Khamenei.ir

Leader’s Speech to Members of Assembly of Experts

Everything is decided by the people with honor and dignity

If Muslim nations are interested in what the Islamic Republic has to say and what its claims are, they should know that we will not abandon Islam. We believe that it is obligatory to observe divine command and sharia in all of our daily life affairs and our efforts are focused on achieving this goal. And religious democracy is our framework in this arena. The people should step in and vote. It is the people who should elect the law-makers who are supposed to pass legislation on the basis of these things. It is the people who should elect those who are supposed to implement the laws. Everything is decided by the people with honor and dignity.

It is wrong to say that we have learned democracy from westerners

It is wrong to say that we have learnt democracy from westerners. The exterior form is the same, but our democracy has its roots in a different kind of religious understanding and a different world view. We believe that there must be respect for human beings. We consider the votes of the people as valuable and we consider their presence as a tool to achieve divine goals, which is impossible in the absence of the people. Westerners act in a different way... Their frameworks are oppressive. When a person expresses his objection to the myth of Holocaust and announced that he does not believe it, they throw him into prison. They sentence him to prison for denying a fictitious event. Even if we assume that the event is not fictitious, even if we assume that it is a true story, is it a crime to deny a true historical event?If a person is not convinced of the truth of the Holocaust and he denies the story or expresses doubt about it, he is thrown into prison.

In Islamic democracy, Islam is the essence and the soul. There must be no deviation from Islam

Islamic democracy is our paradigm. In Islamic democracy, Islam is the essence and the soul. There must be no deviations from Islam. Currently, there are no deviations and by Allah’s favor, there will be no deviations in the future either. When drafting laws and when assigning individuals to different positions, our standard should be Islam. The framework and the method of management is democracy. That is to say, it is the people who step into the arena to make decisions, people who firmly believe in Islam. Although they might not appear to certain people to be committed to Islam and the Islamic system, they are truly committed and they truly love Islam.

Religious democracy is founded on elections

Elections are not fleeting events: they are significant events. Therefore, we need to reflect on the issue of elections. First of all, elections are an important pillar of the Islamic system. Religious democracy is founded on elections. Without elections, there will be no democracy. Elections are the standard of relying on the people: a concrete, tangible and measurable standard. Therefore, anybody who firmly believes in the Islamic system considers taking part in the elections as his responsibility. Such a person takes part in the elections even though he might have objections about certain things, about a particular election or about a particular form of elections. This is a responsibility. Therefore, all those who entered the arena of elections throughout the country fulfilled this obligatory responsibility. They carried out their duty. They showed their accurate understanding. This accurate understanding shows that the issue of elections is about a pillar of the Islamic Republic.

America uses English experience to cover up her crisis

America is in a crisis. Of course, they want to shift this crisis to Asia. They want to shift it to Africa. They want to shift it to the Middle East. They want to cover up their weakness by causing problems in other countries. Among the things that they want to do is to turn the great popular uprisings in the region against the people. They want to keep the people busy with ethnic, religious and tribal conflicts. We need to be vigilant. Today the Americans are using the experience of the English in creating sectarian conflicts between Shia and Sunni. The English are very skillful at creating enmity among different groups, especially between Shia and Sunni in the world of Islam. They have been doing this since several hundred years ago. The Americans are making use of their experience. When the issue of Palestine comes up, when the issue Egypt comes up, as soon as they are faced with the people, they use some trickery and immediately bring up the sectarian issue in one way or another. Everybody must stay vigilant. Sunni Muslims must stay vigilant. Shia Muslims must stay vigilant. Religious scholars must stay vigilant. Outstanding academic figures must stay vigilant. The people must stay vigilant. They should know what they are doing. They should be aware of the enemy's plots and machinations. They must not contribute to the enemy's plot. This is what they are doing today.

Leader: High Turnout Improves Iran’s Prestige and Security

After casting his ballot early Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution described the 9th parliamentary elections as extremely important and stressed: "The higher the turnout is and the more enthusiastic the people are, the better it is for the future, prestige and security of the Iranian nation."

Interview with Leader after Voting in 9th Parliamentary Elections

After casting his ballot in the early hours of the 9th parliamentary election, the Leader of Islamic Revolution was asked to comment on the election.

Speech

Leader’s Speech to Families of Martyrs and War Veterans

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on February 29, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with a group of ordinary citizens and families of martyrs and war veterans. The meeting was held in Tehran two days before the 9th parliamentary elections.

Leader: Large Turnout, Slap in Face of Enemies

Leader’s Speech to Nuclear Scientists

Leader Meets with Nuclear Scientists

Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution met this morning with a number of Iranian nuclear scientists. At the meeting, His Eminence said that the biggest outcome of the nuclear achievements by young Iranian scientists is that they have created a sense of national dignity in Iran.

The story of a nation that has decided to resist

This movement is not just a nuclear movement. Today their pretext is the nuclear issue. They use the nuclear pretext to impose sanctions on us. How long is it since the nuclear issue was first brought up? The sanctions have been there for thirty years. Why were they imposing sanctions on us when the nuclear issue did not exist? It is just a matter of fighting a nation that has decided to become independent, a nation that has decided to resist oppression, a nation that has decided to expose oppression, a nation that has decided to stand up against oppressors and oppression, a nation that is determined to convey this message to the entire world. We have tried to convey this message and by Allah's favor, we will try even harder in the future. Sanctions, political pressure and other such things will not be effective. When a nation decides to stand firm, when a nation believes in divine assistance and its domestic power and capacities, nothing can stand in its way.

Nukes do not bring about power

The purpose of the uproar they cause is to stop us. They know that we are not after nuclear weapons. They already know this. I do not have any doubts that in the countries that are opposed to us, the organizations in charge of decision-making are fully aware that we are not after nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are not at all beneficial to us. Moreover, from an ideological and fiqhi perspective, we consider developing nuclear weapons as unlawful. We consider using such weapons as a big sin. We also believe that keeping such weapons is futile and dangerous, and we will never go after them. They know this, but they stress the issue in order to stop our movement. We want to prove to the world that nuclear weapons do not bring about power. This is because the nuclear powers are suffering from the biggest problems today. They dominated the world through nuclear threats, but today such threats are no longer effective. We want to say that we are not after nuclear weapons, that we do not believe nuclear weapons bring about power and that we can break the kind of power that is based on nuclear weapons. By Allah's favor, our nation will do this

Leader’s Speech to People of East Azerbaijan

Leader: Massive Voter Turnout Harms Enemies

Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution met today with thousands of religious scholars, government officials and ordinary citizens from East Azerbaijan. At the meeting, His Eminence referred to the upcoming parliamentary elections and said that the enemies are making widespread efforts to discourage the people from taking part in the elections. He added that massive presence of the people in the elections will harm the enemy and force him to back down.

Leader Meets with Ismail Haniya

Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution met this morning with the Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya. Speaking at the meeting, His Eminence said that the people of nations, particularly the Islamic Ummah, support the Palestinian resistance groups. He added that the resistance of the Palestinian people and resistance groups has contributed to the recent victories in Palestine and the recent wave of Islamic Awakening in the region.

Leader’s Speech to Government Officials and Ambassadors of Islamic Countries