Regarding global issues, what is clearer and more prominent than everything else is that the opposing camp has become hyperactive. Hyperactivity is an illness that affects children and adolescents. Hyperactivity means that there is too much activity. Those who suffer from hyperactivity do various things, but they are not focused and organized, and they do not have a goal. Too much activity without a goal, which often leads to failure: this condition is called hyperactivity. One can see this condition in the opposing camp today. They are engaged in different activities: sanctions, resolutions, slander, negative propaganda against the Islamic Republic, strengthening domestic enemies. To use an athletic term, they are doping our domestic enemies: they constantly inject them with performance-enhancing drugs which do not have any real effect on strengthening them.
Last year[2009] in the thick of the fitna, you heard that one of the social networking websites - which was in contact with the enemies - was planning to temporarily shut down for technical changes. The website was engaged in spreading the news of the events happening inside the country, conveying the orders issued outside the country, creating an uproar and manipulating the atmosphere. They wanted to shut down the website temporarily, but the US government did not let them. The US government told them that if they shut down the website temporarily even for technical repairs, it will hurt Iran's domestic enemies. They prevented the website from shutting down. That is to say, they did not let the social networking website shut down temporarily. They supported them like this, and they still offer various other kinds of support to our domestic enemies.
Today they are using all means of communication, all political means, all cultural means and all economic means in order to prevent the effect of the sanctions from wearing off and becoming ineffective. The US government has assigned one of its high-ranking economic and monetary officials to this task. The duty of this agent is to guide certain committees, travel to different parts of the world, contact heads and leaders of different countries and constantly encourage other countries to act against Iran. I believe this hyperactivity on the part of the order of arrogance and the Islamic Republic's opposing camp is among the most prominent events.
Well, there are several lessons to be learnt from this event. The first lesson is that the event was caused by the increasing power of Islamic Awakening. When you see that the opposing camp is nervous, is struggling hopelessly, is hasty, engages in various activities and meets this and that person, it is obvious that we have gained enough power to alarm it. If we were weak, if we were vulnerable, if they could bring us to our knees with one blow, they would not make all these efforts. These efforts are indicative of the power of their enemy. And this is the truth of the situation, and I will speak about it later on.
Our side has grown more powerful than it was three decades ago. We have become more experienced. We have gained further awareness. We have more freedom of action. On the other hand, the enemy has grown weaker. One day the entire world of arrogance was against Iran. That is to say, there was no respite. The situation was like this during the first decade of the Revolution. The U.S.S.R was not just a country. It was a power that consisted of an impressive number of countries, and the center was in today's Russia. East Europe belonged to them. The majority of African and Latin American countries were with them, and many countries held them in high regard in Asia. They were against the Islamic Republic. At that time we had nobody to turn to for ordinary weapons. That is to say, there was no country in the world that would sell us conventional military facilities like tanks. During my presidency, I made a trip to Yugoslavia. Judging by appearances, they received me warmly and were respectful to me. They also praised me. But in spite of all my insistence, they did not agree to provide us with conventional weapons. Yugoslavia was an independent country - it was neither part of the west nor part of the Eastern Bloc. But even Yugoslavia refused to provide weapons for us, let alone other countries.
The other side was the west. There was America. There was Europe. Even modern France - which broadcasts negative propaganda against us and speaks against us - used to provide the enemy with "Mirage" [fighter jets] and "Super Etendard" to use against us. At that time the attacks that these countries used to launch against us were far more serious than they are today. For example, today the Germans - their Chancellor or other people - only make a few negative comments in their propaganda. But at that time they used to provide Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons. They used to build chemical facilities for Saddam Hussein. Those days their enmity was more operational and active.
Today there are no such things. They cannot do these things. This does not mean that they have grown nobler and better today. It is just that the ground is not prepared for them to do what they used to do. They see that they cannot do anything. The Islamic Republic has grown more significant and more powerful today. And the important point is that today the west feels that its old hegemony over the world of Islam is undermined. That is to say, the same people who were free to do whatever they wanted in Islamic and Arab countries have realized that it is not possible for them to do what they used to do. This wave of Islamic Awakening has forced them into this position. They even find it difficult to revise their old ways. In some countries - which are clearly dependent on the west and their people are aware of this and are discounted because of this - they want to revise some of their ways in the hope that they may be able to set things right. But they cannot do so. This is a dead end for them. Today the west is stuck in such a situation. This is the natural result of their weakness: they resort to such things and issuing resolutions - resolutions that have not won over the hearts of peoples or even governments. The governments some of which are members of the Security Council and put their signatures to these resolutions - we know for a fact that even some of these governments are reluctant to put their signatures to these resolutions. They are just forced to do what they do. They are stuck in a situation in which they have to stand on political ceremony.
Therefore, the events that have happened to us during this time - events like Resolution 1929, desecration of the Holy Quran, explicitly hostile comments against the Islamic Republic and events of the year 1388(2009) in which the arrogant enemies were clearly and undoubtedly involved - are all because the opposing camp feels that our side has grown more powerful. The power and strength that our side has gained frighten the opposing camp. This is evidenced by their statements, and they say that if they fail to take action, Iran will become the most powerful country in the Middle East. They say that if they fail to take action, Iran's influence in the Middle East will increase. These are what they say.
Imam Khamenei, Sep 16, 2010