Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, was discharged from Shahid Rajai hospital this Monday morning.
Before leaving the hospital, His Eminence was interviewed by the IRIB. When asked about his health, Ayatollah Khamenei expressed his satisfaction with the operation and his recovery process, stating: "Now, I will go home with complete health and with high spirits but I am humbled by the considerable amount of kindness and sympathy that was shown to me during the past few days. This is why I feel a heavy burden on my shoulders."
Expressing his appreciation and gratitude with the kind and sympathetic messages that people from different social backgrounds, maraaje and ulama, outstanding personalities, high-ranking managers of the country, politicians, artists and athletes delivered to him, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said, "People from other countries expressed their sympathy as well as did the people of our country. Once more, this shows that the people of Iran enjoy strategic depth among other nations and this is what I have always stressed."
Ayatollah Khamenei added: "We know of no other government and country which enjoys such roots and such emotional, ideological and religious bonds with other nations outside its borders."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution also expressed his gratitude with the medical team in charge of conducting the operation and with the nurses working at the hospital. He said: "When one witnesses the great knowledge and expertise of the physicians and nurses of the country, one feels proud at the existence of such a great source of human wealth in the area of health which is one of the most fundamental and vital areas of people's lives in society."
Elsewhere in his statements, His Eminence stated: "During the days that I was hospitalized, I also had entertainment which was listening to the statements of American officials on the issue of fighting against DAESH [ISIS]. This was really a source of entertainment."
He described the statements of American officials on the issue of fighting against DAESH as meaningless, absurd and biased. Referring to the statements of the American secretary of state and the spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State - who clearly stated that America would not invite Iran to the so-called coalition fighting against DAESH - Ayatollah Khamenei said: "The fact that America will not invite Iran to participate in a wrong collective task is a source of pride for us. Nothing is more honorable than this for us."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution added: "During those difficult days when DAESH attacked Iraq, the American ambassador in Iraq asked our ambassador for a meeting between Iran and America so that they can negotiate and reach an agreement on the issue of DAESH. Our ambassador in Iraq relayed this matter inside the country and some of our officials too were not opposed to this meeting. But I was against this and said, ‘We will not cooperate with the Americans on this issue because they have dirty hands and intentions. How is it possible for us to cooperate with the Americans under such circumstances?'"
Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated: "The U.S. Secretary of State personally requested Dr. Zarif that Iran cooperate with the Americans on the issue of DAESH, but Dr. Zarif turned this down. Even America's Deputy Secretary of State - the woman known by everyone - repeated the same request when meeting with Mr. Araghchi, but he too turned this down."
His Eminence announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not cooperate with the Americans on the issue of fighting against DAESH, adding: "Now they are falsely claiming that that they will not let Iran participate in the coalition against DAESH. This is while Iran had expressed its opposition to participating in this coalition from the beginning."
Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized: "Before this, the Americans formed a coalition against Syria with great fuss and uproar, including a number of countries, but they could not do a damn thing and in the case Iraq the situation will be the same."
He stressed that the Americans do not intend to make a serious move against DAESH, saying: "The Americans and DAESH militants themselves know that what broke DAESH's back in Iraq was not any American move, but rather it was the moves made by the Iraqi popular forces and the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was they who understand perfectly how to fight against DAESH and who dealt serious blows to it. The truth is that the Americans are looking for an excuse to do what they are doing in Pakistan - where they entered Pakistani soil without any permission despite the existence of an independent government and a strong army in that country - they are looking for an excuse to do the same in Iraq and Syria."
Ayatollah Khamenei stressed: "If they do this, they will be faced with the same problems that they were faced with in Iraq for the last 10 years."
At the end of his statements, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said: "In any case, the statements of American officials made during the past few days, was a source of entertainment for me while resting in my hospital bed."
Before leaving the hospital, His Eminence visited Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani, head of the Assembly of Experts, who has been hospital-bound due to heavy illness for the last few months.