TEHRAN -- Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Monday castigated some Western countries for turning into safe havens for terrorists while continuing their claim of championing human rights.
In a meeting with the chief and officials of Iran’s Judiciary, the Leader said members of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group are walking free in France and other European countries.
“The French government and others shamelessly preach human rights despite hosting these killers, supporting them, and even giving them the podium in their national parliaments,” the Leader said. “That is to say, the brazenness of these Westerners is really an extraordinary and strange thing.”
Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks on the occasion of the Judiciary Week which marks the assassination of Ayatollah Muhammad Beheshti, the head of Supreme Judicial Council of the time, by the MKO in Tehran on June 28, 1981.
The Leader said the MKO committed a horrible crime against the Iranian nation by assassinating “this prominent figure” along with 70 other Iranian figures.
He also used the occasion to praise incoming president Ebrahim Raisi’s record as judiciary chief, following the 18 June election.
Raisi’s actions during his mandate as head of the judiciary “rekindled the people’s confidence in this institution,” Ayatollah Khamenei Khamenei said.
“In these two years and a few months that he was in charge of the Judiciary, he really worked hard, he strove, and good things were achieved in the Judiciary,” the Leader said.
Ayatollah Khamenei also hailed the June 18 presidential election as “truly an epic”, saying no one can take the magnificence of the election away from the country.
“Where in the world is it common to see that all members of the opposition propaganda apparatus get actively involved to scare people away from voting in the election,” the Leader said.
“Attempts are still made – they (the opposition) write letters and speak via the cyberspace – to deny the greatness of this election, but to no avail,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
“This effort is in vain. Analysts who had their eyes fixed on this election understand what has happened.”
Anti-Iran groups led a campaign of intimidation and bullying to force potential voters not to participate in the election. Nonetheless, nearly 49% of the eligible voters turned out to cast their ballots in an election that Raeisi won with over 18 million or 72% of the votes.
Drawing a comparison between Iran’s election and the 2020 presidential election in the U.S., Ayatollah Khamenei said the Americans are not a role model to follow when it comes to political issues.
“One must speak with courtesy and observance of ethical and religious dimensions, without insulting and slandering, rather than using the cursing and insulting methods of the Americans and [former U.S. President Donald] Trump,” he said.
The Leader noted that the U.S. presidential election became a scandal in the eyes of the world people, adding American rulers have ironically begun to criticize Iran’s election only a few months after having a scandalous election themselves.
Ayatollah Khamenei praised the Iranian candidates who lost in the election for their decorum and warm congratulatory messages to the president-elect.
The real winners of the election, the Leader said, are the Iranian people and all those who helped bring excitement to the polls.
“Therefore, the candidates who didn’t secure votes are among the winners as well, and on the contrary, the losers of the election are those who put all their efforts to drive the people away from the ballot box, but the people, with their presence, rejected them and dashed their hopes.”