„They created the myth of nuclear weapons so they could say the Islamic Republic is a source of threat. No, the source of threat is America itself, with its unrestrained, destabilizing interventions,“ Khamenei said in a televised address to a hall of several hundred military commanders.

„The other side is methodically and shamelessly threatening us militarily … even if they did not make these overt threats, we would have to be prepared,“ he said.