The following is the full text of the speech delivered on October 13, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with the people of Esfarayen, North Khorasan province.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Two Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad, upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, and upon the infallible and noble guiders, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.
I am very happy that I found the opportunity to meet you dear people of the ancient city of Esfarayen on this trip. The most important purpose of this trip to your city is to meet you dear people, express my sincere respect for you and thank you for your enthusiastic presence since the victory of the Islamic Revolution. Of course, such trips - combined with the efforts of our government officials - should contribute to resolving some of the major problems of this region. Problems exist and by Allah's favor, there is a determination to introduce reforms and bring about improvement. Thankfully, the capacity for progress and improvement exists in this province.
Regarding this historical and ancient city, what all of us - particularly, the honorable youth of this city - should keep in mind is that this city has built many scientific, cultural and political luminaries throughout its history. This city is the birthplace of many poets, Islamic jurisprudents and intellectuals: the name of many of our luminaries was "Esfarayeni" [of Esfarayen]. With its natural resources and manpower, the city of Esfarayen is capable of building luminaries and scholars who can bring about honor for our country, luminaries and scholars who can take the future of our country into their hands by relying on their judgment and ideas. Wherever you are serving the country or studying, you dear youth of this city - both boys and girls - should be optimistic about this future. Considering the capacities of this city and its ancient history, it is possible to achieve this future.
The people of Esfarayen have been famous for being noble and brave. The fact that this city is the center of teaching the Holy Quran, is another honor for this city. The Quranic meetings which are arranged in this city, teaching the Holy Quran and promoting Quranic thought have caused the people of Esfarayen to refer to their city as "House of the Quran". And this is a great source of honor.
Of course, today the conditions of Esfarayen are not comparable with the conditions that existed in this city before the Islamic Revolution. Before the Islamic Revolution, I had a brief stay in your city. In the year 1347, an earthquake happened in the Dahane-ye Ojaq region. We left Mashhad for Dahane-ye Ojaq in order to help the quake-stricken people. On the same trip, I also visited Esfarayen. At that time, Esfarayen was a big village. In different respects, it was not comparable with current conditions of Esfarayen as we know it today. This is while the same natural resources that currently exist in Esfarayen existed at that time as well. This region has capacities for agriculture. It has many water resources. It has fertile soil on the slopes of the Shah Jahan Mountain. It has vast capacities for animal husbandry. These capacities are not limited to Esfarayen, rather they exist in the surrounding areas as well - from Bojnourd to Sabzevar. These capacities had been usurped by a few individuals who were affiliated with the Shah's court and government. The people were living in horrible conditions, both in cities and in villages.
Today this region has made remarkable progress although this progress is far less than what the people of this region deserve. Besides the capacities that exist for agriculture and animal husbandry, two of the most important factories in our country are in this region. There are other factories around this region, which promises progress for this region and this city. By Allah's favor, this region will have a better future in terms of its material conditions. There are certain problems, both in areas relating to agriculture and in areas relating to the factories. By Allah's favor, our government officials at different levels will try to eliminate these problems, which have been highlighted by this trip. Definitely, the necessary efforts will be made in this regard.
There was a day when the people of this region could not even imagine that one day academic centers and advanced academic programs would be established in this region. Thankfully, today there are academic centers in this region. Notice that this was the case with other parts of our country as well. In many parts of our country, different universities have been established and they offer a wide range of programs. This is while there was a day when nobody would have believed that academic centers would be established in those areas. I will return to this point later on in my speech.
The important point is that it is necessary to pay attention to the essential issues of the country, which can determine the orientation of the people and government officials who serve at different levels. Paying attention to the essential issues of the country can tell us in which direction were are moving, what our future is and what we should do in order to achieve that future.
In the speech that I delivered in the meeting with the honorable people of Bojnourd, I made two points. Today I would like to discuss those two points in more detail.
One of the points was that we have known North Khorasan province for liveliness and vibrancy. We have known this region for these characteristics and the people of this region - which is currently called "North Khorasan" - were famous for being lively and vibrant. They were famous for their spiritual and physical preparedness. This is a great asset. Laziness is the most important factor which can impose backwardness on a people. Liveliness and vibrancy of a people prepares the ground for them to make progress in different areas. Vibrancy is the main requirement.
I would like to raise a few points regarding the issue of vibrancy among youth. The first point is that it is necessary to preserve the enthusiasm and vibrancy that exists in the country. We must not allow different factors to undermine and destroy this widespread enthusiasm and vibrancy. There is no doubt that instilling laziness and indifference into our people is one of the areas on which the enemies of our country's progress have focused their efforts. That is to say, they are trying to extinguish the flames of the existing enthusiasm and vibrancy. We must not let the enemies achieve this malicious and hostile goal. This is why you see hundreds of radio stations and TV channels as well as hundreds of virtual centers in different parts of the world trying to instill a sense of despair into the minds of our people. When there is despair, vibrancy disappears and the flames of enthusiasm and vibrancy are extinguished. One of the main goals of different propaganda campaigns by the global news empire is to prevent our youth from making efforts and moving forward, and this is because our youth are enthusiastic and they have a tendency towards our values. Our responsibility is to counter their efforts. It is my belief that commemorating our commanders, our martyrs, our soldiers and the youth who enthusiastically stepped into the most difficult arenas before your generation, can increase the enthusiasm and vibrancy of our youth.
Addictive drugs - which are promoted by secret organizations - are one of the most important things that can act against this movement. In my opinion, it is our youth themselves who should fight drugs, relying on the enthusiasm and vibrancy that I discussed earlier. They want to put shackles on our youth. They want to impose addiction, indifference and failure on our youth. It is the youth themselves who should stand up against this plot. Of course, our government officials are also responsible. The organizations in charge of fighting drugs are also responsible, but nobody can stand up against such deviations as effectively as the people can. This is one point. Definitely, the current spirit of resistance among the youth of this province can foil the plots that dangerous gangs are hatching. This is one point regarding enthusiasm and vibrancy. It is necessary to preserve this enthusiasm and vibrancy. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the enemy is trying to extinguish the flames of this enthusiasm and vibrancy among our youth. Another point is that it is necessary to use this spirit to confront the important issue of addiction, which is a great threat.
The second issue, which I discussed in the meeting with the people of Bojnourd, is the issue of progress. We have announced that our goal is to make progress. Progress means constant activity. If we pay careful attention, we will realize that progress is both the path and the goal. We say that our goal is progress while progress means moving forward. How can "moving forward" be a goal? The answer is that human beings never stop making progress. That is to say, the nature of human beings requires them to constantly make progress in different areas. For those who are interested in progress, stagnation is meaningless, no matter at what spiritual or material level they are. Therefore, progress is both the path and the goal. It is necessary to constantly move forward. The Iranian nation has the capacity to make so much progress that it becomes a role model in the world. Why would we question our capabilities? Why would we be pessimistic about ourselves, our nation and our future? The enemy wants to instill this lack of confidence into our nation and he has been trying to do so for many years. They had convinced us that westerners were pioneers and that we had to follow them. History shows that there was a day when the opposite was correct. We used to be pioneers in the world. We used to be pioneers in science. We used to be pioneers in industry. We used to be pioneers in civilization. We used to be pioneers in cultural areas. Others used to learn from us. Is there any reason why we cannot become pioneers again? The determination of our youth and their view of progress should be such that we can aim for that future.
In a meeting with our outstanding young students, I said that they should try to reach such a level in the world that those who want to have access to the latest scientific findings are forced to learn Farsi. Our youth should have this goal in mind and work towards it. They should be sure that this future awaits us. Our outstanding scientific, political and cultural personalities should move forward and make plans with this goal in mind and they should not become satisfied with any level of progress.
There are certain standards as far as progress is concerned. One of the standards of progress for a nation is having national dignity and self-confidence. I believe that as far as this standard is concerned, our nation has made a lot of progress. Today our nation enjoys self-confidence in the arena of foreign policy. The fact that our government officials speak in a completely confident way regarding global developments, is because our nation has developed a sense of dignity and self-confidence. It is Islam that has given us this sense of self-confidence. The more we become familiar with Islam and Quranic teachings, the more this national of sense self-confidence will become. The manifestations of national dignity and self-confidence are completely visible in the country. Today the Iranian nation has many things to say in global arenas - including arenas of scholarly and political competition. By relying on the resistance of our people, our government officials stand up and say what they have in mind regarding global issues. This is a standard of progress.
Another standard for progress is justice. If a country makes progress in science, technology and different other manifestations of materialistic civilization but fails to establish social justice, that country has not made genuine progress from the viewpoint of Islam and the Islamic Republic. Today in many countries, there has been progress in science, industry and different other areas, but the gap between different social classes has grown wider. The progress they have made is not genuine progress. That kind of progress is superficial. When a small number of people receive the largest share of material benefits in a country while some people die of heat and cold in the streets, justice is meaningless in that country. We read in the news that in summer people die of heat in different cities of America. Why do people die of heat? Is there any reason other than the fact that they are homeless? They have nowhere to live in. The wealthiest people in the world and the most powerful companies, cartels and trusts are in America. Weapons trade profits America more than any other country. However, in a country with all that wealth, people die of heat in summer and cold in winter. This means that there is no justice there. They might show certain forms of justice in their movies or make up stories about justice, but what they show in movies is very different from the truth. There are such serious problems in countries whose economic system is capitalistic and carry the label "liberalism". This is a fact of life in America.
If we are determined to make progress, one of the important standards that we have to take into consideration is justice. I believe that we have made progress in this regard - of course, not as much as we wanted to. If we compare our conditions with the conditions that existed before the Islamic Revolution, we have made progress. If we compare our conditions with the conditions of other countries with different systems of government, we have made progress. But if we compare our current conditions with what Islam has demanded from us, there is a long way to go and we need to make a lot of efforts, and the responsibility lies on the shoulders of both the people and government officials.
We have made progress in equitable distribution of our resources throughout the country. There was a day when the largest portion of our national resources used to be allocated to certain regions which were affiliated with powerful people of that time, with court officials. And many other cities and provinces were completely deprived of our national resources. Before the Revolution, there were five personal airports in different parts of one of our big provinces. Those airports belonged to people affiliated with court officials of the Shah. This was while there was not even one single airport in that province which could be used by the people. That is to say, the people of that province could not use airplanes to fly in and out of the province, while there were five personal airports in the same province. This was injustice. Today we see that all parts of the country have access to different services and to roads and highways. People in all parts of the country can receive education. As I pointed out, at that time, there was not enough high schools in many parts of the country, even in certain big cities.
I was exiled to Sistan and Baluchestan province and I saw the conditions of the people of that province. Many cities in that province did not have enough high schools. There was only one academic center in that province, whose work was substandard. Today you see that there are universities in different cities of that and other provinces throughout the country, which means the people of all cities have access to education. This is justice. This means that opportunities for education have been distributed equitably throughout the country. Material facilities, financial resources and educational opportunities have been equitably distributed in the country, which is very good. In the past, gifted people who lived in distant cities did not have the chance to utilize their talent. Today this is no longer the case. In Esfarayen or in other parts of the country, talented people who show their talent are welcomed by different organizations, which utilize their talent. This was not the case in the past. Therefore, compared to the past, our work has been outstanding as far as the standard of progress - which is the standard of justice - is concerned. But compared to what Islam demands from us, we are still behind and we need to work hard and make efforts.
What I want to conclude from the points I highlighted to you dear people - especially our youth - is that our nation is faced with obstacles in a great arena. And in this arena, our country does not feel weak. We do not feel helpless. We feel powerful. We know that we can remove all these obstacles if we make efforts. Some of the obstacles are natural obstacles. Some other obstacles have been imposed on us. They are political obstacles and problems that the enemies of our country's progress have created for our people. These two kinds of obstacles should be countered in different ways.
