![\"JamNewsImage13352894\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/02\/JamNewsImage13352894.jpg\" "\\"JamNewsImage13352894\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Khamenei and Iran\u2019s Difficult Days<\/strong><\/p>\n February 8, 2017 Asharq Al-Awsat<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei finally broke his silence and dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cthreats\u201d on missile tests, saying the president \u201cshowed the real face of America.\u201d<\/p>\n Khamenei asked the Iranians to respond to Trump\u2019s threats on Friday during the anniversary of the revolution.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are thankful to (Trump) for making our life easy as he showed the real face of America,\u201d he told an audience of military commanders.<\/p>\n Khamenei\u2019s description of an \u201ceasy life\u201d contradicts statements made by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif,<\/p>\n \u201cI believe Trump will push for renegotiation. But Iran and European countries will not accept that,\u201d Zarif told a local daily on Tuesday. \u201cWe will have difficult days ahead,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He added that Iran and other signatories don\u2019t want to reexamine the deal.<\/p>\n So, who should we believe? the Supreme Leader or the Foreign Minister?<\/p>\n We should keep in mind that the Supreme Leader was not friendly in the early stages of the presidency of Barack Obama, who sent letters to Khamenei. But as we all know, things ended with Iran signing the nuclear deal with the U.S. and other western countries.<\/p>\n Today, we are facing a new status quo, after Trump started to issue warnings to Iran.<\/p>\n Probably, the clearest warning came when Trump said that Iranians won\u2019t be receiving the same special treatment they got from Obama. This prompted the Supreme Leader to break his silence by stating that the new president confirmed \u201cwhat we have been saying for more than 30 years about the political, economic, moral and social corruption in the U.S. ruling system.<\/p>\n Khamenei\u2019s criticism was directed at the same country which Tehran had signed the nuclear deal with under his blessing.<\/p>\n Therefore, the latest U.S. political statement and those of Khamenei on Washington and Trump suggest the Iranian FM is probably the most accurate on his \u201cdifficult days\u201d assessment.<\/p>\n With Trump, things may be easier for the Supreme Leader and the Iranian extremists to continue with their oppression and enforcing more restraints in Iran. But, things definitely won\u2019t be easier politically, economically or militarily for the Iranian regime.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s stances are not the only hurdle to Tehran, which has to deal with the positions of other countries in the region.<\/p>\n Things are out in the open now, and only few are fooled by Iran as opposed to the situation few years ago, especially before the so-called \u201cArab Spring.\u201d<\/p>\n There aren\u2019t any real allies for Iran in the region.<\/p>\n Hence, and after the statement of Khamenei, a war of words officially erupted between Tehran and Washington. The countdown for Iran\u2019s tough days began, and who knows! The coming days may reveal Iranian attempts to open backdoor channels with Trump\u2019s administration. Tehran\u2019s loud voice is usually a cover up for a new trick.<\/p>\n Tariq Alhomayed is the former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat. Mr. Alhomyed has been a guest analyst and commentator on numerous news and current affair programs, and during his distinguished career has held numerous positions at Asharq Al-Awsat, amongst other newspapers. Notably, he was the first journalist to interview Osama Bin Ladin’s mother. Mr. Alhomayed holds a bachelor’s degree in media studies from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah. He is based in London.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Khamenei and Iran’s Difficult Days February 8, 2017 Asharq Al-Awsat Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei finally broke his silence and dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s “threats” on missile tests, saying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":48049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-22128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran-a-world","8":"tag-updated"},"yoast_head":"\n