The following is the full text of the speech delivered on August 7, 2011 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with government officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings upon the Holy Prophet, our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem Al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his immaculate and chosen household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.
I would like to welcome the dear brothers and sisters - the hardworking and compassionate officials of the country. I hope Allah the Exalted will make this holy month auspicious for you and the Iranian nation. I am thankful to Allah the Exalted who gave me another opportunity to arrange this warm and friendly meeting and exchange ideas about important issues of the country.
I will divide my statements into three parts. The first part is a number of reminders which I myself need to pay attention to more than anybody else. By Allah's favor, this has been inspired by the spirituality of the month of Ramadan. The second part is about our national issues from a general perspective. In the last part, if there is enough time, I will touch on the regional issues and the events that are happening around us.
The late Hajj Mirza Javad Maleki Tabrizi - the famous mystic and the great Islamic jurisprudent - says in his book "Al-Muraqibat" that fasting is a divine gift that Allah the Exalted has bestowed on believers and His servants. He says, "Fasting is not an obligation, rather it is an honor for which we should be thankful to God." Fasting, which is the sign of God's respect for His servants, is something which we should appreciate and for which we should be thankful to God. He mentions many benefits for the thirst and hunger of the month of Ramadan, which believers consider themselves obligated to tolerate. He extracted these benefits from Islamic narrations and the knowledge originated from the enlightened heart of this great man. Among the most important benefits is that this hunger and thirst give the heart a kind of purity which prepares the ground for thinking and "one hour of thinking is better than years of worship." This thinking is the kind of thinking that requires people to refer to their human nature and soul and their heart. And it clarifies realities and opens the door to wisdom. It is necessary to use this opportunity.
We should think about the passage of time. Time is the main asset of all human beings. All good things are gained over time. Time is an asset that can bring about eternal salvation and paradise for human beings. We should think about the time we have. We should see the passage of time. We should feel the transient nature of the day and nights of our life. We should pay attention to this passage of time. "Life is nothing but winter snow and summer sunshine." Every passing moment takes away from this asset. This is while this asset is the only thing that we have in order to achieve salvation in the next world. We should think about how, where and on what we spend it.
We should think about death, about leaving this world, about the moment we will leave our bodies and about meeting the Angel of Death. This moment is something that will happen to all of us. "Every soul shall taste of death." [The Holy Quran, 3: 185] All of us will experience the moment of death. How will we feel at that moment? These are some points which deserve reflection. It is absolutely necessary to think about these things.
Duas are another area worthy of reflection. The concepts that the written duas contain are extraordinary. Hajj Mirza Javad Maleki Tabrizi says in his "Al-Muraqibat" that all the speeches and narrations from the infallible Imams (a.s.) - except for narrations and speeches about monotheism - do not contain even one tenth of the truths and teachings that have been passed down to us in the form of duas. These duas are very important.
I have a few duas in mind which I will discuss for a few minutes so that they are repeated for those who have already read them and serve as reminders for those who have not. The beginning of the twentieth dua of Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, which is widely known as Makarim al-Akhlaq, says: "O God, bless Muhammad and his household, adorn me with the adornment of the righteous and clothe me in the ornaments of the God-fearing." Then certain characteristics are mentioned for God-fearing people, explaining what it means when we ask God to clothe us "in the ornaments of the God-fearing". In what ways do we want to be adorned with the adornment of righteous and God-fearing people? Normally when fear of God is mentioned, we think of avoiding sins, engaging in worship and other such things. Of course there is no doubt that piety includes such things. But in this dua Imam Sajjad (a.s.) mentions 22, 23 different things which draws our attention to new aspects of the meanings and manifestations of piety.
Imam Sajjad (a.s.) asks God to clothe him in the ornaments of God-fearing people through different things. One is "spreading justice". He asks God to help establish justice in society: judicial justice, justice in the sense of dividing vital resources of the country between the people in an equitable way, justice in the sense of dividing opportunities between the people in an appropriate way. These are the pillars and principles of the kind of piety that is expected of us.
