The following is the full text of the speech delivered on July 18, 2015 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with government officials and the ambassadors of Islamic countries in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The meeting was held on the occasion of Eid ul-Fitr.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem Al-Mustafa Muhammad, upon his pure, immaculate and infallible household - especially the one remaining with Allah on earth - and upon his chosen companions.
I would like to congratulate you dear brothers and sisters who are present here, particularly the honorable officials and guests - the honorable ambassadors of Islamic countries - on the auspicious Eid ul-Fitr. Also, I congratulate all the people of Iran and all Muslims throughout the world on this Eid.
As we read in this dua - "He Who made this day into an Eid for Muslims" [from the qunut of Eid ul-Fitr prayers] - I hope that Allah the Exalted will turn this day into an Eid for all Muslims, but unfortunately, this is not the case today.
Unity, unanimity and brotherhood of Muslims
Islam has placed great emphasis on the unity, unanimity and brotherhood of Muslims
Today, the world of Islam is facing many problems. Islam has placed great emphasis on the unity, unanimity and brotherhood of Muslims. We can hold fast by the rope that Allah stretches out individually, but Islam does not advise this: "And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah stretches out for you" [The Holy Quran, 3: 103]. All of us should hold fast by this rope together. We should be together. Despite all this emphasis, today we Muslims do not unfortunately obey this command of Islam. And as you can witness, this is the result. I want to ask all Muslims - particularly ulama, intellectuals, officials, politicians and outstanding personalities in all Islamic countries - to see the treacherous hands of the enemies of the Islamic Ummah in this discord. This discord is not a natural one, rather it is imposed on and suggested to us. Muslims can naturally live together. Experience has shown that when the enemy's temptations, deception and malevolence do not enter the arena, they can live together. We have seen this in our own country. We have seen this in Iraq and other Islamic countries.
They inject this discord into the world of Islam. Why do they do so? It is because the interests of superpowers lie in it. They do not want the Islamic Ummah to be united. They do not want this great power to arise in the horizons of global powers. They do not want this. If the Islamic Ummah were united and if it relied on its common points, it would undoubtedly become a unique power in the firmament of global politics. Considering its large population, underground resources and provisions, and natural and human sources of wealth and considering the countries that are located in this sensitive area of the world, if we became united, such a phenomenon would dominate the world. They do not want this to happen. They have planted the Zionist regime in the region so that they can create discord and busy regional countries with themselves.
The Zionist regime
Nations resisted the Zionist regime and they did not surrender to them. You should pay attention to this point. During the 10 years when the Zionist regime increased its materialistic power on a daily basis with the assistance and support of England and later on America, some weak governments and vicious individuals in Muslim governments were drawn to the Zionists. Many Muslim governments and some politicians in the world of Islam - including the former sinister regime in our country and some others - established close relations with the Zionists. This was while the Zionists were usurpers, transgressors and murderers.
They had imperialist desires and they used to chant the slogan of "From the Nile to the Euphrates." These governments and individuals completely ignored our enmities towards the Zionists. However, nations did not do so. The feeling of hatred of usurping Zionism and the Zionist government continued to be present in their hearts. So, they did not follow their governments in this regard. Well, this was a heavy blow for the governments which were dependent on America and which were the close friends of the Zionist regime.
Therefore, they thought about destroying this feeling in peoples and dissuading them from fighting against the Zionists. What did they do to further their goal? They waged these domestic wars: the wars between Shia and Sunni. These criminal organizations - including al-Qaida, DAESH and the like - were created with the purpose of pitting us against one another and making nations confront each other. This is the transgressing and treacherous hand of the enemy.
Americans and DAESH
Each of these extremist groups is followed by a significant number of people. What is better than this for the Zionists? What is better than this for the Zionist regime?
Some Americans have confessed in their own memoirs [including Hillary Clinton's memoirs] that they have played a role in creating, developing and establishing DAESH and today too, they are supporting them. Now, a coalition against DAESH has been formed. Of course, I do not believe that there is a real coalition against DAESH. Now, let us assume that there is some organization against this group, but is DAESH the only terrorist group? Different groups with different names and with windfall wealth at their disposal are working around Islamic countries. They are promoting terrorism, causing explosions and killing innocent people on the street and in markets, squares, mosques and other such places. They have busied peoples with themselves. They have busied Shia against Sunni and Sunni against Shia.
On the one hand, they train some people from the first side to be extremist, vulgar and violent and they give them money to do such things and on the other hand, they train some individuals from the second side to do the same so that they can pit them against each other. Each of these extremist groups is followed by a significant number of people. What is better than this for the Zionists? What is better than this for the Zionist regime? We should awaken and understand what is happening in the region.
Shia versus Sunni
The policies of arrogant powers in the region are treacherous policies: clearly treacherous. In Iraq, the policy of arrogant powers is to overthrow the government that is based on election, majority and democracy. They are after this. They want to weaken and create obstacles for it so that it cannot work. They want to pit Shia and Sunni in Iraq against each other. We have seen Iraq before these events. Shia and Sunni used to live together and marry each other, but today, they have to stand up and pull guns against each other. And their ultimate goal is to disintegrate Iraq, but our policy is the exact opposite of theirs. We believe that the election-based government of Iraq should be strengthened. We believe that those who are creating domestic discord should be confronted and resisted and that the territorial integrity of Iraq should be preserved. This policy is the exact opposite of the policy of arrogance in Iraq.
Syria
We say that a government whose slogan, goal and intention is to resist the Zionists is valuable for the world of Islam.
In Syria, the policy of arrogance is to overthrow - at any price - the government that is known for its resistance against Zionism, but our policy is against theirs. Of course, we believe that those who should make the decisions in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Lebanon and all other countries are the people of these countries. We and other people do not have the right to make decisions, from outside, about the fate of countries. It is they themselves who should be making the decisions. This is what we believe. The policy of arrogance towards Syria is to decide - from outside - the fate of this government and these people who are known for their firm and determined resistance against the Zionists. Both the current and former presidents of Syria stood up against the fake Zionist regime in an outspoken way.
We say that a government whose slogan, goal and intention is to resist the Zionists is valuable for the world of Islam. We have no personal interest in Syria or Iraq, rather we are thinking about the world of Islam and the Islamic Ummah. Our positions and the positions of arrogance are at such opposite poles.
Hezbollah in Lebanon
In Lebanon, the Zionist regime had occupied an important part of that country for many years. Arrogance - headed by America - took the path of silence on this matter: one that was accompanied by approval and satisfaction. Later on, a religious and self-sacrificing group emerged in that country to resist them. The most noble national defense forces are the Lebanese Resistance and Hezbollah of Lebanon. They are the noblest groups in the world that have engaged in national resistance and national defense. We know few resistance groups in the world that are so moral, religious, self-sacrificing and successful. This is while they are the target of many assassination attempts and they have been accused of terrorism.
Is Hezbollah a terrorist group? Is the great force in charge of the national defense of Lebanon a terrorist group? Is this terrorism? So, were the resistance groups that you Europeans and others are proud of and that stood firm in the name of defending their country - for example, the groups that emerged in France and other countries - terrorist groups? Is a force that is standing firm against aggressors and arrogant agents and that is sacrificing itself a terrorist force? This is while they firmly shake hands with the child-killing, oppressive and criminal Zionist regime as their eternal brother and friend. This is their policy.
The reason why we defend the Lebanese Resistance is that it is a resistance group - in the real sense of the word - against the enemies. It is a resistance group, one that is courageous, self-sacrificing and resistant. If it had not been for this group, Israel - that had advanced towards Saida and even farther towards Beirut - would have occupied Beirut today and no Lebanon would have remained. It is this resistance group that has prevented them from doing so. This is while the Americans - these honest and truthful American politicians - refer to them as terrorists and they call Iran "a supporter of terrorism" because of its support for these groups.
But it is you who are the defenders of terrorism! It is you who have created DAESH. It is you who train terrorists. It is you who take the vicious and terrorist Zionists under your wings. It is you who defend terrorism. You should be put on trial because of supporting and assisting terrorism. The same thing holds true for Yemen, Bahrain and other countries.
Yemen
Does the former president of Yemen - who resigned at the most sensitive time with the purpose of creating a political vacuum and who fled the country wearing women's clothes - have legitimacy? Does such a president have the right to ask another country to attack his country and kill the people? It is about four months - three-plus months - now that they are striking Yemen. Which places are they striking? They are striking mosques, hospitals, cities and houses and they are killing innocent people and children, but what is their crime?
America is supporting such groups. Today, I said in the Eid ul-Fitr sermons that they are making a mistake in the present time. They are speaking about their past mistakes such as the one made on the 28th of Mordad. They say that they have made certain mistakes. Yes, you have made very grave mistakes, but in the present time too, you are making a mistake. You are shaking hands with the most dictatorial regimes and all of you are eating from the same bowl [Persian expression meaning that two individuals are collaborating ].
Hypocrisy of American politicians
You American politicians speak and make judgments in a completely unfair manner. You do so even when it comes to clear truths. One really wonders how shameless they are! They have friendly and brotherly relations with the governments that do not even allow their people to hear the name of elections. They sign a brotherhood pact with such governments. In some of these countries, if someone speaks about elections on the street, they will be put in prison and their fate will be uncertain. This is while they say that the Islamic Republic - that has had 30-plus elections during the past 36 years - is dictatorial. Are such people trustworthy? This is why we say that these people cannot be trusted.
They cannot be trusted. These are not people from whose mouths honest words come out. There is no honesty in them. Even on the issue of the difficult test that Mr. President referred to - both he and other officials really made great efforts on this path - they constantly and repeatedly behaved in a dishonest manner throughout all this period. Of course, our officials fortunately confronted them. In some cases, they behaved towards them in a really revolutionary way and they have achieved some results. We will see what will happen in the future.
Unity
The world of Islam has one single prescription today and that is unity.
The world of Islam has one single prescription today and that is unity. This prescription exists in all Islamic countries. Nations should be united. The Iranian nation should be united. No division and discord should emerge out of nuclear, non-nuclear and other such events. It should not be the case that each group says different things. A task is being carried out for which there are certain officials. They are pursuing the matter and by Allah's favor, they will be able to identify and pursue what constitutes national interests. There should not be any division among the people because this is what the enemy wants. If someone is following the foreigners' propaganda, radios, television networks and the websites that are developing and publishing various writings on a daily basis with the purpose of creating division among the people, you should not allow them to create division. Instead, you should preserve unity and stay together.
Social piety and individual piety
Power should grow from the inside. Collective and social piety is like individual piety.
Power should grow from the inside. Collective and social piety is like individual piety. In the case of the latter - the purpose of fasting is to achieve piety and the month of fasting is the month of achieving piety - when you achieve piety, you become immune just like the person who has received vaccine and who has thus immunized themselves. Even if they go to a microbe-contaminated environment, it will not affect them. Piety is like this. It does not allow the surrounding environment to influence you. At least, it does not allow you to be influenced easily. Individual piety is like this.
The same is true of national piety. If a people strengthen themselves from the inside, if they strengthen their science, their industry, their faith and their culture, then outside forces will not be able to influence them. This is a prescription that all of us should act on today. The world of Islam should act on it as well.
Dear God, You Yourself help us identify and take the path of guidance.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings.