In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All praise is due to God, Lord of the Worlds, and may peace and greetings be upon our Master and our Prophet, Abul-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his untainted, pure, chosen Progeny, the guides and the guided ones, particularly the Remnant of God on earth.
Welcome my dear brothers and sisters, my dear children, our youth, our school and university students.
Before I proceed, I would like to acknowledge the valuable suggestions and insights offered by these young people concerning the matter of confronting Arrogance. I would like to let everyone know and I would like to let our youth know that we will definitely do everything necessary and possible to prepare the Iranian nation for confronting the Arrogant Powers, whether militarily, in terms of armaments, or politically. Praise God, our officials are already working on this. Without a doubt, the general movement of the Iranian nation and the country's officials in confronting Global Arrogance and the criminal system governing the current world order today will certainly, truly not neglect their duty at all. You can be sure of this. This isn't just about revenge. It's about a logical move, logical resistance in line with our religion, ethics, Islamic laws, and international laws. The Iranian people and the country’s officials will not hesitate or show the least neglect in this regard. You can be certain about this.
Meetings with the youth are naturally filled with spirituality. The hearts of the youth are purer and more luminous. It would be a pity if I didn’t offer a spiritual recommendation to this large gathering of young people. I recommend you engage in zikr [remembrance of God] and "be grateful." The path we are on is not a short path, nor is it easy. It’s a path where a significant portion of the responsibility for traversing it is with you young people.
The future world belongs to you, our country tomorrow belongs to you, and the future global order rests in your hands. You have a heavy responsibility. On this path, you will need determination, knowledge, and hard work. But above all, you will need a strong spiritual foundation. I believe that this spiritual foundation can be summarized in these two words: "zikr" and "being thankful."
Zikr means remembering God. Don’t become neglectful about remembering God. Don’t distance yourself from supplications, prayers, and recitation of the Quran. My continuous recommendation to you is that you get more in touch with the Quran and gain more understanding of it. This will help you on this important path. Being thankful means knowing God’s blessings and not forgetting them. Today, you have received immense blessings from God — the blessing of having a system and an organization dedicated to combating oppression, Arrogance, tyranny, and the crimes of international gangs. This is the greatest blessing, and there are numerous other blessings as well.
In many supplications, we find the phrase, "Do not make me forgetful of Your remembrance in what You have entrusted to me, and do not make me neglectful of Your favors in what You have given me" (Iqbal Al-Amaal, 1: 188). Let’s not be neglectful regarding God's grace, blessings, and favors. Your alertness, readiness, spirit, and feeling of being capable of doing things — the feeling that you can move forward, make progress, and overcome the illusory material powers of the world — are great blessings from God. Don’t let this blessing slip away.
Recognize blessings and use them appropriately. This is being grateful. Remember that with the help and support of Almighty God, His guidance, and the company of His sincere, righteous servants, we can traverse this path. Let us seek the help and intercession of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), his honorable Ahl al-Bayt (pbut), and the martyrs who were martyred before our very eyes, such as Martyr Nasrallah, Martyr Haniyeh, Martyr Soleimani, Martyr Sinwar, and other martyrs like them in traversing this path. This is the first point I wanted to make.
This is a very important occasion. It’s imperative that we make every intellectual and practical effort to preserve this. The designation of a day as the "National Day of Fighting Global Arrogance" in the Islamic Republic is to ensure that the Iranian nation doesn’t forget this historical experience; otherwise, the fight against Arrogance is not confined to a single day. It is a continuous endeavor.
You must make the fight against Arrogance, the fight against signs of oppression and aggression, and the fight against the oppressive world order the central focus of your lives. So, while there is not a specific single day designated for this struggle, we have chosen this particular day to ensure that the Iranian nation doesn’t forget and neglect its historical experiences.
There are those who seek to cast doubt and then reject the courageous, conscious actions of the Iranian people in confronting American imperialism and its regional agents. We mustn’t allow this to happen. The historical memory of the Iranian nation doesn’t permit such a thing. There is no place for question or doubt with regard to the matter of the US Spy Den. Some people spread this doubt in the public, especially in the youth. [They say,] "Why did our university students go and seize another country’s embassy? That was against international regulations." They’re spreading such doubts. The fact that they are deliberately hiding is that before the US embassy was seized by our students, during the early days of the Revolution, it wasn’t just a place for diplomatic activities or even a center for intelligence activities. Yes, all embassies around the world transfer both overt and covert information about the country they are in to their own centers. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that the US embassy served as a command center for inciting domestic unrest against the Revolution, destroying the Revolution, and even endangering the blessed life of the magnanimous Imam [Khomeini]. Our youth were initially unaware of this fact and entered the embassy for a different reason. But after gaining access to the embassy's documents, they discovered this information.
This is why I emphasize that young people should read books, study documents, and become informed of the facts. From the very first hours and days of the Revolution, the US embassy served as a center for networking and plotting against the Revolution. Of course, they were confused at first and didn’t understand what was happening. But as soon as they regained their bearings, they began devising plots to stage a coup, to incite various elements and ethnic tensions, to sow discord, and to gather the fragments of SAVAK left from the Pahlavi regime to fight the Revolution.
The embassy wasn’t an embassy. Rather, it was a center for combating the Revolution, fighting the Iranian people, and attempting to undermine the great movement that the Iranian nation had initiated with its Revolution. Therefore, this event is a significant, unforgettable historic occurrence and a turning point in our history.
Let’s suppose those who were involved in this event have since felt doubts — as may be the case for some — the truth of the matter is that it was a significant, necessary undertaking. That’s why the magnanimous Imam [Khomeini] with his profound insight endorsed the action of the students. It was something that needed to be done.
What was the cause of the Iranian nation's battle against American Arrogance? This is a question. The clear, obvious, well-documented answer is that it stemmed from the cruel, insolent domination of the US government over our dear nation and our beloved country, Iran. This is the reason we confronted them. Historians who distort historical facts attempt to portray the conflict between Iran and the United States as having begun on November 4, 1979. That’s a lie.
The US has been at odds with the Iranian nation since before the Revolution, and even years before that. They have done everything in their power to harm the Iranian people, at least since 28th of Mordad [August 19, 1953]. Now, there’s a long story about the US’s presence and efforts against Iran prior to August 19, 1953, but the most visible event is that which occurred on that date. A national government by the people was in power in Iran, but the US betrayed the trust of that government which had naively trusted the United States. The US intervened and overthrew that government establishing the Shah’s tyrannical regime in its place.
The Iranian nation has continuously experienced the enmity of the US for many years. The nation experienced US’s enmity in the event which took place on the 28th of Mordad [August 19, 1953]. I encourage you, our dear young people, to read books about the events of 1953, the National Front Movement, and the presence of the United States. Researchers and writers should research and write about this. These are pivotal points for our nation and turning points in our history. The US orchestrated a coup in Iran and established SAVAK in the 1950s. SAVAK became a center for torture and bringing pressure on the fighters and the freedom-lovers. Countless young, faithful, freedom-loving people were either killed, maimed, or tortured by the agents and operatives of Shah’s criminal intelligence agency, SAVAK.
The Iranian nation has witnessed these things firsthand. Who created SAVAK? American agents created it and taught them techniques for torturing people. Tens of thousands of advisors were brought into Iran, not only to sponge off the country and interfere in military, intelligence, and governmental affairs, but also to engage in espionage, infiltrations, the changing of Iranian culture, and to gradually increase US domination over the country.
The nefarious Pahlavi regime with the help of the US was one of the agents involved in the strengthening of the usurping Zionist regime. At a time when all the countries in this region — almost all the governments in this region — had cut ties with Israel, the Shah’s regime continued to provide oil, resources, and support to the Zionist regime. This act of treachery will never be forgotten.
Unfortunately, some countries are still doing the same thing today. The Zionist regime is committing the most atrocious crimes in the region. Instead of opposing [these atrocities], instead of standing up [against the Zionist regime], instead of supporting the Palestinian and Lebanese nations, these countries are helping the malicious, cruel, bloodthirsty enemy. They’re giving economic aid, and some are even providing military aid! These [countries who are supporting Israel] are from our own region. And then there’s the United States, which is another matter.
The matter in question is the matter of fighting international oppression. For the Iranian nation, who are inspired by the teachings of Islam, fighting oppression is a duty. Confronting Arrogance is a duty. Arrogance refers to comprehensive economic, military, and cultural domination and the humiliation of nations. They humiliated the Iranian nation. They humiliated it for many years. Therefore, the Iranian nation’s battle has been and will definitely continue to be against Global Arrogance.