And "through restraining rage" and suppressing anger. Your ability to suppress your anger is a great virtue if you are an ordinary person and the scope of your anger is limited to a religious brother, a member of your family or one of your employees. "And those who restrain (their) anger and pardon men..." [The Holy Quran, 3: 134] But if you are in charge of something in society and you have a social position, if your words and actions and your approval and rejection affect your society, then your anger is not the same as the anger of an ordinary person. Such a person may get angry at certain people or currents and he may speak against them, but the effects of his anger are very different from the effects of the anger of an ordinary person who may get angry and beat somebody up, for example. Restrain your anger. Things should not be done out of anger. You may not see eye to eye with a certain person, group or movement, but logic and reasoning should govern your behavior. If your logic is tainted with anger, everything will be ruined and there will be transgression and extravagance. "Our Lord, forgive us our faults and our extravagance in our affair." [The Holy Quran, 3: 147]
And through "quenching the flame of hatred". One of the things that is required by piety is "quenching the flame of hatred". Discord among organizations and among different groups of people is like a disastrous fire. Everybody should try to put out this fire. It is wrong to fuel it. This is why I constantly advise the friends - government officials and the people whose statements are reflected in the entire country or part of the country - to watch their statements and to control their tongues. A particular statement may not only fail to extinguish the fire of discord, but it may also fuel it. Certain statements do not help extinguish "the flame of hatred", rather they work against the efforts to extinguish the flame.
And through "bringing together the people of separation". Try to bring together and reunite those who have separated from Muslim communities. Try to bring back those who have almost drifted away. We must not let our behavior, words and actions discourage those who are partially faithful to the Islamic Republic. We must not discourage those who have partially maintained their relationship with the Islamic Republic. We must not encourage them to completely turn their back on the Islamic Republic. We should do exactly the opposite. We should bring back those who have drifted away. These are some manifestations of piety.
And through "resolving discord, spreading good behavior and covering faults". We should improve the relationship between those who have problems with each other. When it comes to revealing things about other people, we should only reveal their good characteristics. If you know about a good thing that a person or a government official has done, that is what you should reveal about him. Conversely, you must not go public with a negative thing that you happen to know about a particular person. But this does not mean that you should not advise them against bad deeds. Those who are doing something wrong should be told in private what is wrong with what they are doing. But revealing such things in public is not advisable. There are many things that can be said in this regard. What I said is only part of the dua. There were 22, 23 points in the dua and I only touched on 6, 7 of them. We should push our hearts in this direction. We should ask God to "clothe us in the ornaments of the God-fearing". After all, we have no other option. Fasting has been made obligatory so that we can "learn self-restraint". [The Holy Quran, 2: 183]. God prescribed fasting so that we can observe piety. These are some of the requirements of piety. This is the end of the first part of my speech.
The second part of my speech is a general assessment of the conditions of the country. The excellent and detailed report, which was presented by the honorable President, was very informative. There were outstanding points in the report and it is very good if these points are made public so that everybody knows what efforts have been made and what services have been rendered. I will discuss the issues of the country from a different perspective, which is very important to us. Why is it important? Primarily because it is very important to know about general conditions of the country, where we have reached and which way we should go. These things are always important, but they are particularly important in the current situation because of the conditions of the world. First of all, the conditions of the region are completely unprecedented. Islamic Awakening and the great event that has taken place in the region have been absolutely unprecedented from the beginning of the Revolution up until today. There was no other event that remotely resembled this event. A great achievement has been made. A great event has taken place. The fact that a nation like the Egyptian nation carries out such a great movement, overthrows the Egyptian regime and shouts Islamic slogans, the fact that the existence of the fake Jewish and Zionist government is threatened like this by the conditions of the region - these things are too great to fit in conventional assessments. Well, these are the conditions and they promise very bright prospects for the Islamic Republic.
And the conditions of the world are also unprecedented. The big economic crisis which has plagued western arrogant powers is an extraordinary event and we cannot afford to treat it superficially. The analyses that westerners present about the economic crisis in America and certain European countries and the warnings that they sound about the future, are only part of these issues. They are not saying everything. Think tanks, backstage policy-makers and designers of global issues in powerful countries of the world - who have control over the majority of global media - do not want the dimensions of this crisis to be revealed to the people of the world, otherwise the dimensions of the crisis are far more serious than this. By Allah's favor, if there is time, I will say a few sentences in this regard at the end of my speech.
Another issue is the emergence of radical movements and terrorist campaigns in the west, particularly in Europe - from European neo-Nazis to American neocons. The previous US government was neocon. These people openly announce their radical positions. The former dim-witted US President openly announced that there was going to be a crusade. He declared a crusade. Extremism that goes beyond this is meaningless. And then they attacked two Islamic countries. They had other plans as well, but God did not give them time and they were defeated. Well, these are important issues. The event that happened in Norway should not be viewed as an isolated event. Such events are often the result of long-lasting campaigns which reveal their manifestations here and there. It remains to be seen how successful they will be in controlling this campaign. We should wait and see. But they are unable to control the movement, just as neo-Nazis started their work in a part of Europe and then spread out little by little. And today these neo-Nazi movements are proving their existence in European countries through terror and violence.
In such conditions, we need to re-evaluate ourselves and see what our situation is. The conditions of the world have changed and these conditions can give us great opportunities. If we fail to see these opportunities, if we fail to identify them, if we fail to use them appropriately, if we fail to use them at the right time, we will suffer losses. Sometimes losing an opportunity becomes a threat in itself, a cause of backwardness. For this reason it is not a bad idea to consider the issues of the country from a general perspective. Of course we need to be realistic in our assessment. We must not deceive ourselves. We must not be biased. We have weaknesses and strengths and we need to see both of them. Sometimes things are viewed from a predominantly pessimistic viewpoint. Unfortunately one can see today that being pessimistic appears to have become fashionable among certain government officials, political figures and others. It appears that negative evaluations have become fashionable among them. They appear to be determined to ignore positive things and highlight negative points only. They constantly promote pessimism in the media and elsewhere. And as soon as one questions their approach, they say, "You are preventing us from telling the truth. You call it pessimism and other such things, but we just want to state the facts." No, this is bias. Imagine that a production unit has faced problems and you want to reflect this fact from a realistic perspective. It is alright, but you should also point out that two other production units have been established, for example. If we reflect this positive point, people will have a particular interpretation of the issues of the country and if we fail to reflect it, people will have a different interpretation. If you only see the negative points, you cannot call your viewpoint realistic. After all, there are always negative points. Your pessimistic evaluation will not provide an appropriate assessment of the conditions of the country. It will create despair, which is the social consequence of pessimism.
I usually skim through 10, 20 newspapers each day. Certain newspapers publish 4, 5 headlines every day each of which is enough to fill the hearts of weak people with apprehension. All they promote is pessimism, pessimism, pessimism, pessimism. They love to do so. The underlying motive might be political or financial. Whatever the motive is, I do not know. I will not accuse anybody. But this is a fact and it is wrong. Making pessimism dominant goes against realistic evaluation. It causes despair.
The same is true of the opposite. That is to say, being optimistic and ignoring the negative points are misleading. They cause a false sense of satisfaction. This is wrong too. It is necessary to see both negative and positive points. We need to take into consideration both what the government has managed to do and what it has failed to do. Therefore, if we want to have an appropriate evaluation of the country's conditions, we need to see both positive and negative points.
Well, this requires a long discussion. I ask government officials, prominent figures, academia and seminarians to arrange meetings and discuss this issue. Today I will just mention a point, but this issue requires a lot of work. Just arrange meetings and prepare a list of positive points and a list of negative points. Positive points will show us the capacities that the country enjoys. And the list of negative points will show us the priorities we should take care of. If we compare these two lists, the path will become clear to us and we will realize what we should do.
I have written down 5, 6 things that are the result of the constant movement of the Islamic Republic over the past 32 years. Of course there have been ups and downs. That is to say, certain years and administrations have been good and certain other years and administrations have been less good, but generally these are the positive things that we have achieved over the past 32 years.
The first strength of the Islamic Republic is that it has proven its capabilities are superior to the threats. This is a very important point. Over the past 32 years we have encountered many threats - political threats, security threats, military threats, economic threats - which were supposed to harm the Islamic Republic. Of course they wanted to overthrow the Islamic Republic, which proved to be impossible for them, so they tried to at least keep the Islamic Republic and Iran backward. The Islamic Republic has overcome these threats. The imposed war is one example in this regard. The US activities against us are another example. Different sanctions which have been imposed on us are yet another example. Some of these threats were posed directly by foreigners, such as the sanctions. Sanctions have been there for many years, but they have been intensified in the recent years. They themselves spoke about crippling sanctions. They acted directly or used the United Nations - which was under their control - to impose these sanctions. These were the threats in which foreigners were directly involved. There were certain other threats - such as the issue of ethnicities in the country - which were caused by domestic factors although the enemy could have used these factors to his advantage. The Islamic Republic overcame all these threats. Today different ethnicities are living together in the country in a brotherly way. The sense of commitment to the Islamic Republic is clear and tangible among all of them. I believe this is one of the most important strengths. We should pay attention to this point when enumerating the strengths of the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic has been faced with the enmity of the most powerful people in the world and it has been forced to deal with constant threats single-handedly for 32 years, but it has managed to overcome all these threats. This is a very important point. I believe this is the most important strength of the Islamic Republic.
The second strength is the trust between the people and the Islamic Republic. There are few countries in the world in which the people trust their government the way the people of Iran trust the Islamic Republic. The clear phenomena that are in front of everybody's eyes are the cause of this trust. Certain people do not see these things and they constantly speak about public distrust. No, the people trust the Islamic Republic. One proof is the election that was held two years ago in which more than 80 percent of eligible voters took part. Where in the world is there such a thing? Another proof is the two rallies that we hold every year on the 22nd of Bahman [marking the victory of the Islamic Revolution] and on Quds Day. These demonstrations are related to the Islamic Republic. They are not related to any particular administration or current: they belong to the Islamic Republic. Notice what the people do on these impressive occasions - in the cold weather of the 22nd of Bahman and in the month of Ramadan while they are fasting. They have been present both when it was cold and when it was hot. By Allah's favor, you will see again on Quds Day how impressive the people are. This is indicative of the commitment of the people and their love for the Islamic Republic. Public trust in the Islamic Republic cannot be better and clearer than this. This presence is highly significant. Besides, in certain cases such as the Dey 9th demonstrations of the year 1388, as soon as the people felt the movement that had been started was related to the Islamic Republic and the Revolution, not to a particular person or administration, they carried out that great movement. It was not just enthusiastic youth who stepped into the arena. Everybody came. The event that happened on the 9th of Dey was extraordinary and it was due to the commitment of the people to the Islamic Republic. These things are indicative of public trust. Unfortunately we hear certain people constantly advising the government to restore the trust it has lost. What trust? The people trust the Islamic Republic. They love the Islamic Republic. They support the Islamic Republic. And the proofs are what I mentioned.
The third strength is progress under sanctions. This is one of the most important strengths of the country. The country has made progress under the most severe sanctions. In what areas has the country made progress? One area is science and technology which was mentioned by Mr. President in his report. We made progress in the area of nuclear technology. We made progress in biotechnology. We made progress in nanotechnology. We made progress in technologies related to new sources of energy. We made progress in aerospace industries. We made progress in building supercomputers. We made progress in the area of stem cells, which is an essential area. The same is true of cloning, manufacturing radiopharmaceuticals and antineoplastic nanopharmaceuticals. All of these areas are highly sophisticated fields in the world. The few examples that I mentioned and certain other areas are among top fields in the world and some of these technologies are owned by only 5, 10 countries in the world. We have made progress in these areas. This was while the doors of transferring knowledge to our country were closed on us on all sides.
I read an article which quoted an American newspaper, published two, three days ago. The article said that Iran is an exception in nuclear technology. China, Pakistan and India achieved nuclear technology with the help of other countries. But where did Iran get this technology? The article says that Iran did not get nuclear technology from a foreign country. This was while there were sanctions that prevented the delivery of facilities which were necessary for nuclear progress. Also, Iran was confronted with their attempts to thwart its nuclear progress, such as the computer virus they sent into our facilities. Our scientists and our youth stood up against them. They made progress and managed to foil the enemy's plot. The article also mentions assassination of our nuclear scientists. These are the things that our enemies are saying. The article was published in The Washington Post. These are the advances that we have made in science and technology.
We also made advances in building infrastructures - and you heard the statistics in this regard. There were advances in building roads, highways, dams, silos and factories and in producing important industrial products such as steel, cement and other such things. Creation of different infrastructures in the country and technical and engineering capabilities in different industries - these are all advances.
We also made progress in building our national self-confidence. Today our people, especially our youth, have more self-confidence than 10, 20 years ago. He [one of the people who spoke in the meeting] was right and I know for a fact that in scientific areas our youth are prepared to anything for which we have the necessary infrastructure in the country. That is to say, there is nothing that our young scientists cannot do, providing we have the necessary infrastructure in the country. Thankfully this is our situation. A wide range of construction projects have been carried out in the country. These are all advances. We have had a lot of advances in these areas.
The fourth strength: international prestige. I do not agree with the idea that today our international situation is bad. Not at all. Sometimes this point is raised in certain statements. No, today our international situation is very good. As far as foreign policy is concerned, today the Islamic Republic has come to be recognized as a respectable, influential and prestigious country in the world. This international dignity - which is the result of certain factors, including presence of the people, public resistance and clear revolutionary slogans shouted by our people and government officials - cannot be undermined by the words and actions of a certain government in a corner of the world. These actions have always been there.
Some people think that if a certain arrogant government in Europe and elsewhere says makes an insulting comment about the Islamic Republic, it means the position of the Islamic Republic has been undermined in the world. No, they have done these things whenever they could. They used to do such things even when we used to back down against them. It is wrong to think that it was our resistance and steadfastness that made them determined in their enmity. No, there was a day when our government officials used to praise America in their speeches. It was during the same time that the US President labeled Iran as the axis of evil in a totally unwise move. One day one of the European governments used to express friendship and a tendency to establish relations with Iran. The same government formed a court after the Mykonos restaurant issue and leveled accusations against high-ranking officials of the country. European governments cooperated with it and all of them withdrew their ambassadors out of Tehran. We have not forgotten those things. They tried to slap us across the face, but they received a stronger slap. They received such a strong slap from this Hussayniyyah that a long time later they were still looking for a cure. They tried to give us a slap whenever they could. Whenever we backed down and treated them a little leniently, they got more insolent. No, the resistance of the Islamic Republic and commitment to the slogans and principles of the Revolution have increased our dignity in the world.
Thankfully today our international prestige is very good. Conversely, the US government - the bulling enemy which has been openly opposed to us - is the most hated government in Islamic countries. According to their own opinion polls, America's prestige and credibility have declined in the region and in Islamic countries on a daily basis. Of course if the people of European nations realize that their problems are caused by America and the hegemony of the Zionist regime over their policies, America's popularity will decline far more in Europe and all these actions will be mobilized against America. And this is something that will happen in the not so distant future.
Another positive point is that there is stability in the country in spite of all these plots and machinations. Of course stability is different from stagnation. We do not have stagnation in the country. We have action, progress and dynamism, but the Islamic Republic is stable and firmly established. These are our strengths. Of course there are many other strong points as well: being inspirational, creating role models, undermining the power of the enemies on the international front and making the enemy despair of subduing the Revolution. Our enemies have despaired of subduing the Islamic Republic in spite of the fact that their methods have grown more complex and their facilities have grown in number - in spite of the Internet, in spite of various kinds of organizations that exist in the world, in spite of the network that has dominated the world.
The experiences that we have accumulated in legislation and executive work - these are also brilliant points about the country. The population of the country is 75 million. Of course I would like to take this opportunity to declare that considering the resources we have, I believe our country can accommodate 150 million people. I believe in population growth. Any measure to control population growth should be taken after we have a population of 150 million people.
These are the positive and brilliant points about the country. Of course our strong points are far more than these things. However, we have weak points as well. If we fail to see the weak points and if we fail to identify our weaknesses, we will definitely be harmed. We have weak points both in economic areas and in cultural areas. We have had our own mistakes and weaknesses. We have failed to overcome some of the challenges we have faced. This is a fact. Even in the case of the threats which are directly posed by the enemy, if are harmed, it is our own fault. It is because of our own negligence. About the Battle of Uhud, the Holy Quran says, "When a misfortune befell you, and you had certainly afflicted (the unbelievers) with twice as much, you began to say: where did this come from? Say: it is from yourselves. Surely Allah has power over all things." [The Holy Quran, 3: 165] That bitter event took place in the Battle of Uhud: the Muslims gained an early victory, but then some people forgot their missions and left their posts to collect spoils. And the enemy managed to besiege the forces of Islam and attack them. The enemy managed to kill a number of the Muslims and defeat the Muslim army, forcing the Muslims to seek refuse in the mountains. The holy life of the Prophet (s.w.a.) was put in danger and he was harmed.
Then the Muslims asked why such a thing happened while God had promised them victory. Allah the Exalted says that He kept His promise and gave the Muslims a victory but that it was the Muslims themselves who ruined everything. God says the Muslims harmed the enemy just as the enemy harmed the Muslims: "And you had certainly afflicted (the unbelievers) with twice as much." God tells them not to be surprised. After all, in a battlefield you hurt the enemy and you also get hurt. The same is true of the battlefield of global politics and economy and it is wrong to expect otherwise. But the Muslims asked why they received the blow. The Holy Quran says, "Say: it is from yourselves." The Holy Quran says that it was the Muslims themselves. It was because of their mistake. We have made mistakes in certain cases and we have failed to fulfill our responsibilities in certain cases, otherwise "Allah has power over all things". In certain cases we failed to be as vigilant as we should have been. In certain cases we failed to disregard what we were attached to and these things have caused certain problems. We need to pay attention to this point. We got busy with things that should be avoided. We got busy with political disputes and fights. We got busy with seeking personal welfare. We got busy with aristocratic manners. These are the weak points.
When people like you and I make our lives aristocratic and luxurious, the people will learn from us. Some people are looking for an excuse. They look at us and say, "See how they live. We want to live like them." Some people believe that it is necessary to avoid extravagance in life. When these people look at us and see that people like you and I live a life of extravagance, they say, "We are not better than these people - they are our leaders." These things are dangerous. Following the teachings of Islam, revolutionary people avoid a life of luxury. Try as hard as you can to bring about welfare for the people. Try as hard as you can to increase our national income. Try as hard as you can to produce wealth in the country, but not for yourselves. Government officials must not turn to a life of luxury, at least as long as they are in a position of responsibility. Disregarding the spirit of jihad and selflessness, disregarding the enemy's cultural invasion, disregarding the fact that the enemy is lying in ambush, disregarding the enemy's infiltration into the media atmosphere of the country, neglecting our duty to preserve what belongs to the people - these are our shortcomings and weak points.
The tendency towards tribal behaviors in political and economic arenas is among our other weaknesses. Tribal behavior means that our criticism and approval of a person's action is not affected by the nature of his action, rather it is affected by our relationship with him: a mistake by somebody from our tribe is considered easy to ignore, but the same mistake by somebody from the opposing tribe is considered actionable. If somebody from our tribe does a good thing, his action is considered praiseworthy, but this is not true of the same action by a person from another tribe: this is tribal behavior. This behavior is not Islamic. It is not revolutionary. Unfortunately we have such behaviors among ourselves. I do not want to say it is prevalent, but it exists.
