Statements at the First Meeting with the President and Members of the Thirteenth Government

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, especially the Remaining One of God on earth.

Welcome, dear brothers! I congratulate all of you for the opportunity to serve the people in essential centers. God Almighty has bestowed upon you this grace to be present in major service centers for the country, the nation, and the Islamic Republic; you must appreciate this opportunity. We also thank the Islamic Consultative Assembly for promptly and appropriately fulfilling their responsibilities, and God willing, may this be a good and blessed beginning for you and for the country.

The Government Week is adorned with the names of Martyr Rajai and Martyr Bahonar; it is a reminder of martyrdom and the name of martyrdom. May God's mercy be upon these two great, honorable, active, and fortunate men who truly intended to serve, even though their time was short. They demonstrated that they entered this field with sincerity and had the intention to serve, and their method was Islamic, popular, and dedicated, which serves as a lesson for all elements involved.

You, dear brothers, have accepted responsibility during a difficult period; God willing, God will assist you; I will also pray, and we hope you will be successful. In any case, the conditions are challenging with inflation and the people's livelihood issues, the coronavirus, and various other problems that exist. If, God willing, you strive with sincere, truly round-the-clock, and tireless efforts, and at the same time, you reserve and invest in reliance and trust in God Almighty, you will undoubtedly succeed, you will certainly prevail, and you will overcome the problems. Make a divine intention; your divine intention in this position means the intention to serve the people; just entering the field with the genuine intention to serve the people is a pure divine intention, and God will bless it.

I have had a recommendation for all officials in various periods, and I convey this recommendation to you as well: time passes quickly, and these four years will end soon; make use of every hour, every opportunity, and do not let the time that belongs to the people and Islam be wasted. Utilize all resources—time and opportunities.

Of course, I believe, I truly believe that while you will have a lot of work and effort, you should also attend to your family matters; I recommend that you take care of your family; do not let it be that during your service and responsibility, you are absent from your family.

Focus your efforts on creating a revolutionary, rational, and thoughtful reconstruction in all management areas, God willing; that is, to move on the rails of the revolution in the various management sectors in the country. In all sectors; economic sectors, construction sectors, foreign policy and diplomacy sectors, service sectors to the people, scientific and cultural sectors, etc.; a revolutionary movement must emerge in all these sectors. We have stated that being revolutionary must always be accompanied by rationality, which has been the correct method of the Islamic Republic from the beginning until today: that revolutionary movement is accompanied by thoughtful and rational movement.

I have several fundamental recommendations that I will present; there are several headings, and I will briefly explain each one. These headings include being popular, which is also the title of Mr. Raisi's government. Justice-seeking, combating corruption, restoring trust and hope among the people, especially the youth, government cohesion, governmental authority, and governmental oversight; these are important headings, and I will say a few sentences about each.

Regarding being popular; being popular is a broad concept and has manifestations. One manifestation is going among the people and hearing directly from them. This very good and commendable action that Mr. Raisi performed yesterday by going to Khuzestan among the people, listening to them, and talking with them is a manifestation of being popular, which is very commendable.

Another manifestation is adopting a popular lifestyle; being unpretentious in behavior and demeanor, avoiding aristocratic attitudes, and looking down on the people; this is another manifestation of being popular, which must be avoided from the aristocratic attitudes that are common in the world, and all governments and officials are afflicted by this kind of view of the people and this kind of lifestyle.

Talking with the people and discussing problems and solutions with them is also one of the manifestations of being popular. Present your issues to the people. Sometimes there is a problem, and there is also a solution. Of course, make sure that your words do not lead to despair among the people, as some neglect this point and make inappropriate and false statements that cause despair among the people; no, every problem has a solution. Discuss it with the people, talk to them, and seek their help in various matters, both intellectual and practical assistance. In some cases, mistakes occur—well, we all make mistakes; errors in our work are not uncommon—apologize to the people; explicitly state that a mistake has occurred, and apologize to them. Being popular has these various aspects. Also, report your services to the people; provide an honest report, without exaggeration, without embellishment; honestly state what you have accomplished. Being popular encompasses these aspects.

Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) addressed all these matters in his very important governmental letter to Malik al-Ashtar; I recommend that friends refer to it, look at it, and see this letter. In this context, his statement is: "Do not prolong your absence from your subjects;" do not be absent from the people for a long time. Of course, an official cannot always be among the people, but at certain times, you must certainly be present among the people. Do not prolong your absence from the people. Then, in this regard, he states a few sentences, and then he says: "And if the subjects suspect you of injustice, openly present your excuse to them;" if a knot arises in the minds of the people, if they have a doubt about you, come and share your excuse with the people, speak openly with them. You see, the relationship between the ruler and the people is such; it is a brotherly and friendly relationship. "And remove their suspicions by your clear speech;" if they have doubts, with your speech and your words, and your expression, remove the doubt from their minds. This was an explanation regarding being popular. Therefore, strive to truly have these qualities; all different sectors should possess this characteristic.

