TEHRAN, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Republicans' defeat in U.S. midterm elections was a great victory for the Iranian people.
Speaking during a visit to the city of Damaghan in central Iran, Khamanei said Friday that Washington's threats against Tehran over its controversial nuclear program were "hollow" and void.
Khamenei was quoted by the Iranian News Agency, IRNA, as saying "nobody could imagine that the forces of arrogance led by America will be defeated one day in the region, especially the hostile U.S. policies against the Iranian people.
"Today with the bog defeat of the American policies in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan, American threats at the international level are considered hollow threats," Khamenei added.
He said the defeat of U.S. President George W. Bush's Republican Party at the ballot box implies that administration policies calling for war are not accepted inside the United States.
"That was not a mere internal U.S. event, bit constituted a defeat to Bush's policies advocating wars in the world," Khamenei said. "Since Washington's hostile policies were always directed against the Iranian people, this defeat is considered a great and real victory for Iran at this particular political phase."
