Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, claims that the Western military alliance instigated the conflict in Ukraine and that the United States is not interested in ending it.
“The US truly started the Ukraine war,” he remarked during an address on Tuesday in Mashhad. “The US paved the way for this conflict so that NATO could grow in the east.”
According to Khamenei, the US is now the country that gains the most from the conflict in Ukraine. They won’t agree to halting the war because “the poor people in Ukraine are having issues and weapons manufacturing businesses in the US are reaping the rewards.”
Denying Western assertions that Iran provided armed drones to Russia for use in the battle, the supreme leader emphasized Tehran’s position that it has not participated in the fighting.
On the basis of claims that Iran was arming Russia, Western nations have recently slapped numerous rounds of sanctions on Iranian organizations and officials.
During a visit to Tehran in July, Khamenei informed Vladimir Putin that NATO would have begun the conflict if he “had not taken the initiative.”
On Tuesday, the Iranian president spoke while Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Putin in Moscow. A political solution to the year-long war has been put forth by Xi.
Ahead of the second day of negotiations between Xi and Putin, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg cautioned China against arming Russia.
The Chinese peace offer has drawn criticism from the US and Europe, with US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby describing it as “unacceptable” for it to advocate for a ceasefire in the current situation.
China negotiated a highly anticipated deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia earlier this month, and it is anticipated that the two foes will soon resume diplomatic relations after a seven-year hiatus. China has established itself as a new political force in the region as a result of the process.
As tensions with the West continue to rise as a result of the conflict in the Ukraine, the ongoing impasse in negotiations to reinstate its 2015 nuclear agreement, and September’s widespread anti-government protests, Iran is attempting to strengthen its political and economic ties with both Moscow and Beijing.
Khamenei recognized in his speech on Tuesday that Tehran is finding sympathizers outside despite its deteriorating relations with the West.
“Certainly, there was a decline in our connections with Westerners. We had no relations with the Americans, and we had deteriorated ties with Europe. But we significantly improved our ties with Asia, and we’ll keep doing so, he said.
