Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution met this morning with thousands of Basijis from Qom province.
During the meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei described different aspects of Basij and its defining characteristics. He said that insight, sincerity and taking timely and appropriate actions are the characteristics of the Basij movement.
Ayatollah Khamenei said that the presence of enthusiastic, faithful, sincere and vigilant Basijis across the country is strong proof of the dynamism and progress of the Iranian nation and its invulnerability to the enemies' plots.
Ayatollah Khamenei described faith, taking action and jihad as the characteristics of Basij and added: "Basij is engaged in jihad in a wide range of arenas. And these arenas range from scientific, social and political arenas to the international arena."
Ayatollah Khamenei said that Basij has been put to different tests during the past thirty years. He referred to the influential and innovative role of Basij during the Sacred Defense Era and stated: "Basij has always maintained a progressive movement in terms of both quantity and quality. And it has managed to resist in the face of temptations."
Ayatollah Khamenei said that insight, sincerity and taking timely and appropriate actions are the characteristics of the movement of Basij and added: "Increasing its capacities and insight at a time when the enemies' plots were becoming more complicated is one of the achievements of Basij. And the events which happened during the fitna of the year 1388 bear testimony to this fact."
Ayatollah Khamenei further reiterated: "During the fitna of the year 1388, there were many people who made mistakes. From among those people, there were some who rectified their mistakes after a while. But the great Basij movement maintained the flag of insight and did not tread the wrong path. Basij continued to tread the path of justice."
His Eminence reiterated that appearances are not a criterion for identifying justice and added: "In some cases, people with acceptable appearances tread the wrong path. Therefore, one has to differentiate between justice and evil on the basis of one's insight - and not appearances."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution further quoted Imam Khomeini (r.a.) as saying: "The people will turn their back on me if I distance myself from Islam."
"Therefore, the criterion for identifying justice is Islam. One has to identify the plans of the enemies by relying on one's insight," he noted.
Ayatollah Khamenei further touched on sincerity as another influential factor in the movement of Basij and reiterated: "Sincerity means moving on the basis of divine motivations, not being influenced by personal, group and family motivations, and not standing on ceremony with friends."
Ayatollah Khamenei said that taking timely and appropriate actions is very important and reiterated: "Avoiding extremism in action is one of the necessities of the Basij movement. This is because taking extremist actions is as harmful as not taking any action."
He further reiterated: "Today distorting the realities of the country is one of the main strategies pursued by the enemies within the framework of soft war."
Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the vast propaganda of the enemies which is aimed at portraying a distorted image of the Islamic Republic and reiterated: "This issue is indicative of the weakness of the enemies and their failure in the face of the great and accelerated movement of the Iranian nation and officials on the path of progress and success."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the enemies' propaganda about the economic condition of the country and added: "The enemies try to portray a frustrating image of the country's economic atmosphere in their propaganda. This is while their claims are opposed to reality."
Ayatollah Khamenei said that some people inside the country repeat the enemies' propaganda and stated: "Some people who were put to the test during the fitna of the year 1388 used to predict difficult and dark economic conditions for the people in the year 1388. But everyone saw that the circumstances were different."
Ayatollah Khamenei added: "During the recent years, the officials are truly populist, and the people sense this. This is an issue which is not appealing to those who are opposed to the Islamic Republic."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution further touched on the issue of foreign policy and stated: "Those who are opposed to the Islamic Republic and some members of fitna used to say that Iran has been degraded and disgraced in the world. This is while not only has the reputation of the Islamic Republic not been tarnished in the world, but it has been improved as well."
Ayatollah Khamenei said that the unique welcome extended by the people of Lebanon to the President of the Islamic Republic is indicative of this fact and reiterated: "This enthusiastic welcome will not happen again for the president of any other country in any part of the world. The President's trip to Lebanon and the welcome that was extended to him should not be underestimated."
Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the propaganda of the enemies of the Islamic Republic against Basij and reiterated: "During a certain period, the enemies focused their global propaganda on Basij and broadcast different kinds of negative propaganda against it in order to ruin its reputation in the eyes of the people. But Basij has been turned into a glorious entity and the manifestation of determination."