On the occasion of the Iranian New Year the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei issued a message on March 20, 2009. The following is the full text of this message:
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
O Conqueror of hearts and sight,
O Planner of night and day,
O Transformer of power and circumstances,
Change our condition to the best of conditions.
I congratulate our people living in different parts of the country and the world on Norouz [Iranian New Year] - which happens to be close to the birth anniversary of the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.) and Imam Sadiq (a.s.) and is more glorious as a result of this proximity. I also congratulate the people of other countries that celebrate this occasion. I would especially like to congratulate the honorable families of our martyrs, selfless devotees of the Revolution, and war-disabled veterans and I wish the best for all of them.
The year 1387 which ended a few minutes ago was very eventful for us, both on national and international fronts. On the international front, there were a number of great and important events that undoubtedly had far-reaching effects on global policies. One of these events was the great economic crisis that started in the US and spread to Europe and other countries including our country. The economic crisis was of paramount importance to the people of the world. Not only has it affected their daily lives and their financial plans, but it will probably have great effects on their views of the present economic theories and the capitalist economy.
Fortunately, our nation and our country managed to stay clear of the negative effects of this devastating global tornado to a great extent. Of course, we must still continue to take the necessary precautions in this regard.
Another internationally important event that happened last year was the war waged on Gaza by the Zionist regime, which attracted great international attention. Some people - mainly western politicians - took a spiteful position on the Palestinian issue and Islamic resistance. Other people opted to support the oppressed people of Palestine and Gaza. But the consequences of this brutal and oppressive attack were stunning to all people throughout the world. The defenseless people of Gaza resisted for 22 days and the Zionist regime launched a full-scale attack on these people. But this event ended in a defeat for the Zionist regime. That was a very important experience for the people of the world, which proved the feasibility of national resistance in the face of bullying powers' oppression.
There were other events that took place in the region and the world, but I will not discuss them here. Many important issues also took place on the national front throughout last year.
The year 1387 started with good news regarding our nuclear achievements. The Iranian people found out that their youth and their hardworking professional scientists had managed to achieve progress in nuclear technology in spite of the international sanctions imposed on our country. They had managed to prove the Iranian nation's capabilities in the field of nuclear technology to the entire world. That achievement created new international prestige for the Iranian nation not only in scientific areas but also in various other areas.
Last year the eighth Islamic Consultative Assembly was formed by Allah's favor. Throughout last year the Majlis cooperated with the esteemed executive branch and passed and enforced appropriate laws. I hope this cooperation will continue in the future.
There were also other achievements in various areas last year. Regarding nuclear technology, we launched the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which was important and great news for us. Of course this achievement was the result of the progress made by our scientists inside the country and it convinced the entire world that the nuclear progress of the Iranian nation cannot be impeded.
Several other things have been done in scientific areas and it would take a long time to name them here. I myself was witness to the examples of these scientific achievements at an exhibition. These achievements are truly astounding. Our youth and our hardworking nation have managed to accomplish impressive achievements in scientific areas, which have neutralized thirty years of negative propaganda broadcast from different parts of the world against the Islamic Revolution.
Launching the Omid satellite into space was one of the manifestations of our scientific progress, which marks the first step in our progress. This achievement made our country one of the few countries in the world to possess this technology. It attracted great international attention. It showed that the Iranian nation can grow independently and that the Iranian nation's capabilities for progress are not inadequate.
As for economic issues, I would like to tell our esteemed nation that our government officials have managed to overcome the wave of economic crisis that engulfed the entire world. In spite of the devastating wave of economic crisis and depression in the world and in spite of the sanctions that have been imposed on the Iranian nation due to the nuclear issue as well as other reasons, our government officials have managed to curb the negative effects of this economic crisis to a great extent. They have managed to prevent our nation from being knocked down by this wave of crisis, which has caused many problems for a large number of countries throughout the world. I hope we will achieve increasing economic progress on a daily basis and make our people happier than before. I hope our achievements will, by Allah's favor, prepare the ground for further progress in various fields.
As you saw last year, "the year of innovation and flourishment" fortunately brought about a great deal of innovation and flourishment in the country and this slogan achieved preliminary success. Of course innovation and flourishment were not peculiar to the year 1387. We must continue the same trend seriously to achieve the scientific and technological position that our nation deserves.
The current year which has just started is of paramount importance. I hope the Iranian nation will rely on its power - which originates from its faith in God - and overcome the possible problems that will happen this year. By Allah's favor, all the national, regional, and international problems, which may happen in a year's time, will end in the Iranian nation's favor.
Here is what I would like to tell our nation: We all prayed to "the Transformer of power and circumstances" at the beginning of this year to "change our condition to the best of conditions." This prayer is about Allah's will, but it is undoubtedly necessary for all of us to make efforts. These efforts prepare the necessary requirements for God's blessings and mercy. We must make efforts to transform our own situation. We must make efforts to improve our lives, minds, hearts, and conditions in this world and the hereafter. That is the duty of the entire Iranian nation. A broad variety of spiritual and religious issues, subjective and objective realities, and daily experiences in our personal and social lives are all included in the divine order that is repeated each year in the form of this prayer: "Change our condition into the best of conditions."
I will limit my discussion to only one example which I believe represents a prominent and clear manifestation of transforming our own conditions. Our national resources are the outcome of the strenuous efforts on the part of ourselves, our compatriots, and our government officials. But we use these resources carelessly and we must pay special attention to this point. We are suffering from extravagance. We are suffering from wasteful consumption.
By Allah's favor, in my New Year public address I will explain this point to our dear people in detail. Today I will just mention in passing that a great deal of our resources, or maybe the major portion of our national resources, are squandered due to our extravagant consumption in different areas including our personal lives and to some extent our social lives. We must manage our consumption norms competently and efficiently. Not only from an Islamic point of view, but also from a rational point of view, consumption is something that has to be controlled by our intellect. It is not possible to manage consumption by recourse to our whims and instinctive tendencies.
If extravagant consumption is not controlled, our national resources will be wasted, the gap between the poor and the rich will be widened, and some people will not be able to satisfy their most basic needs while others will waste the resources due to their extravagant norms of consumption. We must reform our norms of consumption. We must try to reform our consumption norms. Government officials - the legislative branch, the executive branch, the judiciary branch, and all government officials - must pay special attention to this point. Government officials and people with different social positions as well as ordinary people including the poor and the rich must reform their norms of consumption. Extravagance and unreasonable norms of consumption, both in luxuries and necessities of life, are harmful to the country and our people.
I ask our people, especially our government officials, to make more efforts in this regard and make plans to reform our norms of consumption. Therefore, I believe this year is the year in which our people and government officials must try to reform their consumption norms. I hope this name - that is, "reforming norms of consumption" - will serve as a guideline for all our people and officials. I hope we will work for our country according to this slogan and make the best of our national resources.
I would like to commemorate our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) and our honorable martyrs. I once again congratulate all the people of Iran on Norouz.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings