TEHRAN – Iran’s top leader is warning Arab nations that were swept up in uprisings against autocratic regimes not to trust the US or NATO when they form their new governments.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks came during the opening Saturday of an international Islamic conference in Tehran.
Khamenei says the US and NATO will try to dominate the future governments in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. He says the Arab nations should not let this happen but preserve their Islamic traditions.
Khamenei contends the collapse of the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia was a blow to US influence in the region and an “Islamic awakening.”
Tehran has portrayed the uprisings as a replay of its own 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the pro-US shah and brought hard-line clerics to power.
