Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed Iranians for the first time since March 22, which marked the Iranian New Year, or Nowruz. In his live speech today, on the occasion of the birth of Imam Mahdi, Khamenei spoke about the country’s efforts to combat the coronavirus.

Khamenei said that the efforts of health care workers who worked through the Nowruz holidays will “leave a good memory in the minds of the Iranian people.” He also thanked the armed forces for supplying hospital beds and medical equipment.

In response to the early criticism Iran faced for how it handled the coronavirus compared to how it has seemingly flattened the curve, particularly in the last few days, Khamenei said, “Despite how they tried to humiliate the Islamic-Iranian culture and push people to a Western lifestyle, these actions showed that Islamic thought and culture is firm and strong among the Iranian people.” 

Khamenei also addressed a number of controversies and scandals that have taken place in Western countries as the coronavirus spread to their countries, including confiscating supplies destined for other countries, empty shelves at grocery stores, hoarding of food, fighting over toilet paper, long lines at gun stores, and hospitals having to choose which patients get to live due to lack of supplies.