Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei welcomed in the New Year celebrations.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iranians’ thoughts were with anti-government protesters in Muslim countries who were bring violently repressed. The leader said that this year’s “New Year coincides with bitter developments in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya.”While voicing support for demonstrators in the Arab world, and condemning government repression, Iran has crushed protests at home and jailed scores of demonstrators since 2009. Tehran has blamed the Gulf States and their allies for cracking down on their people and called Western military action against Libyas Muammar Gaddafi an excuse to gain neo-colonial control over the oil-rich North African country.