What follows is the speech made on January 5, 2008 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Abarkooh, Yazd province.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all sentient beings, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem Al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his immaculate and infallible household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.
I am grateful to Allah the Exalted for bestowing on me the blessing of being in the company of you faithful, loyal and revolutionary brothers and sisters in the ancient city of Abarkooh. Although the city itself is very old, the people of this city have novel and modern thoughts, a reality that is attested to by the fact that - in conformity with the system of the Islamic Republic - the light of noble Islamic thoughts and divine motives are alive in all hearts. Any nation whose people have enthusiastic and dynamic motives in their hearts, will stay young and alive, and by Allah's favor and thanks to the Islamic Revolution, our nation already enjoys this blessing. Apart from that, according to official figures, the majority of our population - whether in Abarkooh or in the whole country - are young. A city, a community, or a country that enjoys a young population can be optimistic about the future. Youthful efforts will help build a better future. Youthful energy will help the community progress.
The esteemed Friday prayer leader of this city briefly said something about the issue of water shortage in Abarkooh. Before my trip, I read some reports about the whole province and this city. I was especially inclined to take a trip to this city. The same issue of water shortage had been mentioned in those reports as well. This city and this part of the province is dependant on agriculture, which requires water. But this province does not enjoy enough rainfall. As a result, this city has to deal with the shortage of water. There is no doubt that this problem, like all other problems, can be solved through government efforts and the assistance of the people and the officials. The important point is that the nation must be determined to do something and the government officials, as the individuals who are supposed to serve the nation, must make determined efforts to meet the people's needs.
During the decades before the Revolution and even before that time, there were two factors that plagued our nation. First, there was a lack of responsibility among the statesmen. The statesmen did not feel responsible towards the people. The top officials of the country considered the country as their own property. In order to further exploit this property, they only wanted to know where and on what they should invest the resources. They did not care about national interests. The current terms "remote" and "close" have their roots in that era. What does it mean when we say a town is remote? They used this term to suggest that the town was far from the capital city, Tehran. The fact a town was far from Tehran was enough to justify its deprivation. That was because they were only concerned about their surrounding areas. And they looked for places that could serve their personal interests. They did not care about public interests.
The Revolution put an end to this common practice. The Revolution removed the logic of "remote" and "close" from the mentality of the statesmen and government officials. They no longer think in terms of remoteness and closeness. Thus, you can see that government officials, cabinet members and the president take trips to all parts of the country. This means that the officials' attention, emotions and endeavors must be divided equally among all towns and cities across the country. A town or a place that is remote must not fall outside the scope of their efforts and decisions. This logic is no longer valid. Today, people living in remote towns and places could have government officials - that is, the president and his cabinet members - in their towns, and they can personally hand them their letters. They can talk to government officials in person. In the past and throughout the history, our people could never hope to see even a junior manager pay them a visit. Therefore, the first factor - that is responsible top officials and managers - is something that we currently have in our country.
Diligence and self-confidence on the part of the public is the second factor. The people, the nation, and the residents of a city who do not consider themselves to be valuable and important are invariably doomed to backwardness and to falling behind in all races among various communities. During the time of the domination of colonialism over this region and over our country, colonialists managed to spread one of the most dangerous types of propaganda among our people and among our men and women. They infused our people with the belief that they were inferior to Western and European nations. Different parts of the country were not equal in terms of this inferiority. Some areas considered themselves to be more popular with the colonialists, and thus they had more expectations. Some other areas had fewer expectations. The Islamic Revolution came like a storm and expelled this contaminated and dirty air.
Today, relying on its rich history, on its talents, on Islam and on faith, our nation - which now has something new to present to humanity - no longer considers itself a backward nation and believes in its capabilities. This is what provokes national endeavors and encourages and prepares the nation to reach the summits of progress. My advice is that you brothers and sisters, especially the youth, must not let this sweet feeling of hopefulness about the future be shattered in your hearts.
This country has unjustly been kept backward. We have had many advances so far, but these advances are less than what the Iranian nation deserves. Thanks to Islam, the Iranian nation was once at the peak of scientific, material and spiritual power. We have revived Islam today. We have received Islam with open arms and have presented it to the world in conformity with the requirements of the time. Today, the political, social and spiritual ideas of Islam as well as its ideas about the internal pattern of social relationships can be proposed to the world as a guideline and a model. This is not something that we alone say or something that I claim. This is what fair-minded intellectuals say across the world. The Iranian nation did not achieve this easily. Many of our men and women were martyred. Abarkooh has offered honorable martyrs, it has been full of selfless devotees and mothers and fathers who sent their sons to defend the Revolution in its early stages and to defend the borders of the country during the Sacred Defense era. These were the factors that kept the Revolution alive, helped its flag stay flying, and bestowed grandeur on the Iranian nation.
If you see that the Iranian nation has nowadays a proud and splendid presence on international fronts, it is because all people from all parts of the country have contributed to the creation of this magnificent international reputation. All of you made efforts. Thus, the two factors that I discussed must be observed. The government officials must strengthen their sense of responsibility towards the needs of the people on a daily basis. I can tell you that fortunately our government officials, our ministers, our president and our senior managers strongly feel this sense of responsibility. To give them their due, they do not at all lack this sense of responsibility. They work hard and exert tireless efforts. In addition to the material construction services they do as well as their consideration of the people's affairs, one of their greatest services is that they hold up the revolutionary slogans and values and pride themselves on these slogans and values. This is a very important point. There were and there are some individuals among our people who failed to appreciate these slogans. They should have prided themselves on these slogans, but they failed to do so.
Fortunately, our senior officials have always prided themselves on these revolutionary slogans and values. Therefore, the nation can be - and is - sure about this first factor, that is, efforts on the part of the officials and managers in order to improve the conditions all over the country.
You may put forth the issue of water, agriculture, roads, or employment. We have many issues all over the country that our officials must attend to. They must solve these issues, plan for them, evaluate them and assess the countries resources. Fortunately, we are not short of resources or efficient manpower. They must plan for these resources and help us progress. We have already made some progress. The progress that the Iranian nation has made in terms of construction of the country in the last 28 years is several times more than the progress that was made during 50 years in the pre-Revolution era under the oppressive Pahlavi regime that did not care about the people's rights. They felt no sense of responsibility towards the needs of the public. Whatever they did was either to meet a requirement, to save their face, to meet an obligation, or to fulfill a demand made by the public. They had to do what they did, otherwise they would have done nothing. Compared to other places in which there was a fear of an uprising, they paid less attention to Yazd province whose people are noble and less demanding. They were like that. They had no sense of responsibility.
Thankfully, this sense of responsibility is at its highest. I can assure the people that government officials do not want anything for themselves. Their work and nonstop efforts are all for the people's sake.
I have constantly advised people to observe the second factor as well. Our youth must not spare serious efforts. The efforts we make must be serious. Those who are busy studying, those who are busy working in industries, those who are busy farming, and those who are busy doing various services must all feel that they ought to take on some responsibility in order for the country to progress, and everybody must do his or her share of the work. Fortunately, our nation has this feeling as well. The first outcome of this dynamism and this livelihood is that the enemies' plots, which are aimed at defeating the people, are foiled. Displaying one's readiness is the best way to make the enemy retreat.
The nation that displays its readiness, its presence, and its strong determination in all arenas will disappoint the enemy's hopes of penetrating the country and of dominating it. Being the focus of global attention, the Iranian nation must not back down or express it weakness in any issue. The reason the government officials persist on continuing our nuclear activities is that it is a necessity. As I explained the day before yesterday in a meeting with the youth and students of Yazd province, nuclear energy is a national requirement, and if we do not start today, the nation will suffer the consequences 10 or 15 years later. If we start today, we will reap the results of our national endeavors, but if we do not, we will fall behind. This is the first point. The second point is that in such cases taking a passive role against the enemy will encourage it to make more demands and take a step forward. That is the reason why the Iranian nation is resisting, and resistance is the right way. As it has been said constantly by government officials and has been repeated by the people across the country, it is truly our nation's legal right to achieve this scientific power and this energy source.
Nuclear energy is only an example, and it does not embody all the aspirations of the Iranian nation. We have a long way to go. There are many things that we have to do about the construction of the country, achieving the position we deserve in international relations, and in terms of moral and spiritual values. These things necessitate efforts on the part of the officials and cooperation and endeavors on the part of the esteemed people. Government officials are doing their duty. And wherever I go and whenever I talk to our esteemed people living in different cities, I get the feeling that they are ready and lively. Here in this town, which is located in an arid climate and is one of the well-known places in our country, one can also observe the presence of the same feeling among the people and you dear youth.
We have the issue of elections in the near future. The people's presence in the elections is one of the arenas in which the Iranian nation can display its strong determination and its power. Our enemies have always tried to make our elections dull and thus they have encouraged people to leave the election arena and to pay no attention to ballot boxes. This has always been a goal for the enemies. However, when I look at the history of the parliamentary elections, I see that our honorable nation has always done exactly the opposite of what the enemies wanted them to do.
In each election our people's turnout, concern, and sense of responsibility have always been more than the previous elections. The manifestation of this is something to be observed in almost all elections, and we hope that the situation will be the same in the upcoming elections. All people from all walks of life are advised to take part in this great responsibility and this contest, which is a positive competition - election campaigns are one of the positive competitions that benefit the people. I would like to repeat what I said in the city of Yazd: improper conduct must be avoided in the elections. Slandering, insulting, and humiliating other candidates in order to make one or one's candidate popular are not appropriate ways from an Islamic point of view. There must be positive and enthusiastic competition but within moral limits.
I hope that in this election, too, Allah the Exalted will bestow on the Iranian nation the blessing of accomplishing this great duty. I hope that Allah the Exalted will increase the grandeur of the Iranian nation on a daily basis, and I hope that He will bestow His blessings and grace on you dear people.
I should like to thank you all for your presence, your gathering, and the warm and sincere emotions you expressed. I should also apologize for the delay. We arrived at Abarkooh one hour later than we were scheduled to. There was snow coming and it was foggy. Therefore, we had to move slowly, and thus we arrived here late. We left Yazd on time so that we could reach here in time, but the roads were covered with snow and it was foggy.
Dear God, I pray to You to bestow Your grace and blessings on our nation out of Your grandeur and generosity. O God, make the life of this nation more prosperous than ever both in this world and in the hereafter. Associate with Your saints the souls of the martyrs of this town and this region. O God, associate the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam Khomeini with Your saints and prophets.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings