – to avoid the military use of nuclear energy.
“The first word from the US is that Iran cannot have a nuclear industry. Our response to America’s nonsensical statements is clear: They can’t do a damn thing about it,” Khamenei said, followed by shouts of “Down with the US” from the audience.
In the final part of his speech, which lasted just over an hour, Khamenei focused on Israel’s genocide in Gaza. He called on Islamic governments to take a stand and help stop it.
“Today, Islamic governments have many obligations regarding the Palestinian question. Now is not the time for politeness, consideration or neutrality. Today is not the time to remain silent,” he said. “They are killing people with bombs and bullets. How vile, how despicable and evil humans can be! America is complicit in this crime and must be expelled from this region,” he said, causing the audience to rise to their feet and chant slogans.
“If any Islamic government supports the Zionist regime in any way, eternal shame will surely remain on their foreheads. Governments should know that relying on the Zionist regime will not create security for any government. It is collapsing by divine decree, and God willing, it won’t hold for long.”
