Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Thursday that the Islamic republic will "slap" the United States by defeating new American sanctions targeting the nation.
Khamenei made the comments in a speech in Tehran before thousands of members of the Basij, an all-volunteer force under Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Khamenei said he heard U.S. President Donald Trump tell European leaders that the Islamic republic would collapse in the coming months over American sanctions, something he dismissed.
The sanctions have hurt Iran's already ailing economy and have fueled the depreciation of its rial currency.
Khamenei also warned that media controlled by foreign enemies could be "as dangerous as chemical weapons."
Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Guard's clandestine Quds Force, which operates beyond Iran's borders, attended the speech with the head of the IRGC, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari.
