Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution met Wednesday morning with the chairman and members of the Assembly of Experts. Speaking at the meeting, His Eminence presented an in-depth analysis of the movement of the country, the astonishing achievements of the Iranian nation during the past 34 years and the challenges that it is faced with.
He described adopting a long-term outlook on the ideals and goals of the Islamic Revolution as necessary, further stressing: "Having faith in Islam, showing firm determination, relying on the people and preserving and strengthening the spirit of hope are among the main factors which help us move forward, make bigger achievements and overcome temporary obstacles and hardships."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the nuclear issue as one of the challenges which lie ahead of the Islamic Republic, further reiterating: "Of course, this challenge has not placed and will not place us at a disadvantage."
Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the meeting between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the P5+1 in Almaty, Kazakhstan: "In this meeting, westerners did not do anything special which can be considered as a concession. Rather, they merely acknowledged part of the Iranian nation's rights."
His Eminence said that westerners have a history of breaking agreements, further stressing: "In order to measure the honesty of westerners in the recent meeting with Iran, we should wait for the next meeting."
He described sanctions as one of the challenges of the Islamic Republic. He reiterated: "Sanctions are imposed under the pretext of the nuclear issue. But the main reason they impose sanctions is that they are pursuing a long-term goal."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated that the main goal of sanctions is to pit the people against the Islamic Revolution, further adding: "Westerners hoped that they would pit the people against the Islamic Republic by exerting pressures. But what happened on the 22nd of Bahman was the opposite of what they wanted and wished to happen."
Ayatollah Khamenei described the massive and enthusiastic presence of the people in the rallies on the 22nd of Bahman as a great and important event. He reiterated: "Careful research carried out by experts and experienced people shows that the people participated in the rallies on the 22nd of Bahman more enthusiastically and more warmly than previous years."
His Eminence referred to the significance of the enthusiastic presence of the people despite economic problems. He added: "Such a strong presence was in fact the response of the people of Iran to what the enemies referred to as crippling sanctions. The effect of such a presence is quite visible in international arenas."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran are among the best, the freest and the most standard elections in the world, further adding: "Some people try to create the idea that the issue of vetting in elections is a major problem that exists in the Islamic Republic. This is a naïve statement because the process of legally vetting and screening candidates exists in all democratic governments throughout the world."
Ayatollah Khamenei mentioned that the goal of the process of vetting in elections is to present candidates who have the right qualifications and who are approved by the people, further stressing: "Those people who have the necessary qualifications for the presidency should put themselves forward as candidates."
His Eminence referred to the heavy responsibility of the Guardian Council towards the process of vetting, further adding: "On the issue of elections, members of the Guardian Council should act within the law, as they have until today. Finally, any individual who has passed through the process of vetting by acting within the law can run for elections."
He stressed that the presidential elections should be enthusiastic: "I hope that, by Allah's favor, the elected president will be approved by God and will meet the people's big expectations of the Islamic Republic."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed to the economic problems of the people, further reiterating: "Some of these economic problems arise from sanctions and some of them are related to management and economic policies. But the important point is that these problems are solvable."
Ayatollah Khamenei added: "I strongly stressed that the officials should solve the problem of high prices and now they should deliver a report about what they did."
His Eminence stressed: "The officials should plan to solve these problems and they should make great efforts because these problems are definitely solvable."
He mentioned that the challenges that lie ahead of the Islamic Revolution and the sanctions that are imposed, particularly those sanctions which prevent us from importing certain products, are to the advantage of the country: "These sanctions will result in our self-reliance, as we became self-reliant on the issue of the 20-percent uranium enrichment - which is necessary to run Tehran Research Reactor."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the production of nuclear medicines by Tehran Research Reactor and western pressures on Iran - over the issue of the 20-percent uranium enrichment - in order to make it give in to their demands, further reiterating: "On this issue, the enemies of the Iranian nation offered strange and convoluted options because they did not know the people of Iran and because they made errors in their calculations. The chances to obtain the 20-percent enriched uranium by exercising these options were zero. Therefore, the Islamic Republic did not accept these options."
Ayatollah Khamenei added: "In order to provoke Iran's allies and public opinion in the world, the enemies hatched another plot. The American president asked the President of Brazil and the President of Turkey to act as intermediaries so that Iran can accept the solutions offered by an intermediary."
His Eminence said: "At that time, I said to the officials that it is alright to go ahead with this solution, but they should know that the Americans would not accept it. And that was exactly what happened."
He stressed: "The Americans wanted to create the idea in the minds of people throughout the world that Iran does not accept reasonable solutions. But what happened was that the Americans themselves were proved to be unreasonable and this is the important reality."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated that as sanctions made our young experts develop the technology of the 20-percent enriched uranium and turn it into fuel by relying on their own knowledge and capabilities, we can also use pressures to our advantage in other cases.
Ayatollah Khamenei added: "The truth is that today, the countries which have imposed sanctions on Iran are faced with far more serious and insolvable economic problems."
His Eminence reiterated: "America and Europe are faced with difficult situations and they are moving towards economic destruction."
He stated: "Besides their economic problems, westerners are faced with problems arising from imposing sanctions on Iran. This is while they have no solutions for their economic problems, but Iran does."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution highlighted the necessity of strengthening the spirit of hope among the people, further reiterating: "If we sincerely believe that everything is in the hands of God, he is omnipresent and he answers and listens to our prayers, then all of our distress will be alleviated and all of our problems will be solved. The Islamic Republic enjoys firm determination, good and religious people, explicit goals and a clear path."
Elsewhere in his statements, Ayatollah Khamenei congratulated Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani on his re-election as Chairman of the Assembly of Experts. He also pointed to the issues discussed in the recent meeting between members of the Assembly of Experts, particularly issues related to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB): "The representatives of the Assembly of Experts pay attention to the important issues of the country and certain other issues such as the IRIB. This is important and necessary and they should continue to pay attention to these issues."
His Eminence described the IRIB as a complex technical, artistic, political and systematic organization, further adding: "The officials in charge of the IRIB are good and religious people and they are committed to values. But our expectations of the IRIB are much higher."
He stressed that if the officials in charge of the IRIB want to meet these expectations, they should adopt a long-term outlook and they should avoid adopting short-term outlooks.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution reiterated: "If there had not been such a long-term outlook during the time of the Revolution, our political activities would have failed. But our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) stood firm with his faith, resistance, strong spirit and hope for the future. And finally, despite all the sufferings, our revolutionary activities achieved results."
Ayatollah Khamenei mentioned that the present time is much more difficult and complex than the time when the people were engaged in revolutionary activities. He added: "In such conditions, we should avoid adopting short-term and temporary outlooks and we should make sure that we will continue to move forward by having faith in Islam, relying on the people and strengthening the spirit of hope."