In a new year message, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei asserted that U.S. analysis of Iran and the region "could be both idiocy and malice". He also argued that the "the enemy is engaged in an economic war against us", but "we will defeat them". "The enemies in the region know that we can counter any enemy in the region by our precision-guided missiles", Khamenei declared, while also describing the European special purpose vehicle for trade with Iran as "a sad joke".