In this battle of wills, the resolve and insight of you dear people can play a determining role. Unity of our people, solidarity of our government officials, cooperation between different organizations of the country and sense of responsibility of the people can help us achieve more advances. They can bring about what our country and our gifted and honorable people deserve.
Our enemies hatch plots. They are trying to create obstacles in the way of our great and determined nation so that we do not achieve progress, but our enemies should rest assured that just as we have shown them since the first day of the Revolution, they will fail in all of their conspiracies, plots and deceptions. Different politicians have come to power in the countries that are opposed to us - in America, in England and in certain other countries. Each of them came to power with a heart that was full of grudge and spite towards the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic. They made plans and hatched plots. They did everything in their power in the hope that they will manage to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees. They are gone now and the names of some of them have been forgotten, but thankfully the Iranian nation is present on the scene with pride and honor and it is continuing its path with a stronger resolve than the early days after the victory of the Revolution. This is indicative of the power which will be achieved by the Islamic Republic and the great Iranian nation that has supported it.
Of course, we must not feel too proud. I would say that becoming arrogant and neglecting the enemy's machinations will cause great dangers. We must not become arrogant. I always advise our government officials to remain strong, but I also warn them not to underestimate the enemy. The enemy must not be neglected. The enemy uses different methods. One day they speak about sanctions and another day they speak about military invasion. One day they speak about a soft war and another day they speak about cultural invasion and cultural NATO. The enemy uses different methods and it is necessary to be vigilant. The kind of progress that I discussed, the bright prospects that I delineated and the beautiful and attractive horizons that lie in front of us, can be achieved only if we remain vigilant, only if we guard against lack of vigilance, only if we avoid thinking that everything is in place, only if avoid dealing with our personal issues at the cost of neglecting the future of the country.
One characteristic of Esfarayen which has attracted my attention is that there is a large voter turnout in different elections in Esfarayen. This is very important. North Khorasan province in one of the top provinces in the country in terms of voter turnout and Esfarayen has the largest voter turnout in this province. Participation in elections is indicative of awareness and insight. People do not go to ballot boxes simply because they have nothing else to do: voting is a righteous deed. By Allah's favor, I will raise certain points about the issue of elections in other meetings on this trip and I do not want to discuss it in this meeting, but it is very valuable that the people of a city, a province or a country feel responsible towards the future of their society and towards management of their national affairs and decide to step in to play a role. This is the opposite of lack of vigilance that the enemy wants to impose on us. It is necessary to preserve this spirit. It is necessary to preserve the spirit of presence on the scene and the spirit of cooperation. It is necessary to preserve the spirit of consuming domestic products, which is another important issue that I will not discuss in this meeting.
I would like to add one last point. I have stressed domestic production - both at the beginning of the year and in the statements that I have made since then. Domestic production depends on consumption of domestic products and this is a responsibility that lies on the shoulders of the people. We should choose what we want to consume from among our domestic products. It is wrong to go after foreign brands: it is just an effort to satisfy a personal passion, but it works against an important national goal. Consuming domestic products boosts domestic production and when domestic production increases, the problems which were mentioned by the honorable Friday prayer leader will be eliminated and unemployment will be reduced. When domestic production increases, inflation decreases, prices go down and unemployment is reduced: all of these things are connected to one another. The people can carry out part of the responsibility by consuming our domestic products.
In any case, the responsibilities that should be carried out are numerous, but divine blessings are also abundant. Hopefully, Allah the Exalted will continue bestowing His grace and blessings on the Iranian nation. I hope Allah the Exalted bestows His blessings on you. I hope you benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake).
Again, I would like to thank you dear people of Esfarayen for this warm, friendly and enthusiastic presence. I would like to express my gratitude for your enthusiastic presence in all revolutionary gatherings and in all important issues of the country. I salute your martyrs, your luminaries and your ancestors. I hope Allah the Exalted bestows His mercy and grace on all of you.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings