In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I benefitted from the statements that were made by the gentlemen in this meeting. First of all, I would like to congratulate all you dear brothers and the honorable gentlemen who are present in this meeting on the auspicious birthday anniversary of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) and the birthday anniversaries of Imam Jawad (a.s.), Imam Hadi (a.s.) and Imam Baqir (a.s.) - these birthday anniversaries have blessed our days since the beginning of Rajab.
Of course, it is easy to praise the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) and speak about those exceptional efforts that he made in the history of Islam and the history of mankind. However, praising that great Imam (a.s.) has certain requirements that are very different from our actions, our conditions and the resources that are available to us. Although we feel proud of being followers of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), we are ashamed that we cannot increase his honor by being his followers. There is a big difference between our actions and the lessons that the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) taught us, both during his short rule and during his lifetime. The fact that we are known for being his followers, puts a big responsibility on our shoulders. "We are known for your approval of us" [Bihar ul-Anwar, Vol. 99, p. 127]. I pray to Allah the Exalted to help us. I also ask for assistance from the pure and immaculate souls of our Infallible Imams (a.s.) so that we can continue this path and by Allah's favor, move towards the peaks of perfection.
Now I would like to speak about the issues that are related to current developments in the world. Since its establishment, the Islamic Republic had to face big global challenges. The reason was that in the materialistic world, wealthy and powerful people, who have always been concerned about their interests only, could not tolerate the existence of another power in the world, a power that was created and developed to work against their unlawful interests. This power was formed in Iran after the victory of the Islamic Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic.
It was not just the existence of the Islamic Republic that threatened the arrogant powers, rather the spread of Islamic Awakening in the world of Islam was perhaps even more important and dangerous to the arrogant powers. Islamic Awakening is the danger that currently threatens the arrogant powers and encourages them to focus their hostile efforts on the world of Islam, particularly its core - namely, the Islamic Republic. This was inevitable. These enmities have existed in different forms since the first day. It is not correct to say that today the enmities of the arrogant and domineering powers of the world - the world of kufr and arrogance - are the result of recent developments and that this hostility did not exist in the past. Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, there have been different kinds of threats against the Islamic Republic and Islamic Iran. In some cases, the consequences of their enmities were more serious than today.
We must not forget the imposed war and the threats that the arrogant powers used to make. We must not forget how the Islamic Republic had to counter the arrogant powers single-handedly. We must not forget the war that was imposed on us and the events that took place before and after that. And today the threats that we are faced with are the continuation of the same threats. Of course, fortunately for us, there is a difference between current conditions and those days: today we are more experienced and aware and we have more power to counter them. We have people throughout the country who are more prepared than those days and Allah the Exalted has helped us so far, thanks to the efforts of the people and their pure and good intentions. Hopefully, Allah the Exalted will help us in the future as well.
In current conditions, I feel responsible and I advise our government officials not to leave the arena of selfless struggle. Making selfless efforts in certain areas is an obligation that lies on our shoulders. This selfless struggle is the most important way in which we can eliminate our problems. It is necessary to work hard and make selfless efforts. Continuing our selfless efforts during the oppressive rule of the taghuti regime helped us eliminate the big problems that our country and our people were suffering from. Similarly, tireless struggle during the Sacred Defense Era helped our country eliminate the grave threats that our country was faced with. Also, over the past 25 years since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, continuing our resistance against different problems was the only way in which we could counter those problems. Allah the Exalted says, "And (as for) those who strive hard for Us, We will most certainly guide them in Our ways" [The Holy Quran, 29: 69], "And whoever strives hard, he strives only for his own soul" [The Holy Quran, 29: 6]. This selfless struggle is the only solution that is available to us and thankfully, our people, our government officials, our youth and many faithful people in our society are prepared to engage in selfless struggle. The only thing is that we must not let our determination be undermined.
This selfless struggle can happen in different arenas and the most important arenas include the arena of safeguarding our national dignity and independence in the face of the expansionist and hegemonic policy that America has been pursing in the world over the past few years. This hegemonic policy and this aggression are not limited to Muslim countries, the east or the Middle East region. This policy is pursued in the entire world. Today even Europeans feel that they are subject to America's economic, cultural and political aggression and transgression. This is a fact. Part of this expansionist and aggressive policy has focused on our country and our region. It is necessary to resist vigilantly and make selfless efforts in this arena. It is necessary to safeguard the independence of the country and our national dignity. We must do everything in our power to safeguard the dignity that we have earned thanks to Islam and the efforts of our people. This is one of the arenas in which selfless struggle is necessary.
The second arena in which selfless struggle is necessary is the arena of promoting pure Islamic culture and religious thought, the kind of thought that led to Islamic Awakening in the world of Islam. Islam and its essence existed in the world of Islam on a personal level. It was more prominent among some people and less prominent among some other people. However, the Islamic view of the world and peoples and the view of the Islamic Ummah as a massive group of people with numerous capacities to awaken and to move forward, was a view that started in Islamic Iran, developed roots and spread to different parts of the world. Viewing Islam from this perspective and promoting this thought in the world of Islam - the kind of thought that led to the establishment of a government which has managed to bring about freedom and democracy for the people by relying on Islamic concepts and teachings - is unprecedented in all parts of the world of Islam in contemporary times and over the past few centuries.
During the time of the Ottoman caliphs and their predecessors - Abbasid and Umayyad caliphs - the people had a very different conception of Islamic rule, a conception that is completely different from the conception that the world of Islam has currently developed based on what Islamic Iran has achieved. This religious culture that gave rise to the establishment of the Islamic Republic and was in turn strengthened by the Islamic Republic, the movement towards Islamic unity - after all, this view includes unity of the Islamic Ummah, namely the view of the Islamic Ummah as a unified group of peoples - and avoidance of ethnic and tribal conflicts in the world of Islam and in Islamic societies are what the Islamic Revolution has spread through its message. We must not ignore and forget these things.
We must pay attention to freedom, democracy and justice, which are among the slogans promoted by the Islamic Revolution. The Islamic Revolution introduced Islam to the world as a religion that brings about freedom, democracy and justice. Today there are people in the world who fight the concepts that originate from the Islamic ideology of the Islamic Republic. There are people in the world who fight the rule of religion. There are people who are opposed to religion taking control of the affairs of the people. There are people who try to reject compatibility of democracy and religion. These people are active both in the intellectual arena and in the arena of action. There is a concerted effort to prevent the Islamic Ummah from achieving unity and this is what colonialism used to do in the past.
We see today that the enemies are seriously after creating tribal and ideological wars among Muslims in different parts of the world. Right now they are trying to convince parts of the world of Islam that in Iraq power will be seized by Shia Muslims and that this is dangerous for them. Similarly, they are trying to convince Shia Muslims that Sunni Muslims are their enemies. They are pursuing this policy in order to create rifts between Shia and Sunni Muslims and between different Muslim tribes. This is one of the oldest policies used by colonialism: the English are very experienced in this regard and they have mastered this strategy to perfection. Also, there are certain efforts inside the country to promote this policy.
The slogan of pure Islam - the kind of Islam that forms the foundation of the Islamic Republic - is that Muslims must be unified despite their disagreements in the area of beliefs and religious principles. They should stress the areas that they agree about and they should avoid hurting each other's feelings. This is one of the areas in which we should make selfless efforts and we should promote the religious culture that supports freedom, justice, democracy and the spread of unity in the world of Islam and among members of the Islamic Ummah.
Another arena for selfless struggle is the arena of efforts to promote development and improve living conditions of the people inside the country and this is one of the most essential arenas for selfless struggle. When we speak about living conditions of the people, we mean such things as sources of livelihood, security, health, culture, morality and spirituality. Of course, the main responsibility lies on the shoulders of our executive organizations, but everybody should make selfless efforts in this arena. I consider this arena to be one of the most important arenas of selfless struggle and we will make as many efforts as we can.
One of the arenas that is more important and more difficult than all of these arenas is the arena of promoting justice, eliminating discrimination and preventing transgressions on the resources that belong to all people in our society. Based on the lessons we have learned from history and from the events that have happened inside the country since the victory of the Revolution, one of the most difficult arenas of selfless struggle is the arena of selfless efforts to promote justice. Anybody who is in some way involved in illegal activities is opposed to the efforts to promote justice in society and he will take action to counter such efforts. This is why I said it is necessary to fight for administration of justice. In order to fight corruption, everybody should join hands and work together. It is necessary to seriously fight economic corruption, particularly among government officials and those who are in charge of managing the resources that belong to the people. This is why fighting corruption is among the most difficult things, but if we succeed in our efforts against corruption, the blessings will be numerous. As long as there is justice in society, as long as there is no discrimination, as long as people from different social backgrounds are not treated in an unfair way and as long as our society is devoid of unfair and undeserved privileges for different groups of people, the people will be patient in the face of failures in many cases.
These four arenas must be the main arenas for selfless struggle. I have focused my efforts on these four arenas and I provide our honorable government officials with the necessary recommendation, helping them to make efforts in these arenas. If our outstanding personalities and our government officials are unified in their slogans and orientations, we can be successful in all these arenas.
The important recommendation that exists in the Holy Quran, in the lessons taught by history and in the statements of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) is that we must not let our messages and our slogans contradict each other. We must adopt a unified stance in different areas in the face of our aggressive enemies. This is our responsibility today. There are differences of opinion in the case of many details and even in the case of certain principles that are not related to the pillars of the Islamic Republic. These differences of opinion are not surprising and there is nothing wrong with the existence of such differences of opinion. What is problematic is that such differences of opinion in the case of even less significant issues deploys certain people against each other whenever small or big issues come up. The problem occurs when they forget the enemy and some people even wink at the enemy amid domestic disagreements and arguments and express their love for him in a direct or indirect way. This is bad. This is what I would strongly advise all our political parties against. Otherwise, there will always be differences of opinion and there will always be efforts to negotiate. Such differences of opinion have always existed: they are inevitable and they do not pose any threat to the Islamic Republic. When government officials in different sectors are working hard and making serious efforts, it does not matter if such disagreements exist, provided that they do not stand in the way of working. What is important and should be avoided is disagreements in orientations and adopting contradictory positions when dealing with each other or the enemy.
The parliamentary elections are a few months from now and by Allah's favor, they will be an arena for the Islamic Republic to show its power of deploying the people on the scene so that despite what the enemies say in their propaganda, it becomes clear that the Islamic Republic does not rely on a few individuals. The Islamic Republic relies on the votes, love, willpower and presence of the people. There is no doubt that with such orientations, the enemy will not be able to harm the Revolution and our country in any way. "And the evil plot encloses but the men who make it" [The Holy Quran, 35: 43]. We should understand our position and identify our responsibility and we should carry out the responsibility that lies on our shoulders.
We must not show negligence in this regard and we must prevent others from showing negligence. We should identify our responsibilities and we should fulfill them. If we act like this, we will be successful and by Allah's favor, this is exactly what will happen. Just as Mr. Meshkini said, we must not ignore the plan of Allah. "Did they then feel secure against the plan of Allah? But no one can feel secure from the plan of Allah, except those (doomed) to ruin" [The Holy Quran, 7: 99]. We must know that Allah the Exalted will not discriminate in favor of us, just as He did not discriminate in favor Jews and Christians. What ensures our existence and attracts divine blessings and mercy is our actions, selfless efforts and pure intentions and I hope Allah the Exalted increases these things among our people and government officials on a daily basis.
I pray to Allah the Exalted to bestow success on the honorable gentlemen who have attended this meeting and on all our government officials and I hope that by Allah's favor, our government, our country, our people and our government officials will benefit from the attention of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake).
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings