Regarding the role that Friday prayers play in raising political awareness and vigilance of Muslims, Ayatollah Khamenei stated that the Friday prayer leaders every week inform the worshippers of the latest developments in the Islamic world and also in other parts of the world that affect Muslim nations.
The Leader also noted that today, thanks to the Islamic Revolution and great awareness of late Imam Khomeini, Friday prayers have turned into a lasting tradition in this country. He said before the establishment of the Islamic system, the Iranian people were not familiar with the meaning and the purpose behind Friday prayers. Thus, the Leader stressed, the holding of Friday prayers in this country today is due to the grace of Allah and one of the positive results of the Islamic Revolution.
Ayatollah Khamenei underlined that the young generation has a great thirst for knowledge, awareness and enlightenment, and that the Friday prayer leaders should try to fulfill the need of the youth.
The Leader further touched on the personal, political and economic aspects of piety:
"Personal piety means that one should follow the path of righteousness and not violate divine commandments.
"Political piety means that those who are active in the political sphere should be truthful to people. Politics defined as deceiving or lying to the public is by no means approved by Islam! Politics means proper administration of society. This is part of religion. Political piety requires that one should act with sincerity in the field of politics.
"What is meant by economic piety is that one should follow a virtuous path in making a living. Usurping the possessions of others, especially what belongs to the public treasury, making a fortune through profiteering, even if it seems to be within a legal framework but one knows how corrupt it is in its nature, and earning or accepting money that is religiously unclean all run counter to economic piety."
The Leader pointed out that if different aspects of piety were institutionalized, most of the problems facing society would be resolved. He stressed that it is the main responsibility of Friday prayer leaders to recommend and encourage piety, but he also stated that they themselves should set a practical example in this regard.
Concerning one of important aspects of Friday prayers, namely the dissemination of information, Ayatollah Khamenei said that Friday prayer leaders should inform the worshippers of the issues of the Islamic world as well as other significant developments in the world.
The Leader emphasized that, today, the need for this information dissemination is more than ever, since the arrogant and domination-seeking powers are trying to spread rumors and lies in the world through their media in order to deceive the world public and promote their own domineering policies.
"The propaganda aired by their state-funded radios or other media is aimed at misleading the world public and shaping their opinion as these powers wish! They often say things that are not true! Under these circumstances, dissemination of genuine information is of the utmost importance."
The Leader went on to say, "The media affiliated to the United States and Zionist circles have always tried to distort the facts and mislead the world public. For instance, in the occupied territories of Palestine, Zionists commit the most heinous crimes and atrocities against oppressed Palestinians, whose land has been usurped by the Zionist regime, but these media are trying to portray Palestinians as aggressors and their Zionist butchers as the ones who are oppressed!
"This is the way domination-seeking powers are using propaganda today in order to achieve their illegitimate objectives. In other words, they spread negative propaganda against any country that opposes their domineering policies and illegitimate interests.
"This is also what they are doing now against the noble Iranian nation and its popular system. They know that if they intervene in this country militarily, this nation will give them such a slap on the face that they will become repentant of their military intervention! They also know that their economic blockade and sanctions against this country, which have been in force for nearly 23 years, are not so effective. In fact, these economic sanctions have prompted the talented and devoted Iranians to work harder toward self-sufficiency. For instance, during the imposed war, when a blockade was imposed on this country and when our nation needed defensive equipment, our talented youth themselves manufactured what our soldiers needed at the war fronts. In general, when sanctions are imposed on a nation, that nation will try more to realize its own potential. Therefore, sanctions are not of great benefit to these powers. Although they are to some extent harmful to our nation, but these powers will not be able to achieve their objectives through sanctions against our nation."
Concerning the goals of the enemies, Leader of the Islamic Republic stated, "The enemies are trying to achieve certain objectives, and this should be considered by both the Iranian nation and politicians. First, they intend to make the people dispirited and disappointed by spreading rumors and negative propaganda against the Islamic system and revolution and its values. Their second goal is to weaken the people's firm belief and determination, which has been the main factor helping this nation to face hardships They are also making every effort to create hurdles in the way of finding solutions to the economic problems of the people, which different government organs and executive officials are trying hard to solve. But at the same time, they attribute any flaw and shortcoming to the Islamic system!
"The enemies are mainly seeking to separate the nation, which is the mainstay of this system and revolution, from the system and the revolution. Of course they are trying hard to do so, but surely they will not succeed! This is because the Iranian people have displayed their firm belief and devotion to the lofty religious and revolutionary values and will not be deceived by the nice-looking words uttered by their enemies.
"As you can see today, in the U.S. propaganda, including the remarks made by U.S. officials like their president and Congressmen, the notion of reforms in Iran is often mentioned. Reform is a nice word, but the reform that U.S. officials want to be implemented in Iran is corruption itself! They intend to subvert the system of the Islamic Republic, which is the outcome of the Iranian nation's belief and struggle for independence. In the view of U.S. officials, reform in Iran means the subversion of the Islamic Republic and the submission of the Iranian nation!
"Otherwise, the United States is opposed to any real reform in this country. You notice that while the judicial and executive organs are taking action against corruption, the media affiliated to the enemies and their agents inside the country are raising an outcry over this anti-corruption campaign with the intention of disrupting it! This clearly shows that they are not in favor of real reforms in this country.
"Last year, we raised the issue of unemployment in the country, and this year we placed further emphasis on this issue. Several meetings were held, and government officials seriously followed up on the issue. But the enemies began to air all sorts of mean and malicious propaganda against the Islamic Republic in order to distract the government officials and prevent them from solving problems like unemployment, which is the main problem of our youth today, and also from trying to raise the living standard of the public.
"In the eyes of U.S. officials, reformists are those masked ruffians who break shop windows and set fire to people's cars. They consider any individual in any part of the country who speaks against the interests of the nation, the revolution and the late Imam to be a reformist! Therefore, I expect our political factions to make a distinction between their own objectives and what the United States wants to be implemented in this country. In other words, they should make it clear what they are trying to achieve and what the U.S. stance on this issue is.
"Reforms should be defined, but real reforms in this country are efforts to put an end to poverty, discrimination and administrative and economic corruption. The United States tries to create obstacles in the way of such efforts, but at the same time it sheds crocodile tears for the Iranian nation!"
Regarding baseless U.S. accusations against the Islamic Republic, the Leader noted:
"Today, the most popular government that we know of is the Islamic Republic, since it relies not only on people's votes but also on their belief and devotion. The system of the Islamic Republic is sacred because it relies on the people's belief. However, U.S. officials say that our government is not popular! At the same time, the United States supports dictatorial regimes, governments that have taken power through military coups or the countries where there are no parliaments and where no elections are held. The Untied States also fully supports the occupier Zionist regime despite all its crimes and atrocities against Palestinians.
"Therefore, the United States is not qualified to talk about democracy. It is not qualified to talk about reforms. The United States itself is the source of corruption! Today, working to solve the problems of this nation is considered the greatest struggle against the United States. This is what the U.S. is opposed to, as it would like these problems to remain unsolved. Officials of different branches of government should make every effort to eliminate corruption and solve the problems facing the people like unemployment and improve the country's economy."
Further referring to the duties of government officials, the Leader stated:
"The officials of the Judiciary should take action against those spreading lies and rumors in society. It is surprising that some claim that corruption is rife and prevalent in the country, but in practice they themselves create obstacles in the way of the anti-corruption campaign! It is clear that their main intention is to dishearten the public. This is something that the officials should firmly deal with.
"All branches of government, namely the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary, should pay more attention to their duties. The responsibility of the Leader toward the nation is to remind the officials of the three government branches of their duties and warn them if they tend to take measures that may cause the system to deviate from its path. It is the responsibility of the Executive, the Judiciary and the Majlis to take care of the country's affairs, but the responsibility of the Leader goes beyond this. It is a heavy responsibility. If the Executive or Judiciary officials or the Majlis representatives decide to take certain measures that are contrary to the ideals and objectives of the Islamic system, the Leader should prevent them from taking such measures and, by the grace of Allah, he will."
Ayatollah Khamenei also touched on the great vigilance and political awareness of the Iranian nation. He said:
"Our nation has displayed its remarkable adherence to Islam and religious and revolutionary values, which is due to its great vigilance and political awareness. Our nation has rightly realized that nothing but Islam can hinder the enemy's domination and the tyrannical dictatorship that it aims to establish in this country.
"The enemy intends to foment chaos, disbelief and mistrust in the Islamic system and then, by taking advantage of the atmosphere, bring to power a dictator like Reza Khan in this country. This was experienced in Iran first in the 1920s during Reza Khan's time and then on August 19, 1953. On that day, a group of agitators and domestic agents of the enemy created chaos and caused a commotion in the country. As a result, the clergy was sidelined, the public was disheartened and the way was paved for the tyrannical dictatorship of Mohammad Reza [Pahlavi] and U.S. domination of this country. Today, they intend to do the same thing.
"However, today the situation in this country is different from those days, as the Iranian people are aware and vigilant. Today the United States cannot act the way it did on August 19, 1953, or Britain cannot treat the Iranian people the way it did during Reza Khan's time. Today, the zealous youth of this country, who are ready to defend Islam, and their faithful and vigilant parents constitute a nation that is an example for all other nations. Today, other nations look to and are inspired by our nation."
In conclusion, the Leader of the Islamic Republic pointed out:
"As long as you are standing firm - and by the grace of Allah you will be doing so forever - the hope and enthusiasm of Muslim nations for Islam will increase day by day. God willing, the pillars of arrogance will become shaky and its downfall will be brought about by Muslim nations."