The following is the full text of the speech delivered on November 10, 2006 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with the people of Damghan.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad, upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, and upon the infallible and noble guides, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.
When I am among you dear brothers and sisters from Damghan, I feel I am among a group of people who are full of kindness and whom I am familiar with. I am thankful to Allah. Your old and beautiful city is one of the main centers which have brought glories for this province. Everyone knows about what has been written in books and what has been recorded in history about this city and about the literary people, poets, scholars and outstanding personalities which this city has built. During my youth, I found Damghan to be the center of religious, kind, moderate, patient and active - in revolutionary arenas - people. Damghan was such a city both during the imposed war and before that - I pointed to this issue yesterday in a meeting with the honorable families of martyrs.
During the Sacred Defense Era, support groups and engineering groups, which were attached to Construction Jihad, were under the management and leadership of active, mujahid and self-sacrificing people from Damghan. These groups were very active and there were few such groups in other provinces of the country. Shahid Shahcheraghi - who belongs to the people of Iran, not just the people of Damghan - was one of the well-known martyrs of the Islamic Revolution who carried the flag of glory for these dear people. Each of the other great martyrs whom we paid a visit to in Golzar-e Shohada and in their sacred tombs, kindled a bright light of spirituality, greatness and glory in this old and historical city. These are signs of dignity, courage, zeal and faith of you religious and friendly men and women.
I would like to tell you that after the persecution of the clergy and religious scholars during the time of thuggish Reza Khan, one of the active seminaries in the eastern part of the country was the seminary of Damghan. This is a sign of the religious roots and the piety of the people of this city. The late Mr. Torabi (may God bestow paradise on him), the uncle of the current honorable Friday prayer leader, promoted education and knowledge in this city. Those who loved acquiring knowledge and those who were eager to seek truth used to come to Damghan from different cities - from Mazandaran, Semnan and different areas - to pursue Knowledge in three seminaries of Damghan.
Today, a number of graduates of those times are among outstanding and well-known personalities who are known in this province and outside this province. When a seminary is established in a city, it cannot be analyzed outside a spiritual and religious environment. The existence of a blessed seminary in a certain area means the presence of deeply religious and noble people.
Besides, the late Ayatollah Damghani was one of the famous teachers in Mashhad and he was an outstanding personality during our youth. The late Mr. Moalem (may God bestow paradise on him), who was a pious and wise man, was living in Damghan until a few years ago. Whenever I met this dear and noble man in Tehran - where he paid a visit to me - the memory of the spiritual beauty of Damghan was revived in my mind.
Today, I am happy that I am among these people including kind, religious and warm men and women. I have always had - and still I do have- sweet and exciting memories of these people.
One issue is the issue of construction and development of Damghan. On these trips, we point out important issues to the honorable administrations. Your city is a talented city. It has certain problems which the people grapple with. The questions that were asked of the people before we took this trip showed us that the problem of water, the problem of unemployment, the problem of healthcare and a number of other problems are serious problems for the people of this city. What I can say is that the honorable administration and the honorable President are going to solve the problems - as much as the resources of the country allow them to do so - with all their power. The honorable administration will definitely pay attention to these problems by developing short-term and long-term plans. These problems should be gradually solved. You should cooperate in solving the problems with your determination and your assistance. The youth, particularly young students - in this province, especially in this city, there are many students - should participate in solving these problems with their presence.
Today, Damghan is radically different from Damghan which I saw 30 years ago. The same is true of Shahrud. The same is true of Semnan and other cities, areas and villages in our country.
There was a day when the main goal of high-ranking officials in Tehran was to fill their own pockets with money and to satisfy their foreign, American and Zionist masters. They did not feel obliged to pursue the goal of solving the problems of the people and the country. If a certain city had had an influential personality in the government, that person could have appropriated government funds for his own city - often for his own personal interests - as much as his power allowed him to do so. But, if a city had not had an influential personality among decision-makers, it would have been deprived of everything. During the time of taghut, many of our people and many of our cities became victims of this discrimination and this is a wrong and taghuti system.
In the Islamic Republic, the officials of the country believe that the only responsibility they have is to render services to the people. I have always reiterated that our officials are at the service of the people. To put it clearly, they are the servants of the people. The people have entrusted the officials with the duty of preserving the great national power so that the officials can maintain their dignity and independence and strengthen their scientific, cultural and political position at an international level. The people have entrusted this duty to the officials so that they can use the resources of the country to the advantage of the people. Our country has many resources. The desert which is around your city is a source of many blessings. One of the things which the government should definitely do is to acquire more knowledge about this desert and its blessings. Of course, they have started to do certain things, but it is not enough. They should improve it. This desert is like a blessing and it can be used to the advantage of the people. It can be used for the development of provinces which surround it.
This administration is a dynamic, energetic, active and empathetic administration. It is eager to safeguard the interests of the people and it is present on the scene. It will definitely take action to solve the problems to the extent that the resources of the government allow it to do so.
Of course, during this trip we will identify - by relying on the reports that we received before this trip and the ones that we will receive after this trip and by relying on what the officials told us during this trip - more important, more sensitive and more essential issues. By Allah's favor, we will manage to tread these right paths and improve the lives of you faithful, enthusiastic and honorable people on a daily basis.
Actually, whatever the officials do for these people is not enough. One is astonished at certain things. I just met the mother of certain religious martyrs. Three of her young sons were martyred and she has a son who is a disabled war veteran. She herself is old. However, psychologically, she is standing firm like a mountain. One should kiss the hands of such people. This is true greatness. When a nation enjoys such great human capacities, it should be confident that it can carry out whatever big task it undertakes.
The ideals that the Iranian nation is pursuing are lofty ideals. But these ideals are attainable. Raising the flag of Islamic justice, protecting it and moving towards it are not vain ideals, the way some people try to portray them. These ideals can be achieved.
Today, social justice is not administered in the world. Today, the so-called supporters of human rights are the cruelest violators of human rights. See what is happening in Palestine. The Palestinians are slaughtered on a daily basis. The savage Zionists lost their military grandeur - which had been achieved by 50 years of effort - in the 33-day war. They tried for 50 years to show that Israel is invincible. But this 50 years of grandeur went up in smoke. A group of faithful mujahids who were not equipped with modern aerial weapons and other such weapons managed to deeply humiliate that arrogant and wild army. They managed to inflict harm on it and make a fool of it at an international level. The Zionists are attacking Gaza to probably take revenge on poor Palestinians for that humiliating defeat. Gaza has been under continuous attack from the Zionists for several days or several weeks. This continuous and cruel attack on Gaza - under the terms of a certain contract, they gave Gaza back to the Palestinians, but now they are treating them in a cruel way - shows what the consequences of negotiation with Israel and the usurping Zionists are.
Some people say, "We should resolve our issues with the Zionists through negotiations". Well, these are the consequences of negotiations. Such cruelty is being inflicted on the people of Gaza, but the supporters of human rights - those who claim that they defend human rights and those European and western powers who accuse disobedient governments of violating human rights on the basis of trivial matters - are sitting idle. They are looking at this slaughter of the people - which is happening on a daily basis - in a completely indifferent way. Even if one beheads a sheep on the streets of a capital of a certain European country, one will not be treated with such indifference. Tens and thousands of people - including defenseless children, women and men who did not take part in any armed struggles - are being slaughtered and destroyed for no good reason. But, they are less important to the so-called supporters of human rights than the blood of a sheep. This is how justice is administered in the world.
A number of people look at this situation and they say, "You speak about social justice. But is it possible to administer social justice?" Of course, inside the country there are some people who are prepared to trample on the rights of hundreds, thousands and millions of people for the sake of their own personal interests. You have heard about such people. Some people who abuse their position and some economically corrupt individuals do not see any difference between public and non-public funds. They get their hands on anything they can, no matter whose right they violate. When some people witness this situation, they say, "Is it possible to administer social justice in the country?" I say yes, it is possible. All the ideals of our nation and our Revolution including social justice can be achieved with the support of these religious and committed people who have stood firm like a mountain.
