Leader: Presence of US, European states ‘root cause’ of problems in region

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the root cause of the West Asia region's problems is the presence of the United States and a number of European countries falsely claiming to advocate peace.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting with a group of Iranian elites, scientific talents and top ranks at the country’s university entrance exam, in the capital Tehran on Wednesday.

The meeting took place hours after the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) fired a massive barrage of long-range missiles at the Israeli-occupied territories in reprisal for the illegal entity’s recent assassination of the top leaders and commanders of the resistance front.

“In our region, the root cause of problems, which leads to conflicts, wars, concerns and hostilities and such like, results from the presence of the same people who claim to advocate peace and tranquility in the region; that is America and some European countries,” the Leader said.

“If they get themselves out of this region, beyond a shadow of doubt, these conflicts, these wars, these clashes will come to a complete halt, and the countries of the region will be able to govern themselves, govern their region, and live together in peace, blessing and prosperity.”

Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that he would in the near future address the issues regarding the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

The United States and its western allies have been providing Israel with unstinting support in the realms of finance, logistics and intelligence since October last year, when the occupying regime launched a merciless war on Palestinians in Gaza.

As part of its vicious attempts to expand the scope of war to other fronts across the region, Israel embarked on indiscriminate bombings of southern regions in Lebanon and targeted killings of the Hezbollah resistance movement's senior officials and commanders as well as Iranian military advisors in Syria and Lebanon.

The IRGC's operation on Tuesday night was carried out in response to the barbaric acts of assassination against the leaders of resistance, not least Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and the military commanders of the IRGC and the Lebanese resistance movement.

Dubbed Operation True Promise 2, the military campaign involved the launch of a barrage of more than 180 long-range missiles that, as the elite force announced in a statement, successfully hit "90 percent" of the designated targets, including the “strategic Israeli centers” in the occupied territories.

The headquarters of Israel's Mossad spy agency and the regime’s Nevatim airbase that houses its F-35 warplanes were among the targeted sites by the IRGC.

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