Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Washington has imposed sanctions on a whole nation.

“Well, the sanctions that the US has imposed on the Iranian nation are definitely a crime and there is no doubt about it. It is a big crime that they are committing against a nation,” he said while making a televised speech on the occasion of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

“On the face of it, the sanctions are slapped on the Islamic Republic [of Iran]’s Establishment,
but in fact, the crime is being committed against the whole Iranian nation,” said Ayatollah Khamenei.
The Leader said the White House pursues several objectives by imposing sanction on Iran.

“One point is that they pursue a short-term, a medium-term, a long-term and a peripheral objective,” he said.

“Their short-term goal is to make people desperate, to make the Iranian people tired and desperate and disturbed to make them turn against the System,” said Ayatollah Khamenei.

“Their medium-term objective is to stop the country’s progress,
basically scientific progress, by imposing sanctions,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

“And their long-term objective is to drive the country into bankruptcy, to drive the government into bankruptcy. They want to shatter the country’s economy,” the Leader noted.

“And they also have a peripheral objective, and that is to cut off the Islamic Republic [of Iran]’s link with resistance forces in the region, because they know the Islamic Republic helps and supports resistance force as much as it can,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader said the US also seeks to distort realities, “whether realities in the country or those related to the country.”

“By distorting realities, they pursue two objectives: First, to undermine people’s morale, and second, to mislead them with regards to resolving the issue of sanctions,” said the Leader.

He stressed that Washington’s dream to make Iran surrender will not come true, and urged all not to succumb to US demands and bullying.

The Leader pointed to the US’ call for negotiation with Iran, and said, “Those who call for talks with Iran seek to negotiate over these issues. Everyone must pay attention; I have said this for several times, and I have to repeat it, because some either fail to understand or pretend they can’t understand.”

“If the enemy talks of negotiation, it means ‘come to the negotiating table and don’t develop missiles’. If you give in to their demands … you’d make yourself defenceless; and if you don’t, you’d have to face the same story: quarrel, threats and sanctions again. This is what negotiation means.”

The Leader said the reason for his opposition to negotiation with America is that “such negotiations have no use; of course they benefit from it [but Iran doesn’t].”

“The old guy who is in office in the US apparently took some propaganda advantages of negotiation with North Korea. He wants to use it [negotiation with Iran] for his personal gain in elections and elsewhere,” the Leader noted.

However, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed, the US ruling system seeks to achieve broader “vital” objectives beyond what the incumbent president seeks to gain from talks with Iran.

“They say you should abandon your defensive equipment, your regional power and national might. No man of honour interested in maintaining the country’s interests would give in to such demands. This is why I’m opposed to negotiation; or else, we hold talks with the entire world, except for the US and the fake Zionist regime, and there’s no problem with that,” he added.

He also criticized the Europeans for failing to make good on their commitments under the Iran nuclear deal, describing their INSTEX mechanism as “nonsense”.