Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei praises unrest in Egypt, Tunisia

Tehran, Feb 5 (IANS/AKI) Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has praised the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, stating they resembled his own country’s revolution.

“Today, developments…in Egypt, Tunisia and some other countries have a special meaning for the Iranian nation,” AKI reported Khamenei as saying during a Friday prayer sermon, in a report on state-run Press TV.

“This is what was always referred to as the Islamic awakening created by the victory of the great revolution of the Iranian nation.”

The 1979 Revolution toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, replacing his rule with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the revolution’s leader.

At least 13 people have been killed and 1,000 injured in clashes over the past two days between anti-government protesters and President Hosni Mubarak supporters in Egypt.

Demonstrations were sparked by a revolt in Tunisia which toppled its president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali Jan 14.

Khamenei accused the Egypt government under Mubarak that has diplomatic relations with Israel of being a “lackey of the Zionist regime”.

He referred to the Egyptians’ fight for “dignity and honour” and said Mubarak’s biggest transgression was to make Egypt an American tool.

–IANS/AKI