Threatening:
- The protests are a result of Iran's enemies. Their mechanism is "their media which is controlled by dirty Zionists."
- These enemies have exploited the protests that Mousavi called, but the violence had nothing to do with Mousavi's supporters.
- Terrorists are hiding behind the protestors, and basij (regime paramilitaries) have been killed.
- The debate over the election has to be done at "the administrative level" i.e. not on the street.
- He said that "both sides have to end this," but that "the responsibility of the consequences should be shouldered by those who aren't putting an end to it."
Interesting:
- Khamenei denied that the Islamic Republic is being challenged.
- There are no "revolutionaries and anti-revolutionaries," no "us and them."
- "There were 40 million votes for the revolution, not just 24 million for the winner."
- Khamenei said Ahmadinejad was unfairly criticized, mentioning that it was not right to call him, as Mousavi had done, "superstitious." Howeer, Khamenei also indirectly criticized Ahmadinejad by rebutting the president's accusations against Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani's reputation and his children.
Weird:
- The notion that anybody voted against the Islamic Republic is apparently cooked up by "Zionist, American, and British radio."
- If the current protests succeed, then all elections will be questioned. The result will be "dictatorship."
- He accused an "American Zionist capitalist" (George Soros) of having fomented revolution in former Soviet Georgia. Khamenei finds the comparison between Iran and Georgia objectionable.
- In his litany of complaints about the inhumanity of the United States, he cited Waco in 1993.
By Andrew Apostolou