Many activities have been undertaken in the economic area, but the issue of employment has not been resolved yet. The issue of inflation has not been resolved. The issue of our culture of labor has not been resolved. The issue of increasing actual hours of work has not been resolved. The culture of labor should be changed in the country so that people consider work as worship and increase the amount of work they do in a particular period of time. It is necessary to work. Lack of effort and a tendency towards laziness will not push the country forward. We have certain problems regarding culture, social ethics and promoting moral virtues. Moral virtues should increase among us on a daily basis. Patience, gratitude, dhikr, benevolence, fairness, lack of persecution, willingness to render services - these things should be promoted in our society on a daily basis. These things do not happen automatically: they require work and effort. We have shortcomings in these areas. The spread of the culture of extravagance and luxurious lifestyles in society and the failure to stop the tendency towards violence among certain people, are harmful. We broadcast some films whose creators warn against the effects of violence shown in their films. They warn against the possibility that these films may promote violence in society, but we broadcast these films. These things are harmful. Our children should not become familiar with daggers and guns - of course plastic guns - at an early age. They should not learn to use them. These things are problematic and dangerous. They have consequences and we can see the consequences in society. This is among our weaknesses.
A few years ago I read in an American magazine that certain reform-minded people in America had suggested that the number of Hollywood movies which contain scenes of lust and violence should be gradually decreased and that movies about family values, innocence and noble behavior should be promoted. They are thinking of reforming their situation, and yet we are learning what they are trying to reform.
Another problem is the failure to confront the efforts to corrupt our young generation in an appropriate and logical way. One of the plots is to corrupt our young generation. So far we have not been successful in confronting this plot. Promoting drugs among our youth, provoking their sexual instinct and other such things are among the measures they take to corrupt our youth. Ideological principles should be presented in an appropriate way - both the principles that are related to Islam and the principles that are related to the Revolution and the Islamic Republic. As I said, strong points increase our hope and they show us our capacities. And weak points show us the priorities and what we should do.
Our time is up. I think it is almost time for adhan. Regarding the regional issues I would briefly say that the conditions of the region are developing in the opposite direction of the policies of western powers, America and international Zionism. They had plans for Iran, but Allah the Exalted ordained that what happens should be the opposite of what they wanted. They imposed sanctions on Iran, but it was they themselves who were caught in an economic crisis. They planned - or at least, strengthened - the fitna of the year 1388 in order to overthrow the Islamic Republic, but what happened was that the systems and governments which were dependent on them started to fall one after the other. According to their own luminaries, they attacked Iraq and Afghanistan in order to besiege Iran, but it was they themselves who were besieged. They are trapped in a quagmire. Allah the Exalted ordained that what happens should be the opposite of what they had planned and implemented against us.
As I pointed out, the recent events in the region are extraordinary. Currently it is not really possible to calculate the dimensions of what is happening in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and some other countries. The dimensions are truly vast. Putting Hosni Mubarak in a cage and trying him in a court of law are a very significant event. It is not just a matter of replacing one power and government with another. The issue is far more profound than this. Today the usurping Zionist regime has been besieged among countries that are motivated to confront it. The events are extraordinary. Of course they are constantly making efforts in order to ride the waves of the crisis in the region and to control Islamic Awakening in one way or another. But they have not been successful so far and thanks to the awakening of nations, they will not be successful in the future either - just as the Islamic slogans which were shouted in Egypt ruined their dreams again.
Of course I am concerned about Libya. In Libya, the policy of the west is very cruel and cunning. They took advantage of the popular uprising. It is very important for them to create a foothold in Libya to remain there. Fist, the issue of Libyan oil is important to them. Second, the vast territories of this country can provide them with enough space to establish military bases. Third, they can have control over Egypt and Tunisia: two revolutionary countries. Libya is bordered by Egypt on the east and by Tunisia on the west. Moreover, from Libya they can have control over Sudan, Algeria and all other countries of the region. They want to create a firm foothold in Libya. They want to destroy the infrastructure of that country so that - failing other methods - they can consolidate their position in Libya. They are destroying Libyan infrastructure. Roads are being destroyed in the name of supporting the people. Oil refineries are being destroyed. The few factories that exist in Libya are being destroyed. These things have to be built again. The people of Libya do not have this capability. They will go to Libya under the pretext of reconstruction. I am concerned about the issue of Libya.
Dear God, save the people of Libya. Save the people of Yemen. Save the people of Bahrain. Awaken and strengthen the people and Muslims of the region on a daily basis. Dear God, help us acquire Your satisfaction. Accept from us what we said and heard. Dear God, make the holy heart of the Imam of the Age satisfied with us. Make our life and death serve the cause of Islam.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings