TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said that Western countries’ despondency over Islamism has become a reality.

The popular uprisings in Arab countries have their roots in an Islamic awakening, Salehi stated in an address at a session of the Assembly of Experts on Tuesday.
Salehi also said the people in these countries must not allow the United States to hijack their uprisings.
He went on to say that the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt are much more than revolutions and these countries are passing through a stage of change.
Salehi also predicted that the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi would collapse if the anti-government uprising continues.
He also stated that Iran did not play any role in shaping these movements, but Iran’s Islamic Revolution served as a model for the Arab uprisings.
------- U.S. backed seditionists in Iran
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili also delivered a speech at the Assembly of Experts session in which he said the United States and its Western allies supported the leaders of sedition in Iran.
He added, “The Western countries, led by the United States, laid the groundwork for the activities of the seditionists in Iran and supported the opposition backers by investing 55 million dollars in cyberspace and launching around 874 (opposition) websites.”