Thousands of students met today with Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution. Speaking at the meeting, the Leader referred to the sense of responsibility towards the future of the country as the most important duty of the young generation. His Eminence said that the conflict between the Islamic Republic and America is beyond differences in political viewpoints, further reiterating: "America will not be able to prevent the Iranian nation from treading the path of independence and glory. The future will certainly bring about knowledge, power, prosperity, and glory for the Iranian nation."Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the youth have to shoulder a heavier responsibility to ensure a prosperous future for the Iranian nation. He added: "The victory of our nation's Islamic movement under the leadership of Imam Khomeini (r.a.) and the annihilation of the strong fortress of arrogance inside the country was due to the sense of responsibility on the part of our youth. It was this sense of responsibility that led to the resistance and the miraculous victory of the Iranian nation over the arrogant powers during the eight-year Sacred Defense Era."
His Eminence said that the capturing of the US embassy - which was a center for espionage - on November 4, 1978 was the result of the collective sense of responsibility on the part of the prominent youth of the time.
Elsewhere in his speech the Leader of the Islamic Revolution posed a question drawing attention to the reasons behind the Iran-America conflict. "In order to answer this question we must deeply reflect upon the issue. That is because the conflict is beyond differences of opinion about some political issues. The victory of the Islamic Revolution put an end to the US control over its main base in the oil rich Middle East region. After that Iran turned into the most important base to fight US domination through shouting anti-oppression and anti-arrogance slogans."
His Eminence added: "After Americans were expelled from Iran, they resorted to their usual arrogant policies and started to use their embassy in Tehran for espionage activities against the Islamic Republic. However, the great movement on the part of our faithful youth - who were the true followers of Imam Khomeini (r.a.) - foiled their plots."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution advised the youth to study the documents which were found in the US embassy in order to gain an understanding of the role of this embassy before and after the Islamic Revolution. He added: "The measure that was taken by students [that is, capturing the US embassy] was a great deed. Imam Khomeini (r.a.) believed that this measure was more important than the Revolution itself because it destroyed the US grandeur in Iran and the whole world."
His Eminence described the Iranian nation's abhorrence of the US as intense and added: "This abhorrence is rooted in the fact that the US has been making different plots against the nation during the last 50 years. Americans have not only refused to apologize for their acts, they have also continued their arrogant behavior."
Ayatollah Khamenei added that the Iranian nation only wants to keep its identity, independence, and glory. "Our nation has no intention of attacking other countries. But if anybody tries to take away our identity and independence, our nation will cut his hand off." The Leader posed a question about the final result of the Iran-America conflict and said: "Western propaganda machines pretend that this conflict will result in a dead end for the Iranian nation and success for the US. Nothing could be further from the truth because it is the arrogant US government that is going to reach a dead end."
"If the US was to defeat the Iranian nation, it would have done so when our nation had far less experience, knowledge, military capabilities, youthful dynamism, and influence on other nations. However, the US was not able to defeat our nation at that time, and it is certainly not able to do so in the current situation."
Ayatollah Khamenei touched upon the current fragile status of the US and added: "Today the US government has no reputation among the Western nations and inside the US. Today all the basic slogans of the US regarding, for example, human rights and democracy are losing their credence in the world."
His Eminence also added: "Today the US government is suffering from such international disgrace that whenever the US president travels to a country, the people hold demonstrations and ask him to leave their country."
The Leader reiterated that the success and victories gained by the Iranian nation are due to the resistance on the part of the nation and government officials. "However, this does not mean that there are no problems. On the contrary, the current problems show that our resistance has not been flawless," he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei described unity among the people and government officials as the secret behind the nation's victory. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution advised the entire nation, especially the youth, politicians, government officials, and the media, to be vigilant against the plots of the enemies. "The enemies are trying to foment discord, pitch political activists against one another, sideline the original Islamic values, keep the youth busy with carnal desires, cause discord and disorder in educational settings, and make the people disappointed. Therefore, everybody must take care not to fall prey to the plots of the enemies," he said.
At the end of his speech, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed that the Iranian nation will emerge victorious out of the challenges and reach the peaks of prosperity.