In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, Prophet Muhammad and upon his Pure Progeny, particularly the vestige of God remaining on earth, may our souls be sacrificed for his sake.
First, I would like to thank Almighty God for once again granting me the opportunity to be present here among the dear people of this city and its respected pilgrims [of the Imam Reza (pbuh) shrine complex in the holy city of Mashhad] from all around the country after an absence of several years.
This is truly the most prominent and best place in our beloved and vast country. I thank God for meeting with you, our dear, faithful, inspired people, the neighbors and the pilgrims [of the Imam Reza (pbuh) shrine complex], in this important center and base for spirituality, a place where the Divine angels descend upon.
In the last two, three years, we experienced a general pandemic that, thank God, has been constrained to a considerable extent. I feel it is my duty to sincerely thank all those who made an effort to control this public plague and disease. I thank the researchers who identified this dreadful virus in different laboratories in the country and developed a vaccine for it, as well as those who produced and distributed this vaccine in the country’s pharmaceutical and health centers, and also the doctors and nurses who helped deliver the vaccine to our people and those inclined to receive it.
[I would also like to thank] those who volunteered to help and serve patients alongside our doctors and nurses and also those who helped provide protective supplies for the disease, such as vaccines and the provisions that were required to be produced. Let us pray to Almighty God to rid our beloved nation, the Muslim nations and all the people of the world from this calamity.
If, God willing, our dear brothers and sisters can reduce the noise a bit, I will speak to you about the things I have prepared to talk about today. Now in order to quieten down the noise, let’s recite a loud salawat.
The topic that I have chosen for today’s speech is taken from the New Year Prayer. In the New Year Prayer, we read, “O’ Transformer of situations and circumstances, transform our circumstances to the best of circumstances.” I will talk about transformation today, the transformation of our situation and circumstance.
Of course, you need to ask God [for the things you want], but you also need to make an effort. Prayers, supplications and requests from Almighty God are often answered when a person takes a step in the path of what they have asked God for. You pray for the healing of your illness, but you also visit the doctor at the same time, and Almighty God answers your prayer. We ask God for transformation, but we also need to put in the effort ourselves. When we make an effort, it leads to Almighty God bestowing us with His Grace and the fulfillment of our wants.
On numerous occasions in the past, I spoke publicly about transformations in our society, in the government, and in our country. I will talk a bit more specifically about it today because this issue holds great importance. You see, fundamental issues must be presented to public opinion, so that public opinion can become familiarized with these essential requirements and [that is how] ideas are activated. New ideas, young people with thoughts about important issues that are raised via public opinion, become active and can attain a public quorum in this way.
That is why we raise these important issues, including the issue of transformation. If public opinion fails to welcome an idea, that idea will not transform into action. It will remain merely as waves in space, a person might say something and then it will either be forgotten or remain as lines of writing on a piece of paper. If we wish for great demands to be realized, they must be discussed with the people, with leading thinkers and with public opinion.
So, I will raise this issue today and discuss some of its aspects and I leave it up to you to continue. It is up to you young people, it is up to you intellectuals, and it is up to the students and academics — you need to sit down and discuss it.
The first thing that I would like to say in this regard is to explain what I mean by “transformation.” What is the meaning of transformation? Transformation means change. What is it that we are seeking to transform and change? This is the most important issue.
The enemies of the Islamic system also talk about change. They too are seeking change, [but] the change they are after is the exact opposite of what we have in mind. They talk about this change and, unfortunately, some people in the country follow them or imitate them and express the same matters with different expressions. For example, changing the constitution or changing the structure of the Islamic system — this is what the foreigners say, this is what the enemies talk about. However, the elements inside the country sometimes repeat those words out of neglect, carelessness, or sometimes they might have other motives.
The thing that the enemy is seeking and is labeling as change is to change the identity of the Islamic Republic. The enemies of Islamic Iran are the Arrogant Powers and Zionism and they are against the Islamic Republic’s identity. When they talk about change, transformation, structural change, a revolution, and things of that sort, their intention is to change the identity of the Islamic Republic. Their aim is to eliminate everything that reminds people of the Revolution and of Islam — that is, genuine Islam, revolutionary Islam.
They are against repeating Imam [Khomeini]’s name, they are against any talk about Imam Khomeini’s teachings, they are against the issue of Wilayat-e Faqih (the guardianship of the Islamic jurist), they are against the 22nd of Bahman [celebrations], they are against Quds Day, they are against elections in the Islamic Republic and the way that people enthusiastically participate in them. They are against anything that is a strong sign of revolutionary Islam and the Islamic Republic. They want to change these things. When they speak of structural change and transformation, their goal is to eliminate these things, all of these things which in fact happen to be the strengths of our country — they happen to be the strengths of the Islamic Republic!
In short, the enemy’s goal is to turn [our] Islamic democracy into a government that [Global] Arrogance wants. They want a government to gain power here in Iran that will act according to what the Arrogant desire. This includes either an authoritarian government of one person who obeys their orders or a seemingly democratic Western-style government [which is in fact] a democracy of lies and deceit. They want this kind of government to come to power, under their control and in their clutches, so it will act according to their will and remain under their command. This is what they are after.
Arrogance wants a government in Iran which it can threaten or bribe and use threats and bribes to fulfill its wishes — loot the country and gain political and economic dominance. This is what they are seeking. This is the kind of change that the enemy speaks of, this is the transformation that the enemies of the Islamic Republic are conceiving.
The transformation that I am speaking of is completely different from the transformation that is repeated by the enemies. What I mean by the word “transformation” is a change in certain weak sections and points, both in the Islamic system and in Iranian society.
We have flaws, we have weak sectors and certain weaknesses. We must identify these weaknesses, we must identify these points and with full determination — which I will talk about [because] it is not an easy task — we must eliminate the weaknesses and turn them into strengths, some examples of which I will share with you later.
Of course, this is a difficult task. It requires national self-confidence. If a nation believes in its own talents and capabilities, it will be able to take transformational actions. A self-confident nation can complete transformational actions well. The officials of this nation will have the courage to talk about and make transformations.
Thank God, our nation has self-confidence. Our nation is a self-respecting, self-confident, independent, and brave nation, examples of which you have all seen and I will share a few examples of this later. Our nation has shown on different occasions that it trusts itself and its own capabilities.
The first thing we need in order for transformation to take place is national self-confidence. That is the first thing. The second thing we need is vigilance. If we fail to be vigilant, if we are heedless, we might damage our strengths in the name of transformation. We see this sometimes. Some people care about the [Islamic] system, they like the Islamic system and the Revolution, yet sometimes they are heedless. They become careless and damage our strengths when they attempt to do something good and reform something. We must make sure we don’t damage our strengths. So, keep this point in mind.
If we want to prevent any harm to our strengths, we need to recognize them. What are the strengths of our society? We must correctly identify them, focus on them and understand them. I will mention a few of them, of course these are very long and broad issues that intellectuals, especially you the youth should think about and work on. Dear youth! I have very high expectations of you [audience ardently chants it support]. Thank you, pay attention — today I will only briefly mention a small part of our strengths and leave the rest to you.
One of the most prominent strengths of the Iranian nation and Islamic society is that the inner foundation of our Islamic society is strong and firm. Think about this, this is very important — the strength of the inner foundation of the Islamic system and Iranian nation. I pointed this out previously in one of my speeches, and I will elaborate on it further now.
This stability of the Islamic system’s foundation, this strength of the Islamic system’s foundation, the inner firmness of Islamic society and the Iranian nation, stems from faith. The people of Iran are religious people. Even those people who may not seem to completely comply with some Islamic rules have good faith in their hearts. They believe in God, they have faith in religion, they believe in the Quran and in the Imams of guidance. Our people have strong beliefs. The Iranian nation has strong beliefs, has self-esteem, and it has confidence. These have caused the inner foundation of the Iranian nation and Islamic system to strengthen. How can we recognize, see, and feel this strength? What are the signs of this strength? I will mention a few of these signs.
The first sign is that the Iranian nation has overcome this decades-long chain of [the enemy’s] consecutive hostilities. Which country or revolution do you know of that has been able to resist and stand firm against the blows of the most powerful countries in the world for so many years, without giving up? The Iranian nation has stood firm against a long chain of the enemy’s conspiracies and schemes, against coups, against sanctions, against political pressures, and media attacks. These media attacks that have been launched globally to cause Iranophobia and fear against the Revolution are unprecedented — such a thing has never existed to this extent!