Today, the situation has reached a point where academic student associations inside the US are issuing statements against Western civilization, American civilization, and US efforts. Such a situation has come about. In a statement, which many US academic student associations have shared, they themselves have proclaimed, "It is we, the people in the West, who are raising our voices against Western civilization and culture. We are the ones who have stepped forward to support oppressed nations and countries." They said this in their statements just a few months ago. And this is increasing day by day. Without a doubt, the Iranian nation, the oppressed nations, and the Resistance Front will make progress.
Of course, the atrocities being committed in the region today are huge atrocities. There are events unfolding daily in Lebanon, the situation in Gaza, and the martyrdom of 50,000 people in a single year, a majority of whom are women and children. Is this an insignificant matter? The US, which claims to be an advocate of human rights, shamelessly supports those crimes. Not only does it support those crimes, it’s also complicit in those crimes. The weapons are US weapons. The plans are the US’s plans. And the international efforts [behind these atrocities] are backed by the US. The US shamelessly says, "We support and back the Zionist regime." They clearly state this.
[So,] this battle [against Arrogance] is a rational, wise endeavor grounded in logic. Those who are shortsighted and unthinking — I won’t say they are traitors and I won’t accuse them of intentional betrayal, but the minimum thing I can say is that they are shortsighted — shouldn’t attempt to portray the Iranian people’s actions against Global Arrogance as irrational. No, this battle is a logical, correct move in line with accepted, rational, human, international logic. It’s for this very reason that the Iranian nation is admired by the international community. Indeed, the hegemonic enemy's news and media sources try to show the opposite. But the truth of the matter is this that when Operation True Promise was carried out, you saw people rejoicing in the streets of countries whose thinking is very different from yours. What does this signify? It means that the Iranian people's action is accepted by international logic, human logic, and of course, the logic of Islam and the Quran. This movement must continue, but this movement must move forward with a correct plan.
You, our dear young students, university students, male and female from around the country, can play a role in this field. You can strengthen your thinking and increase your knowledge. You cannot undertake tasks properly without knowledge, thought, and a roadmap. We need scientific progress. We need technological advancement in various fields. Of course, those who are making every effort with the resources available to them are actively working. They won’t compromise when facing the enemy and won’t leave any action undertaken by the enemy unanswered. You can be sure of that.
That is not the case that the actions of the enemy will be forgotten by those who work as representatives of the Iranian nation to confront the enemy. No, their [the enemy’s] actions won’t be forgotten. Our enemies, whether it is the Zionist regime or the United States of America, will definitely receive a crushing response for what they do against Iran, the Iranian people, and the Resistance Front.
Today, US human rights that are touted in various forms no longer deceive anyone. The situation in Lebanon today, the situation in Gaza, the situation in Palestine, and the crimes that the agents of the Zionist regime in the region are committing with the support, interference, and participation of the US no longer allow the false, meaningless claims of the US about human rights to be acknowledged or accepted by anyone in the world.
[The term] human rights no longer has any meaning. Those who claim to be advocates of human rights while perpetrating these crimes label distinguished, luminous figures such as Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, Haniyeh, Soleimani, and other great martyrs as terrorists. But they themselves are the terrorist gang. They are the criminal gang. The world is awakening to this reality now, and praise God, they [people in the world] have realized and understood this.
What needs to take place is a global movement of nations on this path. Our youth should be in contact with their peers in other countries. Our students should be in contact with students from other Islamic countries in the region. Our university students should be in contact with university students from Islamic countries in the region and even countries beyond this region.
There are many ways to communicate today. You can establish connections, clarify matters for them, and remind them of that which is the duty of all the world's youth and the duty of the youth of all countries to initiate a massive public movement in the world against Arrogance. Such a movement will be formed, and with God's help, the Iranian nation and this universal Islamic, humanitarian movement of the Resistance Front will find its rightful place in the world. They will definitely defeat the enemy.
Today was a very good day for me. This meeting has been a great pleasure, and I hope that God will protect and bless all of you, God willing. I pray for all of you. May Almighty God grant you success, God willing.
May God’s greetings and mercy be upon you.
