In his cabinet's meeting with Khamenei, mullahs' President stressed continuity in regime's policies

Mohammad Khatami and his ministers met yesterday with Ali Khamenei, the mullahs' leader. While stressing the need to continue the regime's past policies, Khatami said maintaining security and confronting "[foreign] cultural onslaught" are his government's priorities. He thus revealed that repression and censorship top his government's agenda.

Referring to the Revolutionary Guards Corps and Bassij forces, Khamenei stressed that Khatami must always give priority to the interests of Hezbollah groups, whom he described as the regime's "sincere and honest troops," even when they run counter to the interests of the general public. The reason, Khamenei explained, was that they were the only people who would rush to the aid of the regime in critical and sensitive conditions.

Rendering hollow Khatami's election promises, Khamenei emphasized that "economic problems" and "fundamental affairs of the country" will not be resolved in near future. He also warned the people of Iran against any expectations of change in the status quo: "The people must not have unreasonable expectations and think that all the problems will be resolved in a matter of six months to a year."

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran - Paris
August 25, 1997

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