The following is the full text of the speech delivered on June 5, 2016 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with the speaker and members of the Majlis on the occasion of the inauguration of the Tenth Islamic Consultative Majlis.
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 and upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.
Welcome you dear brothers and sisters who will – by Allah’s favor – have a determining role in the progress of the country. You are the pieces and components that form one of the greatest foundations of the country and the Revolution. I would like to congratulate all of you on attaining this achievement. Thankfully, Allah the Exalted bestowed on you the blessing to take this lofty position.
I would like to make some introductory statements. Well, these are the last days of the month of Sha’ban and Ramadan is close. We should draw our hearts to divine satisfaction and to divine responsibility. I will tell you dear brothers and sisters that you should appreciate the value of this position and you should know that it is very brief. In the blink of an eye, four years will pass just like our life. Our life is the same. When you look back, you see that this period of time has passed in the blink of an eye and that pleasures, difficulties, bitter and sweet moments, and joys and pains have come to an end. If on this long scroll – in the case of the likes of us, 70, 80 years, for example – we have managed to put a mark that can be counted before Allah the Exalted and that can make us hopeful, so much the better. However, if on this long scroll we do not have something with which we can defend ourselves before Allah the Exalted – we are judged anyway – life will become a complete failure.
This has been manifested in these ayahs: “Most surely man is in loss except those who believe and do good deeds” [The Holy Quran, 103: 2-3]. Faith and good deeds: if good deeds and faith exist in the part of our life that has already passed, well then, our life is not a loss, rather it is a profit as much. However, if – God forbid – they do not exist and if we make a calculation and see there is room for doubt about them, then things will become very very difficult for us.
In the holy Dua Abu Hamza, Hazrat [Ali] says to Allah the Exalted, ““Oh God, bestow Your mercy on me when my reasoning fails before You, when I cannot find my tongue to give You answers and when my mind makes a mistake when you ask me a question.” It says that when you ask me a question, I have no answers to give. They ask about our deeds and we should have some answers anyway. However, “I cannot find my tongue to give you answers.” And “My reasoning fails before You.” We usually have some reasons to give: “I did that because of…” However, when they question our reasons, our hands become empty of any reasons. The last part is, “When my mind makes a mistake when you ask me a question.” My mind, my heart and my soul will become confused and bewildered in the face of the questions that are asked in a row. This is what will happen.
I myself have experienced this. This is an experience that I myself went through. I did not want to say it, but it has crossed my mind now and I want to say it. In the year 1360, when that incident occurred to me at Abuzar Mosque [an assassination attempt with a hidden bomb in the mosque], I became unconscious. I was being carried out of the mosque and into the car when I regained my consciousness and lost it again two, three times until I became completely unconscious. During the two, three times that I regained my consciousness temporarily, I once felt that this was the last moment. I completely felt that that moment was the moment of my death. All of a sudden, my entire past life flashed before my eyes. At that moment, I thought to myself, “What do I have to present [to God]?”
I thought very hard and I found out that all of my actions could be questioned. Well, I fought, I went to prison, I was beaten, I became involved in teaching and I endured many difficulties. These are the things that come to one’s mind at that moment. However, I saw that all of those actions could be questioned. They could say to me that on such and such an issue, a non-divine intention had stained my act. So, nothing, it is all gone! I suddenly thought that I was hanging still between the earth and heaven like a person who cannot grasp at anything. I said, “Oh God, I am in such a condition, as you see. Apparently, I do not have anything. My calculations say that I have nothing unless You Yourself show mercy on me.” This condition happens to us. So, we should try to make the most of these opportunities.
You have a good opportunity which is spending four years in the Islamic Consultative Majlis: a place for managing the country and passing laws. This legislation is of great significance. As we have said many times, it is really like building a railway system. First of all, you build a railway for the administration’s movement and then, you can guarantee that this movement will be launched with the powers and authorities that the Constitution has given you one of which is supervision – this has been specified in the Constitution. This is not just a word of advice. According to the law, you can follow-up, research and supervise.
This is not in conflict with cooperating with the administration in any way. I believe – I have believed in this in all administrations – that the Majlis should cooperate with the administration, but this cooperation does not mean that the Majlis should abdicate its rights. You should assert your rights. You should follow-up, supervise and criticize the administration about its tasks. You can ask, “Why did it not happen? Why was it not carried out properly? Why was it carried out in a different manner?” This is a very important opportunity. So, you should appreciate its value.
In the beginning of the Revolution, when there was talk of electing a president and when the names of different candidates were being brought up, I and a friend of mine went from Tehran to Qom to meet with Imam (r.a.). At that time, Imam was in Qom and it was hard to meet with him because it was at a difficult time. He was in his house. We said to ourselves that we should certainly see him no matter what. Imam (r.a.) had said that turban-wearers should not run for the presidency. We had gone there to discuss this and to argue with him. We wanted to say to him that he would better lift that prohibition so that we would bring up Mr. Beheshti. In our opinion, Shahid Beheshti (Allah the Exalted’s paradise be upon him) was better than everyone else. We had gone there to discuss this with him.
We had a discussion and we said certain things and he said certain things in response. Then, he said that we would better go and attend to the Majlis. At that time, parliamentary elections had not been held yet. He said that we should pursue the Majlis because it is important. His advice to us – to me and to our mutual friend – was that we should not insist on the administration. From his viewpoint, the Majlis was more important than the administration and the executive branch.
So, you should ask God to help you. You should really ask God for His help. The month of Ramadan is ahead of us. Fasting is an opportunity. Praying is an opportunity. Keeping a vigil in these nights is an opportunity. Night prayers are an opportunity – believers naturally have more opportunities to say night prayers during these nights. You should pray and engage in supplication. You should ask God to help you succeed in carrying out this great responsibility, God willing.
Well, I would like to raise a few points: one is about the essence of parliamentary duties and the significance of the Majlis. Another is about the issue of the law. Another is about the economy. Another is about culture. And the last is about general policies, issues about foreign policy and the like. By Allah’s favor, I will say a few things on these matters.
According to the Constitution, you are responsible for defending the achievements of the Revolution and the principles of Islam. This existed in the written oath that you took. In my message to you [Supreme Leader’s message delivered on May 27, 2016, to the inauguration of the Tenth Islamic Consultative Majlis] I said that this oath is a real and genuine oath, one for which you will have to perform kaffarah [a religious punishment in which you pray and donate money or things of value for the sin that you have committed] if it is violated.
You have sworn to preserve the principles of Islam and the achievements of the Revolution. Well, this is an important thing. When will this be possible? It will be possible only when the Majlis is really at the top of affairs. This falls on you as well. Parliamentary authority over all affairs is not a formality and we do not want to say this as a mere formality. The Majlis should really be at the top of affairs. This means that it should make and implement decisions. Of course, I will tell you that in different administrations – including the current administration, the previous administration, all the administrations that held office after Imam’s (r.a.) demise- my own administration during the time when Imam (r.a.) was alive- we had difficult situations. This happened sometimes. In the present time, administrations face certain problems and as a result, they benefit from the powers that have been given to Wali Faqih. This exists, but even in those times, I took care not to let parliamentary bills be violated.
One of the previous administrations had asked for something that was completely against the budget law of that year. In those days, there was no planning law, rather there was a budget law. They insisted very strongly, but I did not accept. Despite the fact that they had certain problems, I said, “We have a Majlis that has passed this budget law with all its difficulties. Now, with one word, you want to turn it upside down. This is not possible.” The Majlis should be placed at the top of affairs. The respect, dignity and authority of the Majlis should be preserved.
Once I said – I think that it was in a meeting with Mr. Larijani or another speaker of the Majlis – that these positive circumstances existed in the beginning of the Constitutional Movement as well, but it lasted until Reza Khan came to power. When Reza Khan came, the Majlis, the law, legislation and the like went up in smoke. However, before the emergence of Reza Khan, the idea of legislation, of the majlis and of the consultative majlis had just been developed and the Constitutional Movement had just been launched. Ostensibly, in the second or third term of the majlis – in any case, it was before Reza Khan seized power – the speaker of the majlis was Motamed al-Mulk who was a reputable man during the time of Qajar dynasty. Motamed al-Mulk’s brother was the prime minister of the time. His name was Moshir al-Dowlah. He too was a reputable man. These two brothers were fairly reputable men during the time of Qajar dynasty and early Pahlavi era.
So, the elder brother was Moshir al-Dowlah. He was the head of the administration and he was a prime minister. Motamed al-Mulk – the younger brother – was the speaker of the majlis. The head of the administration – the prime minister – asked the majlis to give him some time to deliver a report. He was going to deliver a speech at eight in the morning, for example. It was eight, but Moshir al-Dowlah did not arrive. Motamed al-Mulk looked at his watch and saw that it was five minutes past eight. Then, he said that the prime minister should not be allowed to enter [the Majlis]. Five minutes later, Moshir al-Dowlah arrived in the Majlis, but they did not let him enter! This was the case. The prime minister arrived five minutes later than the scheduled time and therefore, the speaker of the majlis – who was his brother, his younger brother – did not allow him to enter. This signifies the power and authority of the Majlis. You should preserve this. This is in your power and you can do this.
One of the things that can provide and guarantee this in the Majlis in the real sense of the word is the supervision of the Majlis over itself. I said this in the Eighth Majlis as well. The Majlis should supervise itself. After all, the Majlis is formed of humans. All of us humans are subject to mistakes. This is not a joke and the issue is not particular to big and small personalities, and to the elderly and the youth. All of us are subject to mistakes and slip-ups. Who should prevent these slip-ups? The Majlis itself should do so. And all sorts of slip-ups can be imagined. If the Majlis exercises supervision, if it prevents the members from making slip-ups and if the members can preserve their purity and honesty in the course of these years, then it can dare to open its mouth to speak. If it does so, it can express its viewpoints whenever there is a problem. So, the Majlis should exercise this self-supervision. I request that you do not underestimate the significance of parliamentary self-supervision. You should preserve this.
One issue is about the law. Passing laws is your primary responsibility. However, laws can be passed in two ways: in good and bad ways. It is possible to pass laws in good and bad ways. Good and bad do not necessarily mean that the laws themselves are good and bad. Sometimes, you pass a good law, but the way you pass it is bad. Why is that? It is because precision, coordination with other laws and the existence of clarity have not been observed in the way that law is passed. First of all, laws should have quality. Increasing the number of laws and passing too many of them is not very pleasant. Laws should have quality.
Mr. Larijani spoke about the existence of individuals with different kinds of expertise. This really makes me happy and I thank God for that. The existence of these skilled, well-informed and intelligent experts in the Majlis is very precious for this purpose. First, you should take care that laws should enjoy solidity. In other words, the reasons for passing a law should be so cogent that when a person takes a look, they see that the law is a solid one. Laws should be comprehensive as well. Taking a partial outlook without paying attention to different perspectives will make laws inefficient.
Laws should be clear. It should not be the case that they need to be revised and amended in a constant manner so much so that query letters of different kinds come to the Majlis in a continuous way. When laws are not clear and comprehensive, query letters are constantly sent to you asking what you meant. Sometimes, the result of the query letter that the Majlis issues is the exact opposite of the content of the law itself. Well, that law is not a good one. The content might be good, but the passing is not. Therefore, laws should enjoy quality.
Another issue is that some laws are in conflict with one another. One of the problems that we suffer from is the issue of law density. We have so many laws on different matters! Dr. Larijani pointed to the issue of spatial planning. Since the time I was the president, the issue of spatial planning was brought up in the administration. Even during the time of my own presidency – 30, 30-plus years have passed from that time – the issue of spatial planning was brought up in the administration. We even discussed the term amayesh [planning]. We said, “What does this Persian word mean? What is its origin?” in any case, it was decided to follow up this issue. This has been worked on in all administrations, but it has not been put into practice yet.
Well, in the present time, we have passed a law for that. There is a law for spatial planning. Now, do you want to add another law to that? Short cuts should be taken. Imagine that you want to benefit from the resources of provinces and different areas of the country with the help of spatial planning and the familiarity that you gain about the talents and capacities of provinces and different areas. Very well, this is good, but if this does not happen, there is another way. Although it is true that spatial planning has not been applied to North Khorasan province, the governor of that province and the local officials know things about the talents of their province that the person in charge of such tasks does not. This is an opportunity in itself. These short cuts should be benefitted from. So, what I am saying is that law density and increasing the quantity of laws is not a privilege. The main point is that laws should have quality and be comprehensive.
You should prevent the laws that prepare the ground for corruption. You should be very careful. One of the things that is not common in our Majlis – of course, it has happened a few times and I myself remember that it happened a few times in recent years – but that is common in other parliaments in the world is that they pass a law and then they annul it after 10 days. And during these 10 days, some individuals earn billions! This is a corruption-engendering law. This is how such laws work: for example, they prohibit the sale, importation and exportation of a product, but a person who wants to take advantage of this uses this prohibition and earns billions overnight when they lift that prohibition for ten days. This law leads to corruption. There are such laws. You should take care to pass laws that combat corruption.
One issue about the law is that we should prefer national interests to provincial and regional issues. Of course, the people have certain expectations of you who have come from different areas of the country. They have certain expectations of you. Not all of their expectations are acceptable. If they think that because of you - who are from their city - their problems related to roads, water, electricity, government budget and everything else will be resolved, well this is not possible. Naturally, you consider yourselves responsible for paying attention to part of the demands and expectations that the people of your area have. This is alright to some extent as long as they are not opposed to national interests.
However, sometimes their demands are against national interests. Imagine that in such and such a province, the people insist that an airport should be built in their city. Well, building an airport is among expensive tasks and issues. It is an expensive infrastructure. Imagine that they need an airport. You take a look and see that an airport is not really necessary for that city. Of course, it is a privilege, but there are one, two airports in its vicinity, for example. Should we dedicate the country’s money, resources and opportunities to something that is not a priority? Here, you prefer national interests to those regional and local interests.
Of course, I am not saying that you should be completely indifferent to local demands because such a thing is impossible. However, when such demands are in conflict with national interests, you should definitely prefer national interests when you want to pass laws.
Another point that I would like to raise about the law is that you should benefit from experts. One of the important sectors whose experts you can benefit from is the administration. The administration has good experts in different areas. The expert body of the administration – whether the Planning and Budget Organization or other organizations – should definitely be benefitted from in different areas. But this is not particular to the administration. Even when you take a look outside the administration, there are certain individuals in the area of economic matters who are not working in the administration. They are working in universities. They are either teachers or economists and they are good experts. Experts should definitely be benefitted from for decision-making.
You should also try to coordinate with the higher-level documents and with the policies that are announced. For example, the Sixth Plan is definitely in your agenda. I will tell you that this plan is very important. The Sixth Plan is extraordinarily important. It is not at all acceptable to show laziness and negligence on this plan. You should really complete it in a good, perfect and thorough manner. Well, we are in a special condition both in terms of the economy and politics. The country is in a special condition. Therefore, the plan that you formulate for five years should be a complete plan in the real sense of the word. When this plan is prepared, it becomes a document of paramount importance. So, when you want to pass laws, you should coordinate them with this plan or other plans such as Article 44 of the Constitution and the like.
This was about the issue of legislation. By Allah’s favor, you will pay attention to these points. Of course, we see that some friends write in newspapers and other writings that a large number of those who have entered this Majlis are not experienced and that they do not know the Majlis. In my opinion, this is not a threat, rather it is an opportunity. Elections and these transfers of positions are an opportunity. The arrival of fresh individuals – who are not used to the Majlis – in the arena is an opportunity. And there are some veterans who share their experience with them. This combination – of the new and the old – is a good thing in the Majlis. It is an opportunity. You should benefit from it as much as you can. You should work in an enthusiastic and efficient manner and by benefiting from others’ experience. These points were related to the law which is, in my opinion, more important than everything else.
As for the issue of the economy, you dear brothers and dear sisters should notice that the issue of the economy is the main issue in our country. It is not just an important issue in the present time. It is five, six years now that I have been stressing the issue of the economy. Five, six years ago, I said in the new year speech – during Norouz holidays – that we are being threatened from two areas. One of these two areas – which is perhaps more important – is the area of the economy. This is the truth of the matter. At that time, sanctions did not exist and they had not been imposed yet. The enemy has used the economy as a weapon against us. Perhaps, we too adopted a naïve outlook by showing that we are very afraid of and concerned about this weapon.
This is why the enemy has become bolder. And he has found his way. In any case, the issue of the economy is a very important issue. We should resolve the issue of the economy of the country. Of course, implementation is the administration’s duty. It is the administration that should work in the middle of the arena, but you can help very much in this regard. Emphasis should be placed on economic recession and on the issue of domestic production. Domestic production is very important.
A few days ago, I said in a speech that it should be clear to us where in the economy of resistance every move that the administration makes is situated [Supreme Leader’s speech delivered on June 3, 2016, on Imam Khomeini’s (r.a.) 27th demise anniversary]. The economy of resistance is a table that is formed of numerous squares. It should be clear which square is filled by the the moves that we make.
Once, the administration wanted to carry out a transaction. A call was made from my office asking the official in charge which square of the economy of resistance that transaction fills. They should explain where in the economy of resistance such moves are situated. These moves should not be against the economy of resistance. Not only should they not be against it, but they should also not be neutral. Therefore, the issue of domestic production is very important. Finding a cure for economic recession is very important.
The issue of employment, which is related to the issue of domestic production and other such issues, is very important as well. We – including executive officials, the members of the Majlis and non-governmental economists working in newspapers – keep saying that such and such a percentage of factories are closed or that they work less than half their capacities, for example. So, what is going to happen? They should finally begin working! If they work, job opportunities will be created. The Islamic Republic’s embarrassment about a youth’s unemployment is more than the embarrassment that those youth themselves feel at home! You should know this! I myself become embarrassed when I think of these youth! In some provincial cities, the rate of unemployment is very high.
We say that the rate or – as is commonly said – the percentage of unemployment is such and such a figure. It is said that it is 10, 12 percent, but this is the average. When one sees this, one feels embarrassed. The embarrassment that this humble person feels when he sees these statistics and these realities is more – not less than – the embarrassment that the youth who goes home empty-handed and without having a job, feels! We should eliminate this.
The issue of smuggling that was pointed out by the friends in the meeting – I have pointed it out several times as well – is very serious. As a matter of fact, smuggling is a dagger that is stabbed into back of the Islamic Republic. Because of their own personal interests, some people trample upon the interests of the country with smuggling. This should be combated and confronted. Of course, it is evident that this confrontation is not easy because those who earn billions out of smuggling will not give up so easily. This should be confronted. Of course, it is the administration that should confront this, but it is the Majlis that provides a source of support for this governmental confrontation. It is you who should demand, decide and plan. These points were about the issues related to the economy.
The next matter is about culture. Of course, in the long term, culture is much more important than the economy. The economy is our urgent matter and our current priority, but the issue of culture is a continuous and very important issue. It is even important as it relates to the issue of the economy.
Dear brothers, dear sisters, I have a feeling that there is an indifference towards the issue of culture! In cultural organizations – including governmental and non-governmental organizations - there is a kind of indolence and indifference on the issue of culture. We show negligence in both producing valuable cultural products and in preventing the production of harmful cultural products. Cultural products are not less important than the other products that we consume, rather they are more important. Imagine that they constantly say that such and such “pofak” [cheese puffs] are harmful and that we should not eat them. But how harmful are they? What kind of harm do they inflict? What percentage of harm do they cause? For which people are they harmful? They constantly speak about this, but no one dares speak about the harm that such and such a movie, book or computer game inflicts because they are afraid that they might be accused of “stopping the free flow of information”!
Those who have begun these accusations are stricter than us on these matters, believe it! The most liberal areas in the world in terms of information are, let us say, western governments including America. However, the information we receive about America- which is completely reliable- really makes one wonder about how they control an individuals’ personal information and records. It makes one wonder how they focus on the things that their systems is sensitive about. We do not even have and want to have one tenth of their information monitoring!
However, as soon as a movie is banned here or as soon as an internet network and website is restricted or closed, they suddenly kick up a fuss and we ourselves believe them. We too believe that we have really done a wrong thing! This is not the case. There should be supervision. Our responsibility is to produce valuable cultural products and to prevent harmful ones. I feel that there is some indifference in this regard. You should pay attention and attach significance to this matter.
Another issue is about policies. You who are members of the Islamic Consultative Majlis, you are a revolutionary organization. The Islamic Consultative Majlis is a revolutionary organization that originates from the Revolution. Therefore, you should behave in a revolutionary manner. You should be revolutionaries and you should preserve your revolutionary behavior. Of course, revolutionary behavior is of various kinds and forms. The day before yesterday at Imam’s (r.a.) holy shrine, I spoke a little about this matter. If you were there or if you heard what I said, you know this. After all, the Revolution has certain guidelines and principles. In any case, you should act in a revolutionary manner when you want to pass laws and adopt positions.
There are two kinds of positions: one is your personal positions that show itself in your speeches and another is your general positions. The Ninth Majlis really had a good performance in this regard. When it comes to confronting hostile and opposing orientations that work against the Revolution in political areas, we should adopt a position.
For example, the U.S. Congress complains to the U.S. administration that it behaves softly towards the Islamic Republic! Of course, the U.S. administration behaves towards us in a completely hostile manner. When I say this, this is not out of prejudice and this is not mere speculation, rather I am saying this based on clear and reliable information. The U.S. administration behaves towards the Islamic Republic in an extremely hostile manner. However, the U.S. Congress constantly issues resolutions, speaks against us and does other such things. Well, who should respond to them? Who should enter the arena to confront them? Who should shut their mouths?
The enemy counts on responses and reactions in the political arena. If he says something and you remain silent, he makes a certain calculation. If you remain silent and lower your head, he makes another calculation. If you remain silent, lower your head and murmur something to yourself, he makes yet another calculation. However, if you hold your head up and answer back, he will make a completely different calculation! If the enemy feels that you are inactive and that you are men who easily surrender, he will not compromise. In the world of politics, there is no such thing as compromise! They step forward and ask for more on various matters.
The issue of the nuclear negotiations was the last example of this behavior. You can see that they constantly make demands, ask for more and issue threats. They are repeating the same statements that they used to make at that time about our nuclear movement, 20-percent enrichment and the like. They were saying that the option of war is on the table and other such statements which were made in a continuous manner. All of them - including their government officials, their members of congress and their candidates for presidency – are repeating such statements. Even these two, three candidates who have been left on the scene keep saying that if they win, they will do this and do that!
A point to which the friends in the meeting should pay careful attention is that we have certain fault lines in the country: we have tribal, ideological, and Shia and Sunni fault lines in the country. We also have partisan fault lines – the ones that exist in the present time, as you can see. As long as these fault lines have not been activated, no earthquake will occur and under such circumstances, there is nothing wrong with them. However, if these fault lines become active, then, an earthquake will happen. The enemy is trying to activate these fault lines. So, you should be careful. They are constantly adding fuel to the fire of discord so that it blazes more fiercely. You should not let this happen.
You can have your beliefs. One is in Party A, another is in Party B and another is in a different party. So be it! There is nothing wrong with this. However, if this leads to bitter arguments and verbal conflicts, you should know that verbal conflicts will sometimes lead to physical conflicts: “All wars originate from words” [speaking in Arabic]. Therefore, you should take care not to let the enemy activate these fault lines. This is one of the most important points. It is completely alright for you to forward your opinion in the Majlis – on a particular matter - according to your own political outlook and viewpoint. Others can have their own policies as well. However, you should not start a fight and provoke conflicts. I believe in the same thing when it comes to the relationship between the administration and those other than the administration – including the relationship between the administration and the Majlis, and the administration and the people.
The people might disagree with some, most or all of the policies of an administration. This is alright. Is there anyone who does not have any opponent? Is there anyone who does not have any critic? All of us have certain opponents, protesters and critics. This is no problem at all. The only problem occurs when this opposition leads to wrestling with one another. You should take care not to let this happen in the Majlis. If tension builds up in the Majlis – as we have witnessed in some terms that tension grew in the Majlis – it will overflow onto the people. This brings about tension among the people, although this tension might be a mental one. Likewise, if there is tranquility, this tranquility will overflow onto the people and this tranquility is very important: “It is He Who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the believers, that they may add faith to their faith” [The Holy Quran, 48: 4].
This is the characteristic of “sakinah”. “Sakinah” means tranquility – mental tranquility – and not being stormy. Tranquility causes individuals “to add faith to their faith.” It gives us the opportunity to increase our faith. This is a very important and fundamental thing. Well, the enemy is trying to make accusations against Islamic Iran at the level of public opinion in the world. At a domestic level, he is trying to activate fault lines. At a regional level – in this West Asia region – the enemy is trying to pursue his sensitive and important plans in this sensitive region. He is trying to foil the obstacle which is Islamic Iran – Islamic Iran is preventing him from attaining his goals. This is what the enemy is trying to do.
They have plans for Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon. And their plans are specific. One day, they gave themselves away by speaking about “The New Middle East” and “The Greater Middle East”. The lady who was head of their foreign policy in those years said this. They made a mistake, but they said this any way.
They have a plan for this region – for the region that they refer to as “The Middle East”. This is a wrong term which originates from the arrogant philosophy, ideology and mentality of the west. This means that whichever region that is close to the west and to Europe is called “The Near East”. Whichever region that is far from them is referred to as “The Far East” and whichever region that stands in the middle is referred to as “The Middle East”. This is the European standard. For them, Asia – which is such a vast region – is not a standard. Now, they have called this vast region “The Greater Middle East” and “The New Middle East”.
The reason why they have a plan for this region is that it is a very sensitive region. It is a sensitive region because of different reasons: because of the existence of Muslims and Islam, because of the existence of the Zionist regime, because of the existence of great sources of oil, and because of the existence of important waterways. The Strait of Hormuz is in this region. The Babul Mandab straits and several other important straits exist in this region. These straits are very important in the world. They are very important in terms of political geography and strategy. This is why they are sensitive about it and this is why they have plans and plots for it. And they want to pursue their plans easily and without any obstacles on their way.
Now, the Islamic Republic has entered the arena and wants to prevent their plans. They wanted to swallow Iraq, but the Islamic Republic did not let them do so! They are unhappy about this because their plan was spoiled. They wanted to swallow Iraq! Iraq is a very rich country. Do you know this? Iraq is very rich! They wanted to swallow it and threaten Iran continuously by dominating Iraq. And they wanted to threaten us from the east in different ways. This was their goal.
However, the Islamic Republic’s policies have prevented them from implementing their plans. This is why they are trying to remove this obstacle. The same plan is being pursued in Syria. The same plan is being pursued in Palestine. These are their policies. So, you should stand up against these policies. You should reveal the true nature of arrogance. You should reveal the realities - about arrogance and global imperialism – that are available to you now or that will become available to you later on. You should speak about these realities. You should create a context for these realities in your speeches and in your public positions.
And you should take care not to let your comments and your actions serve American goals. In the past, there were some cases in which a member of the Majlis made a statement that served a hundred percent – a hundred percent, not ninety percent - served the goals of the Zionist regime. It looked as if they had dictated their goals to him and he reflected them here! We have had such cases, of course very rarely. You should take care not to let these things happen.
My speech became too long. I usually do not like to speak too much in this meeting. I hope that God will help and bestow success on all of you, God willing. We will pray for you. Dr. Larijani asked me to pray for you. I really pray for you gentlemen and for you brothers and sisters. You too should pray for me so that together, we can – by Allah’s favor – keep carrying the weight that is on our shoulders and that is a heavy – not a light – weight.
Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), prepare the ground for Your satisfaction with us. Make us succeed in gaining Your satisfaction. Make the heart of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) satisfied and pleased with us. Associate our dear martyrs with the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.).
Greetings be upon you and Allah’s mercy