Which nation other than the Iranian nation has been able to stand against these security conspiracies? This is internal stability. This shows that the foundation of the Iranian nation is strong. A clear example of this that everyone has witnessed, was the recent unrest that they started from months before. They started riots and got everyone involved. You see, these are important points. The president of a country like the United States openly supported the country’s internal riots. The presidents and heads of states of certain European countries also openly supported the riots, which included an extremely small percent of the Iranian nation — a very, very, very small percent. They not only offered verbal support, but they also offered weapons as well as financial and security support.
They provided all sorts of help and support for these riots. They had prepared themselves to, at minimum, weaken the Islamic Republic. Their plan was to weaken the Islamic Republic, but what happened in reality was the complete opposite of what they had intended. The Islamic Republic proved to be strong, not weak.
It overcame the riots and a global conspiracy and showed its strength to the world. The 22nd of Bahman [rally] of 2023 was more exuberant and crowded than all the other 22nd of Bahman rallies that took place over the past few years. This shows the internal strength of the Iranian nation. So, the Iranian nation has a strong and stable foundation and one sign of this is that it has resisted and stood firm against great conspiracies.
Another sign is the Iranian nation’s great advancements. They do not want these words to be repeated — mentioning and repeating these things makes the enemy extremely upset, but it is the truth. We have had achievements which I will briefly mention that were all accomplished during the sanctions under economic siege and under the most severe, unprecedented economic pressures. This is what the Americans claim themselves. They say the economic pressure that we have put on Iran is unprecedented in history. They are right. Despite all their lies, they are right about this, it is the greatest and most unprecedented economic pressure.
The Iranian nation made progress under these conditions. It advanced in science, it advanced in technology and reached the top ranks of the world in some scientific fields. Some places it is among the top 5 countries, in other areas it is among the top ten countries, and some other places it is among the top 3 countries — out of 200 countries! This is how our scientific and technological advancements are — in nanotechnology, in biotechnology, in different areas.
For example, in the field of health, Iran has had more achievements than many of the world’s most developed countries. This proved to be true during the coronavirus pandemic. [We have succeeded] in the nuclear sciences, in aerospace, and in defense. They are all talking about and acknowledging our progress in the field of defense. In order to bring up an excuse to use against Iran, they admit that Iran has progressed in the field of defense and weapons. We have had many achievements in the field of biotechnology. The world praised us. The world’s scientists praised our scientists, they praised our young scientists.
We have made progress in the country’s infrastructure, such as roads, railways, dam constructions, and water supplies, such as the Ghadir water supply which was recently inaugurated. [We have made progress] in building oil refineries and hospitals, many of which were achieved during the past year. For example, one section of the South Pars Refinery Complex is completely Iranian-made from start to finish. These advancements took place. When? During all these sanctions and economic pressures. The production of liquid gas was also a very important achievement that happened recently and, God willing, it will open doors for the country. Many other things were also accomplished in previous periods.
We have also made progress in foreign relations. The West applied pressure to isolate Iran. The US and Europe applied pressure so Iran would become isolated. In foreign relations, the term “isolation” means cutting all ties with other countries. When countries do not have any relations with a certain country, they say that country is isolated. What happened in reality was the opposite. Yes, our relations with the West weakened. We had no relations with the US to begin with, and our relations with Europe weakened as well. But our relations with Asia became one-hundred percent stronger, and we will continue to strengthen it. We will continue our political, economic, technological, and scientific relations with the prominent Asian countries.
We became a member of some very important organizations. The enemy wanted to isolate us. But the efforts and abilities of the people of Iran led us to become members of important and influential organizations in the region. Not only did we not become isolated, but, on the contrary, our relations with the governments and nations in the region were strengthened.
Having strong relations with Africa and Latin America is one of our definite plans and, God willing, we will follow up this plan. We have not refused to have relations with Europe and we are ready to cooperate with any European country or government that does not blindly follow US policies.
We have made these advancements. These advancements show the strength of the foundation of the Iranian nation and the Islamic establishment. These advancements were made possible with faith, national pride, and the need for internal strength. Our people and our officials felt the need to strengthen our internal powers. They understood that depending on others and depending on foreign countries is not something that we can count on — one day they are there, the next day they are not. We need to depend on our own strengths inside the country.
When I announced that the we need to have an Economy of Resistance, I mentioned that it should be “endogenous” and “extroverted.” Being endogenous means that internal abilities, skills, and capabilities should be used to help the economy, and being extroverted means we are ready to have economic relations with all countries. We have felt this, that is, the people of Iran have felt it, our youth have felt it, and our officials have felt that they need to depend on their own internal strengths.
Therefore, we have many strengths. I mentioned our internal strengths, and I also spoke about the progress we have made. These exist and there are many other things which now is not the time to be discussed here. These things are our strengths. They should not be damaged. The Islamic system is the “Islamic Republic.” Neither the “Republic” nor the “Islamic” should be damaged. These are our strengths. In any transformation, these strengths need to be emphasized, they should be increased, the strengths need to be highlighted and expanded.
However, there are also weaknesses alongside these. Transformation refers to changing the weaknesses. I will briefly speak to you about the weaknesses and present two to three points on it.
Let’s say our country happens to have four or five important weaknesses. At the top of these weaknesses lies the issue of the country’s economy. The country’s economy is truly one of our weaknesses. [Of course], many of the economic policies are the legacy of our predecessors. By “predecessors” I mean those [who held power] before the [Islamic] Revolution, and some that appeared after the Revolution. Some of the existing economic problems and economic infrastructures are related to before the Revolution, while others are related to after the Revolution.
Perhaps it can be said that the most important problem concerning our economy, is the issue of governmental management [of the economy]. In the 1980s, the main thing on our mind was to hand over the keys of the country’s economy to the government. This harmed our economy. This issue is related to us. We did it ourselves. Perhaps the most important weakness that is gripping our economy is excessive governmental management.
When people are kept away from economic management and economic activities, big works, important companies, and wealth-creating production for the country are left at the disposal of the government and not those active in the economic field. When these things are not available to the people, we are faced then with the same problems that we are witnessing in our economy today. Our most important problem is that we have a government-controlled economy.
We worked carefully on this with the help of many experts while presenting and announcing the economic policies of Article 44 [of the Constitution related to the privatization of the economy]. The experts worked on it and the policies were announced. The basis of these policies was to hand over the management and economic activities needed by the people to the people.
Of course, there are some sectors that either the people do not want [to be involved in], or there are some that must definitely remain under the authority of governmental organizations. Putting those aside, the important parts of the economy should be at the disposal of the people.
I have repeated this many times before that state-owned enterprises, state-owned companies, quasi-state companies which are referred to by the ugly term “khosoolati” [a combination of the words “private” and “governmental” in Farsi] — it is not a good term, [rather] they are quasi-state companies — should not compete with private enterprises, and they should leave production up to the people.
The day when we handed over all tasks to the government, we did it with the intention of establishing economic justice; however, economic justice was not established. They mistakenly thought that economic justice would be created if the keys of the economy were in the hands of the government. It was a mistake and such a thing did not happen. The government should reduce governmental management and increase governmental supervision. It should reduce interferences and increase monitoring. It needs to practice vigilance.
One of the biggest flaws, or perhaps the biggest flaw of our economy is this. All of the administrations that came to office were told to implement this handover [to the people]. Some handovers happened, others took place in an incorrect manner. Instead of being handed over for the benefit of the people, in some cases it was handed over to the detriment of the people! This prevented it [the handovers] from happening. Even today, one of the essential tasks that the honorable administration should do is to handover economic management to the people with care, vigilance, and with appropriate monitoring.
Another important flaw of our economy is that it is dependent on crude oil exports. We export crude oil even though we have no authority over it. The one who imports our oil — back when the Europeans used to purchase and import our oil — they made more profits from oil importation than we did from the oil that belonged to us and that we had taken out of our oil wells and sold to them.
The taxes that they received and the uses they got out of it were more than what the owners of the oil received.
