The head of the Islamic Seminaries of Iran offered condolences to the families of the victims of the Ukrainian International Airlines flight 752 tragedy and said, “These honourable families and most of these families of the victims in Iran, despite the sadness of losing their loved ones, passed a good test and understood that their loved ones died in the accident due to the security situation of the country, despite the evil seditions and plots used to exploit this tragic accident.”
He described the IRGC’s missile attack on the United States’ Ayn al-Asad Airbase in Iraq as a major test in which the Armed Forces and the IRGC prevailed and added, “The Iranian nation will have two simultaneous events in February – one marking the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and the fortieth of the martyrdom of Martyr Qasem Soleymani [on February 22nd/23rd] and other marking the holding of the legislative election on February 21st.”
Ayatollah Arafi said, “The United States has been drinking the blood of the people and imposing misery on all people. Those who speak as if these criminals are angels of the universe and with whom a plan of friendship can be formed, this is a great and strategic error.”
The jurisprudent member of the Guardian Council said, “The cleanse of the United States and the optimistic view of the United States and its followers is a line pursued in Iran and the region. Another line is that some deceitful and ignorant people seek to cleanse the sinister Pahlavi regime. Today’s generation doesn’t know what this tyrannical regime had done to the Iranian people.”
He considered the belittling and depreciating of the forty years of the Islamic Revolution as among the strategies and plans of the enemies and said, “Despite our weaknesses, the forty years of the Islamic Revolution have been years of bravery, greatness, progress and authority despite all the pressures and difficulties.”
Criticizing the audacity of American officials in announcing their plan to assassinate Commander Esmail Qaani, Ayatollah Arafi said, “Donald Trump, who is apparently the highest-ranking American official, is a small and terrorist who has no compatibility with international logic. [Brian Hook, the United States’ Special Representative for Iran] addressed General Soleymani’s successor in the Qods Force: ‘If Qaani follows the same path of killing Americans [as Soleymani] then he will meet the same fate.’ May you be buried.”
His Eminence said, “The terrorists of the world know that if you continue on the path of terrorism you will experience tens of millions of people commemorating the funerals of the dead in Iran and Iraq and will face Iranian and divine missiles against all your bases in the region.”
Ayatollah Arafi concluded, saying, “The Muslim people, the Islamic Resistance Axis and the brave people of Iran are willingly tolerating the difficulties but won’t surrender to the American terrorists. Officials must work hard to solve the people’s problems and have sympathy with the people. The Iranian people and the Islamic Resistance Axis will stand up against the American insurgents and terrorist movements and we will achieve victory through divine grace.”