Only a few days ahead of the American presidential election, Iranian parliamentary speaker 'Ali Larijani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah 'Ali Khamanai have launched harsh verbal attacks against the United States. Referring to the US army's attacks in Pakistan and Syria, Larijani said they would not be answered with diplomatic protests. "The US method and conduct, expressed by this aggression, will only be stopped by a clear-cut and unexpected response, whose grounds were set by the martyr Hussein Fahmida," Larijani said during a parliamentary session on Wednesday.
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"America should be aware not to put its huge body on top of the suicide boomers' explosive devices," Larijani said.
On the same day, Khamanai said the differences between Iran and the US were far beyond differences of opinion. "The Iranian people hate the US... [because of] the various plots the US government has hatched against Iran and the Iranian nation for the past five decades," Khamanai said.
The Supreme Leader™ added that any nation that would not honor Iran's identity and independence would have its "hands cut off."
Meanwhile, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday to set up a joint UAE-Iran committee. The MoU was signed during UAE Foreign Minster Sheikh 'Abdullah Bin Zayyid Al Nahyan's visit to Teheran. "We shall push the relations toward a horizon that will serve the interests of the two peoples," Bin Zayyid told reporters after the signing ceremony.
The MoU may facilitate the setting up of a joint security organization between Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), of which the UAE is a member. The GCC's secretary general, 'Abd A-Rahman Bin Hamad Al-'Atiyya, is currently holding a series of meetings with Iranian officials in Teheran.