Statements in Meeting with Election Organizers

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

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

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters! This warm and sincere gathering of those working on a very important matter is truly a blessed assembly. We hope, God willing, that the Almighty God will bestow His grace and mercy upon all of you, and grant you His approval and kindness in this great task you have undertaken, which was somewhat evident in the heartfelt words of Mr. Jannati. I congratulate you on the birth of Imam Askari, our noble guardian and Imam (may his soul be sanctified). I also congratulate you on entering the month of Bahman; the month of pride, the month of a great transformation in the history of the Iranian nation, the month of significant events, which we hope to make ourselves worthy of so that we can take pride in this month and its events.

I would like to say a few words about the elections. Mr. Jannati (may God preserve him and prolong his existence and blessings) and Mr. Rahmani Fazli, the esteemed and hardworking Minister of the Interior, have expressed good points; all the points they made were precise and important. I will also say a few sentences—some of which I have mentioned before, and if God grants us life, we will have the opportunity to discuss more matters later. If time permits, I will also address the recent issue of the JCPOA and this agreement.

Regarding the elections, let us remember that elections are a competition, a national contest among the people of the country. If this competition is held well, healthily, and strongly, then whichever team wins, the glory belongs to the federation. This is how it is. When sports teams play well, whether Team A, Team B, or Team C wins, the federation takes pride in their strong and healthy performance. The elections are the same; if the Iranian nation enters the arena well, strongly, decisively, and determinedly, filling the ballot boxes with their votes and resolve, Iran will flourish, the Islamic Republic will flourish, and it will take pride; now, whoever wins or loses. In fact, there is no win or loss for the nation; the nation is a winner in any case. This is the fundamental point regarding the elections.

So, what is a healthy competition and a healthy contest? A healthy competition is when everyone plays well, everyone moves well. The first condition, as we have mentioned, is the participation of all; everyone should come. I have said this to everyone in my previous talks, that those who may have issues with the Islamic Republic system do not have issues with the security of the country, nor do they have issues with the power of the country. Today, this system has maintained the security of the country, accelerated its progress, and granted dignity to this nation; these are undeniable facts, which those who love the nation should acknowledge. Therefore, they should enter this arena to honor Iran and Iranians, to ensure national security, to guarantee the progress that, thanks be to God, has started since the beginning of the revolution and has continued uninterrupted until today; they must enter. Everyone must enter. Of course, those who enter the arena solely for the sake of God and according to their duty, in addition to these benefits, have another achievement that is very great, and that achievement is the pleasure of God. This is the first condition: everyone should enter and enter with enthusiasm; and I tell you that they will enter. This nation that we have seen, and this awareness and insight that this nation has shown, by God's grace, with God's permission, and with God's success, God willing, our dear nation will enter.

A group is lying in wait to catch the Islamic Republic system off guard by either the people's non-participation in the elections or by boycotting the elections or by weakening the elections—of which I will refer to shortly. A group is lying in wait. The nation has shown its effectiveness against these wicked ambushers, and it will show it today as well. This is my first and most important point in all election periods, and it is still: the enthusiastic and widespread participation of the people.

The second issue that ensures and guarantees the health of the elections and this competition is that the people should enter with insight and thought and choose righteous individuals. They should choose people who, when they sit in that position—whatever that position may be, whether it is membership in the Assembly of Experts, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, or the presidency—will place themselves as a shield against the problems of the country, be devoted to the services and interests of the public, and not sell the country to the enemy, nor sacrifice the interests of the country for the sake of pleasing this or that; they must choose accordingly. This is what constitutes a good election.

Yes, I have said and I will say again that those who do not even accept the system should come and participate in the elections, vote, but not that someone who does not accept the system should be sent to the parliament. There is no place in the world where we say, 'You who do not accept the system, come,' and they say, 'Okay, then let me vote for someone who also does not accept the system'; this does not make sense. In no part of the world are those who do not accept the fundamental system of the country allowed into decision-making centers; even in some places, with a slight accusation, they are sidelined. This very America, which today introduces itself as a symbol of freedom and so on, and some naive people accept and promote it, during the time when the leftist movement existed in the world—these are not currently relevant—they would decisively reject anyone who showed even a slight inclination towards socialist economic thoughts, for example. They were not communists, nor did they believe in communism, but if they showed a slight inclination in economic matters, they would be rejected; this very place that now brings up the names of freedom and democracy and similar things and criticizes us for having a Guardian Council. Shameless! Therefore, it is a public right that we are committed to ensuring that someone who goes to the parliament supports the system, the interests of the country, and the fundamental values of the country. This is also effective in the elections and in the health of the elections.

There are other points: everyone must comply with the law. I was very pleased to see that the esteemed gentlemen, both Mr. Jannati (may God preserve him) and Mr. Rahmani Fazli, emphasized the issue of rule of law; this is our constant recommendation. I always emphasize to those involved in the elections that they should place their feet in the legal spot; the legal spot is the point of law; the law. They must observe the law.

No insults should be directed at legal institutions; pay attention to this. A legal institution that has certain responsibilities should not be defamed or insulted. A legal institution is a legal institution; it does not mean it does not make mistakes; every legal institution, like all people, including myself, who is full of faults and mistakes, may make mistakes, but this does not mean we should insult a legal institution, diminish it in public view, in our advertisements, in our words; no, if this door is opened, chaos will ensue. Well, your personal opinion is this, you disrespect a certain legal institution, another person has a different opinion, and they disrespect the legal institution you are affiliated with; is this good? They should not open this door.

They should not confuse public opinion by saying, 'Oh, it is uncertain what will happen, we do not know what will happen.' This is a very wrong action; I have warned about this before; let the people, as is their right, as is the reality, go towards the elections with enthusiasm, with zeal, with energy. Confusing public opinion is a very wrong action; they should not make the people pessimistic about the elections.

Candidates should not insult each other; well, you are a candidate, you believe you are a righteous person, a prominent person; very well, you can praise yourself as much as you want, but do not insult your opponent, do not slander your opponent, do not gossip about your opponent; slander means giving a false attribution, while gossip means giving a true attribution; gossip should not be done either. Therefore, this is also a duty and a criterion for the health of the elections. Representatives should present what is within their capacity, their power, and their qualifications to the people; the people will look, if they like it, they will vote, if they do not like it, they will not vote; this constitutes a healthy election.

Do not make impractical promises; some candidates make promises to the people that they themselves know are beyond their capability; if you cannot fulfill this promise, why do you promise the people? Why do you give the people hope for something you know will not happen? Sometimes they make illegal promises! [They say] we will do such and such action while knowing that it is against the law; or it is against the constitution, or against ordinary law; they should not make such promises; they should not make illegal slogans. They must deal with the people honestly; our entire nation is like this, they feel and understand honesty; when we deal dishonestly, some may be momentarily misled, but later the truth will become clear; we must behave honestly with the people, we must speak honestly with the people. This is one of the essential etiquettes of a healthy election.

There is also a habit that has developed among some, repeating 'the hardliners, the hardliners'; well, yes, extremism and moderation—both extremes are bad, this is clear, but [the question is] what is extremism, what is moderation, what is the middle line, these are not very clear issues, they require clarification. Because we receive a lot of news; when one looks at various newspapers and publications, I understand that when some say extremism, they are referring to the Hezbollah and faithful movement; no, do not accuse the faithful movement, the revolutionary movement, the Hezbollah youth of extremism; these are the very people who are present in the field with all their being, with all their sincerity, and when it comes to defending the borders, defending national identity, when the issue of giving one’s life and shedding blood arises, it is these very people who come to the field. Just because something happens somewhere that is not accepted and approved, they immediately pull the Hezbollah youth into the middle, like the case of the Saudi embassy, which was indeed a very bad act, a wrong act, and whoever did it acted wrongly; do not use this as an excuse to attack our revolutionary youth; this is also an issue.

Therefore, elections, as Mr. Jannati rightly stated, are a great blessing and a great opportunity; this great blessing requires gratitude; its gratitude is that all of us, wherever we are, should strive to hold it well, to hold it healthily, and not to let this great act, this great movement, this great honor be confused and distorted by our behaviors, our words, and some of the unconsidered remarks that one hears here and there; we should be mindful of this; it is a very significant event.

You are also involved in this great task; know that, yes, there are many efforts, many problems, many expectations, sometimes arrows of accusation are directed at you—wherever you are; whether in executive committees, in supervisory committees; whether in the Ministry of Interior, or in the Guardian Council—these exist, but know that your reward with God is very great; because the work you are doing is a great work. Since you are engaged in a great task, if, God willing, your intention is for the sake of God, to fulfill your Islamic and revolutionary duty, your reward with the Almighty God is great; therefore, do not be afraid of the difficulties of this work and the hardships of this path, and pursue the work in the best possible manner. This is regarding the elections.

Regarding the JCPOA issue; well, this was also an event, a significant and important event; truly and fairly, they worked hard; it is not that all our demands were met; no, but the amount of our demands that were met, these dear brothers—the esteemed Foreign Minister, the negotiating team, the esteemed President—truly worked very hard; we saw them constantly striving, working, thinking, pursuing [the matter], sitting in long meetings, sleepless nights, and so on; may God grant them all a reward and may their efforts be met with divine gratitude; this is reserved for itself; however, a group is trying to portray that the achievements that have emerged, for example, the Americans did us a favor by lifting these sanctions; this is not the case. A group wants to take advantage of this opportunity to beautify the ugly face of global arrogance; this is very dangerous. What favor? You worked hard, collected money, and built a house; the bully of the neighborhood comes and takes the key from you, for example, occupies half the house, puts you under pressure; then you, with effort, thought, physical strength, and public support, manage to get him out of the house, but he keeps two rooms for himself; does he have a favor? The Americans are like this. We advanced our nuclear energy with our own capabilities, with the thoughts of our scientists, with the support of various governments, we reached this point; is this a joke? We did something that the enemy, who once was not willing to let a centrifuge spin in this country, is now forced to tolerate the existence of several thousand centrifuges due to existing realities. This is not a favor from them; this is the effort of the Iranian nation, the effort of the scientists. [They] imposed sanctions to anger the people and bring them to the streets. I said this several years ago; some said this was an analysis; yes, perhaps at that time it was an analysis, but today it is news; they themselves said it; multiple individuals from them in various statements said our goal is to anger the people against the Islamic Republic, against the government of the Islamic Republic. They wanted to bring the people to the streets; however, our people stood firm; this resistance of the people, this steadfastness of the people became the backing for political work, diplomacy, negotiations, and these discussions. The enemy was forced; the very amount they retreated was due to the fact that the nation showed its power; the Islamic Republic government showed its power, showed dignity. Of course, I personally believe that we could have done better, well, ultimately the capacity and opportunity and resources dictated this much, but the progress that has been made is significant, it is important, and this is due to the support of the nation, due to national power, due to the strong connection of the Islamic Republic with the masses and the body of the people.

I should also mention that the issue of nuclear energy and the conflict with global arrogance—which is fundamentally America and that great idol of America, the other Western governments that have entered this matter are the peripheral idols—was not just about the nuclear issue; otherwise, one could swear that they know that the Islamic Republic is not seeking a nuclear bomb; this can be sworn. The issue is something else. This is part of a general movement to put pressure on the Iranian nation, to stop the revolutionary movement of the Iranian nation towards its goals, to halt the ever-increasing influence of the Islamic Republic in the region and the world; this is a reality. It is not that we are pursuing this issue; the nature of the work is such; it is a new word, it is attractive, pure hearts and sincere intentions appreciate it, thus the influence and credibility of the Islamic Republic expand, and they become frightened. Their goal is to stop this; their goal is to make the nations understand that the Islamic Republic of Iran could not establish and continue a system based on religion and manage it; they want to show this, and this is the goal; everyone should be aware of this; officials should be aware, and all our people should be aware.

America wants to advance its agenda through force and false propaganda; we must resist against its force and its false propaganda. Now, all officials—both government officials and the supervisory committee that we have recommended—should be vigilant that the other side does not deceive; because the other side is deceitful, they are prone to deception. One cannot trust the smile and the mask they wear.

Let me tell you, the America of the Reagan era and the America of the Bush era are no different from today’s America, there is no difference. Just as the America of the Reagan era deemed it necessary to bomb our regions in the Persian Gulf out of malice and anger, today, if they could, they would do the same. America has not changed; America’s policies towards Islam and the Islamic Republic have been consistent. Of course, their methods are different; one follows this method, another follows that method, but their goal is one; everyone should be aware of this. Therefore, they are deceitful and they deceive. They should be cautious of their deception; they should not overlook the fact that what they are doing must align with what they have genuinely committed to. They should not ignore the other side’s deception. And if they see any deception from the other side, then they must respond in kind; that is, if the other side violates the agreement, then this side must also violate the agreement, they must stand firm.

The action that our dear youth in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps took in the sea and demonstrated their identity and power against the enemy’s aggression—until now I have not had the opportunity to thank them; and I truly thank them for this—was very correct; the enemy aggressed against our waters, and they went and surrounded the enemy. Those responsible for policy should act similarly in all global arenas; they should be vigilant against the enemy’s aggression and see where they are encroaching, where they are crossing lines, and firmly prevent it.

Another point that I have repeatedly emphasized is that now that the sanctions have been lifted, will the economic problems of the country and the livelihoods of the people be solved with the lifting of sanctions? No, management is necessary, planning is necessary. I have said, both during this government and during the previous government when some of the significant sanctions had just begun and some were awaiting the time to begin, that I said the economic problems of the country may be twenty percent, thirty percent, forty percent related to sanctions, but the rest is related to our management; we must manage, we must act correctly, and the way to act is through a resilient economy. The resilient economy has been approved by everyone, acknowledged by everyone, and plans have been made for it—thankfully, the government agencies, our friends in the government have plans for follow-up—they must pursue it diligently and make the country resilient economically; otherwise, if our eyes are on the decisions of foreigners, we will not reach anywhere. Today, they have reduced our oil to almost one-fifth of its price. Oil, which is the main asset of our economy, has unfortunately been reduced to almost one-fifth of its price. Even that 100 dollars or 110 or 120 dollars was not the real price of oil; the real price of oil is even higher than that—this I have said before—but even that price has been reduced to almost one-fourth or one-fifth. If a person’s eyes are on the hands of the enemy, these events will happen frequently. These are unavoidable shocks that a person has no control over; we must structure the economy in such a way that it can stand firm against these shocks and not be affected.

Now that delegations come and go, government officials should be vigilant; it should not be that signing contracts with foreign commercial, industrial, and economic delegations that come and go harms domestic industry, domestic work, and domestic agriculture. We have, of course, told the esteemed officials this in private meetings that they must be cautious. That is, the country must stand on its own feet. We are a strong nation with a large population—we are close to eighty million; this population is not small—tens of millions of educated youth in our country; we have capable and knowledgeable people in all sectors and all areas; this, too, is our underground resources, this is also the incredible seasonal and climatic diversity of our country; all of these are opportunities, all of these are chances. We must stand on our own feet, we should not rely on others.

Well, the enemy is the enemy, and its plots are against the nations; this is the case in this region. Do you remember a few years ago, the Americans said 'the new Middle East'; at that time, we did not quite understand what they wanted to do by calling it the new Middle East; now we understand what the new Middle East is: the Middle East of war, the Middle East of terrorism, the Middle East of fanaticism and backwardness, the Middle East of turmoil; there is war in Syria, there is war in Iraq, there is war in Libya, terrorism is widespread in all these countries, there is terrorism in Turkey, there is terrorism in other places; this is the new Middle East; this is what they were after. Yes, they deny it, but a person has eyes, a person has reason, they look and see. They want to incite a war between Shia and Sunni, arm internal elements in countries, and set them against nations and governments. This is the new Middle East they are after. America should be recognized.

Thanks be to God, our country, due to the faith of the people, the revolutionary spirit of the people, and the insight of the people, has largely remained immune from the encroachments and aggressions of the sworn enemies of the people. Yes, they have struck, they have done some things, but they have not been able to deliver a fundamental blow, and by God’s grace, they will not be able to deliver a fundamental blow. And by God’s grace, the Iranian nation will witness the day when it overcomes all the policies of global arrogance and achieves its aspirations, God willing, and the entire great goals and ideals of the Islamic Revolution will be experienced by the Iranian nation, God willing. Our collective effort is necessary, our sincere effort is necessary, our cooperation is necessary, our kindness towards each other is necessary. Let us be together, let us build together, let us work together, let us not forget our goals, let us not forget our lofty ideals, let us step forward sincerely in all fields. God is with the Iranian nation, and God willing, victory belongs to the Iranian nation. May God grant you all success and support. May God unite our dear martyrs and our great Imam with the Prophet.

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