Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the enemy is seeking to destroy Iran’s “national power,” adding that authorities must work to strengthen the government’s executive and judicial branches in the face of such plots.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks on Saturday in a meeting with thousands of people from the holy city of Qom, on the eve of the Uprising of January 9, 1978, against the despotism of the ruling monarchical authorities of the time.

Elsewhere in his comments, Ayatollah Khamenei warned against schemes at work in British circles against the Islamic Republic and the entire region and said partitioning regional countries are among such plots.

“They say the era of a unified Iraq, a unified Syria, a unified Libya and a unified Yemen is over, but do not proceed to name Iran because they are afraid of Iran’s public opinion.”

By introducing bans, the enemy seeks to afflict people with economic woes, and thus separate the nation from the Islamic establishment, the Leader said, adding that even when the enemies lift the sanctions on paper, they make make sure their afflictions will stay.

Ayatollah Khamenei further described “a powerful and resistant” economy as “the antidote” to the economic pressure against the country.

After consulting with the Expediency Council, Ayatollah Khamenei announced in February 2014 the general policies of the economic approach. Resistant Economy is a long-term policy aimed at localizing development theories, shaping ones that are predicated on the Islamic economic model, and thus differ from those of the world’s predominant economic theories, namely liberalism and socialism.