US seeks 'in vain' to divide Iranians: Khamenei

The US is exerting "in vain" economic pressure on the Iranian nation to divide and turn them against the establishment, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday.

"The enemy's plan is to create division between the establishment and the people," Xinhua quoted Khamenei as saying.

"Washington's plan reflects their stupidity because they do not know that the Islamic republic is nothing but the Iranian nation and these two cannot be separated," he made the remarks at a ceremony at Imam Hussein University in the capital Tehran.

The US is not able to press Iran alone, so it has made coalitions with "disgraceful and reactionary states" in the region, he said.

"We will increase our bond with the people day by day," he said, stressing that "the hatred of the Iranian nation for the United States has been increasing day by day."

Following US President Donald Trump's decision to quit the historic Iran nuclear pact on May 8, Washington vowed to re-impose sanctions against Iran and inflict punishments including secondary sanctions on countries that have business links with the Islamic republic.

Firms doing business in Iran were given up to 180 days to terminate investments, before they risk huge fines.

--IANS

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