The next issue is justice-seeking, which is the foundation of the Islamic government and the Islamic Republic, just as the foundation of all religions is the establishment of justice. God Almighty says that we sent prophets and heavenly books, "so that people may establish justice;" it is fundamentally for the people to rise to justice and for society to be a just society. Well, we are lagging behind in this regard; we must work hard, we must strive. In my opinion, every bill you pass, every draft you prepare in the government, every directive you issue in your organization must have a justice appendix; you must ensure that this method, this action, this directive does not harm justice and does not oppress the oppressed classes; this vigilance must always be present; now either with a written appendix or in any case, the type of organization must be such that it is so.

Sometimes a management method, a common behavior harms; we truly have such cases. Even now, in our collective work, there are customs and situations that must be corrected; this is also true in various fields; and mainly in the area of justice in distributing the country's resources; these resources must truly be distributed justly. Currently, in some sectors, this is not the case. Of course, what I am saying does not mean that there has been an action behind this, but for example, in the field of energy, in the field of oil, recently one of the officials of the previous government reported to us that the hidden subsidy for oil in 2019 was about 63 billion dollars! Well, to whom does this figure and this subsidy go? Who benefits more from the country's oil and gasoline? A significant number of people do not benefit from this subsidy at all. Then they calculated that 63 billion dollars means 1500 thousand billion tomans, which is more than the budget for 2019! These are things that I have mentioned; of course, in the field of oil, I have no recommendations on what to do; they must be examined to see what should be done; I want to say that such a situation sometimes exists; these are contrary to justice, and vigilance must be exercised. We must work to reduce the gap between the deprived classes and the affluent classes; that is, as much as possible, the country's resources should be distributed justly.

The issue of combating corruption, which we have mentioned, is also complementary to justice-seeking. Corruption must be confronted; one of the major calamities that arises in the country, which is directly against justice, is the existence of corruption, the existence of favoritism, the existence of abuses, embezzlement, and unwarranted benefits; sometimes someone does something important, and you reward them, well, that is not a flaw, but sometimes dear ones unjustly have excessive benefits from the country's resources; well, why? The discussion of astronomical salaries was a small part of this issue that was raised.

Fortunately, the respected President addressed this issue during his responsibility in the judiciary, which indeed has instilled hope among the people for him and increased his popularity among them. The main place for this issue is the executive branch; that is, the main place for confronting corruption and combating corruption is the executive branch, which must eliminate the grounds for corruption; the role of the judiciary comes after this; after you have made your efforts, prevented, and eliminated the grounds for corruption, and still an incident occurs, then it is the turn of the judiciary to intervene. The issue of the conflict of personal interests and public interests, bribery, embezzlement, and similar matters must be resolved in government agencies.

One of the significant examples of this corruption issue is the violations that occur in implementing the policies of Article 44, which Mr. Raisi pursued several instances of in the judiciary, and he reported them to me at that time; the type of performance and implementation of the policies of Article 44—which were policies that could genuinely flourish the economy of the country—was such that these corruptions emerged in it. Of course, there are also tools for this struggle; including these information and service systems that have been legalized for several years; and I have repeatedly recommended that these systems be activated, and they should be interconnected so that they will genuinely provide complete oversight to the government to prevent corruption; however, this work has not been done, it has not progressed; strive to complete these systems, God willing; these systems will provide complete intelligence to the government and the state to have oversight in affairs.

The issue of restoring the trust and hope of the people is also very important; because the trust of the people is the greatest asset of the government. When people trust you and have hope in you, they will walk with you and assist you; this is the greatest asset for the government to be able to gain the trust of the people, which unfortunately has been somewhat damaged and must be repaired, and the solution is that the words and actions of the officials must be consistent; if you made a promise to the people, if you acted according to that promise, the people will trust you; if you promised and did not act, or if you said that a certain task was accomplished, and the people saw that it was not done in reality, the trust of the people will be lost; you must truly take this matter very seriously.

