Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's military adviser and former IRGC commander Yahya Rahim Safavi has threatened that "Iran will respond to U.S. conspiracies from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean."
Most Friday Prayer imams across Iran, as well as military and civilian officials who spoke during the Friday religious gatherings have made strong remarks against the United States and analyzed events surrounding the attacks in Saudi Arabia.
Rahim Safavi warned that "The United States should take Lebanese Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah's remarks seriously. Any Anti-Iran move will affect the entire region."
He said Khamenei "is not simply the commander in chief of Iranian armed forces. He is the commander of defensive forces of Palestine, Syria and Yemen too."
Rahim Safavi added that U.S. policy on Iran has been defeated in the west Asian region, adding that, "Like his six predecessors, Trump cannot impose his political will on Iran."
Meanwhile, Khamenei's representative in Khouzestan Province, Abdul Nabi Musavi Fard who led the prayers in Ahvaz, where the attacks on Saudi Arabia were initiated according to a U.S. official, threatened that "Saudi Arabia and its 17 allies will be demolished if they make even a small mistake against Iran."
He added that "Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates know that they will be America's main victims in the region."
Musavi Fard added that the “Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia” has undermined the Saudi's capability and prestige.
He also criticized "some Iranian officials who talk about negotiations with America" adding that "Iran has thrown the idea of negotiating with America into the trash bin of history."
In Tehran, Ali Movahedi Kermani charged that the United States "is lying about Iran's involvement in the attacks because its economic pressures on Iran has not worked," adding that "They lie as much as they can."
Meanwhile, he suggested that Iranians should follow the austerity measures Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has defined as "economic jihad."
Abbas Massoumi, the Friday Imam in Rooyan near Shahroud, said: "Begging for negotiations with Iran marks the weakness and decline of the United States." He echoed Khmameni's statement that no negotiation is going to take place between Iran and America.
In Ardabil, Ayatollah Seyyed Hassan Ameli lashed out at the United States for threatening to impose more sanctions on Iran. "They know there is nothing left to be sanctioned. The most they can do is sanctioning a few ministers."
Speaking on the drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, Ameli said, the West emptied the Saudis' pockets and sold them anti-missile systems that did not work.
In an odd reaction, he also mocked the United States for not helping Saudi Arabia with retaliatory measures when it came under attack.
The Friday Imams in Kermanshah and Ardahal near Kashan also ruled out negotiations with America as many other Imams did in other cities. In Kermanshah, Mehdi Soleimani accused the United States of milking Saudi Arabia, and in Ardahal, Mostafa Olama criticized the United States for pulling out of the nuclear deal and thus breaching its international obligations.
Friday prayer sermons are coordinated and often partly or completely authored by officers at the Headquarters for Friday Prayers, which operates as part of Khamenei's office.