Twenty years ago, when we were defending our country during the Sacred Defense Era, global powers did not sell us even the simplest weapons. They did not even sell them for twice their price. Iraq and criminal Saddam were inundated by floods of modern weapons from Europe, America and the Soviet Union. This was while we had to face thousands of problems in order to find the simplest weapons - if we did not have them. In those days, if someone had said that one day these people, these youth and these revolutionary and religious people with firm determination would manage to fire missiles in the Persian Gulf or in other areas on military maneuvers, would anyone have believed this? But our people did this.
There was a day when global and arrogant powers threateningly howled at our nation. They used to threaten us. Ten, eight, five years ago, some of the agents of the governments which we were on good terms with said to us, "We have heard that they are going to attack you on such and such a day or such and such a month". Their purpose was to threaten and intimidate the Islamic Republic and make it back away from its positions. In those days, there were many people who did not believe that global arrogance, headed by America, would suffer such a defeat in all its policies against the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic of Iran. These people did not believe that In Iraq and Palestine, their policies would fail to achieve any results. They did not believe that in Lebanon the Americans would suffer a humiliating defeat in carrying out their policies. They did not believe that in Afghanistan its efforts would be frustrated and its threats would be regarded as empty at an international level. However, such a thing happened.
The plots that they hatched against the Iranian nation ended up harming themselves. Whenever each of the high-ranking officials of the current administration of America - whether its Secretary of Defense, its Secretary of State or Bush himself - said something against the Iranian nation and whenever they made a threatening statement in order to intimidate the people of Iran, it had an opposite effect. On the issue of the presidential elections, Bush conveyed a message to the people of Iran saying that they should not participate in the elections. But, the people did otherwise on purpose and they participated more enthusiastically than in previous 25, 26 years.
On the issue of the unsuccessful policies of America in Iraq, it became clear in the recent elections in America that these policies have even failed to gain the support of the people in Washington. These warmongering policies have even failed to gain the support of the people and American politicians. In congressional elections, the party which is attached to the President of America lost the election. This is not only an internal issue. Rather, this event shows that the belligerent and warmongering policies of the current President of America have failed. These policies have failed at an international level. From the perspective of the Americans, these policies had been formulated against Iran. This means that at this political juncture, the Iranian nation has clearly achieved a victory at an international level. Today, Bush himself has realized that he has been defeated. Apparently, the last American politician who realized that he has been defeated is Bush himself. Today, he himself acknowledges that he has been defeated in his warmongering policies.
I would tell you dear people of Iran that you are armed with faith, determination, talent and human capacities. This is the basis of the wealth of our determined, religious and talented nation. The Iranian youth have capabilities which are above global average. Our experts told me that whenever they put energy into each piece of work such as work on technological and scientific areas, they managed to do it in the best way possible. By Allah's favor and grace, they have made the same achievements in social and political areas and in areas which are related to human capacities. This has been achieved thanks to your faith, unity and solidarity. This has been achieved thanks to your warm and friendly relationship with the officials. We should not lose these blessings. The determination, the diligence and the strong faith of you people have made you as firm as a mountain. This determination should prevail.
By Allah's favor, all the ideals of the Revolution will be achieved. One of the most important ideals is ending discrimination against an individual, a city, a province or an area in our country. Another important ideal is to utilize talents and natural resources that have been discovered in different parts of the country such as your city. Here, you have mines and agricultural facilities. Of course, you are faced with the problem of the shortage of water. But supplying water is not impossible. There are certain measures which, by Allah's favor, can be taken. On the one hand, there is this desert and these fertile pieces of land. And on the other hand, you can benefit from your great talents.
I hope that Allah the Exalted will help the officials succeed in improving your lives on a daily basis with the help of the determination of you yourselves. By Allah's favor, the problems will be solved. By Allah's favor and by the blessedness of the immaculate souls of our dear martyrs, you and all the people of Iran will benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake).
Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, bestow Your blessings, Your mercy and Your grace on these people. Dear God, increase the achievements of these people on a daily basis. Dear God, make the officials more eager and more interested, on a daily basis, in rendering services to these people. Make our intentions - regarding what we said and what we heard - pure and make them please You.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings