In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I would like to congratulate you dear youth and the dynamic and motivated officers of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Army on your graduation. I would also like to congratulate the youth who will start treading this path in our military academies from today. Your path is the path of glory. Your path is the path that any liberated man would praise in his heart. It is the path of defending lofty Islamic values, which is a vital necessity. You are already on this path and you are treading a sensitive and dangerous part of it. The Armed Forces spearhead the resistance of the Islamic Republic, divine government and Islamic civilization against the enemies and ill-wishers. Our dear youth follow this path with motivation, love, awareness and insight, which will bring about honor for them in this world and in the next. Dear people, the path you are following is a spiritual and auspicious path. Appreciate the value of this path. No matter in which part of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Army you are serving, consider your services a righteous deed that will be rewarded by Allah the Exalted and will improve your spiritual status in this world and in the next.
I would also like to congratulate the honorable officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Army as well as the officials of this university on the efforts that they have made to educate you dear youth. Today's programs were beautiful and innovative. May God bestow success on you so that with every step you take, you can help our country and our honorable and supportive nation take a step forward. Today love for progress, action and innovation has filled every part of our country. In different areas - including scientific and technological areas, areas that involve innovations, and political and social areas - everybody is thinking about introducing novel and innovative ways. And this path is open to you dear cadets and young officers of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Armed Forces. You enjoy the blessing of youth and you are making efforts in scientific environments. You also have the honor of serving in the Armed Forces, which are described by the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) as strong walls that protect peoples.
As time passes, the importance and value of making efforts to strengthen the Islamic Republic becomes clearer. In their confrontation with this great and vibrant movement, today the enemies of Islam and the Islamic Ummah feel that they have fallen behind. For this reason, they do idiotic things. The recent insult to the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.) is a lesson that will go down in our history. Leaders of the arrogant powers refuse to condemn this move and they fail to do their responsibility in the case of this great crime. They also try to distance themselves from this event. They claim that they are not involved. We do not insist on proving that certain people or government officials were involved in this crime, but the behavior and methods of the leaders of the arrogant powers, American politicians and certain European countries have caused peoples of the world to point the finger of blame at them. They should prove that they were not an accomplice in this great crime and they cannot do so by simply denying their involvement. They should prove their innocence with actions. They should prevent such transgressions. Of course, they will not do so and the reason is clear.
Organizations which are affiliated with the arrogant powers have the motivation to insult Islam and what is held sacred in Islam. The great wave of Islamic Awakening is what causes them to do such idiotic things. They reason that because of their respect for freedom of expression, they cannot prevent people from committing such great sins. Who would believe this in the world? In the countries where there are specific red lines that help maintain the principles of their arrogant power, in the countries where they seriously enforce these red lines and use force to stop people from violating them, who would believe that in those countries, government officials feel obligated to respect freedom of expression when it comes to insulting what is held sacred in Islam?
Today in many western countries, nobody dares question the Holocaust whose nature is questionable. According to the reports I have received, in America if people decide to write something against homosexuality on the basis of psychological and sociological principles, they will be prevented from publishing their work. How is it that these people feel obligated to respect freedom of expression? Whenever it comes to evil Zionist policies which require them to violate ethical principles of peoples and to corrupt young generations, freedom of expression becomes meaningless and nobody has the courage or permission to publish anything against wicked and malicious Zionist policies or against an issue like the Holocaust, but this is not the case with insults against what is held sacred in Islam, insults which are aimed at making Muslim youth in Islamic countries lose respect for what is held sacred in Islam. Nobody would believe their claims. Nobody would believe that the American regime is a supporter of democracy, a regime that supported a person like Hosni Mubarak for thirty years and a person like Mohammad Reza Pahlavi for thirty five years in spite of all those crimes he committed in Iran. Nobody would believe that their invasion of Iraq and their attacks against Saddam Hussein were an effort to fight dictatorship. They create dictators. It is their support that has enabled the regional dictators - who have ruled in our Islamic region during different eras - to bully and oppress their own people and make them suffer from discrimination. How can they claim to support democracy? Nobody would believe their claims.
Today global public opinion is against American and Zionist policies. Yes, governments do not protest because of certain considerations, but peoples cannot tolerate this any longer. Whenever they find such an opportunity, they protest against centers affiliated with America, against America's social and political centers in different countries. They hate American and Zionist policies.
The confrontation between Islam and the arrogant powers of our time will undoubtedly end with a victory for Islam. The Islamic Republic has a great responsibility to fulfill in this regard and an important part of this responsibility falls on the shoulders of you dear youth who serve in different parts of our Armed Forces. I hope Allah the Exalted bestows success on all of you. I hope Allah the Exalted raises the spiritual position of the honorable martyrs who have sacrificed their lives over the past 32, 33 years. I hope He associates their souls with His saints in the hereafter. I also hope Allah the Exalted associates our honorable Imam (r.a.), who opened up this path for all of us, with His saints.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings