While blasting the European governments for their critical comments on Iran's missile program, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made a statement on Joe Biden's victory in the recent U.S. presidential election, claiming, "The aliens could not be relied on and it is not possible to pin hopes on them."
In comments on Tuesday, Khamenei claimed, without referencing any specific U.S. political faction, that "some have invested hope in the foreigners. Still, we should assume that there would be no breakthrough offered from abroad."
Addressing a meeting of the Supreme Council of Economic Coordination, Khamenei said that "lifting sanctions" is one of the ways to "tackle the problem," adding, "We tested the path of lifting sanctions once and negotiated for several years, but reached to no conclusion."
Khamenei referred to the eighteen-month negotiations leading up to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Less than three years after its passing, the JCPOA faced additional complications after President Donald Trump exited the treaty in May 2018.
During his speech, Khamenei called for the "neutralizing and overcoming of sanctions," saying, "If we can overcome sanctions with diligence, creativity, resistance, and endurance in the face of problems, and if the other side sees the futility of its sanctions, they will gradually stop imposing such sanctions."
In recent years, Khamenei has repeatedly cited the idea of a "resistance economy" as his proposed program to solve the country's economic problems. However, the term was not mentioned in the initial report released from his speech on Tuesday.