“The propaganda apparatus of the hegemonic powers and their internal elements are attempting to pretend that reliance on national interests and identity doesn’t conform with progress and if a country wants to make progress, it should, thus, reduce its desire for independence,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing a large number of Air Force commanders and personnel in Tehran today.

Ayatollah Khamenei underlined that independence doesn’t mean treating others with bad temper or sulking, and said, “Independence is a dam against the influence of those countries which intend to overshadow nations’ interests for the sake of their own interests.”

“The tactics and methods can be changed, but principles and basics should remain strong and this is the secret of Iran’s strength and progress,” he added.

He also blasted the US officials for their military threats against Iran despite international efforts and talks to settle the dispute between Tehran and the West over the country’s nuclear program, and said, “The Iranian nation should pay attention to the recent negotiations and the rude remarks of the Americans so that everyone gets to know the enemy well.”

“The Americans speak in their private meetings with our officials in one way, and they speak differently outside these meetings; this is hypocrisy and the bad and evil will of the enemy and the nation should observe all these cases precisely,” Ayatollah Khamenei stressed.

In relevant remarks on Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned of enemies’ plots against the Islamic Republic, and said they are attempting to destroy the six-month Joint Plan of Action inked by Tehran and the world powers to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy program.

Addressing high-ranking Intelligence Ministry officials in Tehran, Rouhani said Iran is facing many foreign plots.

“You see that as soon as we took a step to interact with the world to decrease the cruel and unjust pressures imposed against the Iranian nation, the enemy started extensive moves to impair this action,” he added.

After Iran and the world powers struck a deal in November, Washington officials have been making increasing provocative remarks against Iran and the deal. US Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview in Geneva in January that the military option was still on the table if Iran did not live up to its nuclear commitments under the Geneva deal.

In response, a large number of Iranian officials have warned of the dire repercussions of such remarks by Washington officials. Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami warned that the slightest military move by the US will be reciprocated by Iran's harshest response, underlining that Iran's reaction would "recognize no boundary".

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