In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All praise is due to God, Lord of the Worlds, and may peace and greetings be upon our Master and our Prophet, Abul-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure Progeny, his chosen companions, and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment.
Welcome dear brothers and sisters. This is a warm, pleasant, friendly gathering, and, praise God, we can see a variety of faces here. We hope that our hearts will grow even closer together, God willing.
Last year, Martyr Raisi (may God be pleased with him) was present in this meeting and provided a detailed report on his efforts, services, and hard work. By the grace of Almighty God, he is now receiving and reaping the reward of his hard work at the table of God’s grace and mercy, God willing. I want you, our esteemed officials, to view these services in the same way.
Our lives are in God’s hands. Who knows where we will be tomorrow or what state we’ll be in. Look at it in this way that if you perform the duties you have taken on today with sincerity, strength, and the same kind of motivation that our honorable president spoke of and demonstrated, the rewards you will reap are far beyond what can be experienced in this life. Through His mercy, Almighty God will grant you a good reward in Heaven in the hereafter, God willing. Of course, good deeds also have their own [positive] effects in this world.
I would like to first of all thank Dr. Pezeshkian, our honorable president, for his extensive, good, useful statements. What catches my attention, and I have mentioned this to him several times, is that motivation that exists within him. This is very valuable. This motivation and the feeling that "we can do it, we will definitely accomplish it, we will pursue it, and our trust is in God and no one else," this state that he has within him is truly valuable. With God's help, he will be able to do these things, God willing. I am hopeful, God willing, he will stand before the public in the not-too-distant future and announce the fulfillment of these significant aspirations and make the people happy.
The topic I have prepared to discuss here is about the month of Ramadan. I also have prepared some words to share with you regarding the issues facing the country, which are related to our gathering.
Regarding the month of Ramadan, Ramadan is the month of zikr [remembrance of God]. It is the month of the Quran, and the Quran is the Book of zikr, "Indeed, We have sent down the Reminder [zikr]" is stated in Surah Al-Hijr, and "This [too] is a blessed reminder, which We have sent down. Will you then deny it?" is stated in Surah Al-Anbiya. There are numerous other verses as well. The Quran is zikr. It’s a source of zikr. It’s the Book of zikr. What does "zikr" mean? Zikr is the opposite of heedlessness and forgetfulness.
One of humanity’s important afflictions is forgetfulness, where a person may forget to carry out an important task or forget a useful piece of information. However, what is truly damaging and irreparable are two fundamental forms of forgetfulness: one is forgetting God, where a person forgets God; the second is forgetting oneself, or self-forgetfulness. These two forms of forgetfulness are indescribable in terms of the impact they have on a person's future. Almighty God has referred to and clearly stated both of these types of forgetfulness in the Quran. In one verse He has stated, "They have forgotten Allah, so He has forgotten them” (9:67).
God-forgetfulness, in the sense of God forgetting someone, has a metaphorical meaning because God doesn’t forget anyone or anything. Its metaphorical meaning is that Almighty God casts that person out of the circle of His mercy and guidance. That’s what God-forgetfulness means. “He has forgotten them” means that He no longer places that person in the light of His grace. He forsakes them — Khadhalah Allah [may God forsake them]. One of the most important curses is Khadhalah Allah.
Khidhlan means abandoning people to themselves, not paying attention to them, not helping them, and not thinking about them. This is khidhlan. This is what “He has forgotten them” means. That is why in one of the supplications in Sahifah al-Sajjadiyyah, one of the things that is earnestly, intensely requested from God in that famous prayer is, "And don’t cast me away from Your hand like one in whom there is no good" (supplication 47). In Arabic, irsal in such contexts means to throw or cast away. It means that don’t cast me away from Your hand like something that has no value or is useless — "And don’t cast me away from Your hand like one in whom there is no good." This is [about] forgetting God. The recompense for forgetting God is that He creates such a state or condition in a person where they suffer the greatest loss. Forgetting oneself is [mentioned] in the blessed Surah Al-Hashr, "Do not be like those who forget Allah, so He makes them forget their own souls" (59:19). He makes them forget themselves. They forgot God, so Almighty God made them forget themselves. That is, they were afflicted with self-forgetfulness.