It is the same now. We need to eliminate the dependence of the economy on the exportation of crude oil and focus more on activities that are not related to or dependent on oil which, fortunately, as is stated in the reports [that we have seen], we are moving toward increasing non-oil exports and non-oil economic activities, and good things are being done.
One of the problems of our economy is its dependence on the dollar. Some of the countries that had been sanctioned cut off their dependence on the dollar and their situation improved. We know of some countries currently — I do not wish to name them — that have been heavily sanctioned by the West. They cut off ties with SWIFT, which is an international Western mechanism. They stopped using the dollar and conducted transactions and imported and exported goods using their local currencies. This resulted in an improvement in their situation. We need to do the same.
One of the things that I must say about the economy — these are our fundamental issues and I would like public opinion to pay attention to them, to approve and spread these issues — one of the most important issues that we need in order to improve the country’s economy is continuous and rapid growth. We have had weak economic growth. In the economic policies that we announced to the administrations, we announced an eight-percent growth, this is while in many years in the previous decade our growth was below zero.
In general, when the handover and change of the administration took place, growth was very low. I’m not going to mention the exact numbers, but it was around one percent or less. We need rapid and continuous economic growth. We don’t want to have growth in one year and then have a standstill the next. When will we be able to achieve this rapid, continuous growth? When — with the help and guidance of the people — we increase production!
Our respected government officials and also the people’s representatives in the Islamic Consultative Assembly (majlis), should encourage people to play a productive role in the economy and guide them in this matter. They need to create trust for the private sector so it can make investments and create jobs. The private sector can do this.
In Bahman [January], I met with some of the country’s important technologists in the [Imam Khomeini] Hussainiyah. Some of them spoke and the things they said, the facts they spoke about and the examples they showed there were truly amazing. What this shows is the capabilities of the Iranian nation.
We have many capabilities. We are capable of doing great things. If the nation’s potentials are used in economic issues, people’s living conditions will definitely improve, and so will the inflation situation. I announced that the slogan of the year is “inflation control and growth in production.” Controlling inflation depends on increasing production, and increasing production is in the hands of the people. If people take action, if they make an effort, this task is achievable and it can be done.
One of the major flaws that we have is that we have not thought about the manner in which people can take part in things. I would like to call on our respected officials, experts in the economic field, and those who are concerned about the country’s fate to sit down and find ways in which the public can participate in economic issues.
Whenever the people have joined in, we have made progress. People took part in the Holy Defense and we won. Whenever people participated in the country’s political issues, we won, and it is the same with economic issues. If people participate, if the public takes part in it, we will be victorious, we will succeed.
But how can people participate? They need to be shown the outline and plan of how they can enter the economic field. I have, of course, over the years advised and stressed the importance of [creating] and helping small businesses. There were some unsuccessful experiences in this area. Some things that were done, were not complete or well-considered. These sorts of things need to take place.
One of the problems that our economy is facing is the lack of activity in foreign trade. We have a high domestic production capacity in both the agricultural sector and also the industrial sector. There is also a very vast international market. We can increase and advance foreign trade and, God willing, we can do the work that is really and directly related to people's livelihood and needs.
This is one of the important things that needs to be done. At present, we are not very active in foreign trade. The methods we use are incorrect at times. These things need to be transformed. They need transformation. One of the things that needs transformation is the issue of foreign trade.
I made a recommendation last year that knowledge-based companies should be supported. Fortunately, this was achieved. It was not done to the extent that we had hoped for but, nevertheless, developments were made. Knowledge-based companies have done many things. Their efforts increased, and so did their products and incomes. [Creating] small enterprises and making larger factories knowledge-based are useful measures that can aid this transformation.
Another sector that needs transformation, which should be paid attention to by the dear brothers and sister of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, is transformation in the legislative sector — in legislation. The general policies of legislation have been announced. These policies should be taken into consideration, and legislation should be done in a more complete and measured way than what is done today.
One of the things that has often been a source of debate between the executive and legislative branches in different administrations and in all periods — thank God the two branches are cooperating and are close to each other in the current period — is this complaint that sometimes in the annual budget law in majlis, definite expenses are approved, but revenues are indefinite. This leads to a budget deficit and, as I said before, a budget deficit is a great economic disaster! These things should not happen. We also have other weaknesses in different fields which I will leave for another time, God willing.
