On the 3rd of the Ten-Day Dawn marking the 34th anniversary this year of the triumph of the people's movement in Iran, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei led this week’s Friday prayers in Tehran, attended by hundreds of thousands of people who after filling Tehran University Campus spilled over into the adjoining streets. His first sermon was in Persian and lasted more than one-and-a-half hours, while his second sermon was in Arabic and addressed to the Arab world, lasting around an hour.

In his sermons he dwelt on Iran's achievements of the past 33 years as well as the current issues pertaining to Iran and the Islamic world, including developments in Arab states which are experience the Islamic Awakening. He called these the fruits of the endeavours of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (may his soul rest in peace. On the 6th day of the Ten-Day Dawn, please stay with us for highlights of Ayatollah Khamenei's historic Friday Prayer Sermons, which had a wide reflection worldwide and have sent shivers down the spine of the arrogant powers, especially the US.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said the latest round of sanctions imposed on Iran by the US and the West, will backfire, saying: “For example, regarding the nuclear issue, they repeatedly say in their propaganda that they want to force Iran to back down by imposing sanctions.... What will happen if we do not back down? The goal of these sanctions is to force Iran to back down, but Iran will not back down. The result is that the credibility of the West and its threats will be undermined in the eyes of the regional nations that have risen up.” He referred to the US threats and stated: “They constantly make threats, saying that all options are on the table – that is to say, even a military attack. This is in fact a military threat which is expressed in this way. This military threat is harmful to America and an actual war would be ten times more harmful to America.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said that such threats show that Washington is unable to confront the Islamic Republic in a logical way, adding: “They do not have a discourse against the discourse of the Islamic Republic. They cannot gain any advantages in the arena of logical and intellectual confrontation, so they are forced to resort to coercion. The meaning of this is that coercion is America’s only logic. Except for bloodshed, they do not have any means to promote their position.” He said when the US resorts to threats and coercion, its credibility is undermined in the eyes of the people of nations as well as the people of the US. “This is what determines the fate of governments. It is clear what will happen to a government whose credibility is undermined in the eyes of its own people.” He made it clear: “Of course, the Americans and others should, and do, know that we have our own threats to confront the military threats and oil sanctions and when necessary, we will make use of them at the right time.” The Leader referred to the recent letter and statements of US President, Barack Obama, and added: “One day, when necessary, these letters will be made available to global public opinion. People will see what the Americans are like. They will see the value and significance of their word. They will see the value of their promises.”

Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the fall of four tyrannical US-backed regimes in the region over the past year and added: “Another critical event is that in Egypt and Tunisia the people voted for Islam. In Egypt, around 75 percent of the people went to the ballot boxes and voted for Islamic groups. A similar event happened in Tunisia. These are very important points. The meaning of these events is that all the efforts by the Americans, westerners, western propaganda machines, Hollywood and others to promote Islamophobia and fear of Islamic government have been sent down the drain. The people support Islam.” He was confident that the regional uprisings will bring about decline and isolation for the illegal Zionist entity and stressed: “One of the outcomes of these movements is decline and isolation for the Zionist entity, which is very important, because the Zionist entity is truly a cancerous tumor in the region and it must be, and will be, cut off.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the people of Bahrain have been oppressed more than other regional nations and added that there is a news blackout on the events of Bahrain. He explained that this news blackout will prove futile and stated: “By Allah’s favor, the Bahraini nation will achieve victory as well.” He dismissed the claims about the interference of the Islamic Republic in Bahrain and added: “The rulers of Bahrain claimed that Iran is involved in the events of Bahrain. This is a lie. No, we do not interfere…. If we had interfered, the conditions would have been different in Bahrain.”

Ayatollah Khamenei stressed: “Whenever we are involved, we explicitly declare it. We were involved in the anti-Israel events, which resulted in victories in the 33-day and 22-day wars. And from now on, wherever a nation or a group fights and confronts the Zionist regime, we will support and help it, and we are not at all afraid of saying this.” He referred to the political and financial problems of the US and reiterated: “America was defeated in its Middle East policy. It was defeated in the case of Palestine. It was defeated in the case of Iraq. The Americans wanted to take management of Iraq into their own hands. They failed. The Iraqi nation stood up and did not let them do so. The Americans decided to install a puppet government and they failed.” The Leader added: “Of course, they still interfere in oil and security issues and by Allah’s favor, the Iraqi people and government will do something about it in the future.” He said the European governments are suffering from financial and political problems as well. Referring to the dependence of European governments on the US, he stressed: “If one day European nations realize that the main cause of their problems is because their governments are following the policies of America and the global network of Zionism, a great social movement will be launched, which will create a new world.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the sanctions imposed on the Iranian nation are a sign of the weakness that westerners are suffering from, further adding: “Their goal was to punish the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation for being committed to Islam…, but the truth is that these sanctions will benefit us.” He said that self-reliance of the Iranian nation was due to the sanctions imposed by the west over the past three decades and reiterated: “Regarding the sanctions on weapons, if they had not imposed these sanctions, we would not have achieved these amazing advances. Regarding nuclear technology, if they had built the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant with their own hands, we would not have made progress in uranium enrichment. If they had not shut the doors of science to us, we would not have achieved this position in stem cell research, aerospace and launching satellites into space.”

Addressing the Muslim states of the region, especially the people of Arab countries in the second sermon of the Friday Prayers in Tehran, which he delivered in Arabic, Ayatollah Khamenei said that as a result of the Islamic Awakening in West Asia and North Africa the people's voice has been heard for the first time and all revolutionary countries have voted in favor of Muslim figures while rejecting Zionism and dictators. He said even young intellectuals demonstrating in Washington, London, Madrid and Athens were inspired by what happened in Egypt's Liberation Square. He said the Arab people can no longer put up with dictators, tyrants or Western agents and spies, adding: "They are fed-up with suffering, inequality and backwardness…while [at the same time] reject extremism and sectarian violence.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said subservience to the West, dealings with the Zionists, and betraying the Palestinian cause were the shared characteristics of the Arab regimes which were overthrown in the course of the Islamic Awakening. He cautioned revolutionary Muslim peoples against Western and Zionist plots to derail regional revolutions by portraying Muslims as violent people incapable of achieving development and becoming independent. The Leader said Egyptians want an Islamic and developed country which supports the Palestinian cause and not a country which is committed to the Camp David Accord and an ally of the US and Israel. He advised Arabs against trust the US and NATO because they are not concerned about Muslim interests, urging nation to “not be afraid of them (the US and NATO) because they are becoming weaker and weaker.” Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran been only accused of terrorism because it refuses to abandon the people of Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq, stressing that if Iran was not concerned about the plight of Muslims it would not have been charged with terrorism. He predicted the failure of Western attempts to derail regional revolutions and said Israel will cease to exist. He described the present century as the century of Islam. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution also cautioned against believing in the words and commitments of the US and its accomplices, saying that experience has shown that Washington and the arrogant powers feel no inhibitions in breaking promises and going back on their own words.