Khamenei.ir

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I welcome the dear brothers and sisters, the dedicated and hard-working executive officials who are active in various organs of the country's Executive. I also express my gratitude to the honorable president, Dr. Ahmadinejad, who arranged and organized this meeting.
This meeting is the first of its kind, since until now and over the past years, we had no meeting with all the officials of different executive organs of the country. Of course there have been some meetings attended by senior officials of the three government branches, and I have also had separate meetings with the honorable ministers and a number of officials in charge of different executive organizations; however, this meeting has a different taste and meaning, and I consider it to be highly valued. I hope that more of such meetings will be held in the future.
The first point that I would like to tell the esteemed audience is that, presently, a precious opportunity is at your disposal. You should try to make the most of this opportunity to attain proximity to Allah, worship the Almighty and achieve self-amelioration, and to carry out your responsibilities, which will evoke the divine favor and blessings. When you leave this material world behind, the only thing you can benefit from in the hereafter is the divine grace and favor.
You should highly value the present opportunity in two respects. First, you have been given a chance to serve the public. We all share this aspect. Today, we are performing some responsibilities that affect the fate of our country and nation. Also, in view of the significance that is attached to our country and nation, it can be said that the fate of the whole Islamic world is also affected. Some great deeds are being done by all the executive officials of the Islamic Republic. Therefore, we should all highly value this aspect of the present opportunity.
The second aspect is that the country's present conditions are fortunately unique and exceptional compared with the previous years. The reason is that the major slogans of the Islamic Revolution are today the pivot of government planning and policies. Thus, in this respect also, the present opportunity to serve the general public should be valued.
In the past years some individuals and even certain devotees of the Islamic Revolution were assuming that the major slogans of the revolution such as the honor and dignity of Islam, social justice, struggle against the arrogant powers and efforts to remove deprivation were no longer relevant, and that the era of these slogans had expired!
Some were even impudent enough to impugn and cast aspersions on these slogans. However, it was clear that they were wrong. We knew that they were wrong, but their impudence hurt the feelings.
Today, a government has taken office through the Iranian nation's vote whose basic slogans are the major slogans of the Islamic Revolution. Today, the discourse of revolutionary concepts is the predominant and common discourse in society.
This is of great significance. Of course I had predicted this. About seven or eight years ago at a meeting which was also held here and which was attended by the officials of the Islamic Republic, I reasoned that the enemies of the Islamic Revolution were wrong to assume that they could make the revolution fall into oblivion, to assume that they could subvert and trample on the revolution. I said that they were not able to do so. I knew that they were mistaken.
Fortunately, the Iranian people showed strong resolve and determination and what we wanted took place, for which we are grateful to Almighty Allah. Therefore, considering that in the present circumstances the slogans of the Islamic Revolution constitute the basic principles of the incumbent government's planning, you should highly value your responsibilities under the present government.
What I would like to tell the honorable ministers and other executive officials is that the opportunity that is presently at your disposal because of your position of responsibility should be used to serve the general public, not to further one's material goals or serve one's personal interests. You should use every moment of your term of office to attain proximity to Allah by serving the public.
Some use these opportunities to make a fortune. This is quite wrong. This is the same thing that the Commander of the Faithful (peace and greetings be upon him) warned Malik-e-Ashtar against. He told Malik-e-Ashtar not to regard his position of responsibility as a prey or as a means of making a fortune.
Your positions of responsibility have provided you with a precious opportunity to serve the general public and evoke the divine grace and favor. This is the essence of my words. Fortunately, there is great enthusiasm and motivation for working and serving the public on the part of the Executive, and competent and efficient officials are holding executive positions, for which we are grateful to Almighty Allah.
Our country has great requirements that have to be fulfilled. After all, the long-term dominance of tyrants and dictators over our nation has negatively affected everything in this country, including our culture and mentality and beliefs and resources and geography and international status, and even contributed to the social class differences in our society.
For many years in this country the rulers supported the aristocrats, and the financial elite considered the country as their own property. They did not believe that the ordinary people enjoyed civil rights. This was the case both under the Qajar and Pahlavi dictatorial regimes.
Now we have inherited this kind of situation. It is quite clear that the country is faced with lots of problems, and there are numerous needs that have to be fulfilled. I am not saying that, ever since the victory of the revolution, we have not had any misguided polices and have not made any mistakes. If this had been the case, we would be more advanced at the present time.
The fact of the matter is that certain misguided policies and some erroneous actions have also contributed to the creation of current requirements. Thus, our country and nation are really in need of tireless and incessant as well as prudent and carefully planned efforts at the present time to meet the existing requirements and accelerate the country's progress.
There are plentiful capabilities and talented human resources and great potential for progress in our country. What we need is innovation and initiative. We need to invite the dedicated and efficient workforce to enter the field of decision-making. Using this devoted and competent workforce, we should try to accelerate the country's development and speed up its material and spiritual progress.
We also need to take courageous measures. Fortunately, taking courageous measures is one of the prominent features of the incumbent government, for which I am grateful to Allah. It is not possible to do great deeds with wavering and vacillation. It is necessary to take valorous action, but this does not mean that one should act rashly. What it means is that if after enough consideration you decide to do something, it should be done without any hesitation or wavering.
"...and confer with them in affairs. Then, when you have decided to embark on a task, put your trust in Allah; surely Allah loves those who put their trust in Him" (The Holy Qur'an, 3: 159).
You should consult with experts and study various aspects of the issue that is under consideration. Then after you make your decision, trust in Almighty Allah and enter the arena courageously. This courage is necessary.
There is no doubt that entering some arenas is accompanied by some difficulties. However, these difficulties can be compared to the problems that are involved in digging a deep well in order to extract water or oil or the difficulties that are involved in digging for valuable minerals. Everybody will endure those problems and difficulties in order to obtain water or oil or valuable minerals.
Now the measure that has been taken with respect to the issue of gasoline consumption is among such measures, and the government decided and acted courageously in this regard and dealt with the issue in a prudent and appropriate manner. However, the follow-up measures should be based on a thorough study of all aspects of this issue.
I have been informed that some 400,000 billion rials are allocated by the government for energy subsidies! If this huge sum of money is gradually reduced, the money will definitely be spent on the people's welfare and employment and on various investments and on building schools and new roads in the country.
Naturally, some will raise objections, but a number of these objections are really motivated by good intentions. You should explain to the general public why you have taken those measures and made those decisions. I believe the government's public relations offices in various sectors should be more active in this respect and make the most of national media and the press to inform the public.
As regards the country's foreign policy, as the honorable president explained, the Islamic Republic of Iran has always pursued a dynamic foreign policy, and changing this active policy into a passive policy is a mistake. Unfortunately, this mistake has at times occurred in the past.
What this dynamic policy actually means is that the Islamic Republic of Iran is taking the so-called modern world to task over many issues such as the issue of expansionist and domineering policies, the issue of women, the issue of fomenting civil wars, the issue of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including atomic and chemical and biological weapons, and the issue of subverting public morality and promoting the culture of promiscuity and pursuit of sensual pleasures. These are the issues for which a lively and principled nation is taking the global domineering system to task.
Today, the United States is hated the most in the Islamic world. This is an undeniable reality. There are of course several reasons for this hatred. There are clear reasons why it is hated by Palestinians and by the Lebanese and by Iraqis and by other Muslim nations. One reason is that they are constantly affronting Islam and Muslims and Islamic values, expressing support for those insulting Islam, and trampling on the rights of Muslim nations.
Now what is the result of this hatred? The result is that the United States has suffered defeat and failure with respect to many regional issues such as the issue of Iraq. It has become bogged down in a quagmire in Iraq despite its heavy and clamorous troop deployment there. This reality is even acknowledged by the knowledgeable American politicians themselves.
Why has the United States suffered defeat and failure in Iraq? The reason is that it is hated by the Iraqi people. This hatred has caused the Iraqi people not to cooperate with the American forces and even deal a blow to them whenever they can. But instead of paying attention to the main cause of their failure, the American officials are leveling allegations against the Islamic Republic, accusing it of confronting the United States in Iraq.
Of course there is no doubt about the Iranian nation and government's hatred for the United States. But the root of the problems that are currently facing the United States in Iraq is related to the Iraqi people themselves.
Similarly, when the United States fails to achieve its goals and carry out its schemes in Palestine, and when pro-U.S. forces suffer defeat and the Palestinian forces supporting the rights of the Palestinian nation accomplish victory, the American officials get angry and blame their failure on Iran! They say that Iran has entered Gaza and besieged Israel!
The American officials are disregarding the realities and insulting the Palestinian nation. If we can deal a political blow to the United States and Israel, we will surely do so. But the issue of Gaza and Palestine is related to the Palestinian people themselves. Palestinians hate the United States and bear a deep grudge against Israel and are justified in doing so because their homeland is under occupation.
The officials of the U.S. administration are ignoring and turning a blind eye to these realities and, instead, are unjustifiably trying to put the blame for their failure on others. They are also doing the same concerning Lebanon and Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The leveling of accusations by the American officials against the Islamic Republic of Iran indicates that the high-ranking officials of a great world power have mistaken beliefs and assumptions and, as a result of which, are making baseless and nonsensical remarks.
Another point worthy of mention is the issue of visits made by the president and members of the Cabinet to various provinces across the country. These visits are necessary and yield positive results, and I wonder why certain individuals cast aspersions on these visits.
One of the positive results of the provincial visits is that members of the Cabinet become familiar with the issues and problems of different parts of the country through such visits. I have been dealing with executive affairs for many years, and I am familiar with this field of activity. I know that what is written in the reports on provincial regions, which project everything as quite all right and without any flaws and shortcomings, is quite different from what executive officials see when they visit those regions themselves.
It is a very great and valuable measure to visit those provincial areas whose residents do not even expect the high-ranking government officials to think about them and have them in mind. The residents of some towns and cities which the president and Cabinet ministers have visited perhaps had not seen even the director-general of a government organization visiting their regions and inquiring about their conditions during all these years! Then, all of a sudden, they came face to face with the president of the Islamic Republic!
Therefore, these visits are of great significance, and you should try to preserve their positive results.
The measure that has been taken is the beginning of an auspicious move, which should be carried out by executive officials all the way to the end so that greater results will be obtained. First of all, all the ratifications that result from provincial visits should be carefully followed up and put into effect. However, if in some cases it is not possible for the government to carry into effect these ratifications for some clear reasons, executive officials should tell the public frankly about the case and explain the reasons to them, so that the people's trust in the sincerity and perseverance and capability of government officials will not be undermined.
I have been informed that these ratifications are going to be implemented over a certain period of time, which is something very appropriate. Nevertheless, I would like to advise the governor-generals, governors, director-generals and directors of various executive organizations, many of whom are attending this meeting, to make every effort and do their utmost with respect to the implementation of these ratifications.
Besides, the governor-generals of provinces and the governors of different towns and cities should also be in touch with the residents of the regions that are under their jurisdiction and meet them face to face in order to become informed about their problems as well as their requirements.
Another point worthy of mention is that the officials in charge of various executive organizations, especially high-ranking executive officials, are expected to refrain from getting involved in common political and factional disputes and from wasting their time. Of course if there are ambiguities, executive officials are expected to provide adequate explanations to remove those ambiguities. However, they should avoid falling into the trap of political disputes and factional altercations, since this will prevent them from performing their duties well.
