I would like to felicitate the advent of the New Year on all our dear compatriots. I would also like to pay tribute to the most prominent among the righteous and the Master of Martyrs, His Holiness Imam Hussein ibn Ali (peace and greetings be upon him), to the sacred soul of our late magnanimous Imam and to the immaculate souls of our dignified martyrs.
During the past year, I called on the government officials to do their utmost to create more jobs in order to lower the rate of unemployment in the country. I also asked them to launch a campaign against financial and economic corruption, which is a malady that undermines and detracts from our achievements and positive results of our endeavors.
Although the efforts made by the officials during the past year to eliminate unemployment and counter corruption are worthy of praise, they are not enough and more efforts should be made by the government during the current year to achieve these objectives. In general, the accomplishment of great tasks is not possible in a short period of time.
Another point that I would like to add and emphasize this year is that the officials in charge of all three branches of government should launch a campaign to render more and better services to the public. Besides, they should give priority to those plans and projects that are of greater benefit to the people, especially to the underprivileged and deprived strata, and which can be implemented faster.
Furthermore, reports on the measures taken by the government should regularly be given to the people so that they may judge and assess the competence and efficiency of the system.
I would like to call on all officials in the three branches of government and the political groups to compete with one another to render better services to the public. The reason why I am asking them to do so is that some in the country are only competing with one another to attain political power. This kind of rivalry is surely harmful to the people's interests, and the only useful rivalry is the one aimed at serving the people in a better way.
All officials should take this competition very seriously and draw up and implement the necessary plans to achieve this goal. They should prove the competence and efficiency of our system, which our enemies are trying hard to call into question.
Unfortunately, the turn of the year has coincided with a devastative war that has been motivated by evil intentions and which is a clear sign of bullying and oppression on the part of the United States.
Although the United States and some other countries like Britain have waged this war on Iraq, it is not clear whether they will also be able to bring it to an end, unless they withdraw their military forces out of the region and end this human catastrophe.
The U.S. war on Iraq, which is aimed at capturing that country, is not the first of its kind, since the United States has imposed many such wars on other nations in eastern Asia, Africa and Latin America in the past half a century. But the important point with regard to all these cases is that although the Untied States won certain victories in the short term, it received hard slaps in the face from those nations in the long run!
Where is the government in the former South Vietnam that was supported by the United States? Where is Pinochet, whom the U.S. helped to take power in Chile?
In all these cases, the United States ultimately suffered humiliation. This same fate is also in store for the U.S. with regard to its military aggression against Iraq.
The war waged by the United States and Britain on Iraq has strongly been condemned by the world public opinion. But the aggressors, who claim to respect human rights and the people's views, are continuing with their aggression heedless of this worldwide condemnation.
In fact, the main objectives pursued by the U.S. and Britain are to occupy Iraq and take control of its oilfields, dominate the Middle East region and extend full support to the illegitimate Zionist regime.
Under the circumstances, we pray for the safety of the Iraqi people, but this does not mean that we feel sympathy for the Iraqi dictator and the Ba'thist regime. Indeed, we are the ones who have suffered the most from the missiles and chemical weapons that were used by the Iraqi regime in the course of its imposed war on the Islamic Republic.
However, it is also worthy of mention that these weapons of mass destruction had been supplied to the Iraqi regime by the United States and Britain themselves. But these two countries have now waged a war on Iraq on the pretext of destroying these weapons!
Therefore, it is clear that we feel sympathy only for the Iraqi people. We also believe that only the Iraqi nation has the right to decide its future, and that no government or organization, not even the United Nations, has the right to do so. The people of Iraq, who possess a rich culture and an ancient civilization, can decide their future and their next government by going to the polls and casting their votes.
We condemn the current military aggression against Iraq, since it is inflicting great sufferings on the Iraqi nation, and we believe that it should be stopped as soon as possible.
The Iranian people should note that this is the unmasked face of the United States! Despite its claims to respect human rights and democracy, the U.S. will not hesitate to attack other nations if this aggression furthers its illegitimate interests.
This is the meaning of the term ‘arrogance', which has been introduced into the world's political terminology by our Islamic Revolution. Arrogance means that a country considers itself entitled to trample on the rights and interests of other nations and promote its own interests by using its military power!
The Iranian people, who are well aware of the arrogant nature of the United States and Britain, should be more vigilant than before. They should also be prepared for likely encounters not only in the military area, but also in the cultural, political and economic spheres.
In conclusion, I would like to ask our young people in the 15-35 age group, who constitute over seventy percent of our population, to try to keep up their strength, resolve and confidence and be well prepared for encounters in different areas. Probably we will never face a military encounter, but we will surely face political, economic and, in particular, cultural conflicts.
I would like to once again call on our government officials to increase their efforts to render more and better services to the public and to do their utmost to eliminate corruption, so that our young people may witness the positive results of their endeavors.
I pray to Almighty Allah to bestow success on our officials in performing their duties and to confer more honor, prosperity and dignity on our great nation.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings