Tehran: Iran’s Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that the main cause of the protests of the Tunisian and Egyptian nations was the humiliation they suffered due to their governments' servitude to the United States.
Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks at Friday prayers at the Tehran University campus, in reference to the popular protests which have recently occurred in certain Arab countries.
During his sermon, the leader called Mubarak the "servant" of Israel and the United States.
He told worshippers, "For 30 years, this country (Egypt) has been in the hands of someone who is not only not seeking freedom, but himself is the enemy of the quest for freedom. Not only is he not anti-Zionist, but he is the companion, colleague, confidant, and in a sense, the servant of the Zionists."
The ex-Tunisian president Zine al Abidine Ben Ali was also linked to the US and there are reports which show he had connections with the Central Intelligence Agency, the leader added.
However, western countries are making efforts to deflect the world's attention from the main cause of the uprisings saying they occurred due to economic problems, Khamenei stated.
He also described the developments in the Arab world as the "echoes of the voice of the Iranian nation”.
This is the Islamic awakening that "was always talked about at the time of the victory of the great Islamic Revolution of Iran”, he added.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, February 05, 2011, 16:05