Tehran, March 21: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a Persian New Year message on Saturday that Iran will “cut the hands” of anyone who tries to harm his country, in a reference to Israeli military threats against Tehran.
“The Iranian nation will guard its national security with full strength and will decisively cut any unclean hand from any part of the globe which tries to harm it,” Ahmadinejad said in a message broadcast on state television.
The hawk reiterated that his re-election in June last year was a “true” example of democracy for the world.
“The decisive vote by the nation for the president clearly outlined what path the government should take,” said Ahmadinejad, whose win has sparked a political crises with the opposition charging it was rigged.
“The enemy tried to hide the success of the Iranian people with dust, but in reality they were rubbing their own faces with dust … They should know that the Iranian nation is more determined than last year to pursue its high goals.”
Meanwhile, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in his new year message to the nation on Saturday that Iran had defeated “enemies” last year who plotted against the revolution.
“The enemy of the Islamic republic, after a lapse of 30 years, concentrated all its efforts so that it could defeat the revolution from inside,” Khamenei said in a message broadcast on state television.
“But the Iranian nation, with exceptional resistance, alertness and determination, defeated the enemy’s plots.”
Khamenei has regularly blamed foreign powers, especially the United States and Britain, for the deadly unrest which erupted after the re-election last June of Ahmadinejad.
Iran begins the new year on Sunday.
—Agencies