Supreme Leader's Speech in Meeting with Members of Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution

(2013/12/15)

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on December 10, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with the members of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Supreme Leader's Speech in Meeting with Members of Supreme Council of Cultural RevolutionFirst of all, I would like to welcome our honorable and dear brothers and sisters and I express my gratitude to you for your efforts, measures and attention to issues related to this important meeting. I ask Allah the Exalted to help and bestow success on you. We need the divine assistance and guidance to develop proper ideas and to be capable of implementing our decisions and what is appropriate. We should rely on and pay attention to Allah the Exalted and we should ask Him for His assistance. It is our responsibility to bring our determination and efforts to t he arena and if we do that, God will bestow His blessings and assistance on us. By Allah's favor, the important cultural responsibilities that fall on our shoulders will be carried out with your determination and efforts.

I have written down a number of points to discuss with the friends in this meeting. The first issue is the significance of culture in society. Well, thankfully, all of you are cultural personalities and it is not necessary to discuss this issue with you and to expand on it. Thankfully, all of our officials are interested in culture and, primarily, they are men of cultural arenas. Dr. Rouhani, who is our president, is a cultural personality before being a political personality. It is several years now that we have known him for his cultural role. Since the early years during the 1350s until today, we have known him as a cultural personality. Thankfully, the heads of the three branches of government and all the officials of the country are the same and you are men of culture.

In fact, before anything else, you are activists in cultural arenas. Therefore, it is not necessary to discuss with you the significance of the issue of culture and the cultural values of a country. However, we ask for your great efforts in giving prominence to this issue because - thankfully - wherever you are, you have the opportunity to speak to and influence people. You have the opportunity to speak to people and you should benefit from this in order to make culture achieve the position that it deserves in society and in the eyes of outstanding personalities. This is very important. Culture is the identity of a people. Cultural values are the heart and soul of a people and they are the true definition of a nation. Everything is reliant on culture. Culture is not dependent on and subordinate to economy and politics. On the contrary, economy and politics are dependent on and subordinate to culture. This should receive attention. We cannot separate cul ture from other areas.

As the friends in this meeting pointed out, when we said that there should be a connection between culture and economic and different other issues, this is the meaning. It means that we should pay attention to cultural apparatuses when we want to make a fundamental move in areas related to economy, politics, construction, technology, production and scientific progress. Sometimes, we enter an arena and we carry out an economic task, but we do not pay attention to the cultural means and the cultural consequences of that task. Even if it is a great economic task, the necessary means and the harmful consequences of this task for the country should be taken into consideration. Culture plays such a role. We should always pay attention to culture in all affairs and we should not let this be forgotten and ignored.

Culture requires planning as well. We should not expect the culture of the country - mass culture, intellectual culture, academic culture an d other forms of culture - to improve on its own. This is not the case. This requires planning. I will address the issue of supervision and other related issues later on. The officials of the country should not feel that they have no responsibility in the area of the cultural guidance of society. As Mr. President pointed out, the administration and officials are responsible for paying attention to the general process of culture in society. They should see where we are going, what is happening and what is going to happen in the future. If there is any problem, they should solve it. They should remove obstacles and destructive and corrupt elements.

If we have a skilled and experienced gardener pull up the weeds in a garden, this does not mean that we want to prevent the flowers of this garden from growing. You should allow the fragrant flowers of this garden to benefit from water, air, and sunlight according to their own nature and natural talents so that they can grow. But besi des this, you should not allow weeds to grow. If weeds grow, they do not let flowers grow. This is the reason why we sometimes put up serious opposition to a number of cultural phenomena and why we expect the officials of the country - whether officials in charge of cultural or other affairs - and members of this council to prevent such phenomena. Therefore, preventing cultural disorders is not incompatible with preparing the ground for cultural values to grow and blossom. This is a very important point.

I have discussed these issues with previous ministers of culture and with the honorable Minister of Culture in this administration. I have spoken to Mr. Rouhani about these issues and I would like to discuss them with you as well. One of the responsibilities of the government in the area of supervision is that they should pay attention to cultural deviations. For example, there is an important malady and disorder in mass culture, namely the issue of divorce. If there is a promotion in the country which undermines the foundation of families, then you have to prevent this. If you do not want the issue of divorce to become prevalent in society, you should pay attention to this. You should prevent the thing which drags people, youth, girls and boys towards lack of interest in and indifference to family and one's spouse. This is definitely a disorder and deviation. This is one issue.

Therefore, we have a moral and legal obligation towards the issue of the culture of the country - particularly, mass culture. Of course, we witness that in their newspapers, writings and speeches, some people want to limit and eliminate the supervision of the government by attaching labels such as "government-based religion" and "government-based culture" to the government. They want to attach these labels to the government. These people say that the government wants to make religion and culture pivot around the government. What does this mean? A religious gover nment is not different from a government-based religion. Officials are part of the people. Government-based religion means popular religion. The government practices the same religion that the people do. The government is responsible for promoting religion in a stronger way. Anyone who has any capability should utilize it. A cleric should utilize his capability, an academic personality should utilize his capability and an individual who has minbar and who can influence the people should utilize his capability as well. And the government of a country is more capable than all of these people. So, it should naturally utilize its capability on the path of promoting virtues and preventing those things which do not let virtues achieve growth. Therefore, like economy, the culture of society needs guardians.

You believe that economy should be in the hands of the people. We also believe in this and we have specified it in interpretations of the Article 44 of the Constitution. Well, t his article does not mean that the government allows an individual to engage in an economic activity and to obtain a concession which will be to the disadvantage of the people. As government officials, you try to stop him, you eliminate concessions, you do not let individuals break the law, you combat financial corruption and you prevent misuse of governmental and public resources. That is to say, you prevent such problems.

This is while we believe that economy should not be based on the government. I myself have believed in this since long ago - that is to say, since the time our governmental officials were after government-based economy. But I did not believe in government-based economy and I used to explain to them why I was opposed to it. However, everyone believes in the supervision of the government. Besides, the participation of the government in economic areas is sometimes necessary. Imagine that there is no interest in a certain economic area and activity. Imagine that investors do not like to invest in this area. As government officials, what would you do in such a situation? You begin to invest. A certain product is needed in the country. As businessmen with economic outlooks, investors do not pursue this issue because it is difficult for them and because it is not profitable for them. What would you do in such circumstances? You begin to import or manufacture this product. Therefore, the government eliminates shortcomings, solves problems and prevents deviations.

Of course, the responsibility of the government in the area of culture is much heavier than its responsibility in the area of economy. I only cited economy as an example. Therefore, the participation of the government in the area of culture does not mean curbing the cultural activities of the people. As Dr. Rouhani pointed out, culture is reliant on the people. How can administrations organize all these mourning ceremonies, literary and scientific congresses and meetings in which people deliver a formal speech? Where is this possible? If administrations want to organize all public prayers and all the cultural programs which are performed throughout the country, they will fail. These things can be done only by the people.

But this should not make you feel that you should not interfere whenever you see a certain popular movement may cause social damage. It is necessary to interfere and provide guidance in such cases. Unfortunately, sometimes one sees that some people who do not have any responsibility in different sectors and organizations speak in an irresponsible and inexpert way. These people look at slogans which exist in western countries about cultural freedom and other such issues. But this is not the case. Westerners do not persist in their cultural values any less vigorously than we do and they do not show less resistance against opposing values. Rather, they preserve their values more vigorously than we do. For example, it is cust omary in such and such a country that presidents should drink wine in a formal dinner. If a president says that he does not want to drink wine, they will cancel the dinner. They do not hold it at all and this has happened. We have witnessed this in our own lifetime. All or most of you probably know about this. For example, if someone does not wear a tie and if they want to enter a formal party, they say that this is against the protocol and it is not possible. You have to wear either a tie or a bow tie. Well, what are these? These are part of culture. They are very biased and committed to their cultural values.

They consider the issue of intimate relationship between men and women as one of their principles. They have called this equality, but unfortunately, this is not equality. This is a harmful and highly poisonous relationship between men and women, which has infected all societies. It has infected western societies more than other societies. Now, their own thinkers have realized that this is a path which has no end. That is to say, this movement continues forever and the insatiability of human instinct in this deviant movement will drag people towards destruction. If you do not accept this, they will reject, disown and criticize you. They are more biased and more committed than we are, even to issues which are unreasonable.

Of course, this issue requires a long and detailed discussion. What I want to say is that they are more biased and more obstinate about their cultural values, which are in fact anti-values. Therefore, why should we not persist in being committed to our own culture? So, one issue is the significance of culture and attention to culture. Primarily, this responsibility falls on the shoulders of the officials of the country and this council is the main center for carrying out this responsibility.

The second issue is about this council. The Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution was one of the blessed innovations of our magnanimous Imam. First, it was "The Committee of Cultural Revolution". When the issue of forming the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution was discussed with Imam, he accepted it without any hesitation and he issued a decisive edict. When I was the president, I asked Imam about the bills and proposals that this council prepares. He said that these proposals should be enacted. That is to say, Imam ordered that these proposals become law. This was one of the important measures of our magnanimous Imam.

Dr. Rouhani was right when he said that this council is the best and the main center for cultural affairs. There is no government that does not need such a group of people. Thankfully, this is a great blessing. The greatest blessing of this council is you honorable members. The group of people who have formed this council - whether natural or legal persons - are really the best people for this council. Well, the head of the council is the President - that is to say, the h ead of the executive branch and his deputies are the Speaker of the Majlis and the head of the judiciary branch.

This is very important. All of these people are cultural personalities. They are interested in culture and they are among the sympathetic officials who have always placed a high value on the issue of culture. Moreover, the members of this council are important personalities. One of the most important characteristics of this council is that it has prevented culture from being influenced by political events and political parties. It is very important for culture to be liberated from monotony and routine procedures. Such a well-established base helps the cultural movement of any country to enjoy stability. This base is a steady and well-established position in all administrations. Perhaps, only a few members change in such councils, which helps to preserve the important combination of natural and legal members of the council.

Important measures have been implem ented in this council which I may refer to in the remaining part of my speech. What I would like to stress in this part of my speech is that the members of the council should believe in this council. You should believe that this is the main center for cultural affairs of the country. You should believe that this council is in charge of commanding the main cultural and political issues of the country. The members of this council should pay attention to this.

Constant presence of the members of the council and the activeness of the council itself is a very important issue. That is to say, the council should not be closed. Well, naturally, the heads of the country travel to different places. This should close the council. The council should work constantly. The rules and regulations for the management of this council require that this council should never be closed. This is one issue which is related to this council.

As for the proposals of this council, I firmly believe that basic and fundamental issues should receive attention when preparing these proposals, as was the case particularly during the recent years. In previous years, we were concerned about spending a considerable amount of time on unimportant issues in the council. When I myself was a member of this council during the 1360s, we used to have the same problem. At that time, a considerable amount of time used to be spent on unimportant issues such as issues related to a certain individual and there was no time to attend to major issues. Thankfully, in the present time, the situation is different.

The third issue is the issue of implementing proposals. The proposals of this council should be implemented. If you formulate certain rules for implementing proposals, then so much the better. If there are not specific rules for implementing the proposals of this council, the presence of the President and the head of the legislative branch for the purpose of enacting laws - wherever it is necessary - and the presence of honorable ministers and officials in charge should mean that these proposals must come into effect.

For example, when the comprehensive scientific plan - one of the great things that this council did was to prepare this plan which was a very good thing to do and for which good rules and laws were formulated so that it can be put into practice - is prepared, each executive organization should make efforts to put it into practice. Take the case of the cultural engineering plan. I have heard that this plan is about to finish or it may have finished by now. For this plan, certain rules should be formulated so that it can be put into practice. The same is true of the Islamic universities plan, the educational system reformation plan - the honorable Minister of Education should feel committed to implementing this plan - and the strategic plan of the outstanding personalities of the country. I myself took part in a meeting on this plan, which i s very important. Well, it is the responsibility of the honorable Vice President to follow up this issue.

Anyway, members of cultural organizations should accept and believe that this position is a like a military base. Some people may not like the word "base" because it is a military term. They may say, "Base is a military term. You do not abandon your military thoughts even when it comes to cultural issues". However, the truth of the matter is that if cultural arenas are not more important and more sensitive than military arenas, at least they are not less important than military arenas. You should know this. Of course, you are aware of this and you know that cultural arenas are like military arenas. Military bases cannot directly command. That is to say, no unit is directly under the command of a military base, but these units can be available to a base. In military terms, these units can be under the operational command of a military base. When we establish a military bas e, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, for example, says that my units are under the operational command of such and such an organization. It says that a specific organization - whether the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps or any other organization - is in charge of providing back up for this unit - but this military base is in charge of commanding this unit. You should think of it like this in the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution.

Anyway, you should adopt a serious outlook towards the plans that you have prepared. These plans, some of which I referred to are very good. Of course, there are more plans. Several other plans have been prepared by this council. However, it should not be the case that the council prepares and submits certain plans to the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Education - which are in charge of such plans - and then it stops supervising them. This is not to the benefit of the co untry. It should continue to supervise these plans in order to see how they are implemented and it should do it either until the end or until they are in process. Therefore in my opinion, the responsibility of the council towards the issue of implementation is very heavy.

The fourth issue that I would like to discuss is the issue of cultural invasion. A few years ago, we addressed the issue of cultural invasion, but some people denied any attack. They said, "What invasion?" After that, they gradually saw that not only do we speak about it, but many non-western countries also address this issue and they say that the westerners have launched a cultural attack on them. Then they saw that the Europeans too say America has launched a cultural invasion on them. Perhaps you have heard or read that the Europeans say, "What a great cultural invasion American movies and books have launched on us. They are overshadowing our culture". Finally, because other people had acknowledged this i ssue, what we said was also acknowledged by the people who had not accepted this issue at first. Cultural invasion is a fact. Hundreds - perhaps it is thousands, but because I want to be cautious about figures, I say hundreds - of audio and visual media networks, Internet websites and writings targeting Iran! They are not doing other things. Rather, they are targeting Iran. Normally, a national radio or TV station works on its own programs, but this is not the case with such media networks.

The goal of such networks is our country. They broadcast Farsi programs and they coordinate them with the local time in Iran. They follow up our issues and they prepare their programs according to these issues. So, it is quite clear that their goal is Iran. They themselves acknowledge this and they do not deny it. Therefore, cultural invasion is a fact which exists. They want to influence the minds and the behavior of our people - our youth, our teenagers and even our little children.

Internet games are an example. The toys which are imported into the country are another example. I became very angry with a number of officials over the issue of producing interesting and meaningful local toys and I asked them to follow up this issue. Of course, it seems that a decision has thankfully been made in this regard. By Allah's favor, you should follow it up so that it can be put into practice.

Once, our friends in a very active and responsible organization began to make some good dolls. They were good dolls and this provoked the opposing side - that is to say, the opponents and foreigners. They said in a mocking tone that the Iranians have made these dolls to replace Barbie and other such dolls. However, these Iranian dolls did not work. I said to the officials in charge, "Your problem is that you have put on the market a boy or girl doll with a specific name, but our children do not know your dolls at all". When I speak about cultural syner gy, this is what I mean. The doll that they made was just a doll. This is while our children know Spiderman. Our children know Batman. They have made 10, 20 movies about it and our children have seen them. When they see in a shop, the doll of the character in the movie, they ask their parents to buy it for them because they know this doll. This is cultural synergy. I said to these officials that, besides making these dolls, they should have made 10, 20 children's movies so that this doll could have become familiar for the children. If they had done this, children would have bought them. But, when it is not introduced to children, it will have no market appeal and it will fail, as was the case with these dolls. So, we should pay attention to such issues. Anyway, cultural invasion is a fact.

Another issue is the issue of books for learning foreign languages. In the present time, teaching foreign languages - particularly English - has become very common. Teaching other langua ges is much less common. There are many language schools and educational centers for this purpose. All these teaching books, which have been prepared on the basis of modern and good methods, promote the western lifestyle. They promote the English lifestyle. When our children, teenagers and youth read these books, they do not learn the language only. It is possible that they even forget the things that they have learnt, but what influences them most is the western lifestyle that they become familiar with as a result of reading such books. This will not be forgotten. Westerners are doing such things.

Well, what should we do in the face of such things? Two things are necessary to counter what they do: One is hard work and the other is innovation. These two important factors should be taken into account. We should work and our work should be innovative. Of course, the responsibility of the IRIB and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance is very heavy in this regard. I have spoken to Mr. Jannati about this.

One of the things that we should do is to produce and translate books. You should take a look to see what books are published throughout the world which are good for the Iranian youth to read and know about. Then, you should have them translated. You should spend money to translate these books, as other countries are doing this. I am interested in books, I read many books and I have detailed information about new books on the market. These things are being done. Investors give a lot of money to translators to translate certain books. I asked one of these investors, "Does the translator come to you or you go to them?" He said, "No, we go to translators". He is right. They find translators to translate certain books. Well, you should do this too.

You should translate and write books and you should make movies. Today, thankfully, we have enormous capacities for making movies. Not long ago, I said to Dr. Rouhani that I have seen a movie wh ich, to be fair, was like Hollywood movies in terms of style and method. It is important that in the present time, we have this capacity in the country for delivering messages in the proper way. Movies are interesting. Cinema is a very interesting and attractive and an excellent media outlet. In the present time, no media outlet is like cinema in terms of influence. Therefore, you should work on such areas.

You should carry out innovative work. The same is true of toys, computer games and dolls. These are measures which are necessary. Guns have become a common toy for our children, but the Americans who are pioneers in this regard are regretful now. They are desperate and they do not know what to do. Our children used to play "alakdolak" which involved a lot of movement and which was good. They used to play "gorgam be hava" which was a good game, which involved physical exercise and which was fun. They used to play a game in which they drew lines and hop through the lines [hopscotch]. Our children used to play such games. But now, we have made them sit at the computer and play computer games. As a result, they engage in neither physical nor mental activities. In such games, the minds of the children are possessed by the other party. Well, you should invent and promote games. You should promote the games which I referred to and which have been popular among our children for a long time. This is one of the tasks. You should promote such games.

We should not always look at westerners in order to copy the games that they promote. I do not want to speak about our sports, but we have many games and sports which belong to us. As I said before, chowgan [polo] has been invented by us, but other countries claimed that it was they who invented it. You should promote such sports. Varzesh-e bastani is a very beautiful and artful sport. So, you should promote such sports so that children turn to such games. Our children - my grandchildren, for exampl e - know the names of football players and stars throughout the world and they constantly mention their names. One says that he is the fan of such and such a team and the other says that he is the fan of another team. One wears the clothes that a certain foreign team wears and the other wears the clothes of another team. However, they do know the name of any contemporary Iranian scholar. If you ask them who such and such a scholar is, they do not know him. Well, these things are bad and we should really work on such issues.

I will tell you that in order to confront issues related to cultural invasion, we should know the phenomenon in the beginning of its arrival or even before it enters the country. Imagine that a certain phenomenon, idea and style is becoming popular throughout the world. It is clear that this will come to our country as well because today's world is the world of communications and interactions. We cannot build a wall to protect the country against such phenomena. Before it enters the country, you should think about a wise way to confront it.

This does not mean that we should always reject such cultural phenomena. Sometimes, there is a phenomenon which we can accept. Sometimes, there is a phenomenon which we can improve. Sometimes, there is a phenomenon which we can define certain guidelines for. These guidelines can solve the problem. Acting late and finding and thinking about cures when it is late have such consequences. In such circumstances, when you are faced with such problems, you cannot solve them. So, I am not saying that we should always adopt a defensive position. Of course, when an attack is launched, one should engage in defense. There is no doubt about this. However, my advice is not that we should always adopt a defensive position. We should adopt firm, offensive and proper positions.

Anyway, the worst thing one can do in the face of cultural invasion is to adopt a passive position. The most inappropriate and harmful thing is adopting a passive position. Those cultures which attack us should not make us adopt a passive position. If nothing can be done about it, we can say, "There is no specific measure that can be adopted in this regard". But we should not adopt a passive position. Being passive and giving in to the attack of the enemy is a mistake that should be avoided.

The fifth issue that I have written down to discuss is the issue of knowledge in universities and research centers. Fortunately, I noticed that Dr. Rouhani has paid attention to this issue. The issue of knowledge is very important. First of all, our scientific progress during the past 10, 12 years is a fact. Some people did not believe this and some people even denied it. When the nuclear issue and the issue of centrifuges and other such achievements had come to the fore in its early days, a dear person - the friends in this meeting know who I am speaking about, but I do not want to menti on his name - wrote a letter to me and said, "These claims are a lie and you should not believe them". I think that he spoke about both nuclear achievements and the issue of stem cells. Now, I do not exactly remember what he said. His letter is among our papers. He said, "You should not believe the people who deliver such reports to you. These are not true. These are lies". This person himself is a knowledgeable person and I trust and like him. However, he did not believe in such achievements. Of course, we believed it and thankfully, our belief was substantiated on a daily basis.

After a few years, a meeting was held in this place and a number of friends in this meeting were also present in that meeting. That person looked at me and said that the achievements that our youth are making are not welcomed in universities. And he began to complain that our youth are making many achievements, but they are not appreciated. Then, I remembered what he had said a few years back about his distrust of such achievements. He said, "No, these achievements are real. It is true that the rate of our scientific progress is 13 times faster than the global average. Even other people and our opponents have acknowledged this". Thankfully, our youth have managed to accomplish great feats in different areas and they have managed to move forward. My advice to the honorable Minister of Science and the Honorable Minister of Health is that they should not let such cycles - particularly this scientific cycle - slow down.

One of the things which blocks the path of such movements is to politicize universities. Mr. Faraji Dana [the Minister of Science and Technology] and Mr. Hashemi [the Minister of Health] should pay attention to this point. You should not let universities turn into an arena for political movements. What I want to say is that we should believe in youth as an engine for initiating political developments. When I said this, the gentlemen who claim they play an important role in improving universities criticized me for tempting and enthusing youth. This is not the case. I believe in this idea. In any society, the young generation - particularly young students - is the engine of any social and political development. This is in their nature, but this is different from turning universities into an arena for promoting political orientations when some of these orientations are opposed to the essence of the Islamic Republic or careful when they are opposed to the orientations that the Islamic Republic adopts. You should definitely be careful about this and you should prevent it.

I would like to raise another point in this regard. Our people have chanted the slogan of "we can". You should not let this "we can" be turned on its head. The people said, "We can reach the high peaks of science. We can become a point of reference in the world. We can liberate ourselves from scientific humiliation". And they have done this. Our enemies and opponents admit that Iran has become scientific, not only in the nuclear area, but also in other areas. They are acknowledging this. You should not let this "we can", which is giving fresh impetus to the hearts and souls of our youth, be destroyed. You too should say that you can and you should pursue this "we can". We can establish the new Islamic civilization and we can create a world which is full of spirituality and which moves forward with the help and guidance of spirituality. We can do this and by Allah's favor, we will do it.

The sixth point that I have written down is the issue of the Farsi language. I am very concerned about the Farsi language. I am very concerned about it. Several years ago, we worked on this issue, we took action and we gathered a number of people to address this issue. I have noticed that no proper course of action is taken in this regard and there is a full-scale attack against our language. The people are constantly using foreign words. A number of people think it is humiliating and beneath their dignity to use a Farsi or Arabic word instead of a Latin word. They think it is beneath their dignity. This is a very bad thing. This is part of mass culture which should be fought against.

Friends, one day Farsi was the dominant scientific language from Constantinople of that time to the Indian Subcontinent. In the Indian Subcontinent, outstanding personalities used to speak Farsi. When the English came to the subcontinent, one of the measures that they adopted was to prevent Farsi from being the common language. They prevented Farsi from being popular with different tricks and plots which are particular to the English. Of course, Farsi is still common and popular there. There are a number of people in India who love Farsi. I have been to India. Also, a number of Indians who love Farsi have come to Iran and I have met them. But we, who live where Farsi is the most popular language, are forgetting it.

We are not adopting any measure in order to promote and develop it and in order to counter foreign interferences. Little by little, new foreign terminology is becoming common. Every day, a new word becomes common which we have not heard before. Sometimes, the people use a word and I say to them that I do not know what it means. When they define it, I begin to understand that this word has entered our language. This phenomenon has gradually become common among the masses of the people. This is dangerous.

They write Farsi words with Latin script. Well, why should we do this? Who wants to read it? Those who speak Farsi or those who speak foreign languages? They write the Farsi words with Latin script. Another example is that they give foreign names to domestic products, whose pictures have been sent to me. What reason do we have for doing this? Sometimes you want to export a domestic product. In such conditions, as well as Farsi, you can use the language of the country which you want to export your products to. Farsi should be used in addition to that foreign language and it should never be removed from our products. But when a product is manufactured inside Iran, why should we use foreign words? Why should we use foreign words on schoolbags that elementary students carry to school? The same is true of toys. I am really surprised. This is among the issues towards which you have a great responsibility. I have certain examples in mind about such use of Farsi which I do not want to mention. They give foreign names to companies, products and shops. They constantly use foreign - particularly English - words.

I feel that this is dangerous and it is necessary for officials and members of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution to follow up this issue in a serious way. The administration should confront this issue in a serious way. The meaning of confrontation is not that officials should immediately - tomorrow for example - behave in a harsh and aggres sive way towards this issue. You should confront this issue, but you should do it in a wise way. You should see what you can do to prevent this. So, this is another issue that you should pay attention to.

The issue of humanities is another issue which is very important. Of course, Dr. Haddad Adel, who is absent today, delivered a detailed and good report to me about the measures that were adopted in this regard by the council that he is in charge of. Well, a number of friends complain about the unproductivity of such measures. These issues should be addressed in the meetings of this council. In my opinion, the best thing to do is to establish a research-based framework for the development of humanities. This is a fundamental piece of work which should be done before anything else. So, this is another issue.

The last issue is the issue of social problems and the cultural reasons behind it. I referred to the issue of divorce, addictive drugs, financial corruption and c rime. Well, one of the effects of cultural invasion, which is launched by the enemies, is the increase of armed robberies from banks. We saw such robberies for the first time in movies. Mr. Zarghami should pay attention to this issue. The same robberies are being committed in our country. Well, people learn from such movies. We should know what we are doing. We should understand the harm that such things inflict.

Another issue in this regard is the issue of population. One of the dangerous things that make us shake with fear when we think deeply about it is the issue of population. I think that I spoke in brief to Dr. Hashemi about this issue. I also spoke at length to Dr. Rouhani about it. You should adopt a serious outlook towards the issue of population. The number of youth is decreasing. We may reach a point where there is no cure for that. We should not have this idea that the issue of population is one of those issues which we can think about in 10 years from now. After a few years, when the current young generation becomes old, there will be no cure for that. By Allah's favor, you will be successful in doing these things. I hope that God will protect and bestow a long life on you. By Allah's favor, you will pay attention to the issues that I discussed.

I like to say a few things in memory of the late Dr. Habibi. The previous time we gathered in this meeting, Dr. Habibi was also present although he was ill. And I thanked him for his presence.

I hope that God will protect you. You should really appreciate the value of the scholars, the outstanding personalities and the young people who are among you. They are really valuable and thankfully, they enjoy youthful enthusiasm, energy and innovation.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Supreme Leader's Speech in Meeting with Basij Commanders

(2013/11/20)

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on November 20, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with fifty thousand Basij commanders. The meeting was held at the Musalah in Tehran.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad and upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.

Greetings be upon you Abi Abdullah and upon those who laid down their lives for you. I will send you God's eternal greetings as long as I live and as long as night and day prevail. May God not make this prayer my last covenant with you. Greetings be upon Hussein, upon Ali ibn al-Hussein, upon the children of Hussein and upon the companions of Hussein - those who laid down their lives for Hussein (a.s.).

This meeting is a very important meeting. Basij is the manifestation of the greatness of our nation and the domestic capability of our country. This meeting is the meeting of commanders. You tens of thousands of commanders of Basij have gathered in this place and one can guess from this large gathering how glorious Basij is. You are a source of satisfaction, hope and trust for the supporters of the Islamic Republic, the Revolution and the country and you are a source of intimidation and fear for the ill-wishers, enemies and those who bear a grudge [against the Revolution and the Islamic Republic].

The coincidence of Basij Week with these days, which are the days of the great epic of the history of Islam, is a good and valuable occasion. What I mean by this great epic is the epic created by Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) which complements the epic of Ashura. The epic that Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) created revived and preserved the epic of Ashura. The greatne ss of what Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) did, cannot be compared to other great events in history. It should only be compared to the event of Ashura itself and truly, these two events complete one another.

This great personality and this great lady of Islam and all of humanity managed to stand firm in the face of the great mountain of hardships and there was not even a tremble in her voice because of all these events. She stood firm like a glorious mountain peak both in the face of enemies and in the face of hardships and bitter events. She became a lesson, a role model, a leader and a pioneer.

At the bazaar of Kufa, while she was held captive, she made this astonishing speech: "Oh people of Kufa, who are treacherous and disloyal, do you cry for us? May your tears not dry and may your moans not stop. You are like a woman who loosens her threads after she pulls them together" [al-Ihtijaj, Volume 2, page 303]. The words are as firm as steel and the meaning flows like a river a nd it influences hearts and souls. In such conditions, Zaynab al-Kubra delivered a speech, which was like the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), and she shook hearts and souls and she shook history with these words. This speech became eternal in history. It was delivered in front of the people while she was held captive.

After that, she delivered a speech in front of Ibn Ziad in Kufa and a few weeks later, she spoke in front of Yazid with such strength that it both humiliated the enemy and the hardships which the enemy had imposed. She said, "Do you foolishly think that you can defeat, suppress and humiliate the household of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.)?" "Honor belongs to Allah and His Messenger, and to the believers" [The Holy Quran, 63: 8]. Zaynab al-Kubra is the manifestation of dignity, as Hussein ibn Ali (a.s.) was the manifestation of dignity in Karbala on the day of Ashura.

The way she looks at events is different from the way other people look at those events. De spite all those hardships, when the enemy wants to taunt her, she says, "I did not see anything except for beauty" [Lohuf, page 160]. She said, "What I saw was beautiful. It was martyrdom. Although it was difficult, it was in the way of God and it was done for preserving Islam. It was the creation of an epic in history so that Islamic Ummah knows what it should do and how it should move forward and stand firm". This is a great achievement made by the epic of Zaynab (s.a.). This is the dignity of God's saint. Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) is one of God's saints. Her dignity is the dignity of Islam and she made Islam and the Holy Quran valuable.

Of course, we are not as aspirational and determined as Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) and therefore we cannot say that the behavior of this great lady is our model. We are too inferior to say such things, but anyway, our movement should be in line with the movement of Zaynab (s.a.). Our efforts should be focused on bringing dignity for Islam, the Is lamic community and the entire humanity. This is the same responsibility that Allah the Exalted has entrusted to prophets through Islamic obligations and rules.

In the first part of my speech, what I want to briefly discuss with you dear basijis and dear youth is that one of the factors which brought about this spirit and this patience in Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) and other divine saints - who moved forward with such spirit and patience - is sincerity and honesty. It is very important to honor our promises to Allah the Exalted and to devote our hearts to the path of God in a sincere way.

In the Holy Quran, this sincerity is necessary for divine prophets as well: "And remember We took from the prophets their covenant, as We did from you, from Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus the son of Mary: We took from them a solemn covenant, that (Allah) may question the custodians of Truth concerning the Truth they (were charged with)" [The Holy Quran, 33: 7-8]. God says that this cove nant is very firm and serious. In the phrase "Leyasala" lam signifies results and consequences. The result of this covenant is that these great prophets will be questioned about their sincerity in this covenant. That is to say, our Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and other great prophets should prove before God the level of their sincerity concerning the conditions of this covenant. This part is related to prophets.

God also says to ordinary people and believers: "Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah: of them some have completed their vow (fully), and some (still) wait: but they have never changed (their determination) in the least, that Allah may reward the men of Truth for their Truth, and punish the Hypocrites if that be His Will" [The Holy Quran, 33: 23-24]. When addressing great prophets, God referred to unbelievers as the opposite of honest individuals: "And He has prepared for the unbelievers a grievous Penalty" [The Holy Quran, 33: 8]. And when addressing these believers, He referred to hypocrites as the opposite of honest individuals and there are important points in this comparison. You and I will be questioned about our promise to God. We have a covenant with God. In the holy ayah "Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah", the pledge that believers made to God and that was honored by them is the same as another ayah in this holy sura: "And yet they had already covenanted with Allah not to turn their backs" [The Holy Quran, 33: 15].

All of us should pay attention to such points. Believers promised Allah the Exalted not to escape in the face of the enemy and not to turn their backs. The Holy Quran stresses that abandoning one's positions and retreating in the face of the enemy are among the things which should not be done. One should stand up against the enemy in any military, political and economic war and in any arena which is a test of strength. Your determination shoul d overcome the enemy's determination. Your willpower should overcome the enemy's willpower. This can be done and this is possible. From the viewpoint of the Holy Quran and Islam, running away and retreating from the enemy are forbidden in any arena of jihad and confrontation.

When we used the phrase "heroic flexibility", some people defined it as abandoning the ideals and the goals of the Islamic Republic. Some of the enemies too used it to accuse the Islamic Republic of betraying its principles. These interpretations were wrong and they misunderstood this phrase. "Heroic flexibility" means an artful maneuver for reaching one's goal. It means that the followers of God's path - any divine path - should utilize different methods, in any way possible, in order to reach their goal and this should be done whenever they move towards the different ideals of Islam. "If any do turn his back to them on such a day - unless it be in a stratagem of war, or to retreat to a troop (of h is own)- he draws on himself the wrath of Allah" [The Holy Quran, 8: 16].

Like the arena of war, any movement - whether forward or backward - should be launched in order to reach one's predetermined goals. There are certain goals and at each stage, the Islamic government pursues one of these goals in order to make progress, achieve transcendence and create the great Islamic civilization. The Islamic government should try to achieve this goal at this stage. Of course, there are certain stages and phases to reach these goals. Experts, intellectuals and officials in charge of this are identifying these phases and goals and, as a result, our collective movement will begin. Everyone should try to make any movement, at any stage, reach its goal. This is a proper system which is based on logical and rational measures. All activists in the arena of politics and macromanagement of the country should always keep this in mind. All the people and you dear basijis too - who are activi sts in the arena of Basij - should always keep this in mind.

Well, when we say that we want to move forward, does this mean that the Islamic government is warmongering? Does this mean that the Islamic government wants to confront all nations and all countries in the world? Sometimes one hears that the enemies of the Iranian nation - specifically the najis-mouthed dirty dog of the region, the Zionist regime - move their jaws to say that Iran is a threat for the entire world. This is the claim of the enemy, but this is exactly the opposite of Islamic principles. On the contrary, those evil and malevolent forces - including the fake Zionist regime and some of its supporters - that show nothing except for malevolence, are a threat for the entire world.

The lesson that the Islamic government learned from the Holy Quran, the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.) and the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) is a different lesson: "Allah commands justice and the doing of good" [The Holy Quran, 16: 90]. Allah the Exalted invites us to administer justice and do good. The commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said that we should be kind to everyone because "Those who have the same religion as you have, they are brothers to you, and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 53]. People are either your Islamic brothers or human beings like you. This is the logic of Islam. We want to render services and show kindness to everyone. We want to establish a friendly and kind relationship with all human beings and all nations. We even have no enmity with the American people despite the fact that the government of America is an arrogant, hostile and evil government which bears a grudge against the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic. The American people are like other peoples.

What the Islamic Republic is opposed to is arrogance. The hostility of the Islamic Republic is oriented towards global arrogance. We are opposed to and fight against arrogance. Arrogance is a Quranic word and it has been used in the Holy Quran to refer to people like Pharaoh and the groups of people who are ill-wishers and who are opposed to truth. Arrogance existed in the past as well and it has continued to prevail until the present time. In all eras, arrogance has had the same structure. Of course, it has used different methods and tactics in different eras. There is arrogance today as well and it is led by the United States of America.

We should know arrogance and its characteristics. We should know the methods and the orientation of arrogance so that we can organize our behavior in the face of arrogance. We are opposed to unreasonable behavior in all arenas. We believe that we should move forward with wisdom and acumen in all arenas, in all collective and individual orientations and in all plans. If we do not know the scene, if we do not know our friends and our enemies, if we do not know imperiali sm and arrogance in the present time, then how can we move forward with wisdom and acumen? How can we make accurate plans? Therefore, we should know these things.

What I am saying about arrogance is a few examples regarding the behavior of today's global arrogance in the world. In many of these examples and cases, today's arrogance shares the characteristics of arrogance in previous centuries and previous eras. One of the characteristics of arrogance is egotism. When arrogant groups - those people who have taken everything in their hands as the highest-ranking individuals in a country, in a group of countries or in a global system - consider themselves to be superior to other people, when they regard themselves as the pivot, when they place everyone, except for themselves, on the periphery, then a wrong and dangerous equation will be formed in global interactions.

When arrogance views itself as superior and as the pivot and core [of everything], then the result will be that it grants itself the right to interfere in the affairs of other people and other nations. If arrogance considers something to be a value and if other people do not, this will grant it the right to interfere in their affairs and bully and pressure them. This egotism makes them claim to be the guardian of nations and to be responsible for global management. It also makes them consider themselves to be the boss of all the people in the world.

As you can hear, American officials and politicians speak about the government of America as if it were the leader of all countries. They say that they cannot let this be done. They say, "We cannot allow this person to be or not to be in charge". They speak about our region in a way that it seems they are the owners of this region. They speak about the Zionist regime in a way that it seems regional nations have to accept this imposed and fake regime. They behave towards independent nations and governments as if they did not have the right to live. This egotism and this attitude of considering oneself to have a special position among all people, all nations and all human beings is the main foundation on which arrogance has been built and this is its biggest problem.

This egotism will lead to another characteristic and another criterion for arrogance which is the tendency to ignore other people's rights. They neither accept truth nor the rights of other nations. They do not at all acknowledge other people's rights. In international negotiations, someone says something which is right, but America does not accept it. It tries to deny such rights with different methods and it does not accept truth. This has happened many times. In the present time, one of the examples of this behavior is our current issues related to nuclear activities and industries. Imagine that someone says something which is true. If one is fair, reasonable and rational, he should give up when he faces the truth. But arrogance does not g ive up. It hears the truth, but it does not accept it. This is one of its characteristics. It does not acknowledge the rights of other nations either. It does not acknowledge the right of a people to choose, to do what they want and to adopt those economic and political measures which they want. They believe in imposing things on other nations.

Another characteristic of colonialism and arrogance is that it condones crimes against nations and the entire humanity and that it is indifferent towards such crimes. This is one of the greatest disasters of arrogance in modern times. Modern times means the era of scientific progress and the era of the emergence of dangerous weapons. When these weapons became available to arrogant powers, they created a disaster for all nations. They do not attach any value on the lives of individuals - those individuals who do not follow, obey and surrender to them.

There are many examples in this regard. One example is the behavior of arrog ant powers towards Native Americans - those people whose financial and natural resources, whose geography and whose entire properties are in the hands of non-natives now. Well, there were native people in America. Their behavior towards these Native Americans was so violent and so disgusting that it is one of the darkest points in the history of modern America. The Americans themselves have written many things about the massacres that took place and the pressures that they exerted. The same thing was done by the English in Australia. The English hunted people, for pleasure, like animals and like kangaroos. They did not attach any value on the lives of human beings. This is only one example. There are hundreds of examples which have been recorded in their own history books.

Another example is the nuclear bombardment that was launched in the year 1945 of the Christian calendar - that it to say, the year 1324 of the Hijri calendar - when the Americans destroyed two Japanese c ities and, as a result, hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Over the course of time, the number of people who suffered from deformities and different diseases because of nuclear radiations was several times larger than this and these problems have persisted until the present time. They did not have any cogent reason for this - I will refer to this later on. They easily dropped these bombs. Until now, atomic bombs have been used twice and both times, they were used by the Americans who consider themselves to be the main responsible party for the nuclear issues of other countries.

They like to forget these events, but it is not forgettable. All these lives were destroyed, but it was not at all important to them. For arrogance, the lives of human beings have no value and it is easy for arrogant regimes to commit crimes. They massacred the people in Vietnam. In Iraq, their security services and their mercenary security agencies - such as Blackwater which I referred to i n the year 1390 - committed certain crimes. They are still committing crimes in Pakistan with their drones. In Afghanistan, they conduct a number of bombardments and they commit crimes. They are not afraid of committing crimes in each area they can get their hands on and in each area their interests dictate. These crimes include murder and torture. The Guantanamo prison - which belongs to the Americans - still has prisoners. It is 10, 11 years now that they have been arresting a number of people from different countries and putting them in this prison on different charges. They have been keeping them in this prison without any trial and with extremely difficult conditions and they have been torturing them. In Iraq, the Abu Ghraib prison was one of the American prisons. In this prison, they used to torture and set dogs on prisoners.

Looting the vital resources of other nations is easy for them. Capturing and enslaving Africans is one of the tragic events in history which Amer ican imperialism and other such regimes do not like to be reviewed. They do not like the issue of enslaving the people of Africa to be reflected on. They used to sail ships from the Atlantic Ocean and anchor them on the coast of West African countries such as Gambia and other countries in this continent. Then, they used to go and capture hundreds of thousands of men and women and old and young people with guns and other weapons which were not available to people at that time. While these people were in difficult conditions, they were taken to America on such ships for slavery. They captivated free people who were living in their houses and in their own cities. In the present time, the black people who live in America are the descendents of those slaves. For several centuries, the Americans exerted such an eccentric pressure and there are many books in this regard such as the book "Roots" written by Alexander Haley. This book is a very valuable book for showing part of these crimes . How can today's modern man forget such events? Despite all these crimes, the white people continue to discriminate against blacks in America.

Another characteristic of arrogance is deception and hypocritical behavior. You should pay attention to this issue. They try to justify the crimes which were referred to and they try to show that they were rendering services by committing these crimes. Global arrogance, which intends to dominate all nations, is frequently using this method in its entire life: the method of justifying crimes and taking on the appearance of rendering services. When the Americans want to apologize for their attack on Japan - that is to say, the two bombs which exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki - they say, "Although tens of thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands of people were killed by the two bombs that we dropped on these two cities, this was the cost of ending World War II. If we the Americans had not dropped these bombs, the war would have cont inued. If we had not done this, then two million people - instead of the 200 thousand people who were killed as a result of these bombs - would have been killed. Therefore, we rendered a service by dropping these bombs".

Notice that this is a statement which the Americans make in their official propaganda. Now, around 65 years have passed from that day, but they have repeatedly said this. This is one of the deceptive and hypocritical statements and one of the elaborate lies that is not made and told by anyone except arrogant regimes. These bombs were dropped on and exploded in these two cities in the summer of the year 1945 of the Christian calendar and this crime was committed in that year. This was while four months before that - that is to say, in the early spring of 1945 - Hitler, who was the primary warmonger, had committed suicide. Moreover, Mussolini - the president of Italy at that time, who was the second important element in the war - had been arrested and the war w as practically over. Japan too, which was the third important element in the war, had announced that it was ready to surrender. Therefore, there was practically no war, but these bombs were dropped anyway. Why? It is because these bombs had been built and they must have been tested somewhere. Certain weapons had been built and they must have been tested somewhere. Where should they test them now? The best option was to drop these bombs on the innocent people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the excuse of war so that it becomes clear whether these bombs work properly or not. Such is their deceit.

They claim to be the supporters of human rights, but they target the Iranian passenger plane in the air and they kill about three hundred passengers who are unaware of this. Moreover, they do not apologize and they award a medal to the person who commits this crime. You have heard that in recent weeks, the Americans - from the President to lower-ranking politicians - have created up roar about the use of chemical weapons in Syria. They accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons. I do not want to judge who has used these weapons. Of course, evidence shows that terrorist groups have used them, but anyway, they said that the Syrian government has used such weapons. They created uproar about this and they said that the use of chemical weapons is our red line. American officials said this 10 times or more. But not only did the government and the regime of the United States of America not express any opposition to Saddam's use of chemical weapons during its criminal attacks on Iran, but it also provided him with 500 tons of hazardous and lethal chemicals which could be turned into mustard gas.

Many of our dear youth of those times are still suffering from the effects of those chemicals and it is several years that they have been suffering from various diseases. The Americans helped Saddam to be equipped with such chemicals. Of course, he had bou ght such chemicals from other countries as well, but it was America that provided Saddam with 500 tons of lethal chemicals - which could turn into mustard gas - and that helped him to use it. After that, when the United Nations Security Council decided to issue a resolution against Saddam, it was America that prevented this. This is the meaning of hypocritical behavior. On the issue of Syria, the use of chemical weapons is a red line, but on the issue of Iran, it can be allowed and supported. This is because on this issue, chemical weapons are used against an independent Islamic government and against a nation which does not want to give in to America.

These are some of the characteristics of arrogance. Of course, the characteristics of arrogance are more than these. Arrogant powers wage wars, create discord and confront independent governments. They even confront their own people when the interests of specific groups dictate so. During the war that Saddam waged against Ir an, they offered all kinds of help - which was possible for them - to Saddam. I referred to the case of chemicals, but they also gave him secret information about Iran. After the war, when the head of intelligence services of Saddam was interviewed, he said, "I used to go to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad three times a week and they gave me a sealed package in which all satellite information about the movements of the Iranian Armed Forces existed and therefore, we knew where they were". They offered such kinds of help to Saddam.

The Islamic government is opposed to such arrogance. The Islamic government is not opposed to people and nations. It is not opposed to human beings. Rather, it is opposed to arrogance. This opposition has existed since the time of Abraham - God's Friend - Noah, the Holy Prophet of Islam and other great prophets and it has continued until today. Since that time, the camp of right has confronted arrogance. Why is that? Why does today's Islamic governmen t confront arrogance? It is because arrogance with the characteristics that I described cannot tolerate an Islamic government such as the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is because the Islamic Republic of Iran was formed on the basis of opposition to arrogance. The Revolution was carried out in Iran in opposition to arrogance and the agents of arrogance. It was formed on the basis of this opposition. It grew, it became strong and it challenged the logic of arrogance on the basis of this opposition. Arrogance cannot tolerate this unless it is frustrated.

The Iranian people, the Iranian youth, the Iranian activists and those Iranians who believe in their homeland and their country for any reason - even if it may be a non-Islamic reason - should do something to make the enemy hopeless. The enemy should become hopeless. It is very difficult for global arrogance and for the government of the United States of America in the present time to see that in this sensitive region - in W est Asia, which is the one of the most sensitive regions in the world in terms of politics and economy and which influences the entire world - a country, a government and a people have emerged who do not consider themselves to be dependent on and to be the followers of this self-proclaimed superpower. This Islamic government is independent and despite the strong opposition that it is faced with, it overcomes all problems and hardships. As the Americans themselves admit, this government is challenging the influence of America in the region and it is extending its own influence.

This Islamic government is becoming a role model for regional nations and this is very difficult for the Americans to tolerate. The Americans want to say that the lives of all nations depend on America. Now a people have emerged who not only are not dependent on America, but who also have not been influenced by all these hostilities. From the first day, the Americans did whatever they could, but it w as not effective. These people have achieved growth and they have become stronger on a daily basis.

The hostilities that the government of the United States of America has shown against the Islamic Republic happened during the time of different presidents, but all of these hostilities are of the same nature. All of these hostilities are the same. Therefore, no one should say that such and such a plot was hatched during the time of such and such a president and this plot has not been hatched during the time of the current President of America. This is not the case. All of these presidents behave in the same way. First, they provoked ethnicities in Iran, then they launched a coup d'état and after that, they made Iraq attack us. The next thing that they did was to help our enemy - which was the regime of Saddam - in his war against us and after the war, they imposed sanctions on us. Then, they provoked all media networks in the world and they made them align themselves ag ainst the Islamic Republic. All of these things have been done during the time of different presidents of America and now too, these things are being done.

In the fitna of the year 1388 - during the term of the current President of America - one of the social networks, which could be used to further the goals of fitna and those who provoked the fitna, needed to fix some technical problems. The government of America asked this network to delay fixing these technical problems because they hoped to overthrow the Islamic Republic with the help of media activities and networks such as Facebook, Twitter and other such networks. They had these foolish delusions. Therefore, they did not let this network fix its technical problems and they said that it should delay it and attend to this task which is more important.

They used all kinds of tools against the Islamic Republic and sanctions are one of these tools. From their viewpoint, this tool is enough for defeating the Islamic Republic. Their mistake is that they do not know the Iranian nation. Their mistake is that they do not know the element of faith and unity among our people. Their mistake is that they did not learn a lesson from their past mistakes. Therefore, they hope that they can bring the people of Iran to their knees by imposing sanctions, exerting pressures and other such measures. Of course, they are making a mistake. The permanent experience of the Islamic Republic during the past 35 years shows that the only way to get rid of the interference of the enemy is national power and national resistance. This is the only factor which can make the enemy retreat. Of course, the enemy is the enemy. He uses all kinds of tools. As I said, he has used and is using sanctions. We should know what it is that can help us achieve our goal.

I would like to say a few things about Basij and after that, I would like to briefly speak about the current issues regarding our foreign policies. As I sai d, Basij is a source of dignity for the country and the Islamic Republic. Why? It is because the meaning of Basij is the presence of all the people in arenas of fundamental activities for the sake of the people and the country. Any government that has people by its side and any country in which the people show their presence and move towards a specific direction, will definitely achieve victory. This is completely clear. Countries receive a blow and they are defeated whenever the people are not present on the scene or whenever they do not have unity of action. Whenever the people are present on the scene and whenever there is unity among them, victory and progress will be certain. Basij is the example of such presence. Basij is the manifestation of the presence of the people on the scene and the unity of the people. We should adopt such an outlook towards Basij.

On the issue of sincerity, which I referred to in the beginning of my speech, Basij has emerged victorious out of the test of sincerity. Basij was put to this test during the imposed war and the Sacred Defense Era which was a time when the country was in difficult conditions. Also, during the different events that took place after the Sacred Defense Era until the present time, Basij has emerged victorious out of the test of sincerity. The Basij organization has shown that it enjoys sincerity. Of course, in my opinion, Basij is not confined to this number of people who are active in the Basij organization. There are many people whose hearts are with you. They praise and respect you and they appreciate your value. These people are not active in the Basij organization, but they are basijis as well. In my opinion, those people who believe in and respect your values and who respect your efforts, your services and your jihad are basijis as well. Being present on the scene is one of the most important tasks.

Moreover, the capabilities of Basij help us solve problems. Fortunately, today insid e the organization of Basij, there are many scientific, artistic, social and political personalities and there are many social activists and people who can influence the people. Until today, Basij has represented a group of people who have been achieving growth and transcendence on a daily basis and it should act in the same way from now on too.

What I recommend is that we should increase the capabilities of Basij. There are certain prerequisites for this: moral, behavioral and practical prerequisites. Moral prerequisites means that we should build and develop Islamic virtues in our hearts and souls. A number of these virtues are patience, forgiveness, fortitude, self-control and humility. We should strengthen these characteristics in ourselves. Behavioral prerequisites means that we should utilize these virtues when we interact with the people, the environment, society and human beings in general. Imam Sadiq (peace and greetings be upon him) used to say to his companions, " You should act in a way that whenever people see you, they say, ‘These people are the companions of Imam Sadiq. God's mercy be upon Imam Sadiq. You should make us be proud of you'" [al-Kafi, Volume 2, page 233]. Each and every one of you dear basijis, you dear youth with your pure and enlightened hearts and souls should behave towards all the people - as I said, many of the people are basijis in the real sense of the word - in a way that they say, "These people are students of the Islamic government. They are a source of respect for the Islamic government and the Islamic Republic".

And practical, jihadi and social prerequisites are the tasks that should be carried out. That is to say, we should strengthen these virtues in ourselves. It means that we should behave in a kind, diligent and praiseworthy way towards the [social] environment. It means that we should act in a serious way in all arenas including the arena of science, the arena of social services, the arena of wo rk, the arena of politics and the arena of production. Wherever you are, you should work in a serious way without any feeling of tiredness and any laziness. We should work. This great group of basijis - tens of thousands of people from this great group are present in this meeting - can move the country towards positive paths in the real sense of word. This group of people can be a source of solidity and stability. It can be a source of grandeur for the Islamic Republic and thankfully it is playing such a role today. Today, Basij is a source of grandeur and honor for the Islamic Republic.

I would like to raise a point about the recent contentions over the arena of foreign policies, our nuclear issues, the current negotiations and other such things. First of all, I insist on supporting the officials who are in charge of this. I support all administrations and all officials - whether officials in charge of domestic affairs or officials in charge of foreign affairs - and this is o ur responsibility. I myself have been an executive official. I have been in the middle of the arena and I felt with all my heart the difficulty of the work. I know that the responsibility of managing the country is difficult. Therefore, these officials need help and I help and support them. This is one part of the issue which is clear. On the other hand, I also insist on establishing the rights of the Iranian nation including the issue of our nuclear rights. We insist that these officials should not even take one step back on the rights of the Iranian nation. Of course, we do not interfere in the details of these negotiations. There are certain red lines and limits in this regard. These limits should be observed. We have said this to officials in charge and it is their responsibility to observe these limits. They should not be afraid of the fuss that the enemies and opponents make. They should show no fear in the face of such fuss and uproar.

Everyone should know that pri marily, the sanctions which have been imposed on the Iranian nation result from the arrogant grudge of America. The grudge that the Americans bear against us is like the grudge of a camel. They want to exert pressures on the Iranian nation in the hope that they can perhaps make the Iranian nation surrender. They are making a mistake because the Iranian nation will not surrender to anyone under pressure. You Americans have failed to know the people of Iran. They are a people who can, by Allah's favor, endure these pressures and who will turn these threats and pressures into an opportunity. By Allah's favor, the Iranian nation will do this.

We have had certain weak points in the area of economic decisions and plans. These weak points have made the enemy feel that he can create a rift. This is an opportunity for us to know and eliminate these weak points and, by Allah's favor, we will eliminate them. The Americans should know and I think they know that sanctions do not work. The reason why we say they themselves know that sanctions do not work is the military threats they issue. Well, if sanctions can serve the purpose, then why do they issue military threats? This shows that sanctions have not served the purpose and that they do not work. They have to issue military sanctions. Of course, the act of issuing military threats is a very disgusting and despicable act. Instead of issuing military threats against different countries, you Americans should go and improve your own devastated economy. You should do something so that your government will not be shut down for 15, 16 days. You should go and pay your debts. You should think of improving your own economy.

As I said, the Americans should know that the Iranian nation behaves in a brotherly way towards all nations: "Those who have the same religion as you have, they are brothers to you, and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you". The people of Iran respect o ther nations, but they behave towards transgressors in a way that they become regretful. They slap transgressots across the face in a way that they will never forget. The Americans consider themselves responsible for saying something in support of the Zionist regime and the capitalist Zionists and this is a source of weakness and humiliation for them. In fact, the Zionist regime is a regime whose foundations are extremely shaky. The Zionist regime is doomed to destruction. It is a regime which is imposed [on regional nations] and it has been formed on the basis of bullying. Any phenomenon and any organism which has come into being by use of force cannot survive and this regime cannot survive either. The support of the Americans - who are indebted to Zionist capitalists - for the wretched Zionist regime is a source of disgrace for them. Unfortunately, a number of European countries flatter this regime. These Europeans go and flatter these creatures who do not deserve to be called h uman beings and they humiliate themselves and their people in front of these creatures. The leaders of the Zionist regime are really like wild animals and one cannot call them human beings.

One day in Europe, the French nation gained a good political reputation because the president of France in those days did not allow England to enter the European Community due to the fact that England was dependent on America. This became a source of dignity for France. On that day, the dignity of the French government increased because it stood up against America and because it did not let England - which was dependent on America - enter the European Community. A people achieve dignity in such a way. Today, the politicians of this country [France] go and humble themselves not only before America, but also before these damned and dirty Zionists. This is a source of humiliation for the French nation. Of course, the people of France themselves should find a cure for this problem.

I would like to speak to you dear youth about a few things. You youth should know that without a doubt, the bright and promising future of this country and the Islamic Republic belongs to you. You will manage to help your country and your people reach the peak of glory. By Allah's favor, you will be able to build a perfect model of the modern Islamic civilization in this country. In order to carry out these great tasks, you should promote and strengthen - as much as you can - religion, piety, morality and purity of soul among yourselves. Today's youth need religion, piety, science, enthusiasm, trustworthiness, morality, social services and physical exercise. These are the things which today's youth need and by Allah's favor, you dear basijis will succeed in doing this.

Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), bestow Your blessings on these people and on all the basijis of our country. Dear God, make the Iranian nation conquer the peaks of hon or on a daily basis. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), make the immaculate soul of Imam satisfied with us and with these people. Dear God, make the pure souls of martyrs satisfied and pleased with us. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), make the holy heart of the Imam of the Age satisfied and pleased with us and hasten the re-appearance of this great Imam. Make us be among his companions and his accompanying mujahids and make us be martyrs by his side.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Supreme Leader Meets with Students on "National Day of Fighting Against Global Arrogance"

2013/11/03

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on November 3, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with high school and university students. The meeting was held on the occasion of the "National Day of Fighting Against Global Arrogance".

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Supreme Leader's Speech in Meeting with Students on "National Day of Fighting Against Global ArroganToday, the warm presence of you dear youth in this hussainyyah is a reminder and a manifestation of the epic and enthusiasm which has been the supporter and guarantee of the revolutionary movement of the Iranian nation over the course of many years- from the beginning of the Revolution until today. The great blessing of God on our country and on the Islamic Republic is the existence of youth with their clear, strong and reasonable motives, with their pure hearts and with their s incere intentions.

