In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Two Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem Muhammad, and upon his immaculate and chosen household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.
I am thankful to Allah the Exalted that I found the opportunity to have this enthusiastic meeting with you esteemed, faithful and loyal people of this part of Kermanshah province. I salute the massive number of people who have gathered here, the enthusiastic youth, the faithful and loyal men and women, the honorable people of Kangavar and the brothers and sisters who have come from Sahneh, Songhor and Harsin to attend this meeting. I salute all you dear people, brothers, sisters and youth. And I pray to Allah the Exalted to bestow success on you.
This part of Kermanshah province - just like other parts of it - has certain characteristics that are particular to the people of this province. There is loyalty, kindness, good heroic characteristics, religious faith, purity and spirituality across this province, but certain parts of the province enjoy special characteristics. Your city is known as the host city of pilgrims of Karbala and pilgrims of the shrines of other infallible Imams (a.s.). Over the past years and centuries, Kangavar has been the temporary home of those who love Imam Hussein (a.s.). Among other characteristics of your city is love for Islam, for piety and for the clergy. Some of our great religious scholars were from this city. The late Hajj Agha Mohammad-Bagher Mohammadi Eraghi, the spiritual leader of pious mystics, who was among the prominent figures of this province, used to live in this city and the people of this city have benefited from the virtues of this great and spiritual man. His martyred son, Hajj Agha Baha ed-Din Mohammadi Eraghi, whom I knew from my seminary days in Qom and whom I truly respected, was also brought up in this city. He was both a religious scholar and a martyr.
Your city was not a front line during the war, but it was one of the important centers for the jihad and heroic actions of our youth. The largest amount of tactical support during the imposed war was provided by the youth of this city and this part of Kermanshah province. For this reason, a large number of our martyrs were from this city. Our war veterans are well aware of the various kinds of tactical support that this city used to provide for the front lines. May God bestow His blessings on the people of this city who always emerged victorious out of different tests in the past - during the revolutionary era, during and before the imposed war and during the past two decades. This is the track record of the city. These are the ethical and spiritual characteristics of the city, which can show its future path. For this reason, I believe that by Allah's favor, the city of Kangavar and this part of Kermanshah province will have a very good and bright future.
Of course, there are certain shortcomings in this city. It is a fact that unemployment is an issue in the city - which was also pointed out by the esteemed Friday prayer leader. And the issue of unemployment is not limited to this city alone: it is a prevalent problem in the entire province. Unemployment is the biggest problem of this province. This has been pointed out to our government officials and by Allah's favor, the issue will be highlighted even more in future meetings with our government officials so that they can find appropriate ways to address this problem. This talent, this general spirit, this preparedness to work, this enthusiasm, this loyalty to the Revolution - these are promising characteristics. The country, the Revolution and the Islamic Republic have managed to go through extremely difficult stages and we are moving forward by relying on these characteristics.
Dear brothers and sisters, today our dear country is not comparable with the previous eras. Our nation used to suffer from stagnation and isolation in all areas. The Revolution revived the country. It revived the people. It awakened the spirit of innovation in this country. It brought about dignity for the people of this country. We have come a long way. We have made a lot of advances. And we will continue this path. We will not fall by the wayside.
There is an important point which is mentioned in the holy ayah of Sura Fath: "Surely those who swear allegiance to you do but swear allegiance to Allah. The hand of Allah is above their hands. Therefore, whoever breaks (his faith), he breaks it only to the injury of his own soul, and whoever fulfills what he has covenanted with Allah, He will grant him a mighty reward." [The Holy Quran, 48: 10] When the people of a nation start treading a path, in order to achieve the results they want, they need to be steadfast on that path and move forward without giving up in the middle of the way and without feeling satisfied with the achievements they make. One of the problems that we might suffer from is to think that the level of achievements we have made is the ultimate level and to stop moving forward. Another possible problem is to think that because we have failed to achieve the ultimate goals in a particular period of time, we should kill the light of hope in our hearts, believing that we will no longer achieve our goals. The path that Allah the Exalted and Islam have shown us is this: "To this then go on inviting, and go on steadfastly on the right way as you are commanded, and do not follow their low desires." [The Holy Quran, 42: 15] Move forward carefully on the path that you have chosen. Be firm and steadfast on the path. If we move forward in a firm and steadfast way, then we will be able to reach our lofty Islamic goals: the kind of Islamic society that I described a few days ago in Kermanshah. That justice, that genuine democracy, that human dignity, that Islamic freedom - by Allah's favor and by relying on our youth, we will be able to achieve all these things through our advances, our steadfastness and our tireless efforts and through preserving the light of hope in our hearts.
We have a promising young generation in the country. Wherever you look, you see that today our youth have the kind of education, awareness and positive revolutionary characteristics that defines a person who can move forward, a person who takes the future possibilities into consideration, a person who can hope that he will have a bright future ahead of him. One can see these characteristics among the dear youth of our country today and I have clearly seen these characteristics in this part of the country. It is these characteristics that give us hope and help us move forward. And this is exactly the opposite of what the enemies want.
Through different kinds of propaganda campaigns, the enemies of the Iranian nation are trying to undermine this strong front and this persistent movement in one way or another. Sometimes they present a gloomy picture of our conditions. Other times they deny the brilliant achievements that the Iranian nation has made since the Revolution. They are trying to say that the Revolution has failed. What infuriates them is that the Iranian nation has managed to stand up against the material and spiritual hegemony of the enemies in a brave way by relying on the self-confidence and hope that the Revolution has brought about.
Our country used to be trampled upon by the enemies. Tehran was considered to be a secure and peaceful place for the evil Zionist agents who used to eat out of the pocket of the Iranian nation and rest. In Tehran, they could enjoy the peace that they did not have in the occupied Palestinian lands. Our country was a place in which the policies of America, England and other arrogant and colonialist countries would determine the rules of life. Those who were in charge of running the government of this country were not capable, determined or proud enough to stand up against the enemies of our nation. Neither did they have enough support among the people to be able to oppose the arrogant and interfering powers. Today the people whose policies used to be implemented in our country see that the Iranian nation has stood up against their demands while being completely independent. They admitted that many of America's policies - especially its Middle East policies - have failed to produce the results they wanted, due to the resistance of the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic. Obviously they are angry. They are trying to present a gloomy picture of our conditions. This is one of their methods, especially now that the regional nations have awakened. The vigilance of the regional nations and their Islamic Awakening have made the Iranian nation and the Islamic Revolution famous in the region. The enemies want to prevent other nations from setting Iran as their role model. They want to prevent Iran, Iranians and the Islamic Republic of Iran from becoming a role model for the regional nations. Therefore, they present a gloomy picture of our conditions - especially to the regional nations. They play down the advances we have made and they highlight our weaknesses.
Everybody must be vigilant. Our authors, our journalists, those who work for our media and those who can address the people should take care not to further the cause of the enemies. There are certain people in the country who - knowingly or unknowingly - further the cause of the enemies with their statements. Everybody must be vigilant. Today the enemy wants to present an unfavorable picture of the Islamic Republic to the regional nations so that they do not develop a tendency towards the Islamic Republic and the camp of resistance that fights the arrogant powers - and this resistance is a characteristic of the Iranian nation. Therefore, we need to be vigilant.
The officials working at different levels of our government, no matter where they are, should focus their efforts on eliminating the shortcomings. They should focus their efforts on removing the obstacles from the path of the people. They should try to facilitate life for the people as much as our regulations allow them to. They should spare no efforts. These are the responsibilities of our government officials. As for those who can address the people and made their voices heard through the media, they should try to avoid playing down or undermining the outstanding advantages that our people enjoy. It is necessary to constantly safeguard the vigilance of the Iranian nation.
We have chosen a very difficult path and by Allah's grace, we have already traversed the most difficult parts of this path. The imposed war was one of the difficult parts. The different rounds of sanctions, which were imposed on us for many years, were among the difficult parts. The people of Iran have gone through all these problems proudly and powerfully. In future, our people will successfully traverse the dangerous parts of the path in a steadfast way, which requires national unity and fortunately today this unity exists in the country. It is necessary to strengthen this unity on a daily basis: unity among the people and among different sectors of the country. It is also necessary to promote compassion between the people and government officials. And thankfully today there is compassion between our people and government officials.
The massive number of people who gather in different parts of the country to meet our high-ranking government officials - such massive presence of the people does not exist in any other part of the world. This unity, this compassion, this trust, this kindness between the people and government officials of the Islamic Republic - such things are particular to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, bestow Your blessings and mercy on these people. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, help the people and government officials of Iran to resolve their small and big problems through their efforts. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, suppress and disappoint the enemies of the Iranian nation. Dear God, associate the immaculate souls of our dear martyrs with Your Messenger. Dear God, make the pure soul of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) satisfied with us. Make the holy heart of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) happy and satisfied with us and make us benefit from his prayers.
I am very happy to have met you dear people of Kangavar and the eastern part of Kermanshah province.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings