Statements in Meeting with Commanders and Senior Officials of the Armed Forces

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Thanks be to God, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his pure family, especially the remainder of God on earth.

Welcome. As Major General Baqeri stated, I am pleased with this meeting that has taken place after a long interval, and I hope that God Almighty grants you all success in what pleases Him and what is necessary and essential for your important and great service. I also congratulate you on the occasion of Nowruz. Although nearly a month has passed since the holiday, Nowruz lasts for two to three months, so it is still appropriate to extend congratulations.

The statements of Mr. Baqeri were very good; our expectations from the armed forces are precisely what he articulated. Additionally, in some areas, you have made plans and decisions — which is a very good thought — but a decision is only half the work; the other half is acting, pursuing, and following through. Do not let those decisions become stale, remain unexecuted, and gradually be forgotten. Do not be surprised that I make this recommendation, as this happens frequently; it occurs within the armed forces as well as outside of them. Decisions are made, and those at the top of the decision-making apparatus are determined and serious, and they genuinely believe and want to act, but when it reaches the various levels of officials and human resources, it weakens and weakens, and sometimes it does not get executed! Do not let it happen this way. This is one.

Secondly, pursue and follow up on the things you have started. For instance, consider the housing construction project you initiated; very well, but one of the flaws of these construction plans in our country is that they take longer than necessary and scheduled. For example, if a housing complex is supposed to be completed in three years, it should not take seven or ten years. This is also one of our recommendations.

I have noted a few points that I would like to share with you, dear brothers. One point concerns your position. The saying goes, "For the soldiers, by the permission of God, are the fortifications of the people"; you are a fortress, a bulwark for the nation and society, which is a great honor. What greater honor could there be? Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) describes the armed forces as strong fortifications surrounding the country and the nation; what could be more important than this? If you provide shelter and protection to one person, how valuable is that? Compare this to a nation. You take a nation under your protection; thus, this is a very high position, a great position. It is equally a position of responsibility; like all things of high value, its responsibility is commensurate with that value. Therefore, recognize your worth, the worth of this work, this job, this responsibility, and also take the responsibilities seriously; that is, bear the weight of this responsibility on your shoulders and work in this regard.

Another important point is that fortunately, our armed forces are advancing; all the relevant indicators show this. It is not that we have no deficiencies; there is no doubt about it; we have deficiencies and weaknesses, but the important thing is that the movement is forward; this is certain. There is no stagnation; there is progress; this is a very important point; do not let this slip away. Stagnation is no different from regression; do not be content with the current situation; strive to move forward. Now I have used the term "transformation"; transformation is the pinnacle of this movement. What is needed is movement; movement forward, progress. Look and see what you can do in your respective areas in this regard.

A very important point is preparedness. Now, he referred to war games. This is important; that is, the war games in the areas where the enemy's armed forces are committed — in all its aspects; its air, land, naval, security, and infiltration sectors — in all areas that fall under the purview of the armed forces, you must be prepared. When there is a threat, there must be preparedness. Threats are always present, as one cannot assume a time when there is no threat; one can assume a time of peace without war, but to assume a time when there is absolutely no threat seems impossible and does not occur. Therefore, there must always be preparedness. This "and prepare for them as much as you are able" is precisely this; that is, prepare; "prepare" means to get ready. How much should you prepare? "As much as you are able"; whatever you can, whatever is within your capacity, "of strength and of tethered horses." This very preparedness, the essence of being prepared, is deterrent; the very essence of being ready is deterrent. Thus, in this verse, it also states, "You will frighten with it"; with this preparation, you will frighten the enemy of God and your enemy; that is, when you are prepared and the enemy feels that you are ready, the very essence of this is deterrent. It is deterrent in the air, in defense, in naval maneuvers, and military exercises conducted on land and sea; it is deterrent in all various sectors. Therefore, maintain your preparedness so that the enemy sees it.

This threat I mentioned, who is it from? This is also an important point. We must not make mistakes. Sometimes one sees that, for instance, a small and insignificant power makes a statement or takes an action, and one's mind is drawn to it. Do not get caught up in these minor hostilities; see who is behind the scenes, who is responsible for the main design; this is important. Behind all these warmongering actions in our region and other parts of the world are the great powers. For instance, today in Europe, Ukraine is embroiled in war; who instigates this war? Who plans and designs it? The same goes for Syria, Libya, Sudan, and other places. These events, these wars, have designs behind them; one cannot attribute them to minor factors. Who are the designers? They are the international arrogant powers, which we refer to as "global arrogance"; "global arrogance" refers to those wicked, aggressive, and greedy international forces that are never satisfied with any limit. They look and plan, seeing where there is a need for a conflict to arise so that they can profit from it; they instigate a conflict here to reap the benefits there! These must be considered, and the behind-the-scenes must be seen.

The enemy's plans, in my opinion, are long-term plans. We should not only look at what they have thought against us for the next five or ten years; we should look at what they have planned in the long term. Generally, their plans are long-term; one understands this. They have all kinds of plans, both long-term and medium-term, and without a plan, nothing can be accomplished. I look and see, for example, about 22 years ago, two operations were carried out in our east and west with a short interval; well, this cannot be coincidental; we have over 1300 kilometers of border with one and over 800 kilometers with another; suddenly, fire breaks out in our east and west. We have no involvement, we are on the sidelines, but the arrogant factors enter and start a war, a serious, all-encompassing war where all the ground and air forces of America were engaged in Iraq. The same goes for Afghanistan; they also started it with a short interval before Iraq. Well, is this coincidental? That such an event occurs in the east and west of Iran in a short interval is not coincidental? It certainly cannot be coincidental; there is a thought behind it. Perhaps now in Iraq, they have some interests or in Afghanistan, they have some weak interests, but these interests do not justify such a war. The target of this war is Islamic Iran; when one looks, one does not doubt that the target of these two wars was Islamic Iran, albeit in various forms and with various analyses that are not difficult to understand. They take a flimsy excuse; for instance, they take one excuse there and another excuse here and start a war. These must be considered to understand who our enemy is.

Fortunately, because the foundation of the revolution is strong — I repeat this often, please reflect on this; the foundation of the revolution is very strong, the pillars of the revolution are very solid — therefore, in both cases, the opposing side was defeated; that is, they clearly suffered defeat, and their defeat was accompanied by the expansion of the Islamic Republic's influence; something they did not want, something they did not anticipate. May God have mercy on martyr Soleimani, whose role in this matter was truly unparalleled; I know because I was closely involved in the affairs. May God elevate his ranks, God willing.

Well, the enemy was defeated, while it was all planned. Now let us draw a conclusion from here; the conclusion is that the seemingly strong and comprehensive calculations of the enemy are entirely susceptible to defeat; let us not forget this. In all the calculations we make now, let us include this as part of our calculations that it is true that the enemy has a strong intelligence apparatus, a strong calculation apparatus, good armed forces, and plenty of money; all of these are valid, but it is entirely possible to cause their calculations to fail, to confront them with defeat. If we enter rationally and do not abandon the work and pursue it, all the efforts the enemy makes are susceptible to defeat.

Now, one example is the Zionist regime that is right before our eyes, and the whole world is witnessing it. Last year, during the month of Ramadan, operations were carried out against the Palestinians, and they were significant operations that inflicted considerable damage on the Palestinians — in Sheikh Jarrah and similar places — they truly oppressed them; however, no voice was raised in the world — I noted this, I referred to last year's notes — there one would feel grievance that in the world, truly no voice was raised, neither from this human rights apparatus nor from others; on Quds Day, only from here, and in a few other places, there were some movements. This year, you see what is happening in response to the actions of Israel; there are demonstrations in America, demonstrations in England, and the car of the head of the Zionist regime is attacked by the people of Europe. Now, regarding these issues, the positions taken in the world are good positions, in favor of the Palestinians and against the Israelis. These indicate certain realities that should not be overlooked, and the enemy's susceptibility to defeat and the fallibility of the enemy's calculations must be understood from this.

Of course, we must not be oblivious to the enemy's cunning; that is, at no stage of our advancements and successes should we place a soft pillow under our heads and think that it is all over; no, that vigilance, that preparation, which we mentioned at the beginning, must be maintained. Of course, the intellectual centers within the armed forces have a significant responsibility; they must think. I have told you before that you are the strategists and, in the commonly used foreign term, the military strategists; you must sit down and design, innovate designs for confrontation. You must always be thinking of new plans, important new works, of course rationally, taking into account the regional capacity, the capacity of the country, and so on.

In any case, the path is a good one, the work is a good one, the job is an honorable one, and divine assistance, God willing, is behind you. Please convey my greetings to your families, your spouses, and your children, and congratulate them, and thank them for their patience regarding you. Truly, thank them for the patience that your wives show while you are busy with work and continuous meetings and such, along with the dangers, while they are at home engaged in their own tasks.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.