TEHRAN - Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Thursday that Iran will defeat the U.S. sanctions.

“The U.S. should be slapped one more time from the Iranian nation by defeating sanctions,” he said during a speech to a large gathering of Basiji forces and senior military officials at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran, which has a capacity of 100,000 people.

“Economic sanctions are more fragile than our national economy. Our national economy can defeat sanction. With the grace of God, we will defeat the sanctions which means defeating the U.S.,” the Leader asserted.

Ayatollah Khamenei said since the U.S. cannot counter Iran it has resorted to sanctions.

“Following vast explorations, the enemy has arrived at sanctions [as a solution] to counter the Islamic Republic. It has no other solution but economic sanctions. Other paths in front of it are blocked,” Press TV quoted the Leader as saying.

“The grandeur and authority of the Islamic Republic and its invincibility are not empty talk or mere slogans. It is a fact that the enemies seek to keep us ignorant of,” the Leader stressed.

“The enemy wants to bring the Iranian nation to the conclusion that there is a dead end, and that there is no solution except kneeling and giving in to the U.S.,” The Leader said, adding that those promoting such a viewpoint at home are traitors to the country.

Ayatollah Khamenei, however, assured that he “will not allow that to happen in the country” with the help of the nation.

“The grandeur and authority of the Islamic Republic and its invincibility are not empty talk or mere slogans. It is a fact that the enemies seek to keep us ignorant of,” stressed the Leader.

Ayatollah Khamenei went on to say that U.S. President Donald Trump had recently told some European leaders that Iran’s Islamic establishment would be toppled in 2-3 months, adding that such comments are nothing new.

However, almost 40 years into the Revolution, the Islamic Republic has only grown more powerful, the Leader said. 

“The enemy of the Iranian nation has failed to gain an understanding of the Revolution and the revolutionary spirit; this wrong analysis has misled it [the enemy] in the course of these years.”

The Leader said the U.S. enmity towards the Iranian nation is not merely due to “Death to America” chants. “They [the Americans] are afraid of Islamic power and the Revolution’s might.”

“Surely, we have economic problems; we have an oil economy, which is a major shortcoming,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. Ayatollah Khamenei further advised that “both youths and authorities should convey a message of power to the enemy not a message of weakness.”

The enemy, the Leader said, will retreat if it faces national unity, strength and firm determination, and if domestic rifts are set aside.

Commenting on the path to progress, he told the Iranian nation that “you should not think that the path ahead is a highway with no obstacles; no! The path to progress is ahead of us, but it is a rough path with twists. There are obstacles. The enemy is fully active in opposing us. We should go through this path while surpassing the obstacles,” Khamenei.ir quoted.

“Surely, we have economic problems; we have an oil economy, which is a major shortcoming. In our culture, we don’t learn and teach to save on resources; wasting resources is a shortcoming. We admit we have these shortcomings, but the real shortcoming goes beyond these. The real shortcoming is feeling stuck; which we don’t have it, thanks to God. We don’t have a dead end [in the affairs of our country]. The real shortcoming is this. The real shortcoming is that the youth of our country think there is no solution, but to rely on enemies.”

Ayatollah Khamenei urged the nation to develop more knowledge of the country’s capabilities in the face of enemies’ propaganda.