Our meeting today has been scheduled on the anniversary of the events of the 13th of Aban which occurred over the course of different years - before and after the victory of the Revolution in the country. There are three events: Imam's exile in the year 1343, the ruthless slaughter of students in Tehran in the year 1357 and the courageous movement of students in capturing the Den of Espionage in the year 1358.

Each of these three events was in some way related to the government of the United States of America. In the year 1343, Imam (may God bestow paradise on him) was exiled because of his opposition to "capitulation", which meant preserving the security of American agents in Iran and their judicial immunity. So this event was related to America.

In the year 1357, the regime which was dependent on America killed students on the streets of Tehran and the asphalt of these streets was colored with the blood of our teenagers. This was done by Ame rica in order to defend the regime which was dependent on it. This event was also related to America.

The event in the year 1358 was a counterattack. Our courageous and religious youth attacked the U.S. embassy and discovered the truth and identity of this embassy, which was the Den of Espionage, and presented this fact to people throughout the world.

In those days, our youth called the U.S. embassy the "Den of Espionage". Today, after the passage of 30-plus years since that day, the name of U.S. embassies in countries which have the closest relationship with America - that is to say, European countries - has become the den of espionage. This means that our youth are 30 years ahead of the rest of the world. This event was related to America as well. These three events were related, in different ways, to the government of the United States of America and its relations with Iran. Therefore, the 13th of Aban - which is tomorrow - was named "Day of Fighting Against Arrogance".

What does arrogance mean? Arrogance is a Quranic term. The word "arrogance" has been used in the Holy Quran. An arrogant individual, an arrogant government and an arrogant group of people means those individuals and those governments which intend to interfere in the affairs of other human beings and other nations. They interfere in all the affairs of other nations in order to preserve their own interests. They think they are free to do anything and they grant themselves the right to impose different things on other nations and to interfere in the affairs of other countries. And they do not answer to anyone. This is the meaning of arrogance.

At the opposite end of the scale, there is a group of people who fight against arrogance. What does fighting against arrogance mean? Primarily, it means refusing to give in to this bullying. The meaning of fighting against arrogance is not convoluted and it is not complicated. Fighting against arrogance means the refusal of a nation to give in to the interference and imposition of an arrogant power, individual or government. This is the meaning of fighting against arrogance. By Allah's favor, when I have the opportunity in the future, I will have a detailed discussion about arrogance and fighting against arrogance with you youth and students. Now, there is no time. This is a brief definition of arrogance and fighting against arrogance.

The people of Iran consider themselves to be fighters against arrogance because they have not given in to the imposition of the government of America. The government of America is an arrogant government. It grants itself the right to interfere in the affairs of other countries. It wages wars and it interferes in the affairs of other countries. Today, you see that this goes beyond the borders of Asian, African and Latin American countries. It has reached Europe. They interfere in their affairs as well. The Iranian nation stood against the arrogance that t he government of the United States of America showed. It stood against the interference and bullying that it caused and it stood against the domination that it had achieved over our dear country in the course of many years.

The taghuti and monarchical regime was a regime which was dependent on America without any domestic support. By relying on America, they did whatever they wanted in Iran. They oppressed the people, they usurped their rights, they practiced discrimination among them. They prevented the country from achieving growth and making progress - which was the natural and historical right of the people - in order to promote the interests of America in Iran. The Iranian nation stood firm and it carried out a revolution. Then, it cut out the roots of arrogant powers in the country. It was not like a number of other countries which confronted arrogance at first, but which left it unfinished. Of course, these countries have received a blow because of this.

Whe n I was present in a country - whose name I do not want to mention - which had fought against the English for many years, which had put an end to the oppression of the English by fighting against them and which had achieved independence, I saw that they had put up the statue of an English commander in an important recreational center. I said, "What is this?" And this center was named after this arrogant and colonialist commander who had committed thousands of crimes in that country. Of course, they did not gain any benefit from this consideration and compromise. That is to say, this country was and still is under pressure.

Compromising and showing leniency towards arrogant powers will bring no benefit for any country. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the great Revolution carried out by the people of Iran confronted American arrogance and it did not leave this task unfinished because it had felt the blow which the Americans had dealt, over many years, on its skin and flesh. It knew who and what these people are.

The arrogant outlook which the Americans have adopted and which has continued since decades ago until today has made all nations in the world have a feeling of mistrust and hatred towards the government of America. This is not particular to our country. Any nation which trusted America received a blow, even those who were America's friends. In our county, Dr. Mosaddeq trusted and relied on the Americans so that he could free himself from the pressure of the English. Instead of helping Dr. Mosaddeq who had trusted them, the Americans allied themselves with the English.

They dispatched their agents to our country and they launched the coup d'état of the 28th of Mordad. Mosaddeq trusted them and he received a blow for that. Even those who were on friendly terms with America and who had trusted this country received a blow. The taghuti regime had a very close relationship with America. However, the greed of America exhausted the m as well. As I said, they imposed "capitulation" - the judicial immunity of American agents - on this regime and they had to accept this because they had no other source of support except for America.

The meaning of capitulation is that if an American sergeant slaps a high-ranking Iranian officer across the face, no one has the right to sue him. If an American agent of low rank shows transgression towards a honorable Iranian man or woman, no one has the right to sue him. The Americans say, "You do not have the right to do this. We ourselves will resolve the issue".

A people cannot be humiliated more than this. They imposed this on Iran which was their friend. They did not even show mercy to their friend. They threw Mohammad Reza out of their country after he fled from Iran and spent a short time in America. They did not let him stay. They did not show even this bit of loyalty to him. They are such people.

Nations and even governments do not trust America beca use of this behavior and this attitude which can be seen in its policies. Anyone who trusted America received a blow. Therefore, today, America is the most hated global power among nations. If a fair and healthy public opinion poll is carried out among all nations in the world, I do not think that the negative scores of any nation equal the negative scores of the government of America. Today, this is the condition of America throughout the world. You have heard the statements that the Europeans make against the Americans.

Therefore, the issue of fighting against arrogance and "The National Day of Fighting against Arrogance" is a fundamental issue, one that is based on correct analyses and statements. And you dear youth and the millions of youth throughout the country, who are students like you, should have a correct analysis of these events. Well, the youth of the early years of the Revolution did not need analyses. Everything was clear to them because they had witnessed ever ything with their own eyes. They had witnessed the presence of the Americans and SAVAK, which had been taught by the Americans themselves. But today, you should think, analyze and be careful. This should not be only in words. It should be clear why the people of Iran are opposed to arrogance, why they are opposed to the positions of the United States of America and what their hatred results from. Today's youth should understand this correctly by carrying out research.

Well, I would like to raise a few points about our current issues with America, which is a source of discussions these days. There are certain questions in the minds of the people. First, I want to offer an important and necessary piece of advice: no one should think that the negotiating team of our country have compromised with the other party which includes America - the six governments which are known as the P5+1. This is wrong. They are the agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They are our own children an d they are the children of the Revolution. They are carrying out a mission and the responsibility which they have undertaken is difficult. They are carrying out this responsibility, which falls on their shoulders, with many efforts. Therefore, one should not weaken and insult them and use certain terms - which we sometimes hear such as the notion that they have compromised with the enemy and other such things - against an agent who is carrying out a task and who is in charge of an affair. The things that are said against them are not true.

You should pay attention to the fact that the current negotiations with these six countries - including America - are only about the nuclear issue and nothing else. In the beginning of this year, I said in Holy Mashhad that there is nothing wrong with negotiations on particular issues. But I said that I do not trust these negotiations and I am not optimistic about them. However, if they want to negotiate, they can do it and, by Allah's favo r, we will not suffer a loss in these negotiations.

The Iranian nation benefits from a certain experience which I will refer to in brief. This experience will increase the intellectual capability of our nation, like the experience that we gained in the year 1382 and 1383 in the area of suspending our enrichment activities. At that time, during negotiations with the Europeans, the Islamic Republic agreed to suspend its enrichment activities for a while. But this turned out to be to our benefit. Why? It is because we found out there is no hope at all that our western partners will cooperate with us if we suspend our enrichment activities. If we had not accepted that optional suspension - of course, it was imposed in a way, but we and our officials accepted it anyway - some people would have said, "If you had retreated a little bit, all problems would have been solved and Iran's nuclear file would have become normal".

That act of suspending our enrichment activities brou ght us this advantage: it became clear that problems will not be solved by retreating, suspending enrichment activities, postponing our work and cancelling many of our plans and programs. It became clear that the other side is after something else. We noticed this and therefore we started our enrichment activities again.

Today, the condition of the Islamic Republic has dramatically changed compared to its condition in the year 1382. In those days, we used to bargain for two, three centrifuges, but today several thousand centrifuges are working. Our youth, our scientists, our researchers and our officials made great efforts and moved things forward. Therefore, we will not suffer a loss as a result of today's ongoing negotiations.

Of course, as I said, I am not optimistic and I do not think that these negotiations will produce the results which the Iranian nation expects. However, it is an experience. This will broaden and strengthen the experience of the Iranian nation. It is alright to hold these negotiations, but it is necessary for the Iranian nation to be vigilant. We strongly support our officials, who are active in the camp of diplomacy, but our people should be vigilant. They should know what is happening so that some mercenary promoters of the enemy and some promoters who receive no rewards and who further the goals of the enemy out of naivety cannot mislead public opinion.

They want to instill the idea into the minds of the people that if we surrender to the other side on the nuclear issue, all economic, financial and other such problems will be solved. This is one of the methods which they use and one of the lies which they spread. They are promoting this idea.

Of course, foreign promoters promote such ideas with very efficient methods. Inside the country too, some people promote the idea that if we back down and surrender to the other side on this issue, all economic and other such problems will be solved. Some of these pe ople do it out of naivety without any bad intention and some people promote this idea intentionally. However, this idea is wrong. Why is it wrong? There are a few reasons why it is wrong. I would like you - including the people who are present in this meeting, our wise, well-informed and highly motivated youth and our university and school students throughout the country - to think about such issues. As I once said, you are the officers of the soft war.

One reason is that the enmity of America towards the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic is not at all about the nuclear issue. It is wrong to think that America's hostility towards us is based on the nuclear issue. This is not the case. The nuclear issue is an excuse. Even long before the nuclear issue - that is to say, since the beginning of the Revolution - these hostilities and oppositions existed. Even if one day the nuclear issue is resolved - imagine that the Islamic Republic retreats, which is the thing they want - you should not think that these hostilities will be over. No, they will gradually make tens of other excuses.

For example, they will say, "why do you have missiles?", "why do you have drones?", "why are you on unfriendly terms with the Zionist regime?", "why do you not officially recognize the Zionist regime?", "why do you support resistance groups?" in, as they call it, the Middle East region and why and why and why...

The issue is not that they have disagreements with the Islamic Republic about its nuclear program. This is not the case. America's sanctions began since the beginning of the Revolution and these sanctions increased on a daily basis so much so that today, it has reached a high level.

They showed other kinds of hostility as well. They brought down a plane which belonged to the Islamic Republic and they killed 290 humans. During the early years of the Revolution, when the people were still enthusiastic about the victory of the Revolution, they la unched the coup d'état based in Shahid Nojeh military base. They launched a coup d'état against the Revolution and they supported anti-revolutionary elements in different corners of the country. They gave weapons and other such things to the anti-revolutionary camp. This is the same thing that they did in other countries later on. Their enmity is not based on the nuclear issue. The issue is something else. The Iranian nation said no to the requests of America. The Iranian nation said that America cannot do a damn thing against us.

The Americans are opposed to the identity of the Islamic Republic. They are opposed to the influence and power of the Islamic Republic. Recently, one of the American politicians and intellectuals said - his speech was broadcast and this is not a confidential issue - that Iran is dangerous, no matter if it is atomic or non-atomic. This person openly said that the influence and power of Iran - as they say, the hegemony of Iran - is dange rous in the region. This is the kind of Iran which enjoys dignity, respect and power today. They are opposed to this kind of Iran. They will be satisfied when Iran becomes a weak, abandoned, isolated, untrustworthy and humiliated nation. Their enmity is not based on the nuclear issue. This is one point.

Another point is that in order to solve the economic issues of the country, all our efforts should be focused on domestic issues. The kind of progress and the kind of solution is valuable which is reliant on the domestic power of a nation. If a people rely on their own power and capabilities, they will no more descend into chaos when another country frowns at and imposes sanctions on them. We should solve this. All that we want to say to officials - whether past or present officials - is that they should look at domestic capabilities in order to resolve the issues and the problems of the country including economic problems. We have certain capacities in the country. These capac ities - which include human, natural and geographical resources and regional location - should be utilized.

Of course, we support diplomatic dynamism. When we say problems should be solved from the inside, this does not mean that we should close our eyes, that we should not benefit from diplomatic dynamism and that we should not interact with the world. Diplomatic dynamism and diplomatic presence are very necessary. The officials who do these things are part of the work, but we should rely on domestic issues. In diplomatic arenas, that country can be successful which relies on its innate power. That government which relies on its innate power and innate capacities can make others accept what it says at the negotiating table and achieve the desired results. Such governments are taken into consideration.

An important point which should receive attention in this regard is that we have never become desperate in the face of our enemies during these years and we will never be come desperate in the future. During the first decade after the Revolution, particularly during the first years, we did not have access to many material resources. We did not have money, we did not have weapons, we did not have experience, we did not have organization, we did not have competent armed forces and we did not have military equipment. This was while our enemy was at the peak of his power and capability, whether the enemy which fought against us in the arena of war or the enemy which stood behind him - that is to say, the Ba'ath regime of Saddam and America, NATO and the Soviet Union of those days. At that time, the Reagan administration was one of the strongest and most powerful governments throughout the world in political and military arenas. This was while we lived in poverty and with difficult conditions, but they could not do anything to us.

Today, the situation has changed. Today, the Islamic Republic has weapons. Today, it has money, it has science, it ha s technology, it has the power to produce, it has international dignity, it has millions of youth who are ready to work and it has millions of talents. Today, we have such a condition. Today, our condition cannot at all be compared with 30 years ago. This is while the situation is the exact opposite of this for the opposing camp.

In those days, the Americans were at the peak of their power, but today they are not. Recently, one of the current American government officials, who is a well-known personality, said that today America has reached a point where its friends do not respect it and its enemies do not fear it. It was he who said this, not us. They themselves mention such things.

Recently, they have had some political problems. You have seen the disagreement of American politicians about the government's budget which shut down the government for 16, 17 days. They sent 800,000 employees on involuntary leave. This is a weakness. This is inefficiency. They have t he biggest economic and financial problems. Our problems are nothing compared to their problems.

And I will tell you that in the year 2001 or 2002 of the Christian calendar - that is to say, 10, 11 years ago - the financial officials of America made a certain prediction. They predicted that in the year 2011 or 2012, they would have a surplus of 14 trillion dollars. Pay careful attention to this. In 2001, their prediction for 2011 and 2012 was this: they said that in 2011 and 2012 they would have a surplus of 14 trillion dollars. Now, it is 2013, but they have a deficit of around 17 trillion dollars and they do not have any surplus. That is to say, they miscalculated this figure up to 30 trillion dollars. This is their economic condition. This is the way they calculate. This is the condition in the opposing camp.

Moreover, as you can see, they have many disagreements. It is mutual interests which have connected them - the Americans and the Europeans - to one another . Otherwise, deep inside, they are on unfriendly terms. The French nation hates the Americans. In different events such as the issue of Syria, the Americans could not establish a partnership with a government which has the closest relationship with them. That is to say, even the English said that we would not take part in this issue. This is while about 40 governments cooperated with them when they attacked Iraq. When they attacked Afghanistan, about 30 governments cooperated with them. The Americans have such a condition in the present time.

We have a very good condition. We have made progress, we have become powerful and our people have become a well-informed people. Of course, they exert pressures on us. We should endure and pass through these pressures by relying on our domestic capabilities. This is a wise thing to do and it is being done. Of course, as I said earlier - and I would like to repeat this - we approve of the efforts that the honorable administration and the officials of the country are making. This is an important task and experience and it is most probably a valuable course of action. They can do this. If they achieve results, then so much the better. But if they do not achieve results, this should mean that the county must stand on its own feet in order to solve its problems. I would like to repeat my previous advice: you should not trust the enemy which smiles at you. We would like to offer this advice to our officials, who are our children. Those officials who are working in the arena of diplomacy are our own children and our own youth. This is our advice to them: you should take care not to be misled by a deceptive smile. You should see the subtleties of the enemy's plans.

Today, the Americans have the most troubles with the deviated Zionist regime- more than any other regime. They have the most consideration for Zionist lobbies. They show consideration for them and we see the situation. The claws of wealthy and powe rful Zionist individuals and companies have such domination over the U.S. government and the U.S. Congress that they have to show consideration for them. We do not have to show consideration for the Zionists.

Since the first day we said - and we say it today and we will say it in the future - that we consider the Zionist regime to be an illegal and bastard regime. It is a regime which has come into being with conspiracy and it is being preserved and guarded with conspiracy and conspiratorial policies. The Americans show consideration for this regime. The reason why they do this requires another detailed discussion. The money, power and capital of the Zionists is doing a good job and it is influencing these poor Americans. Therefore, the Americans have to show some consideration for them.

It is not only the Americans who have such a condition. Many other western politicians, these poor creatures, have the same problem. They too have the same problem. Therefore, our of ficials should pay attention and they should look at their statements. On the one hand, they smile and they show interest in negotiations and on the other hand, they immediately say, "All options are on the table". So what? What move can they make against the Islamic Republic?

If they are serious about these negotiations, they should control themselves. They should stop those people who open their mouth to talk nonsense. A certain wealthy American politician had the audacity to say that they should drop an atomic bomb in such and such a desert in Iran and that they should issue such and such threats. Well, they should smash this person's mouth!

A government which suffers from the delusion that it has a responsibility towards all the issues in the world and a government which considers itself responsible for dealing with the nuclear issue of such and such a country should not dare to issue nuclear threats - particularly in such a time - against a country with such a good condition. They should stop those people who talk nonsense.

Anyway, our people are, thankfully, a vigilant people and our officials are the officials of these people. They too are vigilant and they pay full attention. We support whatever action which is to the benefit of the country and we support, help and pray for those officials who carry out such actions. But we also advise both the people and officials - particularly you dear youth - to open your eyes and ears. Any nation can achieve its lofty goals with wisdom, vigilance and watchfulness.

And I hope that, by Allah's favor, the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) will be a source of support for you and I hope that the immaculate soul of Imam and the pure souls of our martyrs pray for you. By Allah's favor, you youth will take the country in your own hands with your enthusiastic spirits and I hope that it will be your turn to reach the peaks with your innovation.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Supreme Leader's Hajj Message

(2013/10/14)

Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, delivered a message to this year's hajj pilgrims. The following is the full text of this message issued on October 11, 2013.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds and peace and greetings be upon the Master of Prophets and Messengers and upon his immaculate and pure household and chosen companions.

The arrival of the hajj season should be regarded as the great Eid of the Islamic Ummah. The great opportunity which these precious days provide for Muslims throughout the world is like a miraculous elixir. If the value of such days is appreciated and if we benefit from such days in an appropriate way, many of the maladies of the world of Islam will be cured.

Hajj is the bubbling spring of divine blessings. Each and every one of you happy pilgrims has gained the opportunity to cleanse your hearts a nd souls with these religious practices, which are full of warmth and spirituality, and to collect many blessings for your entire life by using this source of mercy, dignity and power.

In this divine arena of self-edification you can express your humility before Allah the Merciful, carry out the responsibilities which have fallen on the shoulders of Muslims, show enthusiasm and dynamism in the affairs of the world and in your religious duties, offer mercy and forgiveness when you interact with Muslim brothers, demonstrate your courage and determination in the face of difficult events, become hopeful about divine assistance in all arenas and, finally, build your human character the way Muslims should.

When you are ornamented with these precious resources and when you have benefitted from them, then you can offer yourselves as gifts to your country, your nation and the Islamic Ummah.

More than anything else, the Islamic Ummah needs individuals who can utilize thoughts and actions as well as faith, sincerity and purity, who can show resistance in the face of the spiteful enemies as well as exercising self-purification and piety. This is the only way for the liberation of the great Muslim community from the problems which have been created, either by the enemy, or as a result of the lack of determination, faith and foresightamong Muslims. Muslims have suffered from these things for a very long time.

Without a doubt, the present era is an era of awakening, one in which Muslims can find their true identity. This truth can be easily discovered through the challenges which Muslims are faced with. It is exactly in such conditions that our determination- which is based on faith, reliance on God, foresight and wisdom- can help Muslim nations achieve victory against these challenges and bring about a dignified and honorable fate for Muslims.

The opposing camp which cannot tolerate Islamic Awakening and the dignity of Muslims has entered the are na with all its power and it is using all kinds of psychological, military, security, economic and propaganda tools to suppress Muslims, make them inactive and busy them with trivial things.

Taking a general look at the conditions of West Asian countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and countries surrounding the Persian Gulf, and North African countries such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and a number of other countries- reveals many truths.

The existence of civil wars, religious and denominational prejudices and political instabilities, the prevalence of cruel terrorism, the emergence of extreme groups and orientations- which like savage tribes in history, cut open the chests of human beings and rip their hearts out with their teeth- the emergence of armed mercenaries who kill women and children, cut off the heads of men and rape women and who do such horrible and disgusting crimes in the name of religion are all the products of the satanic and arrogant plots of foreign intelligence services and their regional agents.

Such plots are implemented in countries in which the ground is prepared before-hand and as a result, they create a disastrous situation for these nations and peoples. In such conditions, it is clear that one cannot expect Muslim nations to remedy their material and spiritual shortcomings and to achieve security, welfare, scientific progress and international dignity which are the results of achieving awakening and finding one's true identity.

These disastrous conditions can abort the progress of Islamic Awakening, destroy the mental awareness which has been created in the world of Islam, drag Muslims- once more- towards stagnation, isolation and decline and consign to oblivion important and fundamental issues such as the liberation of Palestine and other Muslim nations from the transgressions of the USA and Zionism.

The most important cure for this situation can be summarized in two key phrases, both o f which are among the clearest lessons of hajj:

First: unity and brotherhood of Muslims under the flag of monotheism.
Second: knowing the enemy and confronting his plans and methods.

Strengthening the spirit of brotherhood and cooperation is a great lesson of hajj. During hajj, even quarrelling and arguing with others is forbidden. During hajj, wearing the same clothes, following the same practices, making the same moves and behaving in a kind way,all mean equality and brotherhood for all those who believe in and rely on monotheism.

This means that Islam strongly rejects any idea and belief which views a number of Muslims and believers in Ka'bah and monotheism as people who are outside the circle of Islam. Theseorientationswhich are based on takfirism, which have become playthings in the hands of the treacherous Zionist politicians and their western supporters- commit serious crimes and shed the blood of Muslims and innocent people, and the people who claim to be religiou s, who call themselves clerics and who fuel the fire of fitna between Shia and Sunni and otherdenominations- should know that the hajj pilgrimage will thwart their claims.

I, like many Islamic scholars and sympathetic personalities in the Islamic Ummah, announce that any statement or action which fuels the fire of discord among Muslims, any insult to the sacred beliefs of each one of the Muslim denominations and any act of takfirism against Islamic denominations equals serving the camp of atheism and polytheism and betraying Islam. All of these things are haraam.

Knowing the enemy and its methods is the second important factor. First, we should not forget about the existence of a spiteful enemy. Performing the ritual of the stoning of the jamarat during hajj is a symbolic sign of this awareness. Second, we should not make a mistake in knowing the main enemy, who in the present time is global arrogance and the criminal Zionist network.

Third, we should properly identify the methods of this hostile enemy which is creating discord among Muslims, promoting moral and political corruption, threatening and tempting outstanding personalities, exerting economic pressures on all nations and arousing doubts about Islamic beliefs. Moreover, we should identify their agents and those who are, knowingly or ignorantly, dependent on them.

Arrogant governments, headed by the USA, conceal their true character with the help of comprehensive and advanced propaganda tools. By claiming that they support human rights and democracy, they deceive public opinion in different countries. They speak about the rights of all nations while each day Muslim nations feel- with their bodies and souls- the fire of discord more than the past.

For decades, the oppressed Palestinian nation has been receiving strikes as a result of the crimes of the Zionist regime and its supporters. In the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, terrorism - which originates from the policies of glo bal arrogance and its agents in the region - has ruined the lives of the people.

Syria has come under the attack of arrogant powers and their regional agents because of supporting anti-Zionist orientations and it has experienced a bloody civil war. In Bahrain and Myanmar, Muslims have been ignored and their enemies are supported. Other nations are threatened by the USA and its allies with military attacks, economic sanctions and different acts of sabotage. Taking a general look at all these countries can reveal to all people throughout the world the true face of these leaders of global arrogance.

Political, cultural and religious personalities throughout the world of Islam should consider it their responsibility to draw everyone's attention to these facts. This is the moral and religious responsibility of all of us. North African countries, which are unfortunately suffering from deep domestic conflicts today, should pay attention to this responsibility more than other count ries. They should pay more attention to the issue of knowing the enemy and its plots and methods.

The continuation of these conflicts among nationalist orientations and Muslims' negligence about the threat of domestic wars in such countries is a great danger. The loss that may be inflicted on the Islamic Ummah because of such events will not be quickly compensated for.

Of course, we have no doubts that the people who have risen against global arrogance and who have become the embodiment of Islamic Awakening in such countries will not, by Allah's favor, allow time to go back so much so that the era of the corrupt, dependent and dictatorial rulers starts again. However, ignorance about the role of arrogant powers in creating discord and bringing about destructive interference will create a difficult situation for such countries and will cause a very long delay in achieving an era of dignity, security and welfare.

We believe, from the bottom of our hearts, in the capability o f nations and in the power, faith, determination and foresight which Allah the Omniscient has offered to the masses of the people.

For more than three decades, we have seen this in the Islamic Republic with our own eyes and we have experienced it with all our hearts and souls. Our determination is an invitation forall Muslim nations, to this experience of their brothers in this dignified and indefatigable country.

I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow peace on Muslims and to foil the plots of the enemies. I ask Him to accept your hajj pilgrimage and bestow physical and spiritual health on you. I ask Him to provide you pilgrims of the House of God with an overflowing supply of spiritual blessings.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's Mercy

Sayyid Ali Khamenei

Supreme Leader’s Speech in Meeting with Army Cadets

(2013/10/05)

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on October 5, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, at the graduation ceremony of army cadets held at Shahid Sattari University.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful‌

The program that was performed in the arena was very beautiful and meaningful. I deem it necessary to congratulate all of you dear youth, including the graduates who attained their ranks today and who officially became members of the glorified Islamic Republic of Iran Army and the young students who received their epaulets and started to take the path towards preparedness and achieving the values of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic. I hope that Allah the Exalted will bestow His mercy, blessings and guidance on all of you and ordain your lives and your fate the way He approves.

The glorious memories of the Islamic Republic of Iran Arm y and the Air Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army in particular - who has hosted this ceremony today - cannot be erased from the history of our country. There were certain martyrs and self-sacrificing individuals who achieved transcendence and who left us, but their path - which is the path of glorious jihad in the way of achieving the ideals of Islam and the Holy Quran and protecting our dear country, Iran - still continues to be taken. The spirit of our pilots during the Sacred Defense Era was one of the phenomena which was unique or which had very few equals in the history of the armed forces throughout the world. Each of the officers in the Air Force - whether our brave and skillful pilots or our officers in charge of technical affairs - played their part and managed to produce glorious results during the eight-year Sacred Defense Era. The memory of a pilot like Shahid Babai and a dignified technical expert like Shahid Sattari will not be erased from the mind of the Iran ian nation.

During a difficult era when they were put to a demanding test, the Islamic Republic of Iran Army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps managed to show such strength of character and establish such an identity that undoubtedly, we cannot see any equal or we only see few equals for that in our past. Our dear youth should appreciate the value of this. You who are my dear children should know that we are proud of our brave armed forces. You too should feel proud of being present in our sacred, brave, selfless and well-known armed forces.

Without intending to threaten anyone, we consider the power and strength of our armed forces to be the most important factor in preserving the security of the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic of Iran in international affairs. We are not threatening anyone, but we think it is necessary for the people of Iran and our dear country to feel safe in the shade of the solid wall of the armed forces of the Islamic Republi c of Iran including the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, the Basij Forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Police Force. Therefore, we think it is the responsibility of all officials to make efforts on the path of the authority and power of the armed forces. They should put the issue of strengthening the armed forces on their agenda.

We hear the repeated and disgusting threats of the enemies of the Iranian nation. Our response to any wickedness and malevolence against the Iranian nation will be a serious and strong response. All those who have got used to threatening the Iranian nation should know this and should be aware of this. The Iranian nation is a nation which has shown its steadfastness in defending its ideals and safeguarding its interests, as it has shown its propensity for moral health, peace and coexistence with Muslim brothers and all people throughout the world. These two things are parallel to each other.

I should add that we support the diplomatic dynamism of the administration. As well as the preparedness of the Iranian nation in the arena of economy, domestic security, strengthening the Islamic Republic from the inside, national unity and military strength, we attach significance to the diplomatic dynamism and efforts of the administration on the issue of the recent trip and other issues. We support what our administration does and its diplomatic efforts and dynamism in this arena. Of course, in our opinion, some of the things that happened in New York were not appropriate, but we are optimistic about the diplomatic team of our dear nation and about our diligent administration.

However, we are pessimistic about the Americans. We do not at all trust them. We regard the government of the United States of America as an untrustworthy government. It is an arrogant, unreasonable and untrustworthy government which is completely under the influence of the international Zionist network. The Americans have to compromise with the usurping and fake Zionist regime, which has occupied Palestine, for the sake of safeguarding the illegitimate interests of the international Zionist network. They have to show leniency towards this regime and they call it safeguarding the interests of America. This is while the national interests of America do not match what they do to support this fake regime. The government of the United States of America blackmails the entire world, but it is blackmailed by the fake Zionist regime. We see such facts and therefore, we do not trust the government of America. We trust our own officials and we are optimistic about them. We want them to take firm and careful steps by considering everything. They should not forget about national interests even for a single moment.

What is important for the Islamic Republic is strengthening the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation from the inside. What is important is the thing which has managed to protect this count ry since the first day until today: preserving national unity and paying attention to national dignity and the lofty ideals of the Islamic Republic. The Iranian nation is a dignified nation. The Revolution gave dignity back to the Iranian nation. The time when an American sergeant dared to slap an Iranian colonel across the face on Iranian soil is gone. The day when the officials of our dear country had to compromise with the greedy enemies is gone. The Islamic Republic made the Iranian nation dignified. This dignity prevails and it will increase on a daily basis. From now on, the responsibility of all officials and all the people of Iran is to preserve and defend this dignity. A nation can remain glorious and make progress with its original identity and with its dignity.

The responsibility of the armed forces in this regard is to remain prepared and protect themselves with the spirit of defending ideals and the people who have trusted and relied on them. The Islamic Repu blic of Iran Army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Basij Forces, the Police Force and all those who are involved in armed forces should consider it their responsibility to act like a solid wall in the face of the plots and malevolence of the enemies against the Iranian nation. This requires your preparedness. You are young, you are full of energy and you benefit from sincerity and purity. You can prepare and build yourselves for the future of the country and Allah the Exalted will be your supporter. I ask Allah the Exalted to raise the position of our dear martyrs and our magnanimous Imam. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow success on you dear youth during your service and throughout your lives.

‌Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Supreme Leader’s Speech in Meeting with Hajj Officials

(2013/09/11)

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on September 11, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with officials in charge of hajj affairs.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful‌

First of all, I would like to welcome all the dear brothers and sisters and the glorious officials who render many services in one of the outstanding arenas of the Islamic community - that is to say, the arena of hajj and visiting the House of God and the enlightened city of Madina. I hope that you will benefit from this great achievement in the hereafter. I hope that your actions and efforts in this auspicious arena will be so sincere that your performance sheet in the hereafter shines, like the sun, with the light of purity and sincerity. I express my gratitude to the honorable gentlemen for the efforts that they have made in the arena of hajj. The things that they have done - whether in cultural, spiritual, moral and educational areas or in practical and organizational areas - should really be appreciated.

What is important is that we should know hajj is one of the strong points of the holy religion of Islam. Although there are not a few strong points in Islamic sharia, hajj plays an outstanding role because of the characteristics which it enjoys and which we are more or less familiar with. In fact, we can say that hajj is a source of power for the Islamic community and the Islamic Ummah. The day when we Muslims from different countries and with different denominations manage to achieve intellectual growth so much so that we can form the Islamic Ummah in the real sense of the word - unfortunately, we Muslims have not managed to achieve this moral, political and intellectual growth until today - and the day when we Muslims from eastern parts to western parts of the world of Islam manage to form one single ummah although we may have di fferent governments, we understand how hajj can be a source of power, strength, transcendence and dignity for this Islamic Ummah.

Today, the Islamic Republic should adopt such an outlook towards hajj. It should regard hajj as a means of power. What kind of power? By power, do we mean materialistic, political, military power or soft power such as cultural or linguistic power? The answer is no. The power of hajj is far beyond this. As well as showing the political and cultural power of the Islamic government, hajj provides a source of spiritual power. That is to say, it builds human beings from the inside, prepares them to overcome difficult obstacles and opens their eyes to realities which cannot be seen and felt without being present in the arena of hajj. By performing hajj rituals, one can understand a number of spiritual and educational realities of Islam. Hajj plays such a role.

One of the requirements of hajj is that hajj pilgrims should behave in a brotherly - in t he real sense of the word - way towards one another in the arena of hajj and this great Islamic obligation. They should not look at one another as outsiders and enemies. They should see themselves as people who are moving towards one goal, who pursue one thing, who revolve around one pivot.

Allah the Exalted says, "Let there be no obscenity, no wickedness and no quarreling in the Hajj." [The Holy Quran, 2: 197] The meaning of "no quarreling" is not that we should not quarrel with the enemy. On the contrary, hajj is the manifestation of quarreling with the enemy. Some narrow-minded and pessimistic people say, "There should be ‘no quarreling' during hajj pilgrimage. Why do you hold a detestation ceremony during hajj pilgrimage?" The enmity which is reflected in this ceremony means enmity towards polytheism and atheism. This is one of the most fundamental principles of Islamic life. The kind of enmity which should not exist in hajj pilgrimage is enmity between brothers and beli evers and enmity between people who believe in monotheism. This enmity should not exist. Not only should we Muslims express in words that we have no enmity towards one another, but also we should feel this from the bottom of our hearts.

This is the exact opposite of what the enemies of Islam are trying to do in the Islamic community. You should pay attention to this. The existence of differences between Islamic denominations and between Shia and Sunni Muslims will not create any problem as long as these differences are confined to ideological differences. One person may believe in something and another person may believe in something else. Problems arise when these ideological differences lead to behavioral differences, confrontation, hostility and enmity. The enemies of the world of Islam are after creating such a situation and hatching such a plot.

They have properly understood that the Zionist regime can breathe easily if Islamic denominations in the world of Islam start confronting and fighting with one another. They have understood this truth perfectly and properly. On the one hand, they form groups which engage in takfirism - not only do these groups anathematize and curse Shia Muslims, but they also anathematize Sunni denominations - and on the other hand, they hire a number of mercenaries to add fuel to the fire of discord. You know and have heard about this plot. They provide these groups and mercenaries with different means of mass communication. Where do they do this? They do this in America and London. The kind of Shia Islam which is promoted from London and America is useless for Shia Muslims.

Shia leaders - particularly the leaders who emerged after the victory of the Islamic Revolution - our Imam and other leaders placed great emphasis on preserving the unity of the Islamic Ummah and behaving in a brotherly way towards Muslims. This is while a number of people - who interfere in the affairs of Muslims for no reason - are af ter fueling the fire of discord. This is the thing which the enemy wants. This is the thing which the enemies of Islam - who are neither Shia nor Sunni - like to pursue. We should understand this condition properly and we should pay attention to it.

Another important point is that Muslims should share and exchange their original Islamic cultures and their Islamic experiences with one another. This is another strong point of hajj and another source of power for it. We may have heard different things about such and such an Islamic country. But, hearing is different from sitting and talking directly to an individual from an Islamic country. This individual can also compare what he has heard about our dear Islamic Iran with what he sees in you and hears from you. This way, he can discover the truth about Iran.

There are an enormous number of propaganda campaigns against the Islamic Republic. There are a large and surprising number of media networks who propagandize agai nst the Islamic Republic with different methods. When a young individual from such and such an African, Asian, Arab or non-Arab country goes on the Internet, watches such and such an international channel or reads such and such an international newspaper, how can he or she understand that what such media networks say is false? Your presence in hajj and in this international arena gives you the opportunity to reveal the truth not only in words but also in action. It helps you to speak the truth about Shia Islam, the Islamic Revolution and the events which are happening today.

Another important and crucial point about hajj is the thing which I referred to earlier: strengthening spirituality in our hearts and souls. My dear ones, we can put up a resistance in the arenas of jihad for the sake of God only if our hearts are filled with faith in God and reliance on Allah the Exalted. It is not possible to move forward without spirituality. It is not possible to take difficult paths w ithout a strong faith. Without reliance on Allah the Exalted, it is not possible to ignore the superficial power of powerful countries and see the real power. Reliance on God, faith and belief in God's promises are necessary. These things can be achieved in hajj. When people go on hajj pilgrimage they "Witness the benefits (provided) for them." [The Holy Quran, 22: 28] These benefits are not only material benefits. There are otherworldly, spiritual and psychological benefits as well as material benefits in hajj pilgrimage. This is the significance of hajj.

Well, today you can see that besides creating intellectual, psychological and ideological discord among Muslims throughout the world of Islam, the enemies fuel the fire of war as well. See how they fuel the fire of war in our neighboring countries with the pretext of Shia and Sunni differences. They do this in different ways in our neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Iraq, Syria and Bahrain. Even when the problem is not about Shia and Sunni, they say that it has occurred because of Shia and Sunni differences. I have given many examples in this regard. The enemies are prepared to set the region on fire for their own political interests. Superpowers are like this. They are not afraid that an explosion may take place in such and such a neighborhood of an Iraqi city and they are not afraid that 50 people may be killed in this explosion. They are not afraid that certain events may happen in Syria, Egypt or other countries which may turn them into a ruin. Superpowers - such as America and countries like America - do such things for their own illegitimate interests. We hope that the Americans are serious about their new outlook on Syria. We hope that it is not another political game.

It is several weeks that they have been threatening the region to wage a war and create a serious conflict for the sake of the interests which they have defined for themselves. And they consider it legitimate to defen d these interests no matter if they jeopardize the interests of ten other countries and nations. They are such people. They do not care about justice and the interests of human beings. They refer to such interests as national interests, but these are not really their national interests. Rather, these are the interests of the Zionists and the enemies of humanity. These are the interests of capitalists who have proved during the last 70, 80 years that they are not committed to any human principle and value. But they call it national interests and they are prepared to fuel all kinds of wars and fitnas for the sake of these proclaimed national interests.

It is several weeks that they have been trying to cause great controversy by threatening the region with a war and bombardment. Well, if they are serious about their recent outlook, this means that they have turned back from the wrong path which they have been taking during the last few weeks. We hope that they are serious. This i s the condition of the region and the world.

The Islamic Republic takes a look at all these issues with open eyes and with its full attention. What we have understood is that as a nation with a total population of 70, 80 million people and with a sensitive geographical location in the world, we should strengthen our position by adopting the right outlook and by benefiting from our Islamic power. We should let the entire humanity see our lofty and human goals which have originated from Islam and we should invite all human beings to cherish the gift which Islam has offered to human beings. This is our responsibility. I have repeatedly said that strengthening the country from the inside is possible primarily with firm faith, unity of the people, appropriate actions by the officials of the country, cooperation between the people and officials and reliance on Allah the Exalted. That is to say, we should benefit from rationality, spirituality, reliance on God and diligence. Undoub tedly, this will influence the conditions of the region as it has influenced the region so far.

I hope that what Islam wants for the Islamic Republic, people throughout the world, Muslims and non-Muslims will be achieved with your presence in different arenas - including your presence in the arena of hajj which manifests your rationality and your clear outlook. I hope that your presence in such arenas will bring about communal happiness.

I ask all of you to pray for us. I hope that this year you will experience a good hajj pilgrimage and I hope that you, all Iranian hajj pilgrims and all the pilgrims who visit the House of God from throughout the world will benefit from divine blessings and mercy. I hope that your hajj pilgrimage will be accepted by God.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Supreme Leader's Sermons during Eid ul-Fitr Prayers

(2013/08/09)

The following is the full text of the sermons delivered on August 9, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, during Eid ul-Fitr prayers in Tehran.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, the Creator of all creatures, Whom we praise, from Whom we seek help, to Whom we repent, and Whom we rely on, and peace and greetings be upon His beloved and noble one, the best among His servants, the protector of His secret, the promoter of His message, the harbinger of His mercy, the warner of His chastisement, our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad, upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, and upon those who guide the guided, and who are immaculate and respected, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.

I advise myself and all of you dear brothers and sisters, who said your prayers in this magnificent meeting, to fear God and engage in piety which is the source of happiness and victory in this world and in the hereafter. I would like to congratulate all of you, all the people of Iran and all Muslims throughout the world on the occasion of the auspicious Eid ul-Fitr.

The month of Ramadan, which is full of divine blessings for our nation and other Muslims, is over and many happy people benefited from the blessings of this month. These people spent the day obeying God while they were fasting and while they felt hungry and thirsty in such hot weather and on such hot days and they avoided carnal desires and curbed their human passions.

At night, many people engaged in prayer and dhikr and they kept a vigil for God. Those who carried out their responsibility by worshiping God and fulfilling divine obligations in this month feel satisfied and happy. Engaging in spiritual deeds and fighting against human passions in this month gives a fe eling of joy and spiritual happiness to you dear people who are the masters of determination and willpower and who exercised patience in fasting. One of the characteristics of carrying out responsibilities for the sake of God and making efforts and engaging in jihad for the sake of God is that one feels happy although one endures hardships and difficulties. And God has connected this happiness with the happiness that we feel on the day of Eid ul-Fitr. In order to show the greatness of this day, I should merely say that, during the nine qunuts of the auspicious prayers of Eid ul-Fitr, you swear by the blessedness of this day: "By the blessedness of this day I ask you..." [Mafatih al-Jinan, Eid ul-Fitr]

I hope that Allah the Exalted accepts your prayers, bestows and showers His mercy and blessings on the people of Iran and bestows abundant rewards on you for the efforts that you made in this month. One of the great efforts that the people made in this month was the Quds Da y rallies. One cannot describe in any way, how significant what you did is. Throughout the country, you marched on the streets in such hot weather and while you were fasting in order to prove the resistance of the Iranian nation on this important issue of the world of Islam and the history of Islam. This is the meaning of a living nation. I deem it necessary to express my gratitude, from the bottom of my heart, to the Iranian nation for this effort.

This year, more than previous years, a good tradition was witnessed. It is good to pay attention to this issue which is the act of providing the people with simple and unadorned iftar meals in our mosques and on the streets of many cities of the country. Unlike the act of offering extravagant iftar meals which we heard a number of people did, this is a very appropriate act. Under the pretext of offering iftar meals, these people engaged in extravagant acts. Instead of becoming an instrument for establishing a psychologica l relationship with the poor and the deprived in the month of Ramadan, they indulged themselves in carnal desires by doing this.

We do not want to say that if somebody eats a delicious food during iftar, this is forbidden. No, according to Sharia, these things are not forbidden. But extravagance and overindulgence are forbidden. The extravagance which is sometimes witnessed in such occasions is forbidden. It is so much better for those who want to offer iftar meals to do this by cherishing the tradition which has become common. In such traditions, a number of individuals offer free iftar meals - with great generosity - to people and passers-by and those who like to benefit from these iftar meals on the streets and in different Hussayniyyahs.

I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows His blessings on all of you people of Iran and accepts your actions. I hope that He bestows on you the blessing to preserve the achievements of the auspicious month of Ramadan unti l next year.

"In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

I swear by the time,

Most surely man is in loss,

Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience." [The Holy Quran, 103]

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad and upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, especially upon the Commander of the Faithful, the Mistress of all Women, Hassan and Hussein- the children of mercy and the Imams of the guided, Ali ibn al-Hussein Zayn al-Abidin, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir, Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq, Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kadhim, Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad, Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi, Hassan ibn Ali al-Askari and Hujjat al-Qaem al-Mahdi. Greetings be upon them all and upon the Imams of Muslims, supporters of the oppressed, and those who guide the faithful. We a sk for Allah's forgiveness and we turn repentant to Him.

I advise all the brothers and sisters to observe piety in their speech, behavior and positions and in different social, economic and political arenas.

These days, many events are taking place in West Asia, North Africa and, generally, in Islamic regions. I will briefly refer to a number of these events. In our own country, the important event is the formation of the new administration. Thankfully, with the determination and all-out efforts of the people, this legal request was granted and this national tradition was preserved in the best way possible. By Allah's favor, after the Majlis carries out its responsibility of choosing competent ministers, the administration will be formed and it will start to fulfill the great and important tasks which it is in charge of although it has already started to fulfill many of the tasks. I hope that the honorable president and the executive officials of the country wi ll benefit from divine blessings. I hope that the people's support and assistance will help them carry out the great responsibilities - great responsibilities have great advantages as well as great difficulties - which they have in the best way possible.

However in countries which are located around us - countries in West Asia and North Africa - the events that are taking place are not happy events. Rather, they are worrying events. One event is the event of the oppressed Palestine. After the passage of 65 years since the official occupation of Palestine, this oppressed nation continues to suffer from oppression and cruelty on a daily basis. Houses are destroyed, innocent people are arrested, children are separated from their parents and prisons are filled with people who are innocent or who have served their prison terms. What is distressing is that western powers support these criminals with all their power. One of the disasters of today's world is that an act of cl ear oppression, which is a combination of tens and hundreds of oppressive acts, is supported by those who claim they support human rights and democracy and who chant beautiful and colorful slogans, but who support criminals in practice.

Now, a number of negotiations have begun again between the self-governing government of Palestine and the Zionists. These negotiations will definitely not produce any results other than what happened during previous negotiations in which Palestinians gave up their rights and encouraged the transgressors to transgress more and stop the lawful political activities of the people of Palestine. They destroy houses, build unlawful buildings for the people who have occupied Palestine and then they say that they are negotiating. Now, they have announced that negotiations will be conducted in secret. The way global arrogance cooks these negotiations will definitely be to the disadvantage of the Palestinians.

We believe that the world of Islam should not back down on the issue of Palestine and it should condemn the usurping act of the predatory and wolf-like Zionists and their international supporters. It should not let these negotiations which are conducted with the so-called mediation of America lead to more oppression against the people of Palestine and to the isolation of Muslim Palestinian fighters. In fact, America is not a mediator. Rather, the Americans themselves are one side of these negotiations and they are on the side of the usurpers of Palestine, the Zionists.

Another issue is the issue of Egypt. We are concerned about what is happening in Egypt. Considering the things that are being done in this country, the idea that a civil war may break out in Egypt is gaining strength on a daily basis and this is a disaster. It is necessary for the great people of Egypt and political, scientific and religious personalities in this country to take a look at the current situation and see what catas trophic consequences this situation may have. They should see the current situation in Syria. They should see the consequences of the presence of western and Zionist mercenaries and terrorists wherever they are active. They should see these dangers. Democracy should receive attention. The killing of people is vigorously condemned by Muslims. Using the language of violence and bullying by different groups of people is absolutely useless and it will cause great harm.

The intervention of foreign powers - the way it is witnessed in the present time - will produce nothing except for loss and harm. The problems of Egypt should be solved by the people of Egypt and the outstanding personalities of Egypt. They should think about the catastrophic and dangerous consequences of this situation. If, God forbid, there is mayhem and if, God forbid, a civil war breaks out, what can then preclude this? In such conditions, there will be excuse for the intervention of superpowers which are th e greatest disaster for any country and nation. We are concerned. We would like to offer a brotherly piece of advice to outstanding Egyptian personalities, the people of Egypt, political and religious groups and religious scholars. They should think of a solution on their own and adopt this solution on their own. They should not allow foreigners and powers - whose intelligence services have, most likely, played a role in creating this situation - to make more interventions.

Another issue is the issue of Iraq. In Iraq, a democratic administration and government has come to power with the votes of the people. Because superpowers and the reactionary forces of the region are unhappy about this situation, they do not want to let the people of Iraq feel comfort. These explosions, these killings and these criminal and terrorist activities results from the assistance and financial, political and arms support of a number of regional and ultra-regional powers which do not want to let the Iraqi nation live its life the way it wants. It is necessary for Iraqi politicians and officials, Iraqi groups, Shia and Sunni Muslims, Arabs and Kurds to take a look at the situation which exists in a number of other countries. They should notice that the consequences of civil wars and domestic conflicts, which destroy the infrastructures of any country, ruin the future of any nation. In all these events, the Zionist regime and usurpers sit and watch this situation with satisfaction and they feel comfort. Should this be allowed to continue?

Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), awaken us from ignorance. Dear God, cut off the hands of malicious people and transgressors in Islamic nations and countries. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), make Islam and Muslims achieve victory wherever they are.

"In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

To you, have We grant ed the Fount (of Abundance),

Therefore to your Lord turn in Prayer and Sacrifice,

For he who hates you, he will be cut off." [The Holy Quran, 108]

Supreme Leader's Speech to Government Officials and Ambassadors of Islamic Countries

(2013/08/09)

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on August 9, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with government officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran and ambassadors of Islamic countries. The meeting was held on the occasion of Eid ul-Fitr.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

I would like to congratulate the great Islamic Ummah throughout the world and the great and courageous people of Iran - who proved their worth and competence, in different arenas, in benefiting from divine guidance and blessings - on the occasion of the auspicious Eid ul-Fitr. I would like to extend my congratulations to you dear audience, the glorious officials of the country and our guests, the honorable ambassadors of Islamic countries, on the occasion of this auspicious Eid. Also, it is necessary to congratulate the people of Iran who spent the entire month of Ramadan - which is auspicious in the real sense of the word - fasting.

By engaging in wajib and mustahab deeds, once again the people of Iran made themselves worthy of divine mercy. The people fasted on such long and hot days. At night, they engaged in dhikr, prayer and worship of God. Many Quranic meetings were held throughout the country in which all the people, particularly youth and teenagers, showed their love for the Holy Quran. During the Nights of Qadr, glorious and meaningful meetings were held and all the people from different social backgrounds, with different occupations, with different opinions and with different appearances were attracted towards centers of dhikr, prayer and supplication. These things are very valuable. We should appreciate the value of this spirit of faith which, thankfully, exists in our country and which is manifested more visibly during many occasions, particularly during the auspicious month of Ramadan, the Nights of Qadr and oth er such valuable occasions.

Because of the greatness of such days and the value of divine dhikr and remembrance, I deem it necessary to advise the honorable officials of the country and these fresh group of people - who have taken on different responsibilities in the country and who, by Allah's favor, will move forward on this path with steadfastness and firm determination - to benefit, on this difficult path, from the weapon of dhikr, supplication, attention to God and reliance on Him. "O He who does not refuse the requests of his servants although they have many expectations." [Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, Dua 46] This is a dua which has been narrated in the auspicious Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya for the day of Eid ul-Fitr. Allah the Exalted even bestows his Mercy on those who speak impolitely when they address Him. God's infinite mercy is available to those who want and ask for it. What is important is to want and ask for divine guidance and mercy. If we do this, it will be achieved.

All the officials of the country, particularly the high-ranking officials of the country, should pay attention to Allah the Exalted and get close to Him. The responsibility of safeguarding the people's rights and other heavy and important responsibilities fall on their shoulders. With divine assistance, these responsibilities can be carried out in a perfect way. If we can open up the path of divine assistance for ourselves, there will be no problem which is insolvable. The officials of the country should pin their hopes on Allah the Exalted and bring all their efforts to the arena. It is not possible to be lazy and idle and, at the same time, be hopeful about divine mercy. Divine guidance, divine assistance and divine blessings will be bestowed on us when we bring all our power - which God has bestowed on us - to the arena. We should benefit from our thoughts and wisdom, our physical capabilities, the great human resources of the country and we should use all resources. If we do this, then Allah the Exalted will definitely bestow His blessings on us.

There were many people who, at certain times, became hopeless about the future of the country. In these thirty-something years, we have many experiences in this regard. There were people who were short-sighted, who were not optimistic about divine promises and who suffered from a lack of belief in divine assistance. At certain times, "They encountered suffering and adversity, and were so shaken in spirit that even the Messenger and those of faith who were with him cried: "When (will come) the help of Allah?" [The Holy Quran, 2: 214] Such things have happened throughout history. At such times, Allah the Exalted has immediately helped us. Today, you can see that, compared to previous eras, our people and our country have reached many peaks. Progress has become an inseparable part of the movement of the Iranian nation. Thankfully, our nation has made progress on a daily basis. It will continue to make progress. What is important is to strengthen our relationship with Allah the Exalted.

Today, the world of Islam is faced with great problems. Unfortunately, we are located in a region in which there are certain problems in countries around us. Many of these problems have been injected and imposed by foreigners. If it was not for the intervention of foreigners, if it was not for the hostile policies of global powers, the events that are taking place in West Asia and North Africa today would definitely not be as complex as they are in the present time. Today, the cure for these problems lies in the fact that nations should make a decision on their own. Others should not intervene. Foreigners should not intervene. This is the only cure for the events that occur in the region today. The same cure can be used for Egypt, Libya and Syria. If foreigners do not intervene and if they do not inject discord, nations can find the way out of such conditions wit h the wisdom of their own outstanding personalities and with the guidance of their own leaders and wise personalities.

The people of Iran have managed to tread this path with divine blessings and power and with the spirit of faith, unity and solidarity which is available to them in the shade of religion. By Allah's favor, it will be the same in the future.

The plot which they hatched in other countries has no effect in our country. They have pitted people and Muslim brothers against one another either with sectarian and tribal conflicts or with partisan conflicts. None of these dangerous and poisonous weapons is useful in Islamic Iran. In Iran, different religions and different tribes have joined hands and different groups and orientations move forward with unity on the most important issues.

And I advise the officials of the country, political and religious personalities and those who are influential among the people to lay emphasis, as much as the y can, on the valuable unity and solidarity of the Iranian nation. Faith in God and solidarity, and religion and unity are the two things which can help nations stand on their own feet and put up a resistance. Thankfully, the Iranian nation benefits from these things. I really hope that officials in charge of political and cultural affairs in other countries pay careful attention to this point and solve the problems which have occurred in regional countries with wisdom.

Let us pray that Allah the Exalted makes the Islamic Ummah glorious and steadfast. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), keep bestowing Your blessings and mercy on the Islamic Ummah throughout the world. Dear God, cut off the hands of foreigners from the lives of people in Islamic countries.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Supreme Leader’s Speech to Judiciary Officials

(2013/06/26)

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on June 26, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with judiciary officials. The meeting was held on the occasion of the bombing on the 7th of Tir 1360, which led to the martyrdom of Shahid Beheshti and 72 of his companions.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

I welcome and congratulate all you dear brothers and sisters. I hope Allah the Exalted bestows His blessings, mercy and guidance on all Iranian people by the blessedness of this holy month and the great Imam whose birthday anniversary falls on one of these days, namely the Imam of the Age (my our souls be sacrificed for his sake).

The 7th of Tir is an outstanding and important occasion. On the anniversary of this occasion, the judiciary is honored and the people learn about the efforts of the esteemed officials of this branch of government, which is good and appropriate. However, the incident that happened on the 7th of Tir is one that is related to the fate of the Revolution and the Islamic Republic. It determined the destiny of the Islamic Republic. Those who were martyred in that incident were among the best and most outstanding elements of the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution whose names will never be forgotten - particularly, outstanding and spiritual personalities such as Shahid Beheshti (may God bestow paradise on him) and certain other people. But despite all these things, the incident revealed the true nature of munafeqeen in the country as well as their supporters, namely the elements of the arrogant powers. For a newly established political system, removing the mask of its enemies is not a small issue. Members of munafeqeen, who claimed to be followers of God, the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.), Islam and Nahjul Balaghah, were disgraced by this in cident. They revealed to what extent they were opposed to the pillars of the Islamic Republic, to reasonable and outstanding personalities, to great religious scholars and to sincere and competent officials of the country. Their masks were removed.

If the few events such as the 7th of Tir had not happened and we had not lost those valuable assets, definitely the Iranian nation would not have been able to remove the mask from the face of munafeqeen and they would have been able to penetrate again. "They would certainly have hurried about among you seeking (to sow) dissension among you." [The Holy Quran, 9: 47] They would have been able to build a reasonable image of themselves. This incident exposed the evil nature of munafeqeen. The main enemies of Islam - namely, the arrogant powers and Zionists - supported them and for this reason, their true nature was revealed. It is true that the incident cost us certain valuable assets, but the people whose blood was sh ed for an unjust cause brought about certain great achievements for the Iranian nation, just like all others who were martyred: this is the nature of martyrdom. Being killed in the way of God has natural effects, which bring about certain outcomes for the Islamic Ummah, for Muslim nations and for the history of Islam. We will never forget the names and memory of these martyrs. We will never forget the incident that happened on the 7th of Tir. The value of those selfless people, who had gathered there for the sake of God and were unjustly and violently attacked, will be remembered by Allah the Exalted and the Iranian nation.

Now let me say a few things about the judiciary. First of all, I would like to thank the esteemed head of the judiciary. The statements he made today were very informative and valuable, and behind these statements, there are valuable actions and efforts. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the head of the judiciary, senior off icials of this branch of government and the officials, esteemed judges and employees who work for it. What has been done is very valuable and will improve the efficiency of the judiciary.

What I am trying to say is that as far as the judiciary branch of government is concerned, there are two lofty goals that should always be kept in mind. Every action should be in line with these two goals. If these two goals are achieved, then our Islamic society will enjoy the outcomes. One of those goals is health of the judiciary and the other goal is its efficiency. All efforts should be focused on turning this branch of government into a completely efficient and healthy organization. If these goals are achieved, the people will enjoy the outcomes. What are the outcomes? A sense of satisfaction and a sense of security thanks to the presence of the judiciary. This is necessary for a country and a society. The reason why judicial issues and eliminating hostilities have be en so strongly stressed in Islam, in Islamic texts, in the Holy Quran and in Islamic narrations is that an Islamic society should have a sense of satisfaction, that every oppressed person should be able to make it to the secure shore of the judiciary, that oppression should be prevented. This is necessary.

As I have pointed out on many occasions and as was pointed out today by the esteemed head of the judiciary, it is necessary to constantly supervise the output and the progress of different affairs. All the actions and measures that were mentioned are necessary. Results will be produced only when these things are followed up and caution is exercised every step of the way so that we can achieve the desired result. If this happens, by Allah's favor the judiciary will become what Islam and the Holy Quran have determined for this efficient organization in our society.

Of course, there are certain shortcomings. It was correctly pointed out that in spite of all the measures that have been adopted and all the positive efforts that have been made, there is still a distance between the existing conditions and the favorable conditions that have been specified by Islam and Islamic rules. This is easier said than done. It is really difficult to follow these paths step by step and to safeguard these characteristics. However, we need to ask Allah the Exalted for assistance. This distance should be covered. Of course, we do not expect to cover this distance in two, five years, but we need to move towards bridging the gaps. This is what I am trying to say.

All officials of the judiciary who serve at different levels should feel responsible to help the judiciary achieve the two characteristics that I mentioned, namely health and efficiency. Of course, the gaps are clear to the esteemed gentlemen in the judiciary. In the reports that they prepare, they show that they are aware of the gaps. Also, in my meetings with the officials, I feel that our judiciary officials are aware of the existing gaps and shortcomings. Sometimes certain points come to my mind and I discuss them with the esteemed head of the judiciary and certain other judiciary officials. I bring these points to their attention. In any case, the gaps are clear. It is necessary to focus our efforts on eliminating these gaps and we must not lose hope. We need to move things forward and help the judiciary improve on a daily basis.

Of course, there is a point that should be kept in mind: making progress and achieving the goals is only possible through carrying out the plans. Goals can be achieved through planning. Fortunately, the third development plan has been approved and announced for implementation. As was pointed out, the judiciary is pushing ahead with the plan. There should be no negligence in the case of implementing this plan. If this happens, by Allah's favor the conditions of the judiciary will improve on a daily basis.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the great, insightful and vigilant Iranian nation for the great achievement that it made at this important stage, namely in the elections. We cannot afford to divert our attention and analyses away from this important and essential issue. Since around a year earlier, the opponents and enemies of the Islamic Republic were making plans, spending money, proposing ideas, creating uproar, doing different things and exerting pressure in order to shape the event the way they wanted: they wanted to either prevent the election from being held and encourage the people to treat it with indifference and lack of enthusiasm, or even create certain excuses for the aftermath of the election so that they could achieve their evil objectives in the country. They had planned all of these things. Not all of the things I am saying are based on secret reports: many of them are obvious. A nybody who has followed up and observed the actions and behavior of the camp of the Islamic Republic's enemies over the past year, would realize what plans these people had prepared.

What happened was the exact opposite of what they wanted. Is this insignificant? Is this a small event that can be whitewashed and brushed aside through flimsy analyses? No, the Iranian nation showed such greatness. The Iranian nation made a great and exceptional achievement. It exhibited skill in the face of the hostility and malevolence of its international enemies. Why do they hide this? Why would we not repeat this many times?

There are a few essential points regarding this election. Of course, there are many points that can be discussed, but I will discuss only two, three points. One point is the presence of the people. Since a long time earlier, they had been creating doubts and fallacies about the health of the election, about the officials in cha rge of it and about the observers. They had been saying many things in order to discourage the people and create doubts with the aim of preventing the people from taking part in the election. However, the people did the exact opposite of what they wanted. What happened was so great that even the propaganda machines of the enemy could not deny and ignore it. The day on which the election was held, the enemy's media announced during the first few hours of the election that the turnout was large, that the people were enthusiastic, that everybody wanted to vote, that the people were present from early morning. This was a very important event. Therefore, the first issue is the presence of the people, which had an important meaning.

The meaning of the presence of the people was that they are interested in the destiny of the country, that they are interested in the Islamic Republic which relies on elections as one of its pillars, that they trust the organizations i n charge of holding our elections - both the ones that hold the elections and the ones that supervise them - and that they are hopeful about the constant progressive movement of the country. This trust is a very important point. Besides the people's vigilance and insight, this trust is also very important. What is interesting is that I told our dear people that they love their government and they would go to the polling stations and vote, but that in case there is anybody who does not like the Islamic Republic yet is concerned about the country and our national interests, he too should take part in the election. After all, some people must fall into this category and they decided to vote. What does this show? It shows that even those who do not support the Islamic Republic trust it. Even those people know that the Islamic Republic is capable of safeguarding our national interests and our national pride. The problem with the governments in different countries is that they are no t able to defend their people, their interests and their dignity in the face of global transgressions and greedy international powers. The Islamic Republic is standing firm against the enemies like a lion and it is defending the interests of the Iranian nation. This was confirmed even by those voters who did not believe in the Islamic Republic. They showed that there is widespread trust in the Islamic Republic. This is another point, which is very important.

Another point which is often ignored is that this time both the presidential and the city and village councils elections were held on the same day. In many countries, presidential elections are accompanied by conflicts, disputes, fights and sometimes bloodshed. In terms of the possibility of disputes, city and village councils elections in remote areas are even more sensitive than presidential elections. There is a possibility that in a particular village or small town there may be disputes and conflicts between two tribes, between different parts of a village, between different groups of people who live in that village or small town. In our vast country and in the tens of thousands of cities and villages across the country, not even one single incident took place which was indicative of a lack of security in the country. No such incident was reported. Is this insignificant? "There are two blessings which are little appreciated: health and security." Security is among the most essential needs of a nation. If there is security, there will be progress. If there is security, science will progress, the economy will blossom and the country will be developed. This widespread security in the country revealed itself in this election. The truth that was expressed through the elections could not have been expressed so clearly through any amount of work by our security organizations. This election showed that thanks to the vigilance of government officials and cooperation of the people, security has been completely established in different parts of our vast country. This is another point.

Another point which I believe stands out about this election and for which one should be thankful to God is that after the election the candidates submitted to the law and reacted in a noble way. This is a very important point. They held brotherly and friendly meetings with the president-elect and they expressed their congratulations and happiness. I deem it necessary to thank these gentlemen. This is what makes the people happy. This is what causes the people to feel that they have made an achievement. If they had acted in a rebellious and ignoble way, if they had created a dispute under a particular pretext - which is possible under all circumstances - they would have ruined the joy for the people.

This is why we have repeatedly complained about the events that happened in the year 1388. In a great and glorious election, t he people feel victorious, but then one, two, four people ruin the joy for the people while there is a legal course of action. This was what happened in that year. They ruined the joy for the people after the election. However, the people were thankfully made happy in this year's election. One must behave in a legal way. This is why we stressed so much that the law must be observed, and this is the result. When the law is observed, the people feel happy. This must forever remain a lesson for us. In the case of such events, the people observe and evaluate political personalities. The people start to like a political personality who reacts in a noble and legal way. Those who ignore the law and divert from it under different pretexts are also identified by the people: they develop a negative attitude towards such people. This is another essential point.

In any case, the election was a truly outstanding and important event. And it was divine grace that guide d the hearts of our people and caused massive numbers of people to enter the arena and give rise to this valor. The election was truly an instance of valor. The people gave rise to political valor, which was the wish of benevolent individuals.

And now everybody should help the person who has been elected by the people. Different organizations should help him. This is my advice. Brothers and sisters, managing the affairs of the country is a difficult task. One may stand aside and easily find fault from a distance. I have repeatedly mentioned this analogy: a person sitting on the edge of a swimming pool may find it easy to find fault with another person who is diving into the water from a diving board above the pool. He may easily say that he bent his leg or arm when he should not have and that he did not perform well. It is easy to find fault. But if we ourselves were to climb up onto the diving board and tried to make a dive, we would realize that we do not have the courage. It is easy to find fault and protest. I am not saying that nobody should find fault, make criticisms and protest. On the contrary, constructive criticisms are definitely beneficial for moving things forward in the country. However, we should pay attention to the fact that executive work is difficult. The people chose their president and everybody should help him. Also, we should not make too many demands and we should not act and judge in a hasty way: by Allah's favor, important affairs of the country will be taken care of in this way.

I have certain things to say about the statements that were made on TV by the esteemed candidates. I am referring to the televised debates before the election. There is not enough time to go into detail in this meeting, but this is one of things that I should discuss. Yes, there are certain weaknesses, but we should see the strengths as well. The incumbent administration enjoys many strengths although it ma y suffer from certain weaknesses. Which one of us does not suffer from weaknesses in our work? It is necessary to see the strengths as well. Important things have been done in the country. The services that have been rendered, the infrastructure-related work has been done, the development projects that have been carried out - these things must not be ignored. The esteemed candidates often ignored these things in their election campaigns over the two, three weeks leading to the presidential election. It would have been very good if they had acknowledged the efforts that have been made and the work that has been done when discussing economic issues, rising prices and inflation - which are of course true. This attitude is not fair. One should see both the positive points and the negative points. Of course, it goes without saying that a person who is trying to present his capabilities to the people only sees the existing problems and points them out to the people, and nothing is wr ong with this. However, it is wrong to adopt an absolutist approach in this regard. It is necessary to point out the positive points as well as the negative points.

Now I would like to make a point about the nuclear issue. In future, I may discuss the issue in detail if necessary. In my speech on the first day of the year, I said that the opposing camp is mainly composed of a few domineering and greedy countries which are led by America and are incited mainly by the Zionists and which falsely refer to themselves as the international community. The problem with them is that they do not want Iran's nuclear issue to be resolved. If it had not been for their stubbornness, the nuclear issue would have been easily resolved. On many occasions, we came very close to a solution. They signed the agreements. The International Atomic Energy Agency signed the agreements. It admitted that the problems had been eliminated. The documents exist. These things cannot be den ied. Well, the issue should have ended. The nuclear file should have been closed. But the Americans immediately created a new problem. They do not want the nuclear issue to end. There are many examples in this regard. Resolving the nuclear issue with the Islamic Republic is an easy and smooth matter due to the nature of the Islamic Republic. However, when the other side does not want this issue to be resolved, the conditions would be no better than they are.

Therefore, they should pay attention to this point. In the case of the nuclear issue, the Islamic Republic has acted in a legal and transparent way and it has also been reasonable and logical. However, they believe that the nuclear issue is a good excuse to pressure the Islamic Republic. Even if the nuclear issue were resolved, they would create another issue to pressure the Islamic Republic.

The goal is to threaten. The goal is to pressure. The goal is to make us tired. They themselves announced that their goal is to change the political system and the political mechanisms. Of course, in the statements they make in private meetings or in the letters that they sometimes write, they say that they are not after a regime change. However, they clearly show the opposite in their statements and actions. They are hostile towards a nation that refuses to surrender to their rule, a nation that refuses to act the way they want, a nation whose actions are against their will. Similarly, if governments submit to them and act in an obedient way, they gain their approval. Neither democracy, nor human rights, nor the nuclear issue are important to them. The issue is that the Islamic Republic is standing on its own feet, is relying on its own power, is standing firm by relying on Allah the Exalted and is making progress in different areas. They do not like this, and so be it. Of course, the experience of the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation has shown that o n this path it is the Iranian nation that will be victorious and that it is the Iranian nation that will slap its enemies across the face.

The path of the Islamic Republic is the path of God. Its goals are divine goals. Its source of support is divine willpower. Such a path will never lead to a dead end. Everybody should know this. Everybody should be confident that by Allah's favor, we will never reach a dead end on our path. I hope that thanks to government officials' innovation, determined efforts and reliance on God, the Iranian nation continues making progress on a daily basis. I hope that the entire Iranian nation benefits from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) and that the immaculate souls of our Imam (r.a.) and the pure souls of our martyrs are satisfied with all of us.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Supreme Leader’s Message on Epic Presence of People in 11th Presidential Elections

(2013/06/15)

The following is the full text of the message issued on June 15, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the occasion of epic presence of the people in the 11th presidential elections.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Dear People of Iran,

The epic and enthusiastic elections on Friday, 24th of Khordad, was another astounding test which exhibited the determined and hopeful face of Islamic Iran to friends and enemies. Increasing political development and insistence on sincere religious democracy is a brilliant truth that was proven once again through your massive presence at the polling stations and it shattered the fabrications and nonsensical comments by the enemies and by envious and greedy people.

Your epic presence exhibited the firm bond between Iran and Iranians and the I slamic system to all the ill-wishers who are after breaking and undermining this trust and this holy bond by resorting to hundreds of political, economic and security machinations.

In yesterday's elections, pious and proud Iranians painted a picture of their massive capacities with utmost beauty and skill in their dignified and wise confrontation with the psychological warfare of the players of domination and arrogance, and they insured their country and national interests and their promising future.

The true winner of yesterday's elections is the great Iranian nation, which through Allah's might and power managed to take a firm step and put on display an impenetrable essence, a dynamic and determined face and a hopeful and pious heart.

Bowing humbly to the mercy of All-Knowing and Wise Allah, I put my forehead to the ground and I call on myself and you to remember and be thankful for this great blessing. Off ering my sincere respect and greetings to the Imam of the Age (may my soul be sacrificed for his sake) and congratulating our dear nation and the elected president, Hojjatoleslam Hajj Sheikh Hassan Rouhani, I would like to address a few points to him and the Iranian people:

1- Now that political valor and its peak on the 24th of Khordad has come to a close with the victory of the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic, the excitement and fervor of the days and weeks of competition should give their place to cooperation and friendship, and supporters of the rival candidates should strive for the position they deserve in the test of patience, dignity and wisdom. No feeling, be it a feeling of happiness or otherwise, should make anybody act or speak in a way that is removed from wisdom and prudence. Do not let the ill-wishers use feelings of the people as a means to achieve their evil wishes. Nationa l unity, benevolence and clemency support national security and foil the enemies' plots.

2- The elected president is the president of all Iranians. In order to achieve the great values that the president and his colleagues in the executive branch are committed to and responsible for actualizing, everybody should help them and cooperate with them sincerely.

3- After weeks of speaking and listening, it is time now for work and action. The elected president has a valuable opportunity before the day he officially accepts the responsibility and it is appropriate to make the best of this opportunity and to immediately start doing the things that are required for taking on the great responsibility as president.

4- Epic elections would not have been possible in the absence of the participation, competition and efforts of the other presidential candidates. I deem it necessary to express my sincere gratitude to all the honorable personalities who stepped into this arena and gave rise to an exciting competition with their tireless efforts, and I call on them to continue playing a role in different arenas relating to the Revolution and the Islamic system.

5- I also deem it necessary to express my sincere gratitude to all our people who once again gave rise to a permanent event, particularly to the honorable marja taqlids, religious scholars and outstanding academic, political and cultural personalities who played a valuable role in encouraging the people to participate in the elections, to the officials in charge of holding the presidential and city and village councils elections, particularly to the Ministry of Interior and the es teemed members of the Guardian Council who patiently performed the arduous task during those hectic weeks and carried this heavy burden to its destination in a completely honest way, to the hard-working officials who ensured the security of this sensitive phenomenon in different parts of such a vast country, and to organizations that cooperated with them, and I pray to God to bestow abundant rewards on them.

6- I deem it necessary to extend special and well-deserved thanks to our national television and its esteemed officials who coupled the electoral enthusiasm with their artistic and innovative efforts and became the honest and outspoken reporter of the tendencies, ideas and goals of the presidential candidates and who clearly showed people of the world how power shifts in the Islamic Republic, and I pray to God to bestow rewards and success on them.

Finally, I humbly expr ess my gratitude for the great divine blessings, and paying homage to the memory of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) and our noble martyrs and war veterans, I wish and pray for an ever better future for this country and this nation.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Sayyid Ali Khamenei

Khordad 25, 1392

Supreme Leader's Speech at Inauguration of Islamic Awakening and Ulama Conference

(2013/04/29)

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 29, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting at Inauguration of Islamic Awakening and Ulama Conference.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master, Muhammad al-Mustafa, and upon his immaculate household, chosen companions and those who follow them well, until the Day of Judgment.

I welcome you honorable guests and I ask Almighty and Merciful God to bless this collective effort and make it an effective step towards happiness of Muslims. "Surely He listens and responds."

Today the subject of Islamic Awakening, which you will discuss in this conference, tops the list of the issues of the Islamic world and the Islamic Ummah, an amazing phenomenon that w ill result in the re-emergence of Islamic civilization - for the Islamic Ummah and then for all of the world - in the not too distant future providing that, with Allah's permission, it stays healthy and continues.

Today what lies in front of our eyes and cannot be denied by any informed and intelligent individual is that the world of Islam has now emerged out of the sidelines of social and political equations of the world, that it has found a prominent and outstanding position at the center of decisive global events, and that it offers a fresh outlook on life, politics, government and social developments. This is considered an important and significant phenomenon in today's world, which is suffering from a deep intellectual and theoretical vacuum after the failure of communism and liberalism. This is the first sign of the political and revolutionary events in North Africa and the Arab region on a global scale, which itself is a harbinger of greater truths that will come to pass in the future.

Islamic Awakening, which speakers in the arrogant and reactionary camp do not even dare to mention in words, is a truth whose signs can be witnessed in almost all parts of the world of Islam. The most obvious sign of it is the enthusiasm of public opinion, especially among young people, to revive the glory and greatness of Islam, to become aware of the nature of the international order of domination and to remove the mask from the shameless, oppressive and arrogant face of the governments and centers that have been pressuring the Islamic and non-Islamic East in their clutches for more than two hundred years and have been exposing nations to their brutal and aggressive thirst for power disguised with the mask of civilization and culture.

The dimensions of this auspicious awakening are widespread and mysterious, but what was witnessed of its immediate outcomes in a few North African countries can make hearts confident about the great and amazing outcomes that will be achieved in the future. Miraculous fulfillment of divine promises is always a hope-inspiring sign that promises the fulfillment of greater promises. The Quranic account of the two promises that Allah the Exalted gave to the mother of Prophet Moses is an example of this divine tactic. At that difficult moment, when she was ordered to cast her baby in the river in a basket, Allah the Exalted said, "Surely We will bring him back to you and make him one of the messengers." [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 7] The fulfillment of the first promise, which was the smaller promise and a cause for happiness for the mother, became the sign of the fulfillment of the promise of prophetic mission, which was far greater and of course, it required long-term suffering, struggle and patience: "So We restored him to his mother that her eye might be refreshed, and that she might not grieve, and that she might know that the promise of Allah is true..." [The Holy Quran, Su ra al-Qasas, Ayah 13] This true promise was the great mission which was fulfilled after many years and it changed the course of history.

Another example is the reminder about the overwhelming power of God to suppress the invaders of the Holy House: in order to encourage His audience through the Holy Prophet to submit to His order, Allah the Exalted makes use of this example "so let them serve the Lord of this House" [The Holy Quran, Sura Quraysh, Ayah 3] and says, "Did He not cause their war to end in confusion?" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Fil, Ayah 2] Similarly, in order to raise the spirits of His beloved Prophet and convince him of the truth of the promise "your Lord has not forsaken you, nor has He become displeased" [The Holy Quran, Sura ad-Dhuha, Ayah 3], Allah the Exalted gives the reminder about the miraculous blessing: "Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter? He found you astray and guided you." [The Holy Quran, Sura ad-Dhuha, Ayah 6-7] And there are many such examples in the Holy Quran.

The day when Islam achieved victory in Iran and managed to capture the fort of America and Zionism in one of the most important countries in this extremely sensitive region, those who were wise and quick to learn realized that if they had patience and insight, other victories will come one after another.

The brilliant truths in the Islamic Republic, which are acknowledged by our enemies, have all been achieved in the shade of trust in divine promises, patience, resistance and asking God for assistance. In the face of temptations by weak people who, during tense times, shout "we are sure to be overtaken," [The Holy Quran, Sura ash-Shuara, Ayah 61] our people have always shouted "by no means, my Lord is with me and soon will He guide me." [The Holy Quran, Sura ash-Shuara, Ayah 62]

Today this is a precious experience that is available to the peoples who have stood up against arrogance and tyranny and have managed to overthrow and shake corrupt governments that are subservient to and dependent on America. Resistance, patience, insight and faith in the divine promise "surely Allah will help him who helps His cause" will pave this path of glory for the Islamic Ummah until it reaches the peak of Islamic civilization.

At this important meeting, which has been attended by a group of religious scholars of the Islamic Ummah from different Islamic countries and denominations, I believe it is appropriate to discuss a few necessary points regarding the issue of Islamic Awakening.

The first point is that the earliest waves of awakening in the countries of this region, which started simultaneously with the entry of the pioneers of colonialism, were mainly caused by religion and religious reformers. The names of outstanding leaders and personalities - such as Sayyid Jamal ad-Din, Muhammad Abduh, Mirza-e Shirazi, Akhund-e Khorasani, Mahmoud al-Hassan, Muhammad Ali, Sheikh Fazlollah, Hajj Agha Noorullah, Abul A'la Maududi and tens of famous, great, mujahid and and influential clerics from Iran, Egypt, India and Iraq - have been recorded in history books forever. Similarly, in the contemporary era, the brilliant name of the great Imam Khomeini is shining like a brilliant star at the forefront of the Islamic Revolution. Meanwhile, today and in the past, hundreds of famous religious scholar and thousands of lesser-known religious scholars have played a role in great and small reform movements in different countries. The list of non-cleric religious reformers, such as Hassan al-Banna and Iqbal Lahori, is also long and amazing.

Almost everywhere, clerics and theologians have been the intellectual authority and spiritual support for the people and wherever they have appeared in the role of guides and pioneers at the time of great developments and have moved forward in the first rows of popular movements in the face of dangers, the intellectual bond between them and the people has been strengthened and they have played a significant role in showing the path to the people. This is as beneficial to the wave of Islamic Awakening as it is unpleasant and distressing to the enemies of the Islamic Ummah, those who bear grudges against Islam and those who are opposed to the rule of Islamic values, and they are trying to take away this intellectual authority from religious strongholds and create new centers for it. They have learned through experience that they can easily reach a compromise with these centers over national principles and values, and this is something that will never happen in the case of pious religious scholars and devoted religious personalities.

This makes the responsibility of religious scholars heavier. Through vigilance and caution and by identifying the enemy's deceptive methods and machinations, they should completely shut the door to infiltration and foil the enemy's plots. One of the greatest calamities is becoming attracted to the lure of worldly wealth. Exposure to the favors of wealthy and powerful people and being indebted to taghuts of lust and power are the most dangerous cause of separation from the people and loss of their trust and friendliness. Self-centeredness and thirst for power, which lure weak individuals towards developing an inclination to poles of power, prepare the ground for involvement in corruption and deviation. It is necessary to constantly keep this holy Quranic ayah in mind: "(As for) that future abode, We assign it to those who have no desire to exalt themselves in the earth nor to make mischief and the good end is for those who guard (against evil)." [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 83]

Today in the era of hope-inspiring movements of Islamic Awakening, sometimes certain things are witnessed which on the one hand, show the efforts by the agents of America and Zionism to create unreliable intellectual authorities and which on the other h and, show the efforts by debauched Qaruns to drag religious and pious people towards their poisoned and contaminated activities. Religious scholars and pious men should be extremely vigilant and careful.

The second point is the necessity of delineating a long-term goal for Islamic Awakening in Muslim countries, a noble aim that gives orientation to the awakening of nations and helps them reach a certain point. It is through identifying this particular point that one can prepare a roadmap and specify the medium- and short-term goals in it. This final goal cannot be anything less than creating a brilliant Islamic civilization. All parts of the Islamic Ummah - in the form of different nations and countries - should achieve the civilizational position that has been specified in the Holy Quran. The main and the general characteristic of this civilization is that it should allow human beings to utilize all the material and spiritual capacities that Allah the Exalted has bestow ed on them and on the world in order to bring about happiness and transcendence for humanity. The surface structure of this civilization can and should be witnessed in popular government, in the laws that have been extracted from the Holy Quran, in identifying and addressing different needs of humanity, in avoidance of rigidity and reactionary attitudes as well as unwarranted innovation and adulteration, in creating public welfare and wealth, in establishing justice, in liberation from an economy that is based on special privileges, usury and taking pride in wealth, in promoting human values, in defending oppressed people in the world, and in hard work and innovation. Adopting an ijtihadi and scholarly outlook on different areas - ranging from humanities to the system of formal education, from economy and banking to technical and technological production, from modern media to art and cinema and to international relations and other areas - are all among the requirements for this civilization-building.

Experience has shown that all of these things are possible and within the capacities of Muslim communities. This outlook must not be treated with haste and pessimism. Being pessimistic about one's capabilities is ingratitude to God's blessings, and neglecting help from God and the laws of creation amounts to slipping into the morass of entertaining "evil thoughts about Allah." [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Fath, Ayah 6] We can break the chain of scientific, economic and political monopolies of the domineering powers and help the Islamic Ummah become the pioneer of restoring the rights of the majority of nations in the world, which have been dominated by a minority of arrogant powers.

Through religious faith, knowledge, ethics and constant struggle, Islamic civilization can gift advanced thought and noble codes of behavior to the Islamic Ummah and to the entire humanity, and it can be the point of liberation from materialistic and oppressi ve outlooks and corrupt codes of behavior that form the pillars of current Western civilization.

The third point is that in the movements of Islamic Awakening it is necessary to pay constant attention to the bitter and horrifying experience of following the West in politics, behavior and lifestyle.

In more than a century of following the culture and politics of the arrogant powers, Muslim countries suffered from deadly calamities such as political dependence and humiliation, economic plights and poverty, decline of moral virtues and ethics and shameful scientific backwardness, and this was while the Islamic Ummah enjoyed a glorious history in all of these areas.

This statement must not be interpreted as hostility towards the West. We are not hostile towards any group of human beings because of geographical differences. We have learnt lessons from Ali (greetings be upon him) who describes human beings in this way: "Those who have the same religion as you, they are brothers to you, and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you." Our complaint against oppression and arrogance and against bullying and transgression is the moral and practical degeneration that has been imposed on our nations by the colonial and arrogant powers. Currently, we can witness the bullying and interference of America and some of its followers in the region in the countries in which the breeze of awakening has turned into the storm of uprisings and revolutions. Their promises must not affect the decisions and actions of outstanding political personalities and the great movement of the people. In this case as well, we need to learn lessons from our experiences: those who pinned their hopes on the promises of America for years and based their behavior and policies on the inclination towards the oppressor did not manage to resolve any problems of their nations or eliminate an injustice to themselves or to others. By surrendering to America, they did not manage to prevent the demolition of even one single Palestinian home in a territory that belongs to the Palestinians. The politicians and outstanding personalities who are deceived by the bribe or intimidated by the threats of the camp of the arrogant powers and miss the great opportunity of Islamic Awakening should be apprehensive about this divine threat: "Have you not seen those who have changed Allah's favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition into hell? They shall enter into it and an evil place it is to settle in." [The Holy Quran, Sura Ibrahim, Ayah 28-29]

The fourth point is that today one of the most dangerous things that threatens the movement of Islamic Awakening is the efforts to foment discord and turn these movements into bloody sectarian, ethnic and national conflicts. Currently, this plot is being seriously pursued by intelligence services of the West and Zionism with th e help of petrodollars and bribed politicians from East Asia to North Africa and particularly in the Arab region. And the money that could have been spent to bring about happiness for mankind is being used to make threats, excommunicate, assassinate, bomb, shed Muslim blood and to kindle the fire of long-lasting grudges. Those who consider the unified power of Islam as an obstacle in the way of their evil goals have come to the conclusion that fanning the flames of conflicts inside the Islamic Ummah is the easiest way to achieve their satanic goal and they have used differences of opinion in Islamic jurisprudence, kalaam, history and hadith - which are natural and inevitable - as a pretext to excommunicate, shed blood and cause fitna and corruption.

A vigilant look at the scene of domestic conflicts clearly reveals the enemy's hands behind these tragedies. These deceptive hands undoubtedly take advantage of the ignorance, prejudice and superficiality that exists in our soc ieties and they add fuel to the fire. The responsibility of religious and political reformers and outstanding personalities is very heavy in this regard.

Currently, Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, Syria, Pakistan, and Iraq and Lebanon are in one way or another involved in or exposed to these dangerous flames. It is necessary to be extremely careful and to look for a remedy. It would be naïve to think that all of these things are due to ideological and ethnic factors and motives. Propaganda campaigns of the West and dependent and mercenary media in the region pretend that the destructive war in Syria is a Shia-Sunni conflict and they create a safety margin for the Zionists and the enemies of resistance in Syria and Lebanon. This is while the two sides of the conflict in Syria are not Shia and Sunni, rather they are the supporters and opponents of anti-Zionist resistance. Neither the Syrian government is a Shia government, nor is the secular and anti-Islam opposition a Sunni grou p. The only achievement of the plotters of this calamitous scenario is that they have managed to make use of religious sentiments of simple-minded people to kindle this deadly fire. A look at the scene and those who are involved in it at different levels can clarify the issue for any just individual.

Also, in the case of Bahrain, this wave of propaganda is spreading lies and deception in another way. In Bahrain, the oppressed majority - who have been deprived of the right to vote as well as other fundamental rights that a nation should enjoy - have risen up to demand their rights. Should this be considered a Shia-Sunni conflict simply because the oppressed majority are Shia and the oppressive secular government pretends to be Sunni? Of course, the European and American colonialists and their friends in the region want to make things appear like this, but what is the truth?

These are the things that call religious scholars and just reformers to careful thinking an d sense of responsibility and they make identification of the enemies' goals behind highlighting sectarian, ethnic and partisan differences an obligation for everybody.

The fifth point is that one of the standards for judging whether Islamic Awakening movements are on the right path is the positions they adopt on the issue of Palestine. Since sixty years ago up until today, the occupation of Palestine has been the biggest tragedy that has been imposed on the Islamic Ummah.

Since the first day up until today, the tragedy of Palestine has been a combination of killings, assassinations, destruction, usurpation and transgression against what is held sacred in Islam. The necessity of putting up a resistance against this warring and usurping enemy and fighting him has been agreed upon by all Islamic denominations and all honest and healthy national currents. Any current in Islamic countries which disregards this religious and national responsibility out of consideration for the domineering demands of America or under the pretext of unreasonable justifications should not expect to be viewed as loyal to Islam and sincere in its nationalistic claims.

This is a test. Anybody who does not accept the slogan of liberating Holy Quds and saving the Palestinian nation and Palestinian territories or anybody who sidelines this slogan and turns his back on the camp of resistance, will be condemned. The Islamic Ummah should keep this clear and fundamental standard in mind everywhere and at all times.

Dear guests, brothers and sisters, never lose sight of the enemy's plot. Our lack of vigilance creates opportunities for our enemies.

The lesson that Ali (greetings be upon him) teaches us is that "whoever is careless about his cause, his enemy will not sleep over this advantage..." In this regard, our experience in the Islamic Republic is also a source of lessons. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the arrogant Wes tern governments and America - which had long established full control over Iranian taghuts and used to determine the political, economic and cultural destiny of our country and which had underestimated the enormous power of Islamic faith in society and remained unaware of the power of Islam and the Holy Quran to deploy forces and to guide - suddenly realized that they had been unaware and their governmental organizations, intelligence services and control rooms resumed work in order to make up for the overwhelming defeat they had suffered.

We have witnessed various kinds of machinations from them over the past thirty-something years. In essence, there have been two factors that have foiled their plots: insistence on Islamic principles and presence of the people on the scene. These two factors are the key to the problems everywhere. The first factor is guaranteed by sincere religious faith in divine promises and the second factor is guaranteed by sincere efforts and hone st clarification. A nation that has faith in the honesty and sincerity of its leaders will bring in enthusiasm with their blessed presence, and wherever a nation stays on the scene with a solid determination, no power will have the capability to defeat it. This is a successful experience for all the nations that gave rise to Islamic Awakening through their presence.

I pray to Allah the Exalted to bestow His guidance, assistance and mercy on you and on all Muslim nations.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy

Supreme Leader’s Norouz Message

(2013/03/20 - 21:28)

The following is the full text of the message issued on March 20, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the occasion of Norouz.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

O Conqueror of hearts and sight,

O Planner of night and day,

O Transformer of power and circumstances,

Change our condition to the best of conditions.

Dear God, Your greetings be upon Your beloved, the mistress of all women in the world, Fatima bint Muhammad, Allah's greetings be upon him and his household. Dear God, Your blessings be upon her, her father, her husband and her children. O Allah, be, for Your representative, the Hujjat (proof), son of al-Hasan, Your blessings be on him and his forefathers, in this hour and in every hour, a guardian, a protector, a leader, a helper, a proof, and a watchful eye until you make him reside on the earth, in obedience (to You), and cause him to live in it for a long time. Dear God, bestow on him, on his descendents, on his followers, on his people, on his special ones, on all those who obey him, on his enemies and on all people of the world what You brighten up his eyes with and what You make his heart happy with.

I would like to offer my congratulations to all my esteemed fellow countrymen throughout Iran, to all Iranians who are in different parts of the world and to all nations that celebrate Norouz, particularly our honorable war veterans, the families of our martyrs, our disabled war veterans and their families and all those who are making efforts to serve the Islamic system and our dear country. I hope that Allah the Exalted makes this day and this new year's day a source of happiness, prosperity and joy for our nation and for all Muslims in the world. I hope that Allah the Exalted makes us successful in carrying out our responsibilities. My honorable fellow countrymen should pay attention that the days for commemorating the martyrdom of Hazrat Fatima are in the middle of the Norouz holidays and it is necessary for all of us to value and respect these days.

The moment a new year starts is in fact the interval between an end and a beginning: the end of one year and the beginning of a new year. Of course, we should mainly focus on what lies ahead. We should look at the new year and we should make plans and prepare ourselves for it. However, looking back on the path that we have followed will also be beneficial for us so that we see what we have done, how we have moved forward and what results our work has produced, and we should learn lessons from it and gain experience.

Just like all other years, the year 1391 was full of events, both good and bitter events, both victories and failures. This is the case with the lives of all human beings. Life is full of twists and turns, full of ups and downs. What is important is that we should climb out of the depths and try to reach the peaks.

As far as our confrontation with the arrogant powers of the world is concerned, what was obvious about the year 1391 was the harshness of the enemies towards the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic. Of course, on the surface of the issue, the enemies were harsh, but below the surface was the experience of the Iranian nation and its victory in different arenas. Our enemies had targeted different areas, mainly economic and political. On the economic front, they announced and reiterated that they wanted to cripple the Iranian nation through sanctions. However, they failed to cripple the Iranian nation and by Allah's favor and grace, we achieved a lot of progress in different areas, which has been or will be explained to our dear people in detail. And God willing, I will also briefly discuss certain things in my speech on the first day of Farvardin.

On the economic front, of course the people were under pressure and certain problems were caused. In particular, there were certain flaws inside the country. There were certain cases of negligence and laxity which aided the enemy in his plans. But on the whole, the general movement of the Islamic system and the people was a progressive movement and by Allah's favor, we will see the outcomes of this national experience in the future.

On the political front, on the one hand they tried to isolate the Iranian nation and on the other hand they tried to throw the Iranian nation into indecision and uncertainty. They tried to undermine the determination of the Iranian nation. What happened in reality was the exact opposite. Regarding their efforts to isolate the Iranian nation, not only did they fail to restrain our rational international policies, but also events such as the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement were held in Tehran and a large number of leaders and government officials from different countries throughout the world attended the summit. This led to the opposite of what our enemies wanted and showed that not only is the Islamic Republic not isolated but that people of the world hold the Islamic Republic, Islamic Iran and the honorable Iranian nation in high regard.

Regarding domestic issues, whenever our dear people had the opportunity to express their feelings - mainly on the 22nd of Bahman of 1391 - they exhibited whatever enthusiasm and epic presence that was necessary and they were present on the scene in larger numbers and with more enthusiasm than the previous years. Another example was the presence of the people of North Khorasan in the thick of the sanctions, which was an example that showed the conditions and spirits of the Iranian people and their attitude towards the Islamic system and the officials who are serving them. Thankfully, great things were done throughout the year, including scientific endeavors, the work relating to infrastructure and the strenuous efforts by the people and government officials. The ground has been prepared for progressive movement and for - God willing - explosive progress, in economic and political areas as well as in other crucial areas.

According to the outlook that has been delineated for us by Allah's favor and thanks to the determination our faithful people, the year 1392 will be the year of progress, dynamism and experience for the Iranian nation, not in the sense that the enmity of the enemies will decrease, rather in the sense that the Iranian people will be more prepared and their presence will be more effective. They will be better and more promising at building the future of this nation with their hands and with their effective efforts.

Of course, what lies ahead for us in the year 1392 will be in the two important areas of politics and economics. On the economic front, it is necessary to pay attention to domestic production, just as had been stressed in last year's slogan. Of course, certain things were done, but promoting domestic production and supporting Iranian labor and capital is a long-term issue: it cannot reach the desired outcome in one year. Fortunately, in the second half of the year 1391, the policies for domestic production were ratified and announced for implementation. That is to say, the ground work was laid for this work. And on the basis of these policies, the Majlis and the executive branch can make plans, start a good movement and hopefully move forward with firm determination and continued efforts.

Regarding political issues, the great event of the year 1392 is the presidential elections, which will in fact determine the executive and political destiny of the country - and in a sense, the general destiny of the country - for the next four years. God willing, the people will manage to build a good future for themselves and their country through their presence in this arena. Of course, it is necessary for the people to have a jihad-like presence both in the economic arena and in the political arena. It is necessary to step in with epic spirits and enthusiasm. It is necessary to step in with a firm determination and a positive outlook. It is necessary to step into the arenas with a heart full of hope and enthusiasm and to try to reach the goals with epic moves.

With this outlook, I name the year 1392 "The Year of Political and Economic Valor" and I hope that by Allah's grace, our dear people and our caring government officials will give rise to an economic as well as a political epic.

With the hope of receiving divine attentions and benefiting from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake), and saluting the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam and the souls of our honorable martyrs,

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings.

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