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April 14, 2020 Special Dispatch No. 8694

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Criticizes the West's Response To COVID-19: Altercations Over Toilet Paper, Standing In Line To Buy Weapons – Natural Outcome Of The West's Materialistic, Atheistic Philosophy

April 14, 2020
Iran | Special Dispatch No. 8694

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in an April 9, 2020 address that was broadcast on Channel 1 (Iran) that the coronavirus pandemic has been a test for the governments and peoples of the world. He commended the Iranian people for having "shone brightly" under the circumstances, and he criticized the way the West has reacted to the pandemic. Giving the examples of Western governments "confiscating" masks and gloves from other governments, shelves in grocery stores being emptied, people getting in altercations over toilet paper, people standing in line to buy weapons, and people committing suicide out of fear of the coronavirus, Ayatollah Khamenei said that this is the natural and logical outcome of the individualistic, materialistic, and atheistic philosophy that rules Western civilization. He added that even Western officials are saying that the "spirit of savagery" in the West is being manifested.

To view the clip of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on MEMRI TV, click here or below.

"In This Test, The Iranian People Has Shone Brightly"

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: "With regard to the most prevalent topic in our country, the coronavirus… Well, it is a general infection and a test for the world – a test for governments and people alike. In this test, the Iranian people has shone brightly. One the other hand, Western culture and civilization have shown what they have achieved. Some of what has happened in the Western countries in Europe and America – has been shown on Iranian TV, but not everything has been said by our TV (stations), and this information that gets to us. It is something we know. The West has displayed the outcome of its education."

"People Were Shown Standing In Line To Buy Weapons, Because They Are Feeling Unsafe These Days…"

Khamenei: "When a certain government confiscates the masks and gloves of another government… This is something that some governments in Europe and America have done.

"When people empty the supermarkets every day, in 2-3 hours, out of greed to buy more and more, and stock the refrigerators and freezers in their homes… TV channels across the world have shown the empty shelves, and Iranian TV had quoted this. When people get into physical altercations over toilet paper, or when people stand in line to by weapons… People were shown standing in line to buy weapons, because they are feeling unsafe these days… Or when they prioritize the sick people and refrain from the treating the old…"

"This Is, Of Course, The Natural And Logical Outcome Of The Philosophy That Rules Western Civilization, Which Is A Philosophy Of Individualism, Materialism, And Mostly, Atheism"

Khamenei: "This is what has been happening there. Some people have killed themselves out of fear of the coronavirus and death. These are some things that some Western nations have shown. This is, of course, the natural and logical outcome of the philosophy that rules Western civilization, which is a philosophy of individualism, materialism, and mostly, atheism.

"One Western senator said a few days ago that the Wild West has been coming alive. This is what they say. When we say that there is a spirit of savagery in the West, and that this spirit does not contradict the West's neat and perfumed appearance, some people are surprised, and they deny this. But they people [in the West] say so themselves."

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