All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-il-Qassem al-Mustafa Mohammad, and upon his immaculate and infallible household, especially what remains with Allah on earth.
First of all, I would like to welcome all the dear brothers and sisters. I hope this gathering will be of benefit to all of us.
I begin by citing a verse from the holy Qur'an, so that our opening remarks may be adorned with divine words:
"(As for) that future abode, We assign it to those who have no desire to exalt themselves on the earth, nor to make mischief, and the good end is for those who guard (against evil)." (28:83)
Accomplishing the lofty and noble objectives of the Islamic system requires firm resolve and strong determination. Still, it will not be possible without divine assistance. Therefore, we should seek help from Almighty Allah, rather than just rely on our own abilities.
We should also realize that there is no obstacle preventing our proximity to Almighty Allah. Thus, if we pray to the Almighty with clean hearts and pure intentions and seek help from Him, divine grace and blessings will be bestowed on us.
The next point I would like to stress concerns the officials and the authority that is associated with their office. The officials should never try to abuse their power and authority.
The holy verse that I just cited aims to convey this point. There is a narration from the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (peace and greetings be upon him), which underlines that the above verse was revealed to the holy Prophet with regard to those wielding power and authority in society.
The above verse ends by saying that "the good end is for those who guard (against evil)." Some have interpreted "the good end" as referring to the hereafter. But others believe that it also refers to this world, which seems acceptable to me. The good end is for those who guard against evil, both in this world and in the hereafter.
We, as the officials of the Islamic system, should highly value our positions of responsibility and try to perform our tasks and serve the people in the best possible manner. Iran is a country that has a great, civilized nation. It is also rich in natural resources, including vast oil and gas reserves and many kinds of metallic and nonmetallic minerals.
Furthermore, Iran has an important geographic location, which links the eastern and western parts of the world and plays a significant role in promoting international commerce and trade. However, Iran's greatest asset is its talented youth, who constitute the majority of our population.
Before the victory of the Islamic Revolution and under the former tyrannical monarchs, all the country's resources were at the disposal of those dictators. They treated the national wealth as their personal property and did not care about the country's progress and development. This is the reason why no considerable progress was made in this country under the former regimes for hundreds of years.
However, in the years following the victory of the revolution, outstanding achievements have been made in our country, especially in the scientific and technological areas. Today, there are universities even in remote cities, and the number of our university students has increased tenfold compared with the time when our Islamic system was established.
Despite all their hostility toward the Islamic Republic, the arrogant powers have acknowledged that Iran is among the ten countries in the world capable of producing nuclear fuel. This is a very great achievement in the field of nuclear technology. But of course, in order to detract from this achievement, the arrogant powers are also making the baseless accusation that Iran intends to build a nuclear bomb!
All these remarkable scientific and technological advancements have been brought about in our country by the grace of Allah after the victory of our revolution in spite of the sanctions, the imposed war and other problems and obstacles. These achievements are among the glories of the Islamic system.
Nevertheless, one of the major achievements of our revolution has been the formation of religious democracy founded on Islamic principles. Today, the country's high-ranking officials are elected through the votes of the people, who are involved in decision-making and who participate in different social and political activities.
Presently, we are facing certain challenges and problems. This is another topic that I would like to talk about. One of the main challenges is the formation of an alliance comprising the United States, the Zionist regime and its influential supporters throughout the world against us.
The reason for their hostility toward the Islamic Republic is quite clear. Under the former regime, the United States had utter control over our political, economic and cultural affairs. Even important dismissals and appointments in this country were carried out with the approval of the American officials, who were the virtual rulers of Iran and plundered our national wealth. But the Islamic Revolution put an end to the U.S. domination of our country.
Besides, the victory of the Islamic Revolution gave rise to a wave of Islamic awakening that swept through the Islamic world. This Islamic revival is posing a serious threat to the illegitimate interests of the United States.
The Zionists, for their part, feel that the establishment of an Islamic system in Iran has infused new life into the resistance of the oppressed Palestinian nation. They consider the Islamic Republic to be the source and center of this revival. Therefore, they are our sworn enemies.
Ever since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, our enemies have been hatching plots and taking hostile measures against our country. The first of such subversive measures were those by the staff of the former U.S. embassy in Iran, who were also involved in plotting a military coup against our government.
Some time later, the U.S. forces attacked Tabas. Then, the United States encouraged Iraq to wage war on the Islamic Republic and extended all kinds of support to the Iraqi regime in the course of the eight-year war. The U.S. forces also shot down an Iranian airliner flying over the Persian Gulf and attacked our oil platforms.
Furthermore, the United States imposed economic sanctions on us on several occasions. These sanctions were later legalized through U.S. legislation known as the D'Amato Law, which clearly showed the U.S. grudge and hostility toward the Islamic Republic.
Presently, the warmongers and new conservatives who are in power in the United States are threatening other countries and trying to spread war in the world. What are we expected to do in the face of these threats? We should increase our strength and engage in the legitimate defense of our country. This is what logic dictates.
As far as the general policies and prospects for the future of our country over the next 10 years are concerned, I would like to underline a few criteria with regard to these policies, which the three branches of government are expected to take into consideration.
In the area of economy, what we consider to be most important are creating more jobs, lowering the inflation rate and achieving self-sufficiency in basic agricultural products, namely achieving food security.
As regards social affairs, the people should be the pivot of development, and development should be characterized by social justice and fair distribution of wealth in society. Besides, efforts should be made to eliminate poverty, ensure judicial security and promote freedoms in society in a logical and appropriate manner.
It was the Islamic Republic that for the first time raised the banner of freedom in the Islamic world. It is true that many countries claim to advocate civil liberties, but they often infringe the freedoms of their peoples. For instance, in the United States civil liberties are respected as long as they do not pose any threats to the interests of capitalists, who control the U.S. government. Whenever they feel such a threat, they will openly violate and trample on the people's liberties. However, we believe in the people's freedoms, and our respect for civil liberties has roots in our religious beliefs.
The last topic I would like to mention is the necessity of serving the people in the best possible manner. We are holding office in order to serve our people. Therefore, we should try to perform this duty as well as we can.
I pray to Almighty Allah to confer more honor and dignity on the Muslim Ummah and to help our nation achieve further progress.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings