In a meeting with the government officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the tenth day of the auspicious month of Ramadan, Ayatollah Khamenei said: “Palestine is alive. Despite US and its cohorts’ policies and desire to push the Palestinian cause into oblivion and make the people of the world forget there was a land called Palestine, the Palestinian cause is becoming increasingly emphasized every day.”
He added: “Today the Palestinian youth living inside the 1948 borders, in the heart of the occupied Palestine, have risen up are striving, and this will definitely continue. Based on the divine promise, victory will be for the people of Palestine.”
He went on to point out the Yemeni war and the oppression of the Yemeni people, and addressed Saudi Arabia in a benevolent tone for the first time since the relations between the two neighboring countries soured in 2016.
Praising the courage of the oppressed people of Yemen, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution offered a word of advice to the Saudi officials. He addressed them, saying, “Why do you continue a war which you know there’s no possibility of winning? Find a way to pull yourselves out of this war.” He described the recent ceasefire in Yemen as being something very good and added, “If this agreement is implemented in the true sense of the word, this can continue, and it’s the people of Yemen who will be the ones who are victorious thanks to the striving, courage, and initiatives of themselves and their leaders. And God will help these oppressed people as well.”
Unlike his previous two speeches, in which briefly, but firmly he referred to the Ukraine war, Ayatollah Khamenei did not mention it at all this time, however instead highlighted the issues of Palestine and Yemen. It seems that the Supreme Leader of Iran once again expressed his dissatisfaction with the rule of double standard in the political and media atmosphere of the West.
Ayatollah Khamenei's speeches always have an exemplary order based on a precise pre-determined design, and positions are taken on the basis of well preplanned goals. His remarks usually begin with a reference to the occasion of the ceremony or the important issues of the day, and continues with comments on domestic policy, cultural, social, and foreign and international policy, and finally end them with specific recommendations to officials, people, or even international figures or countries.
How supreme leader positions his views on the special issues, and how much credit and weight he puts and gives to each of them, is very under scrutiny by officials, journalists and observers, as it also determines how they approach these issues after that. Ayatollah Khamenei's emphasis on Palestine and Yemen and probably his deliberate disregard for the Ukraine war could indicate his deep dissatisfaction with the world's obsessive media coverage to the Ukraine war and their simultaneous negligence to the oppressed people of the two mentioned countries, Yemen and Palestine.
Addressing the Iranian nation in a live televised speech on March 1, 2022, on the occasion of Eid al-Mab'ath, Ayatollah Khamenei, for the first time in the early days of the Ukrainian war said: “Iran advocates ending the war in Ukraine. However, the solution to any crisis only works when the root cause of the crisis has been identified. The root of the crisis in Ukraine are the US policies that create crisis, and Ukraine is one victim of these policies.”
Repeating his opposition to the war in Ukraine, he explained that the solution to the crisis lies in identifying its root cause, “The root cause of the Ukraine crisis is the US and western policies. These roots must be recognized and then based on these a judgment can be made. If we wanted to take action, we would do so based on such a judgment.”
He also discussed the issue of Yemen and the bombardment of the resilient people of that country that is taking place every day. He also spoke about the beheading of 80 young men and teenagers in Saudi Arabia and stated, “All of these issues show the darkness that has engulfed the world and reveal the true colors of the bloodthirsty wolves who are holding the world in their hands.”
Ayatollah Khamenei then pointed clearly to the Western world’s double standard in dealing with oppression in different countries, “If oppression takes place in countries obedient to them, they do not show any reaction at all. Despite all this cruelty and oppression, they claim to be advocates of human rights. Using this false claim, they intimidate independent countries.”
Given such records, therefore, Ayatollah Khamenei's disregard to the events in Ukraine in his recent remarks, his emphasis on the issues of Yemen and Palestine, his friendly advice to Saudi Arabia to end the war and his satisfaction with the ceasefire in progress indicate that:
Iran’s supreme leader, firstly, tried to express again his opposition to the priorities set by the Western media;
Secondly, he insisted that the Islamic Republic has its own political and international priorities;
Thirdly, he challenged the double standard dominating the media and political atmosphere of the Western countries in the face of international developments, especially wars;
And finally, it specifies that the issue of Ukraine, though important, should not diminish the importance of other significant humanitarian issues, such as Yemen and Palestine.
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