Now, Mr. Raisi! Yesterday you made some promises to the people in Ahvaz, Khuzestan, and you issued some directives; ensure that these are genuinely fulfilled so that the people see that what you want and what you say is indeed realized; these are necessary actions. Again, in this regard, Imam Ali (peace be upon him) has a statement in the same letter to Malik al-Ashtar: "Beware of imposing on your subjects with your kindness or exaggerating what you have done;" first, do not impose on the people that we did this work, secondly, do not exaggerate what you have done; do not magnify the works you have done. Or that you promise them and then follow your promise with a breach; [this means] do not breach your promise; promise, and then breach it; it is said to Malik al-Ashtar that you should not do this; and this is very important. Of course, sometimes you make a promise, and it cannot be fulfilled; that is, a natural problem arises regarding this work; very well, that is not a flaw, explain this to the people and say that I made this promise, this problem arose, and we could not fulfill our promise; we apologize to you; this is also one of those matters that you should discuss with the people; this is an example of the point I previously mentioned regarding being popular, but generally, keep your promises in sight.

Set a specific timeline for your promises; estimate how long it will take to accomplish the task you say you will do, and set a timeline to follow up on it. I have repeatedly said in government bodies that we do not lack rules and laws; we have plenty of laws, foundations, and regulations; what we lack is serious follow-up. This is another matter.

Government cohesion, governmental authority, and governmental oversight are very important. Government cohesion means that different voices do not emerge from within the government; one says one thing, and another goes and says the opposite; well, this completely disrupts the public mindset and public opinion; this must have a state of cohesion, and in practice, they must also have cohesion with each other. Many tasks of one sector are related to several other sectors. Your agricultural sector is necessarily related to several other sectors; cooperation is required to achieve good results; your industrial sector is the same, and your various other sectors are the same; thus, cohesion is necessary for work to progress. Authority is also necessary; the government must demonstrate that it can carry out and advance the tasks it has decided upon, and it should not feel a sense of abandonment. If you do not demonstrate governmental authority in practice and a sense of abandonment is observed in the country, certainly your policies will not progress; this is also important. Oversight means being informed from the corners of the government. The government must perform its duties with authority, cohesion, and oversight.

And this is, of course, part of creating transformation in the executive branch. One of the essential tasks that was in the programs of Mr. Raisi and some others was to create transformation in the executive branch. Transformation in the executive branch is an important task; this transformation is a constant need; it must always be considered that, of course, transformation towards progress is dependent on lawfulness, enhancing transparency, financial discipline, eliminating the grounds for corruption, preventing conflicts of interest, and seriousness in implementing decisions and regulations.

Of course, youth empowerment is also very important. One of the important tasks in the government is the empowerment of youth; you should utilize capable young individuals in the government and mid-level management, as we thankfully have many; this work will eliminate the feeling of blockage in the country, and when young people see that they can enter the field of work, move forward, and make decisions, a sense of blockage will not arise in the country, and you will also prepare a valuable reserve for the future for experienced and skilled senior managers. This young person who enters the field of work today will be an experienced and seasoned manager in ten years, which will be a very valuable reserve for the country; these competent managers will truly and justly be one of the valuable reserves.

An important point regarding transformation is the use of collective wisdom and reliance on rationality. Utilize the expertise of those outside the government; wherever you can use the opinion of an expert—set aside the discussions of political factions and similar matters in this regard—use the opinions of experts as much as possible, and do not look at whether they are affiliated with a faction you accept or not; now, within the government, these will naturally be utilized; utilize the opinions of experts.

These are general recommendations; of course, operational plans must be developed for these. If what I say is merely retained in your noble minds or noted, it will not be beneficial; the advisory aspect of such words is not useful. These must be transformed into a program and an operational plan; when it becomes a program, then naturally these will be implemented.

There are also priorities in the country's work that I will briefly mention, and these priorities must be attended to and pursued, perhaps the most important of which is the issue of the economy, followed by culture, media, and science, which are the fundamental priorities of the country. However, we have an urgent issue, which is the coronavirus; the issue of health has now gained an urgency that must be addressed. Of course, good efforts were made in the previous government regarding health; good works were done, and they pursued both vaccine production and vaccine import; now there are rumors circulating that are mostly unfounded; mostly baseless; good works were accomplished; these works must be pursued and emphasized; both treatment and prevention, as well as monitoring and screening—screening for potential patients is very important—must certainly be carried out.

Public vaccination is a very important issue that must be carried out. And smart quarantine. I have heard that some Western countries that have managed to control casualties, and their casualties are less than ours—while their infections are also less—have tightly closed their borders; they have no possibility of movement to their neighboring country, which is also a developed country, but has a high rate of infection; they are monitoring closely. We must be very vigilant regarding the observance of the country's borders and the careful entry of new types of diseases into the country—this disease or other diseases—this issue is very important.