The opposite of this transformational movement in the country — the purpose of which is to consolidate strengths and to eliminate weaknesses — is the politics of the enemies of Islam and the enemies of the Islamic Republic. They strive and work and take action at the exact opposite point of this transformational movement, and their goal is to strike at our strengths, as I mentioned before. We have no choice but to share these things with the public. People must know about them.
On the day when Saddam attacked us [at the beginning of the Imposed War], we informed the people that same day that the country is at war. So, public opinion was involved in the great event of the war. Of course, in this hybrid war that is currently taking place, there is no military attack. The enemy is not attacking militarily. It is doing other things instead. Informing [the people] is necessary here as well, so that the people become aware of the enemy’s tactics and policies, and so that they can see events with clarity. Once our dear people become familiar with what is happening, if an incident happens, they will see it with clarity.
Yes, in hybrid warfare there is no military attack, but there is an attack on religious and political beliefs. The enemy’s attack is on religious and political beliefs. In Surah An-Naas, when one says, “… from the evil of the devious tempter, who puts temptations into the chest of humans, from among the jinn and humans” (Quran 114:4-6), the devious tempters are these foreign propagandists and their followers inside the country.
They tempt people, and they distort the truth. Their goal is to weaken the determination of the nation. They want to get rid of people’s hopes. Their goal is to extinguish the flames of hope in the hearts of our youth. They want to create despair in the youth.
Despair means reaching a dead end. When a young person loses hope in making progress, when they lose hope in the future, they feel as though they have reached a dead end. You cannot expect a person who feels deadlocked to work properly.
They want to spread discord. They want to create bipolarity in the country. They want to take the real software of the country's national power from the hands of the nation and make it ineffective. This software consists of people's faith, people's religious values, people's national values, people's beliefs. When they do these things, they seek to create instability and insecurity in the country or, if they can, even a civil war. However, they have and they always will hit a brick wall!
In hybrid warfare, the enemy uses the media, cultural elements, security elements, infiltration, and economic elements. It uses all these elements to besiege the nation and create despair among people and make them forget their own potentials.
They try to separate the nation from the means by which they can receive information. Well, we have the tools to inform people, [but] they create pessimism in people. [They say], “don’t listen to the radio and television, their news is fake; don’t pay attention to the reports made by officials, their reports are fake; don’t listen to the words of the Leader, the Leader’s words are repetitive.”
Is it repetitive? For years, the enemy front has loudly declared that they want to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees, but in response to this the Leader says, “You can’t do a damn thing!”[audience enthusiastically chants “Death to America”]. This is not repetition, it’s steadfastness. Almighty God has commanded us — His command to the Prophet is a command to everyone, it is a command to us — “So be steadfast, just as you have been commanded — you and whoever has turned [to Allah] with you” (Quran 11:112). This is steadfastness. It is preserving and keeping the truth in one’s heart and standing by it. This is not called repetition.
Thank God, the people are awake, they have stood up, they are involved in things. Our dear people have demonstrated this throughout the years. The Iranian nation dealt a heavy blow to all those who supported or provoked [the people] in the recent riots, and, by God’s power, the nation of Iran will continue to strike blows at the enemy in the future.
I firmly announce that the Iranian nation is strong, the Iranian nation is advancing, the Iranian nation can solve its own problems, it can cause transformation, and that the Iranian nation supports the Resistance. I openly announce our support for the Resistance, and I strongly deny our presence in the war in Ukraine. They falsely claimed that Iran is involved in the Ukraine war. Such a thing is not true — we are not involved at all.
In fact, the United States started this war in Ukraine in order to expand NATO toward the East, the US prepared the war. And now, it is the US that is making the most profit from the Ukraine war! While the poor people of Ukraine are facing hardships, the American arms industry is making profits. That is why they won’t let the war end. America is standing in the way of what is needed to end the war and it won’t allow it to happen and they are not pleased if the war in Ukraine ends.
To wrap-up my speech, I have pointed out some of the system’s problems and flaws. But some problems lie within ourselves, the people, which we should also fix. There are some flaws within us people that are in fact related to economic issues.
One of them is wastefulness. We waste a lot. We waste water, we waste bread, we waste electricity, we waste gas. We use things wastefully. Some countries which are far more populated than us, use less gas and less petrol than we do. Our petrol and gas consumption is very high and we use them wastefully. We waste water, we throw away bread, and these are very big flaws. We must fix them. I specifically focused on this issue a few years ago.
Another one of our flaws is luxurious expectations. This is why marriages have become so difficult. Our girls and boys reach the age of marriage but are not able to get married. Why? Because their parents feel obliged in front of their relatives. High amounts for “mahr” [obligatory, irrevocable gift given to the bride for the marriage to be legally valid according to Islamic law], luxurious “jahiziey” [cultural practice of buying home equipment and supplies for the newly-wed couple], all kinds of luxuries and expensive celebrations. [So,] The cost of marriage has increased. You need to get out of this competition of luxuries! Some people have started a competition for luxurious consumption — you need to get yourselves out of this! This is one of our flaws.
Another one of our important flaws is that we are not very fond of consuming domestic products. In most places being biased is a bad thing, but in this area it is a good thing. We should be biased toward using domestic products. Say there is a product that is produced domestically, and there is a similar product which has been imported. Of course, that importer should not have imported it, but now they have done so. Sometimes the quality of the domestic product is no less than the imported one, and sometimes it is better quality, but we tend to choose the imported one. Why?
Why don’t you support the Iranian workers? Iranian workers have produced that domestic product. When you don’t buy their goods, they become unemployed. This is a big flaw that you choose to buy imported products over domestically produced goods. These are our own flaws. Not all flaws belong to the system and governing bodies of the country. Some flaws belong to ourselves.
Sometimes we need to forgive and forget, but we don’t forgive. We start a fight over the smallest argument. Why? Sometimes two people have different views regarding a certain issue, such as political issues. Well fine, but why do they fight with each other? Why do they turn against one another? Why should there be bipolarity in our society? Sometimes we need to overlook and disregard some things. We need to overlook some things. That is another one of our problems.
An important piece of advice I have for all the people who have the ability to speak to people and have any sort of media at their disposal — whether it be social media, television, radio or newspapers — is to create hope. Our enemies try to make our youth lose hope. We should counteract and build hope in them. There are many things to be hopeful about in our country. Besides the things that I have mentioned, there are dozens of other things that can build hope in people. Everyone is obliged to build hope. Take this seriously.
Building hope does not mean that we should fool ourselves. Some people think that creating hope means to cover up our flaws and to fool ourselves. No, our weaknesses should be mentioned and that is fine. But alongside our weaknesses, we should also build hope and see and show a bright future and horizon in front of us. Thank God, we are in a good situation. We need to think about this holy verse: “Do not weaken or grieve, you have the upper hand, should you be faithful” (Quran 3:139). Having faith and believing will give you the upper hand and make you greater.
The situation of our obstinate enemy, the US government, is the opposite of our position in the region today. We know what we are doing in the region. Our path and policies are clear. The Americans are confused about whether or not they should stay in the region. If they stay, the nations will despise them more and more each day.
The Americans entered Afghanistan with power and with strong military forces and stayed in Afghanistan for 20 years. They made the Afghan people loathe and despise them, so they were forced to leave. If they stay, they cause hate, and if they leave, they will lose their ambitions. They have ambitions here!
The Americans have ambitions in Syria, in Iraq, and in the entire region. If they leave, they will lose these ambitions. They don’t know what to do — to stay or to go, they are confused. We thank God that our path is clear, that we have insight, that our steps are strong and firm, and that our enemies are weak.
O’ Lord! Increase our accomplishments day by day.
O’ Lord! Unite our magnanimous Imam [Khomeini], the one who paved this way for us, with Your saints.
O’ Lord! Unite our dear martyrs with the Prophet (pbuh) and the martyrs of the beginning of Islam for they were the ones who were able to lead this great movement toward its goals.
O’ Lord! Make the heart of your Wali, your Hujjat, the Wali of the Age — may our souls be sacrificed for his sake — pleased with us. Include us in his prayers and intercession and continue to always keep our nation proud, honored, and prosperous.
May God’s greetings, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