Now, people are always dealing with everyday issues in life and don’t forget these things. This notion of self-forgetting, which means that God causes someone to forget themselves, is of profound significance both on an individual level and on a societal level. On an individual level, forgetting oneself means forgetting the purpose of one’s own creation. We believe that Almighty God acts with wisdom. Why has He created us? Why? This is an important question.
Almighty God Himself, God’s beloved, the prophets, and the Guiding Imams have all told us why God created us. God created us to elevate humanity to the highest levels of existential virtue and to transform us into Khalifatullah [God’s vicegerents]. This is the purpose of human beings’ creation. He created us to elevate us and to raise us to a lofty station. This has been repeatedly emphasized in the Quran, in narrations, and in the words of the immaculate [Imams] and God’s beloved. [Self-forgetfulness means] a person becomes heedless of this and forgets that they were created for this purpose.
Forgetting that life is passing is also a form of self-forgetfulness. Truly, this life is passing by and human beings are heedless. We all have an end. That’s clear, "You will die, and they [too] will die" (Quran 39:30). In Arabic, this end is referred to as ajal. We all have an ajal [appointed time of death]. We forget about this ajal. This ajal may be an hour from now, a day from now, or a year from now. Ultimately, we must prepare ourselves for it. This is another type of self-forgetfulness.
In the noble Abu Hamza Thumali Supplication [we read], "I haven’t prepared [anything] for my resting place" (Misbah al-Mutahajjid wa Silah al-Muta’abbid, 2: 591). Now, its expression is: if You take me from this world in my current state, where I haven’t prepared myself — I haven’t prepared myself and I haven’t prepared for my grave — if I depart from this world in this state, that will bring great regret! [That is,] a person becomes heedless of the fact that they must prepare themselves, think about the future, and ready themselves to meet God. Well, these are cases of individual heedlessness.
With supplications, beseeching God, fasting, and the self-restraint that exist in fasting with respect to the carnal desires, an individual can bring about this zikr and heedfulness, thus saving themselves from self-forgetfulness. If this heedlessness is eliminated, a person remembers the divine questioning, and we will pay heed to the fact that we will be questioned by God. A noble verse of the Quran [states], "We will surely question those to whom the messengers were sent, and We will surely question the messengers" (7:6). [The verse says,] We will question both the people for whom a prophet was sent, about what they did and how they responded, and "We will surely question the messengers" — We will also question the prophets themselves. Consider the great status of the prophets. Almighty God will ask them, "What did you do? How did you behave?" We are in this position.
If a person remembers this state, their behavior will change. In the Abu Hamza Thumali Supplication [we read], "Bestow Your mercy upon me when my excuses have failed, my tongue can no longer answer to You, and my intellect has failed in response to Your questioning " (Misbah al-Mutahajjid wa Silah al-Muta’abbid, 2: 592). When, a person is questioned in the presence of God on the Day of Judgment, they will naturally bring up excuses. [They will be asked,] “Why did you do this? Why didn’t you do that?” One must respond [to those questions]. People will make excuses — the same excuses that we make in this world, "It was because of this or that reason that I couldn’t." They will convince us that this excuse isn’t valid and that reasoning isn’t right. My arguments, my reasoning, and my excuses will be cut off there, "… when my excuses have failed, my tongue can no longer answer to You …" One’s tongue becomes tied in the face of the divine questioning. "And my intellect has failed in response to Your questioning," a person’s mind becomes scattered and fails in the face of these questions. Well, when zikr is achieved and when we remember that we have this responsibility, this affects our behavior. That’s how self-forgetfulness is. Now, this was about self-forgetfulness at an individual level.
