The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 6, 2010 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with government officials and political and scientific figures of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
By Allah's grace, the arrival of the New Year will be auspicious for you dear brothers and sisters. The passage of seasons and years should teach us lessons throughout our lives. The prayer "O Transformer of power and circumstances" transforms the year. This transformation is not just limited to transforming winter to spring. After all, all seasons of the year are transformed. Spring changes to summer, and then fall starts. Winter is apparently tough, but it is in fact a preface to the beginning of spring. This is what transformation of circumstances means - seasons are replaced with one another.
Natural circumstances change one after the other, and they are replaced with other circumstances. These are all divine signs. We are used to these things, so we fail to appreciate their importance. Otherwise, if we were not used to these natural transformations, we would be surprised to found out how amazing they were. Germination of plants, revitalization of nature and trees growing leaves - these are all signs of divine power, which we tend to ignore just because our eyes are used to them. The same is true of our existence.
Human beings do not generally notice change. Different changes take place while we do not even notice them. On many occasions, this lack of attention results in great losses in the end. Imagine that a traveler is walking in a certain direction. He does not pay enough attention and continues walking in a slightly different direction - five or ten degrees only. A difference of five or ten degrees is not big enough to attract one's attention. The longer he travels in that direction, the bigger the gap grows - the gap between the right direction and the direction in which he is walking. Even if the angle does not become wider, the traveler moves further away from the right direction. When he finds out about the mistake, he suddenly realizes how big the gap has grown. This is why piety has been stressed so much. Piety means watching every moment of one's life. It means being careful all the time. People should watch what they are doing. Daily prayers which must be said five times a day are indeed one of the greatest blessings of God. If it were not for these daily prayers, we would be submerged in lack of vigilance. Daily prayers keep us vigilant. Therefore, it becomes necessary to perform our daily prayers in an attentive and appropriate manner. If daily prayers are performed in an attentive manner, they will help us pay attention to our actions.
Therefore, if we are careless when the year 1388 ends and the year 1389 begins at a pre-specified point in time, we will not pay attention to the change in nature. And this point in time is identical to any other moment of our lives. From a natural and mathematical point of view, the last hour of the year 1388 is not at all different from the first hour of the year 1389. The difference is conventional. But if we pay attention to the change in nature, we will naturally feel and notice the transformation. One should pay equal attention to all transformations of life to feel the changes that take place. In fact, we can add this to the capacities and features of Norouz.
Norouz, which is a seemingly non-religious Eid, is a national occasion for celebration. It does not have religious content, and it is not associated with religion. Although some narrations say "Norouz is among our days", I do not know how valid they are. However, there is a religious aspect to all events, especially this Eid. Fortunately our people are careful. They pray, they engage in dhikr and they go to holy places. Even those who travel to another city - in which there are no famous holy places - spend the first hours of the New Year at the shrine of a descendant of an infallible Imam if they find one. For example, if they travel to Shiraz, they spend the first hours of the New Year in Shahcheragh. This is a very good tradition that our people observe. The more we can increase religious content of different events, the more we will benefit from them.
Religion and religious faith guarantee happiness for human beings. Man would be in a dire situation in the absence of religion. This has always been the case in different eras. In the modern world those who decided to manage the world in the absence of religion are now suffering from difficulties that are strangely severe. These difficulties are not like physical problems that people suffer from in their daily lives, and they do not appear immediately. No, they appear only when it is too late for a solution. When carnal desires are unleashed and when such policies and cultural norms are adopted, the situation becomes so grave that you see a government official, a minister, hold a formal wedding to celebrate his same-sex marriage without feeling ashamed of the people of the world. This will result in incest later on. This is a problem in the modern world, but they are not prepared to accept it. However, they will undoubtedly reach the same conclusion. That is to say, this is the natural consequence of this trend. Today the western world is suffering from this disgrace. This is the result that an irreligious world would produce. An irreligious world would cause breakup of the family. It would alienate people from one another. It would cause the kind of problems that have plagued modern life.
People should and will turn back to religion. They have already started to do so. This will happen whether they want it or not. And in this great movement, Islam is the brilliant point, the focus of attention among different faiths. Islam is shining. They want to stop Islam, but they cannot.
Their enmity towards the Islamic Republic is mainly due to this reason. They know that this is a religious movement. They know that it is religious faith that has encouraged the people to start this movement and remain on the scene. They know that it is religious faith that has guided the people at dangerous points in their movement. They can see and understand this. Of course many of these politicians are not really involved in policy-making. They only enforce policies formulated by other people, and they only see the appearances. But those who develop international policies - those who really lead this world - have no choice but to understand that this is the case.
Of course they try to keep the world of Islam busy. Today the events that are taking place in Palestine are due to the side issues that the world of Islam is busy with. Today real tragedies are happening in Palestine, Gaza and the West Bank. The events that happened in Mecca should not be underestimated. These are very important points. They force Muslims out of their bases and their homes for praying. Purging Islamic works from their Islamic qualities is one of the dangerous things that is happening in front of Muslims' eyes in the world. Everybody is so busy with side issues and trivial matters that they do not realize what is happening in the world of Islam. This is a plot hatched by the enemies against the world of Islam.
Today the Organization of the Islamic Conference - which was basically established to defend the people of Palestine - has a responsibility to resist. It has a duty to mobilize the world of Islam against this cunning move by the Zionists and their supporters. In spite of their disagreements, the arrogant western powers generally cooperate in supporting the Zionists.
The world of Islam should stand up to resist, and it is able to do so. The world of Islam has great capacities to resist against the greed and evil plots of the Zionists. All attention is suddenly attracted to oil, but it is not a matter of oil. This is the center of the world. This region is the greatest market for western products. Their reputation depends on this region. The most important passageways of the world are under the control of Muslim countries. These things are what the world depends on, and they are under the control of Muslims. Muslims should make use of them, and they are able to do so.
Apart from all these things, political logic is effective in today's world. Even without trying to use these means, Muslims can increase their influence if they are determined to. Being determined is itself a great means to influence the events that happen in the world. Unfortunately this means is not utilized, and it is carelessly ignored.
In any case, we should learn lessons. We should divide our issues into primary and secondary issues, and we should focus on the primary issues. There are many primary issues in our country. Some of them should be handled by government officials. Others should be handled by those who are responsible for improving cultural norms. Yet others should be handled by the great organizations that are fortunately present in our country. Each group has certain responsibilities. We should focus on guiding our people and helping our government make progress.
I hope Allah the Exalted will awaken us so that we can identify and fulfill our responsibilities appropriately. By Allah's favor, the New Year will be auspicious for all of you, and I hope you will benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake).
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings