MNA � Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Wed. that some US authorities claim insanity, but they are in fact "first class idiots".

"Some US leaders pretend to be insane, but I don't believe it. They are, however, first class idiots," Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks during a meeting with people from Qom province this morning in Tehran.

Describing Qom as the starting point of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Leader urged the need to be alert against the malignant conspiracies of the enemies against the Islamic Republic, especially its younger generation.

�There are some moves to marginalize Qom�s revolutionary role and spirit [in the society], so it is necessary to be aware of the enemies' wicked plots," he added.

Thousands of people from Qom came to Tehran to meet the Leader on Wednesday. The meeting comes on the occasion of the uprising of the people of Qom against the Pahlavi regime on January 9, 1978; a landmark protest which was in response to an article published in Ettela'at newspaper, insulting the founder of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khomeini. Many believe that this demonstration was the start of a wave which ended the Pahlavi regime one year later.