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Who is the supreme leader of Iran? 0:39
Tehran, Iran (CNN) - Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, led the prayers of this Friday in Tehran for the first time in eight years, amid public fury over the military demolition of a passenger plane and tensions very high with the United States.
Khamenei mocked the US officials. calling them "American clowns" and criticized France, Germany and the United Kingdom whom he defined as "lackeys" of the United States that cannot be trusted. He also expressed his condolences to the families of the victims of the plane crash.
It is rare that Khamenei, the highest spiritual and political authority in Iran, directs Friday prayers, and the measure is believed to be an effort to gather support after several tumultuous weeks that have built up pressure on the rulers of the Islamic Republic.
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Khamenei said that Iran is open to negotiations, but not with the United States.
"We are not afraid of negotiations," he said, "but of course not with the United States."
Khamenei said that Iran would only negotiate with others "from a position of strength," not "weakness," although he did not provide details on which countries Iran was willing to negotiate when he said "others."
Iran's most important general, Qasem Soleimani, died in an attack with US drones in Iraq two weeks ago, and Iran retaliated with attacks on US targets, taking Tehran and Washington briefly to the brink of total conflict.
Iran's army shot down a Ukrainian commercial flight in Tehran, killing all 176 people on board, including 82 Iranians, which led to days of protests and accusations between rival government factions.
In a challenging sermon on Friday, Khamenei described the "martyrdom" of the reprisals of Soleimani and Tehran against the United States as "acts of God, not of men," and boasted that Iran had slapped the United States.
"What happened could not have been the work of any human actor, only the hand of God," Khamenei said. "The day the [Iran Revolutionary Guard] missiles rained on the American base, that was also the day of the Almighty."
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“We saw how history was made. These are not normal days. The fact that a power, a nation, possesses the spiritual forces to respond to the greatest power of intimidation in the world with a slap in the face, this shows the divine hand, the hand of God, ”said the supreme leader.
Khamenei also criticized U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who have said on social media that they support Iranian protesters.
He said "American clowns" lie to the public when they say the United States is with the people of Iran.
"If you stop near Iran, it is with the intention of sticking a knife in people's chest," he said.
Large crowds were present to witness the rare sermon, and President Hassan Rouhani was in the front row with the president of parliament, Ali Larijani. The last time Khamenei presided over Friday's prayers was in 2012 to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. He also directed prayers in 2009 amid protests that erupted after disputed presidential elections.
In recent days, Iranian radio and television broadcasts have been encouraging people to join the prayers.
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They arrive at a crucial moment for Iran, after the vigils to mourn those who died in the accident of Ukraine International Airlines quickly became mass demonstrations against the government, with calls for Khamenei to withdraw and those responsible for tearing down the airplane be processed.
Iran's army initially denied having shot down the plane before admitting it several days later, saying the plane was "accidentally hit by human error."
Khamenei expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, but said the foreign press had tried to deceive the Iranians for the accident.
"Our enemy tried to manipulate the bitter crash of the plane to eclipse our achievements," he said.
"The events that followed the accident should not be allowed to be repeated," Khamenei added, which could be taken as a severe warning to the security forces so that they do not allow further protests or riots.
Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said earlier this week that people had taken to the streets because they had "lied to them for a couple of days."
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Khamenei also addressed the ongoing tension with France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the so-called E3 nations, which triggered a dispute mechanism in the nuclear agreement with Iran that could lead to further problems with the attack.
"Today it has become clear that these European countries are the lackeys and the men of America," he said.
"But, you, European countries must keep in mind that the United States has failed to bring the Iranian nation to its knees, let alone you, you are much less powerful than the United States."
Europeans are "an iron fist that has been given the veil of a velvet glove," Khamenei said. "They can't be the people we trust."
Ramin Mostaghim reported from Tehran. Jack Guy wrote from London. CNN Sharif Paget also contributed to this report.
Ayatollah Khamenei