As the United States deliberated the nuclear deal, senior officials in the Islamic Republic insisted that the agreement would not increase Washington’s influence in Iran. On August 20, Revolutionary Guards commander Ali Jafari asserted that “we will not allow the hegemonic powers to exercise influence on our country in any area.” The following are excerpted remarks from Iranian officials and clerics.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
"Washington imagined that it could use this agreement whose fate is not clear yet - as its final approval is not yet a definite fact neither in Iran nor in the US - to find a way to wield influence in Iran; and this was their intention.""We will not allow the US to influence (our) economy, or politics or culture. We will stand against such penetration with all our power - that is, thanks God, at a high level today.”
"They seek to disintegrate the regional states and create small and subordinate countries but God willing, this will not happen.”
"Disintegration of Iraq and, if they can, Syria is the clear policy of the Americans, but the territorial integrity of the regional states, Iraq and Syria is highly important to us.”
—Aug. 17, 2015, in a speech
We waste no efforts to shut ways of infiltration into the country.We'll allow neither economic, nor political, nor cultural intrusion of US.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) August 17, 2015By #IranDeal whose approval is of question either here or there,they intended to find a way to infiltrate into the country.We shut this way.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) August 17, 2015
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari
"The IRGC is strongly standing beside the brave and faithful people of Islamic Iran and thanks to this resistance, sympathy and unity of words and with God's help and assistance, we will not allow the hegemonic powers to exercise influence on our country in any area.”—Aug. 20, 2015, in a speech
Senior Advisor to the Supreme Leader Ali Akbar Velayati
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is the first power in the region and it plays an important role in supporting the resistance line against the US hegemony and Zionists' expansionism and it will not allow the US to influence the region for different reasons.”"First the US influence in allied and friendly countries is not acceptable to Iran, and Tehran doesn’t allow Washington to spread its clout in those states again; second, if the Americans influence the regional states, the way will be pave for their penetration in other countries."
—Aug. 20, 2015, according to the press
Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani
"We have seen how the United States adopted different schemes to extend its influence in the country, we have experienced its actions against the will of our nation.""You noticed how they (the Americans) managed to maintain networks of influence in the armed forces, among our politicians and academics and businessmen."
"So the warning by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution should be deemed as a realistic and accurate one and people should be sensitive about it."
—Aug. 19, 2015, during a session of parliament
Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani
“Americans know that if they want to renew their political hegemony, they will have to opt for the cultural hegemony and are, thus, thinking of carrying out such an absurd idea."
“They will remain our enemy as long as Islam prevails, because the US feels hostility towards Islam.”
“The US and its allies should know that we will not stop supporting the (anti-Israeli) resistance and Palestine.”
—Aug. 20, 2015, in a sermon at Friday prayers
Supreme Leader Khamenei’s Deputy Representative to the Revolutionary Guards Abdullah Haji Sadeqi
“We might have agreed on the nuclear issue, but this does not mean end of fight or reconciliation with the global arrogance [the United States].”
—Aug. 26, 2015 in a speech
Photo credits: Ali Jafari via President.ir; Velayati by http://en.kremlin.ru/ via Wikimedia Commons; Larijani by Harald Dettenborn [CC BY 3.0 de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons