Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a Public Meeting with the People of Qom

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

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters from Qom! I hope that the continuous blessings and divine grace descend upon each of you and all the dear people of Qom, especially the families of the martyrs, the disabled, and the veterans who are among you; and I hope that it brings about the resolution of all problems; and I hope that divine grace increases day by day more than before.

The memory of the glorious and fervent days of Qom, especially the 19th of Dey, will not fade from the memory of the Iranian nation. Just as Qom was the dawn of the long poem of the Islamic movement in 1962, it also became the beginning of the great and glorious saga of the victory of the revolution in 1979. Today, after twenty-eight years, we must honor that day and remember the oppressed martyrs of that day and that unparalleled and unprecedented heroic movement, and we should raise our hands in supplication and prayer to the Lord of the Universe, asking for the elevation of the spirits of those martyrs and the continuation of the successes of the people of Qom, who have maintained this spirit over the years—both during the Sacred Defense and after it.

Tomorrow is the Day of Arafah; it is a day of prayer, remembrance, supplication, and intimate conversation with God; especially you young people should appreciate these great days and these valuable hours. It is this relationship with God that opens hearts and souls; it paves the way for humanity; it grants determination and sincerity to individuals; it blesses endeavors; it casts divine success over individuals, and the result of this is progress along the path of authentic Islamic values. Never let these days and these valuable hours slip away from your grasp.

The uprising of the people of Qom, thanks to this sincerity, culminated in the global Islamic uprising. Today, wherever you look in the Islamic world, you see the motivation for the sovereignty and dignity of Islam surging in the hearts of the people, especially the youth, the university students, and the intellectuals; this was not the case in the past. The word of truth, the pure word, is that: "Its root is firm, and its branches are in the sky; it yields its fruit at all times by the permission of its Lord." The work of the people of Qom was the pure word. The work of the Imam—who initiated this movement with complete sincerity—was the pure word. This pure word bore fruit; who would have thought?!

From the very first day, the Imam said: We are tasked with duty, not with results; this is the essence of sincerity; it is purely for God that there is not a speck of power-seeking or material gain in such a heart. The Imam acted according to his duty, which was his mission, and God granted him the results: the world was filled with the voice of the Imam. In those days, we neither knew how to propagate nor did we have the propaganda tools at the disposal of the nascent revolution and system; nevertheless, when someone stepped into any corner of the Islamic world and even outside of it, they found the breath of the Imam, the name of the Imam, the memory of the Imam alive there; God Almighty blesses the pure word in this way and advances it. Of course, over time, many efforts were made to erase the footprints of the Imam and the line of the Imam, but today, after twenty-seven years since the beginning of that great movement and the victory of the revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, you see that the fragrance of serving the people, relying on the slogans of the revolution, is sensed throughout the country, and once again, the slogans of service, accountability, simple living, and justice-seeking are among the prevalent slogans; this is the blessing of the revolution. Although there are still those who invite the people to surrender and humiliation in the face of wicked enemies, the people have found their own path.

I would like to mention a point due to the presence of the scholars of the seminary in this friendly gathering, and in fact, it is a message to the scholars of the seminary: The revolution, like any great and enduring social movement, needs fuel; this machine stops without fuel; the fuel of thought. Day by day, with regard to global developments and new events, new questions and ambiguities arise in the continuation of this path. On the one hand, before action comes the time for thought and processing guiding thought, and this is specific to those familiar with the foundations of Islam; and it is evident that the enemies target this point just like other sensitive points. Therefore, the distinguished scholars of the seminary should not heed the enemy's efforts and should know that new thoughts, new concepts, and new paths are intellectual aids for the advancement of this movement. Today, we have more clarity and newer concepts regarding the foundations of the Islamic system than in the early days of the revolution, thanks to the efforts of religious scholars and scholars—both in universities and in seminaries—this intellectual support must continue. Today, the eyes of the world are upon you; indeed! The eyes of the world are concerned about you and me.

Once, leftist thoughts prevailed; Marxism and socialism had an attraction for the youth of the world; but today they do not. Once, extreme nationalist thoughts and populism captivated some hearts; but today these have become outdated. Once, Western liberalism and the logic of capitalist governments spoke of global expansion and said the whole world must accept us; but today, Western liberal democracy has discredited itself with the actions of America; Europe is the same, and they do not tolerate hearing anything contrary to their national interests; they cannot tolerate the hijab of Muslim girls; they cannot ensure the security of their citizens due to being Muslim or due to being people of color; this is Western liberal democracy. Those who claimed that the whole world belongs to us; we are the ones who must provide the fundamental thought and global ideology to the people of the world(!) This is their behavior in Europe and America; they have nothing left to say.

The slogan of justice-seeking remains alive; the slogan of human dignity remains alive; these belong to Islam; these belong to the Islamic Republic. The clear line of the movement of the nation, which arises from the faith and will of the people and is manifested in "religious democracy," remains attractive. Today, nations and Muslim intellectuals see these words and these events and study them, and their gaze is upon Iran; their gaze is upon your movement. Your enemy, which is global arrogance and its manifestation is America, is now stuck in the mud; politically, they have failed in Iraq—they themselves admit this. What they wanted to happen in Iraq happened in the opposite way—in Palestine, they have failed—the butcher and executioner of the Palestinians, who came to destroy the intifada in three months, was himself destroyed by the movement of the intifada; the plan for the roadmap and the Greater Middle East and these fanciful words of America have also failed—now they have entangled themselves in Syria and Lebanon and want to find a way into other Arab and Islamic countries through their influence in the vicinity of the Zionists. They have lost hope on this side; but they cannot do anything there either; if the vigilance of the nations and leaders is present, America and all its Western allies will remain stuck in the mud.

The Iranian nation has progressed over these twenty-seven years; it has succeeded. The current situation of our country is not comparable to the situation of twenty-seven years ago. Our youth, our scholars, our enlightened ones, and our intellectuals have grown and advanced; our nation, despite all the malice and curses that the enemies have spread in their propaganda, has become more committed and interested in the foundations of the revolution, as you saw in this presidential election; the nation voted for the slogans: the slogan of justice-seeking, the slogan of the line of the Imam, the slogan of commitment to Islamic values; the nation gathered around these axes. Thanks be to God, the officials have also been able to show themselves in the arena of movement to the people. Today, thanks be to God, the efforts and movements of our officials—government officials, members of parliament—for progress towards the foundations and values of the revolution are commendable; they are working and bringing the words that have been said closer to action. For a nation, what could be better than this? And what could be more beautiful and sweeter? The adversaries of the Islamic Republic also see these matters.

Today, with the help and power of God, the nation and government of Iran in the international arena are more endowed with dignity and authority than ever before. Logical words are being presented here. This logical proposal for the participation of European and non-European countries in Iran's nuclear fuel programs is a logical proposal; let them come and be partners; let them come and cooperate here; we will not relinquish our legitimate right; this is clear. This is the right of the nation, and no one is able to disregard or overlook this right; the people want this, and it belongs to them; no one has lent these to take them away from the people; thanks be to God, these have emerged from the talents of our youth. Of course, this emergence is not limited to the nuclear issue, but in many areas, this emergence and this progress, innovation, and creativity exist. They should come and be partners; there is no problem with that. This was one proposal that the respected President raised. Another proposal was that if there are concerns about human rights—which we are also concerned about human rights in European countries—representatives should be sent from both sides to monitor; to look; they should come here, and we should send representatives there, to see how human rights are observed in prisons, courts, and in their governmental, social, and civil behaviors, and how much human rights are respected. These are two logical proposals, which are very good and very appropriate for the Europeans to accept. These actions will also advance our relations with the West and will alleviate concerns from both sides.

What is obligatory for us today is to maintain unity, and to maintain faith and trust in this path and its future successes. These two things are the essence of the matter.

First, all segments of the nation and different groups should maintain unity. Today, thanks be to God, there is a deep and sincere unity of word and solidarity among the officials; this is very precious, and they try to disrupt it; but thanks be to God, they cannot; they have not been able to and will not be able to. Individuals and groups and various tendencies should not raise their voices against each other due to minor differences. Of course, there are differences; even within a household, there may be disagreements, but all are members of the household; all defend this household; all prioritize its interests over anything else. Those who especially have a platform; who have the opportunity to speak, should not allow the enemy to become hopeful from their loud voices against each other, thinking that they can conspire against this nation. When there are disagreements, they become hopeful; they feel that now is the time to exert pressure. If they want the enemy's pressures to cease, they must maintain cohesion and unity here like a solid and unyielding line.

And then, they should maintain trust and faith in the path. Throughout these years, the enemies have tried to explode propaganda bombs in the mental environment of the people, the meaning of which is all: O nation! You cannot; Iranian! You cannot; Iranian youth! You must surrender; you must raise your hands. Of course, they also have agents inside—I've mentioned this many times—that whenever they need to inject a thought inside, these agents spring into action and with their petty and mercenary pens, they begin to spread and promote the enemy's goals here; but until now, it has had no effect, and it must not have any effect again. No, everything encourages us towards "hope"; everything encourages us towards "self-confidence." Why should we not be hopeful? We, who one day managed to hold our ground and rise under the pressure of two superpowers—the superpower of America and the former Soviet Union—we, who have been able to reach this level of technology and science despite the economic blockade over these years—during which there has been some form of economic blockade—we, who have been able to fill some of these gaps and voids, why should we not be hopeful in ourselves? Why should we not trust our nation? History and our past compel us to be hopeful and confident; they force us to be hopeful. Yes, we are hopeful; we can; we have succeeded.

Those who today speak of economic blockade; threaten with economic sanctions, are those who over the past years have applied this sanction wherever they could. Right now, some European governments still do not give us the equipment that was purchased during the regime of the tyrant and for which they may have taken the money several times over! Is there a greater sanction than this? They have also not provided us with the necessary tools and parts in some cases. When our youth saw that the way was blocked from this side, they opened a path from within. For an independent nation, it is right to refer to its own inner resources; to explore within itself; to build its own remedy; otherwise, if we were to stand with our hands on our hips at the doors of others—just as we had been accustomed to during the long years of the tyrant's regime—this country and this nation would not have an independent life, and the previous situation would remain. When they imposed sanctions on us, the Imam expressed happiness and said better! He was right. We awakened and became active due to the sanctions; and it is still the same. With these words, do they threaten the Iranian nation; does this threat have any benefit?

Dear brothers! Dear sisters! The path that Qom started has become clearer, smoother, more hopeful, and more beautiful day by day, and this is thanks to faith and sincerity. Preserve this faith and sincerity and unity of word; these are the causes of divine mercy, and God willing, divine mercy and grace will increasingly encompass you.

We hope that the Lord of the Universe grants you all success and includes you and all the people of Iran in the prayers of the pure soul of the Awaited Savior (may our souls be sacrificed for him).

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