Now, I have noted a point here that I would like to mention. The issue of divine questioning which applies to everyone, "We will surely question those to whom the messengers were sent," is especially relevant about us officials. This is because we have willingly taken on responsibilities. An offer for a position has been made to us, and we’ve accepted and committed ourselves to carrying out those duties. Therefore, there is an even heavier weight on us. We need to be more careful. If you see that in the general population, in the youth, and religious individuals, their care in avoiding sins, their attention to the Quran, and their acts of worship are a certain amount, you need to be even stronger in avoiding that which is forbidden and embracing what is obligatory and permissible. You must feel a greater sense of responsibility.
Now, as for self-forgetfulness in relation to society, this holds a greater significance on a societal scale. There is a noble verse in the Quran in Surah At-Tawbah — of course, this noble verse is about the hypocrites — that truly draws my attention when I reach this verse and read it. The part of that verse that I am referring to is, "They enjoyed their share [of worldly existence]; you too enjoy your share, just like those who were before you enjoyed their share, and you have gossiped [impiously] as they gossiped" (9:69). This [message] shakes a person.
Well, before the system of the Islamic Republic, this country had rulers, leaders, and administrators who carried out actions, had misdeeds, and had wrongdoings. This Revolution, despite all the hardships and struggles, and with the miracle of [having] someone like Imam [Khomeini (ra)] — whose presence during that period was truly something like a miracle — along with the countless sacrifices and the loss of so many wonderful, eminent, good young people, triumphed and continued, leading to the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Well, if we were to gradually move in that same direction and follow the same actions and paths that the administrators during the time of the taghut [Pahlavi regime] took, that would be a serious crime. That’s what this verse is saying.
"They enjoyed their share [of worldly existence]." Those who came before you expected a share and benefit for themselves, and they took that share and benefit. "You too enjoy your share." You also expect a share and benefit for yourselves, and you have taken that benefit. "Just like those who were before you enjoyed their share." You have acted like them. "You have gossiped [impiously] as they gossiped." You’ve followed the same path they took. If it’s like this, this is a matter of great concern. It would be an unparalleled loss if such a thing were to happen. Of course, Almighty God, through His grace, kindness, and guidance, has prevented the Islamic Republic from falling into such a state so far. Nevertheless, we must be wary, and we must be vigilant.
"Social self-forgetfulness" means forgetting our own identity and the philosophy behind the existence of the Islamic Republic. We mustn’t take the approaches that those before us took in this country in foreign policy, in domestic policy, in managing the country’s affairs, and in the distribution of the country’s privileges and resources. Their way was a different way; our way is something else. Our identity is different. If we forget this, it will result in that same self-forgetfulness but on a social scale, which is a great loss. Relying on foreign powers, living under oppression, with corruption, favoritism, and unhealthy exploitation are completely contradictory to the very essence of an Islamic civilization and the Islamic system that we have been and are striving to establish. We cannot imitate others.
I would like to say a few words on this subject. The structure of the Islamic system is based on the principles and ideals of the Quran. The Quran hasn’t left anything out. In the tafsir [exegesis] of the Quran, in the elucidation of Quranic concepts, the hadith, the words of the Infallible [Imams], and the noble Nahj al-Balaghah itself have not overlooked any point. An Islamic system, an Islamic country, and an Islamic community have a specific definition based on these standards, ideals, and goals that are outlined in the Book [Quran] and the Sunnah. We must move toward these ideals. There are defined values, as well as defined dos and don'ts. We must move toward these dos and don'ts and direct our efforts in this direction.
We cannot follow the foundations of Western material civilization in our various political and economic matters, or in other issues. Western civilization, of course, has its merits. There’s no doubt about that. Wherever there is something beneficial anywhere in the world — whether it’s in the West, the East, near or far — wherever there is something beneficial that we can learn from and use, we must do so. There’s no doubt about that. However, we cannot rely on the underlying principles of that civilization. The principles of that civilization are wrong. They’re contrary to Islamic principles. The values of that civilization are different. Hence, you see that they easily come to conclusions in their legal system, social systems, and in the media about things that you, as a Muslim who is familiar with the Quran, would feel ashamed to even think about. Therefore, in the context of following Western civilization, we must avoid falling into the pitfall [described in the Quran], "so He makes them forget themselves" (59:19).
Of course, Western civilization has fortunately revealed its true nature over time. That pomp and glory that Western civilization had in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, and the brilliance it had in the eyes of distant observers, no longer exist today. Western civilization has been discredited due to its colonialism, the imposition of its desires on other countries, its seizure of the wealth and resources of other nations, its committing widespread massacres, its double standards, its false claims of human rights, and its false claims of women’s rights. These have discredited Western civilization and exposed its true nature.
They have eliminated the moral boundary between men and women. They claim to be indifferent to values and to grant this freedom to everyone. This is what secularism means after all. Secularism means that this state, this government, doesn’t favor any values. It gives everyone the option to live according to their own opinion and values. [Of course,] that’s a lie! A woman wearing a chador in a European country gets attacked and is injured. She goes to court; the court begins to prosecute [him]. In that courtroom session, the person who previously attacked her, stabs her again and kills her! Nothing happens in response to that!
The double standards in the West are truly disgracing Western civilization and exposing the falsehood of their claims. They claim to uphold the free flow of information. Is that really the case? Is there truly a free flow of information in the West today? Can you mention the name of Haj Qasem [Soleimani], the name of Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, or the name of Martyr Haniyeh in Western-controlled social media platforms? Can you protest against the crimes being committed by the Zionists in Palestine, in Lebanon, and elsewhere? Can you deny the alleged incidents of Nazi Germany against the Jews? Is this their so-called free flow of information? That civilization has revealed itself and its true nature today.
You can see what Western leaders are saying, and specifically — this isn’t my opinion, it’s the opinion of insightful, precise Western sociologists — that Western civilization is moving toward further decline day by day. That's how it is.
Now, we have no right to follow or imitate the principles of that [Western] civilization. We have our own identity, and fortunately this identity is becoming more honorable around the world every day. Of course, there’s a significant amount of propaganda against it, a large amount! One example of their double standards and the so-called free flow of information may be seen by looking to see which foreign media outlet speaks about Iran in a way that matches the realities inside Iran. You have made scientific progress, but it isn’t shown; you have public gatherings, but they aren’t shown; you have achieved major successes in various fields, but they aren’t shown. [But] if you fail in one thing, it’s magnified tenfold! This is how their free [flow of] information operates! They don’t approach various issues and people in one way. It varies.
So it’s important for us, the officials of the Islamic Republic, to know the true identity of the Islamic system, to not forget it, and to pursue that. The points mentioned by the president are all supported by everyone who is familiar with the Quran, the Sunnah, the Nahj al-Balaghah, and the like. It’s all about these things. We must plan around these, pursue them, and take action based on them. This will elevate the country and make the Iranian people even more honorable than they already are. This will also serve as a model for nations and even for the statesmen of many countries if we can correctly implement this movement and move forward. Now, I do have two or three brief points regarding this movement and progress, which I will discuss briefly. This was regarding matters related to the month of Ramadan.
Regarding the country's issues, what is of primary importance is the economy. Well, we all know that today — that is, in recent years or roughly from the beginning of the 2010s until now — economic problems have gripped the country. Today, the issue is still the economy, and it’s an important matter. It’s also important to note that the threats posed by our enemies are mainly directed at the people's livelihood. These are primarily security threats and informational threats aimed at the people's livelihood. Their overall intention and plan is to prevent the Islamic Republic from being able to provide people's livelihood, and this will have its own consequences. This is what they’re after.
So the issue of livelihood is truly an important matter, and this matter must be seriously addressed and reforms made. The relevant authorities must focus most of their efforts on this issue. Of course, foreign sanctions are a contributing factor. There’s no doubt that the sanctions imposed by powerful entities have an impact on our current economic situation and people’s livelihood, but that’s not the only factor. Sanctions are one of the factors, [but] there are elements at play that are completely unrelated to the sanctions. I will address some of these points during my discussion.
So what should we do? One of the first things that needs to be done is to achieve internal cohesion between the various institutions. The different bodies within the executive branch must fully cooperate and work together. Additionally, the three branches of government and the Armed Forces must work together. The first condition is "cohesion." If we want to make progress, this cohesion must be established in the truest sense of the word. Fortunately, this is largely the case. It exists at higher levels today; [however,] this same cohesion and cooperation must also exist within the entire structure and at lower levels.
Another important point that has a fundamental impact on our work in the area of economics is speed of action. We move slowly and work at a sluggish pace. A constructive idea comes to our minds that needs to be acted upon. For example, consider the north-south corridor. From the moment this idea occurs to us until we decide to act upon it, a large amount of time passes. But sometimes this delay could be reduced to a tenth of the time. We take too long to decide.
After we’ve made a decision, there’s often a delay before we start implementing it. When we make a decision, we need to follow it up with action. Once we’ve understood, decided, and realized that something needs to be done, we need to immediately take action. After we begin to take action, there is [another] delay before we see results. The reason for this [delay] is mainly due to a lack of follow-up. One of my frequent recommendations to our honorable officials, respected managers, and honorable presidents over the years has been for them to make sure they follow up on their tasks.
You make a decision, take action, assign a responsibility to someone, and that person says, “Alright.” They’re not lying either, and they delegate it to the next person. However, progress slows down somewhere along the line. You need to go and look at the situation from up close. You mustn’t abandon the work [that needs to get done]. These gaps need to be reduced. The gaps between a thought and decision, decision and execution, and execution and results are very large amounts of time. We need to work quickly. This was the next point.
Unfortunately, we’ve seen that some of our managers believe that the safest course of action is to refrain from making decisions. Since decision-making is fraught with errors, risks, and the possibility of being taken to account or being questioned, and such things, they think the safest approach is to avoid making decisions and to neglect following up on tasks. This way of thinking where we imagine, for the sake of our peace of mind, that we shouldn’t have too much stress, we shouldn’t get worked up, we shouldn’t pursue the work to be done, and we should just think that if it happens, it happens [, if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t] is one of the most dangerous mindsets. Almighty God will question us about our inaction as well. Divine questioning isn’t just about what we do. It’s also about what we fail to do.
One point regarding the economy is that the country’s officials need to recognize the existing capacities within the country, which are many. We repeatedly say, "capacities, talents, potentials," but we fail to delve deeply into this.
One of our capacities is mainly our youth, who often achieve feats that are truly amazing — in the fields of economic issues, scientific endeavors, research, innovation, and creativity. This is one of our most important capacities.
One [of our other capacities] is our natural resources. Our natural resources rank among the finest and richest in the world. Our oil reserves, our stone resources, various minerals, these metallic ores, and the like are among the best globally. I once cited some statistics — although I don’t recall those statistics now, at that time I had seen accurate statistics — that indicated our population is one hundredth of the global total. In other words, out of eight billion people, let’s say we have eighty million people. But many of our main mines account for two hundredths, three hundredths, five hundredths, or even eight hundredths of the world’s total reserves.
So in terms of natural resources, we are ahead of many other countries around the world. We need to identify these resources. We have received reports indicating that there are some resources that the relevant authorities haven’t discovered yet. They’re still unaware that we have this resource or that resource in a certain part of the country. These matters are very important — both the types of resources and their amount. This is one of our capacities too.
The third capacity is our advancement in science and technology. In terms of our own situation, we are doing well in advancements in science and technology. Of course, our position was even better a few years ago — about 10 or 12 years ago. At that time, foreign sources reported that Iran's growth rate in scientific and research advancements was 13 times the global average. That was the growth rate. At that time, I said we shouldn’t allow this rate to decrease, because we will fall behind. After all, the world is moving forward too. It may not be the same rate now, but our progress is [still] very good.
One of the genuine problems in our economy is the issue of smuggling — two-way smuggling. Some things are smuggled out of here, which is totally detrimental to the country, and other things are smuggled in from the outside, which is also totally detrimental to the country.
So none of the things I just mentioned have anything to do with sanctions or things of that sort. If we fail to take swift action and if we fail to follow up on tasks with the necessary standards and measures, this has nothing to do with sanctions. It’s related to our actions. If we don’t take serious action to fight smuggling, it has nothing to do with the enemy or the side that’s placing sanctions. We mustn’t allow smuggling. We mustn’t allow it. And there are ways to prevent smuggling. This isn’t impossible. Of course, it’s a difficult task and we know that, but it’s doable. We must do this doable action. I’ve heard the reward for reporting smuggling was discontinued some time ago. Well, this reduces the incentive to uncover such activities. [Or there’s the issue of] border markets and things of that sort.
One of the important issues related to the economy is a reform of the country's currency system. Primarily, it’s about strengthening the national currency. Now, it’s up to the experts to determine the policies, programs, and kind of work needed to achieve this. The national currency must be strengthened, because it affects both the quality of people’s lives and the country’s reputation. Even if they say, for example, "There’s a formula. If you use it, it could lower inflation to perhaps even a single digit, but the exchange rate will rise to such-and-such level." This isn’t right. Because if the value of the national currency decreases due to a rising exchange rate, even if inflation is low, that money loses its worth and doesn’t create purchasing power for the poor and those who are more vulnerable. If you want to increase purchasing power for the people, you must prioritize the national currency. This is one of the most fundamental tasks.
Regarding currency, the repatriation of foreign exchange income for those with revenue from exports is very important. I’ve heard that during the time of the late Mr. Raisi (may God have mercy on him), it was said that some large companies — that is, major, important state-owned companies — have exports and a foreign exchange income, but the currency from these earnings isn’t returned to the Central Bank. He had come up with an idea, a solution, which was for these companies to commit to undertaking major projects in the country. For example, they were supposed to provide drinking water and agricultural water for a region where water was scarce, or establish a refinery, or build a power plant with a capacity of 200 or 300 megawatts. They had made these promises. After two or three months, I asked him about the progress on the work that these companies were supposed to undertake, but he didn’t know. He said he would inquire and get back to me. After about a week or so, he provided me with a report and said that it was the report they had submitted.
I looked at the report and saw it was nonsense. Nothing! The report didn’t indicate any action being taken whatsoever. Rather, it was just a collection of numbers put together. He was pursuing this matter. These are one of the things that needs to be done. If a foreign exchange income belongs to a company that is owned by the government, then how could it not be made available to the government? Why isn’t it made available to the Central Bank? What’s the reason for this? Something needs to be done about this. Serious action must be taken. These are all matters that are effective in improving people’s livelihood.
The issue of production, which I have repeatedly emphasized, is very important. There should be legal support for production. Resources should be allocated for production. The obstacles to production — unnecessary obstacles, which sometimes include organizational and bureaucratic barriers that aren’t necessary at all — should be removed.
[There’s the issue of] meeting domestic needs through domestic production. Who should fulfill their needs through domestic production? The people. What about the government? More than everyone else, the government is a consumer. The government consumes many products. Government agencies must be obligated to not import anything that is produced domestically for consumption. This is one of the things that needs to be done. Advancing technology and innovation in the field of production is important.
One of the important issues in the country’s economy is the matter of investment, which has been a persistent problem for us over the years. Of course, one of the goals of the sanctions is to prevent foreign investment, but there are ways around this — as the president briefly mentioned in his speech — for us to be able to invest. It’s important to invest domestically. We need to facilitate this for investors. Investors should feel that a venture is profitable and beneficial for them, and that they can do it. This will propel the country forward, and there are other such issues. Therefore, economic issues are significant matters. Officials in the economic sector, both within the government and outside of it, are sensitive to and focused on this issue as well. These points that I have mentioned deserve attention in my opinion and they should be pursued.
One word about foreign policy issues. Praise God, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is active. It’s one of the active foreign ministries. The issue of neighboring countries that he [President Pezeshkian] mentioned is important. The same goes for other non-neighboring countries, but there are one or two points to consider. The fact that some bullying governments — I really don't have a more appropriate term for certain figures and foreign leaders than the term “bully” — some bullying governments insist on negotiations. Such negotiations aren’t aimed at solving issues. Their aim is to exert their dominance. [They tell themselves,] “Let's negotiate so that we can impose what we want on the party sitting across from us at the negotiation table. If they agree, that's even better. If they don't agree, we can create a ruckus saying that they’ve distanced themselves from the negotiating table and walked away from it.”
That’s at attempt to dominate! Negotiations are a means and way for them to make new demands. The issue isn’t just about nuclear matters, where they only talk about nuclear matters. They’re making new demands that Iran will definitely not fulfill. [This includes demands] regarding the country's defense capabilities, our international capabilities, telling us not to do this, not to meet that person, not to go to that place, not to produce certain things, and to limit the range of our missiles to a certain extent. How could anyone accept such things? This is what they want negotiations for. Of course, they keep repeating the word “negotiations” to bring pressure from the side of the public opinion. People say, “Yes, the other side is willing to negotiate, why aren't you willing to do so?” It isn’t about negotiations! It's to exert their dominance and impose what they want. This is in addition to other certain matters, but this isn’t the place to discuss those and I don’t intend to delve into that today. However, we may discuss those matters at a later time. So this was an overall look at the matter.
Now those three European countries issue statements claiming that Iran hasn’t fulfilled its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA! Someone from this side should ask them, “Have you fulfilled yours?!” You say Iran hasn’t fulfilled its commitments under the JCPOA. Very well, have you fulfilled your commitments under the JCPOA? You didn’t adhere to it from the very first day! After the US withdrew, you promised to compensate in some way, [but] you broke your promise. Then you said something else, and you broke your second promise as well. Truly there’s a limit to how shameless one can be! Someone who fails to fulfill their own commitment asks the other side, “Why don’t you fulfill your commitments?” The administration, the administration at that time, put up with this for a year, then the Islamic Consultative Majlis [Iranian Parliament] stepped in. They passed a resolution, because there was no other way. It’s the same now. Now too, there’s no other way to deal with bullying or coercion [than to stand firmly against it].
O Lord! We beseech You by Muhammad (pbuh) and the Progeny of Muhammad (pbut) to grant us the blessings of Ramadan. O Lord! Make the pure soul of the magnanimous Imam [Khomeini] and the righteous martyrs — who have paved this way for us, kept it open, and sacrificed themselves on this path — pleased with us. Elevate their ranks. O Lord! Provide and apply a true spiritual and material divine ointment to the wounds inflicted on the bodies of the Resistance Fighters in the region. O Lord! By Muhammad and the Progeny of Muhammad, forsake the enemies of the Islamic Republic and make them humiliated. Elevate the Iranian people, the Muslim Iranian nation, to their rightful status and position. Honor the Islamic Ummah. Bestow Your grace on all the poor, the oppressed, and the underprivileged people of the world. Embrace us with Your satisfaction. Let what we have said and heard be for Your sake and on Your path, and answer our prayers. Forgive us during these blessed nights and noble days. Forgive our fathers, mothers, deceased, and ancestors.
May God’s greetings, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
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