Hawzah News agency (Tehran, Iran) - At the Norooz meeting with senior commanders of the armed forces, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the all-inclusive support of western governments for Saddam's war on Iran. He said, "the hypocritical European governments, who today claim chemical weapons have been used in Syria, provided Saddam with an abundance of chemical weapons during his war on Iran, and he used those weapons to attack our battle fields, as well as the cities of Sardasht and Halabja."

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the U.S. attack on Syria, and their remarks that portray the move plausible to happen elsewhere in the world, and said, "Americans are absolutely capable of committing murder, invasion, transgression and violation: They have done so elsewhere in the world too. However, the point is where will they dare commit such crimes?

His eminence stressed that the Islamic Republic has proven that it won’t over react with such nonsensical words and wrongdoings. "The people and the officials who believe in the revolution will not retreat in the face of threats and coercions, because if we were to retreat, today the country would be suffering from spiritual and civilizational fatigue and failure.

Ayatollah Khamenei commented on the United States’ recent move to launch a military attack on Syria, asserting that what the Americans did was a strategic error and they are repeating a previous mistake. "Previous US officials created ISIS, and the current ones are strengthening ISIS or groups like them; however, the danger these terrorist groups present will backfire on Americans," he added.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution further held, "Today Europe is suffering because of the mistake it made in strengthening takfiri extremist groups and the people are not safe in their homes and on the streets: the U.S. is repeating the same mistake, too."

The commander-in-chief of the armed forces stressed the necessity of upgrading operational and organizational capabilities of the armed forces on a daily basis.

He stated, "Lack of finances should not prevent us from development, just like during the sacred defense era, when despite plenty of shortages, the lengthy war came to an end with our definite victory--without backing off even a meter from our borders. Today we can, too, overcome the shortages through innovation and endeavor.