Iran’s supreme leader on Tuesday mocked the U.S. presidential election, using President Trump’s own baseless claims about voter fraud to slam America just ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a televised address noted the country’s long-standing position that the election result “is none of our business, meaning it won’t influence our policy at all,” according to The Associated Press.
Khamenei cited Trump’s own words alleging widespread voter fraud, saying the election will be “interesting to watch.”
“The incumbent president, who is supposed to hold the elections, says this is the most-rigged U.S. election throughout history,” Khamenei said. “Who says this? The sitting president who is arranging the elections himself. His opponent says Trump intends to widely cheat. This is American democracy.”
The AP noted that the Iranian leader did not clarify that individual U.S. states run the vote.
Khamenei stated that Iranian policy is “clear and well-calculated and people coming and going will have no impact on it.”
His comments come the day before the anniversary of the Nov. 4, 1979, takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, the start of a 444-day hostage crisis that still influences relations between the two countries nearly 40 years later, the AP noted.
The coronavirus pandemic forced the cancelation of a planned commemoration of the crisis.
“Such an empire will not last long. It’s obvious that when a regime reaches this point, it will not live for much longer and will be destroyed,” Khamenei said of America. “Of course, some of them, if they take office, will destroy America sooner, and some others if elected will cause America to be destroyed a bit later.”
Trump has for months railed against mail-in ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting the election will be “rigged” or “fraudulent” because of them.
He has also refused to agree to a peaceful transition of power should Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden win.
Experts have repeatedly said there is no evidence of meaningful voter fraud involving mail-in ballots, and Trump’s own FBI director has said there is no evidence of a “coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election whether it’s by mail or otherwise.”
Federal law enforcement agencies are bracing for possible unrest over the outcome of the election following a highly divisive campaign season.