“At the time I was the president of the republic, I travelled to a Muslim country that claimed it opposed the Zionist regime and I talked to the head of that country. He had previously said that they were ready to meet with the Israeli authorities and develop relations with them! I asked him about the authenticity of this talk attributed to him. He looked at his deputy and started to laugh out loud! I thought they had an important answer to offer. Then, he said: ‘yes, these words were tactics!’ I said: ‘it is strange indeed! This is a tactic that moves one away from the principle goals! The foundation of what you do was to boycott Israel; you were to prevent Israel from becoming a currency in the Islamic and Arabic environment; but you are moving in the opposite direction, in the name of using tactics.
Sometimes, some people, claiming they changed their methods and tactics, change the essential strategy!
You should be vigilant to avoid this.”
Imam Khamenei, May 31, 2005
