Those behind Ahvaz Attack Funded by Saudi, UAE, Iran Leader Says

The remarks were made by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in a Monday meeting with a group of athletes and medal winners of the 2018 Asian Games.

The leader vowed that the Islamic Republic of Iran will harshly punish the people behind the deadly attack.

He said the terrorist attack on the parade in Ahvaz once again revealed that the Iranian nation faces deep animosity on its path towards progress and promotion.

Iranians Will Never Compete with Israelis
He further praised the Iranian young athletes for their great bravery and honours they acieve for the Islamic Republic in science, defence and sports areas.

The leader referred to the threats made against the Iranian sportsmen in international events by certain foreign centres and said showing humility to arrogant powers is not honourable at all.

“Therefore, you should not give in to the unfair pressure imposed by certain sports bodies threatening to marginalize you if you decide not to compete with certain rivals,” he noted.

Elaborating on the Islamic Republic’s policy to boycott sportsmen from Israel, Ayatollah Khamenei said since the earlier days of the Islamic Revolution, Iran has never recognized the Zionist regime of Israel as well as the Apartheid regime of South Africa which collapsed later.

“The Zionist regime of Israel will suffer the same fate of the apartheid regime of South Africa,” he said.

The leader then underlined that the Islamic Republic will never hold competition with the sportsmen of the Zionist regime.

He cited the Iranian wrestler Alireza Karimi as a real champion who intentionally lost a match at the Under-23 World Championship in Poland not to face an Israeli opponent in the next round.