Saudi forces will withdraw from Bahrain in ignominy: Iran's cleric

TEHRAN, June 18 (MNA) -- The leader of this week’s Friday prayers in Tehran has said that the Saudi Arabian troops that have invaded Bahrain will make a humiliating retreat from the country.

“Saudi occupiers will exit from Bahrain ignominiously, leaving a dark record behind,” Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Friday prayers at the campus of the University of Tehran.

Khatami hailed the Bahraini people’s resistance, saying that the expulsion of occupiers is the key to maintaining the dignity of regional nations.

There is also no doubt that the Al Khalifa government will be deposed soon, added Khatami, who is also a senior member of the Assembly of Experts.

“Statesmen who put brutal pressure on the people cannot absolutely hang on to power,” he stated.

Khatami then spoke about the U.S. interference in the affairs of other countries, saying it seems that the United State’s thirst for power is unquenchable.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he stated that the U.S. plans to extend the “satanic presence” of its troops in the region.

Commenting on the situation in Libya, Khatami said, “This is not the case that the NATO cannot remove (Libyan leader Muammar) Gaddafi, but the plot is that the infrastructures in Libya be destroyed and this country goes to ruin,” and then a U.S.-sponsored government would be brought to power.

He also said that the United States and Britain are the greatest violators of human rights because they are providing support for terrorist groups.