Another point I would like to mention is that the Islamic government, in addition to fulfilling the material requirements of the general public and solving the problems that are related to their livelihood, is also duty-bound to pay attention to the cultural and moral and educational issues of society and attach due significance to the morality and religion and education as well as scientific and spiritual growth of the general public. The government is expected to lay the groundwork for the promotion of noble thoughts and moral values in society.
Today, one of the major policies of the satanic global Zionist network and its agents in different governments in the world is to prevent the youth, especially the youth of Islamic countries - in particular those Islamic countries which they view as their scientific or political rivals and which may endanger their interests, from getting involved in serious issues and from holding a serious attitude toward life. They are trying to corrupt youngsters, and they have made plans for this purpose.
Countering those plans is not only a duty that should be performed by the government, but it is also a courageous political measure. Therefore, the organizations in charge of religious affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, and the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Training are among the most significant organs in terms of the government's macro planning, and they are charged with momentous responsibilities.
The issue of moral security, which nowadays the Law Enforcement Force and the Interior Ministry are trying to promote in society, is a very important issue. Naturally, some will raise a commotion about this issue, like the issue of gasoline rationing and like many other issues. But the relevant organizations should not pay attention to their outcry. They should see what their responsibilities are and try to fulfill tem in the most appropriate manner.
The campaign against economic corruption is also among such measures. Countering economic corruption in the Executive is much more effective than the measures which are taken by the Judiciary. The reason is that the Judiciary metes out punishment to those convicted of corruption, but the Executive is tasked with preventing corruption. What the Executive does is more significant than what the Judiciary does.
It is in the labyrinth of the Executive, both at the planning stage and in the course of implementation, that corruption is bred, that viruses of corruption grow and multiply. This is what should be stopped.
Of course the campaign against corruption requires piety. In the first place, we should be pious ourselves. We should not be tainted with corruption if we want to be really able to counter corruption. If there are some weak points in us that are vulnerable to and likely to give way to corruption, then we will no longer have self-confidence, which is essential for entering this arena. Therefore, we should remain watchful of ourselves.
Dear brothers and sisters! You should be watchful of yourselves. The corrupt individuals whose names and description you have heard or are hearing were not corrupt from the very beginning. Once someone offered them a bribe, and they found it very sweet and pleasant; then later they asked for it themselves and turned into corrupt individuals. You should be quite watchful of yourselves during the years of your office and serving the public. This is the meaning of piety. It means self-observation.
Another point I would like to mention is that the 20-Year Perspective Document should form the basis of all the plans that are made at the different levels of planning. Stability in planning is the prerequisite for success. If there is no stability in planning and no perseverance in the right direction, the country's construction and progress will not be achieved.
Fortunately, our country is making progress. This is a reality which is admitted by both our friends and foes. By the favor of Allah, we are taking great strides in various areas. Our youngsters are displaying remarkable motivation and dynamism and enthusiasm. They are highly motivated and prepared to undertake various tasks. We should identify talented and competent forces and entrust them with appropriate tasks.
Our country has ample potential for progress and development, provided that there is proper management. There has been considerable progress in any area in which appropriate measures have been taken with due attention to priorities, measures that have been characterized by valor and prudence. This has also been the case in the field of our country's foreign policy.
With respect to the issue of nuclear energy and other issues, what we are saying and demanding and valorously pursuing is based on rightfulness and truth and endorsed by fair individuals throughout the world. The commotion and outcry [raised by certain countries] has no effect on us, namely it will neither accelerate nor slow down our progress. We are doing what we feel we are duty-bound to do.
The Iranian people have shown that they are steadfast and determined and faithful, that they are sincere and always on the scene. Therefore, if we move on the right path, we will surely enjoy public support.
I pray to Almighty Allah to guide and assist you all and bestow His favor on you the dear brothers and sisters, and confer His grace and guidance on the honorable president and members of the Cabinet and senior officials of various executive organs. I also hope that you will benefit from the prayer of His Holiness Imam of the Age - may our souls be sacrificed for his sake.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings