WANA (Dec 07) – Speaking at a gathering of students at Tehran University, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said the Americans are after the destruction and they want Iran to be a destructed country rather than a powerful one.

 

The President’s speech was made on the occasion of National University students Day in Iran which is also concurrent with the last day of the recent call of the Iranian opposition groups for protests and strikes throughout Iran in the aftermath of the protests which have shaken the country in recent months.

Raisi pointed out that he was advised to avoid visiting the university on December 7: “Those who are going to ban science, knowledge and University would not visit university but I’m pursuing an opening.”

 

“December 7 marks the university day and implicates symbolically that the future belongs to the students and will be created by them,” he added.

 

Referring to the recent student protests in the country, Raisi said: “The protests should be heard and we are always ready to hear from students… there is a difference between protest and riot. Protest will lead to improvement and perfection while riot leads to destruction and disappointment.”

 

Today’s visit of Iran’s president to the University of Tehran can be interpreted as a show of power by the government to state that developments are under their control.

 

It is worth mentioning that in the last years of the government of the former Iranian reformist president Mohammad Khatami, he could not attend the University student day due to the university student’s protests who believed Khatami had not met their demands on more open space in society and freedom of speech.

 

Tehran says the West’s policies and intelligent services particularly those of the United States play a key role in the widespread protests, which have been staged throughout Iran and has divided the ideas among the decision-makers on how to face them.

Ebrahim Raisi

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi gestures during the ceremony of National Student Day at Tehran University in Tehran, Iran, December 7, 2022. Presidential Website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)

 

Blasting the U.S., the president said: “The Americans want to turn Iran into another Syria and Afghanistan, but they have miscalculated the situation as the educated Iranian men and women won’t let them do that.”

 

“The U.S. thinks that [due to the imposed sanctions], Iran would be prevented from progress. They said that we will not permit you to trade with your neighbors unless you become a member of FATF, but in the meantime, you have witnessed our communication with the neighboring countries and our contribution to the commercial infrastructure of the region, such as SCO and EEU.”

He concluded his remarks against the U.S. by saying, “The United States of America is the most despotic country and greatest dictatorship in the world.”

December 7 marks the anniversary of the murder of three students of the University of Tehran on December 7, 1953, by Iranian police during the monarchy regime of Pahlavi. The ceremony of this day is held by various sections of the student movement in Iran to pay tribute to the three slain students.