Each year, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, gives his most important speech on the Iranian New Year (March 21, 2013) in the Holy City of Mashhad. This year, the Ayatollah’s speech was structured around three themes, namely the state of the Republic in 1391 (the Iranian calendar year that just passed), US-Iran relations, and the presidential election in June of this year.

On the state of the Republic, the Supreme Leader made a point to underscore Iran’s infrastructural, scientific, defense and other achievements in 1391 and went on to say that these achievements were attained despite American sanctions. While acknowledging that the sanctions have had a negative impact on Iran, he said they have failed in their main objective of changing the regime or even forcing the Islamic Republic to accept American conditions.