- TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Friday accused the United States
of killing and oppressing the Iraqi people in the same way as former President
Saddam Hussein.
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- Iran, though it fought an eight-year war with Saddam's
Iraq in the 1980s, is deeply unhappy about U.S. forces in Iraq to its west
and Afghanistan to the east. U.S. officials, meanwhile, have stepped up
their war of words against the Islamic Republic.
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- "Americans killed hundreds of innocent people in
Afghanistan and they continue to attack and kill Iraqi civilians,"
Khamenei, Iran's most powerful figure, told thousands of worshipers at
Friday prayers in Tehran.
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- "They are suppressing the Iraqi people exactly like
Saddam Hussein used to," said the black-turbaned senior cleric.
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- Once close allies, Iran and the United States became
bitter foes after the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the U.S.-backed shah
and radical Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took
dozens of diplomats hostage.
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- President Bush raised the stakes last year labeling Iran
part of an "axis of evil" for alleged backing of terrorism. U.S.
officials now accuse Iran of trying to secretly make a nuclear bomb.
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- Secretary of State Colin Powell said last week Iran's
"hidebound clerics" had dragged Islam into "the political
gutter." Days earlier Bush challenged Iran's rulers to heed what he
called the "democratic demands" of the Iranian people.
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- "Who the hell are they to talk about democracy when
Americans have occupied Iraq against its nation's will?" Khamenei
retorted.
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- "The remarks of American officials show they have
plans against all the nations of the region, therefore, we should all be
alert," he said.
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- Khamenei said persistent attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq
and Afghanistan showed the level of Muslim hatred of Washington.
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- "Today, the Islamic world hates America more than
ever because of what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq," he said. "The
situation in Afghanistan and Iraq clearly shows that America's policy was
not successful in the Middle East."
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