Of course, the people also have responsibilities; I have repeatedly said this. Our dear people must accept and take on these four important responsibilities: one is the issue of masks, one is the issue of distancing, one is the issue of ventilation, and one is the issue of washing hands with soap; these are not difficult tasks; these are all easy tasks; if they observe these precautions, it will certainly have an impact on infections, and this heavy toll that pains the heart will not occur.

Regarding the economy, culture, cyberspace, diplomacy, and similar matters, there are also issues that there is no opportunity for elaboration here; God willing, if there is an opportunity and life permits, matters will be discussed later.

In terms of economic issues, there are currently problems in the country: high inflation is one of the most fundamental problems; there is a budget deficit; the livelihood of low-income people is a significant issue—these are important problems—devaluation of the national currency, which is one of those things that truly makes one feel ashamed; the decrease in the purchasing power of the people; problems in the business environment; we and the economic officials have emphasized this; that is, everyone has emphasized and stated, but there are problems in improving the business environment; there are problems in the banking system. These are the economic problems of the country, and there are other problems that must be planned and worked on separately for each of these, and solving these issues is important.

One fundamental point is that our economic men and economic officials in this government must act in coordination to solve these problems. A significant example of the cohesion we previously mentioned is here; that is, unify opinions in these important economic areas and act in coordination. Now that the President has said that the first vice president is responsible for coordination, this is a very important task; this is very important; coordination must be achieved in these economic areas, and this mission must be successfully accomplished, God willing.

And if there are any differences of opinion, I strongly recommend that you do not bring these differences to the people, because economic differences when reflected to the people have real impacts on the economic environment; that is, those imaginary problems turn into real problems in the people's work environment and economic environment. If there is a problem, a disagreement, resolve these within the government and do not reflect them to the people.

One point in the economic issue is to pay attention to the driving economic sectors. Some sectors are truly driving. For example, consider the housing sector—experts say that if the housing sector gets moving, many other sectors will also get moving—or important industries like steel, automotive, energy, petrochemicals, and similar sectors when they get moving; these must be activated, and in these sectors, especially the coordination of the responsible parties is very important.

Another important point regarding our economic problems is the control of the banking system concerning the issue of money creation and liquidity production. What economic experts report to us and reflect is that they say money creation must be in proportion to production; if this ratio does not exist, money creation must be prevented, and liquidity production must be stopped; that is, take this issue seriously. If this is done correctly, it will have many blessings: preventing inflation, boosting production, boosting employment, strengthening the national currency, and similar matters. This is one of the important points that I believe should be emphasized.

Well, there are other words regarding the economy. In my opinion, two points are important here: one is that in solving economic problems, one should not seek temporary solutions and painkillers, as these sometimes exacerbate the problem; these painkillers and temporary remedies sometimes add to the problem; we must address these challenges with fundamental solutions and begin, God willing, with reliance on God and with sound action, to move forward with firm steps, God willing. The next point is that do not postpone solving these economic problems until after the sanctions are lifted; lifting the sanctions is not in our hands; it is in the hands of others. Plan to solve the problems assuming the sanctions exist and plan so that, God willing, this work can be advanced. These must be resolved with your effort and wisdom, and they will be resolved, God willing.

In the issue of culture and media, in my opinion, the cultural structure of the country needs a revolutionary reconstruction. We have problems in the cultural structure of the country; a revolutionary movement is necessary. Of course, "revolutionary movement" means wise and rational. The meaning of "being revolutionary" is not to act impulsively and without consideration. [The movement] must be revolutionary, it must be foundational, while also being rooted in thought and wisdom. Culture is truly the foundation; many of the mistakes we make in various sectors stem from the prevailing culture in our minds. If we have wastefulness, if we have blind imitation, if we have a wrong lifestyle, these stem from cultural problems; the prevailing culture in minds creates these problems in practice. Imitative lifestyles, luxurious and aristocratic lifestyles often have cultural roots. In fact, the software of these events is the culture of the country and the erroneous and deviant prevailing culture that dominates some minds.

Cultural tools such as cinema, art, audio-visual media, and similar things must be flourished; press, books, and similar things are cultural tools that must genuinely be flourished. Today, thanks be to God, there is a large army of young people interested in cultural issues who are working, existing, and striving.

If governments and cultural sectors of the government support these young and interested groups, great works will certainly be accomplished, and creative steps will be taken; there are hundreds of innovative plans in this regard available to these young people, and sometimes when one has contacts with the youth, one sees that they can accomplish great works and come up with ideas; well, they need resources, and the resources are available to the government; intelligent support must be provided. Discover talents, support them, and ensure their freedom; of course, freedom within the framework of legal principles.

And confront moral corruption and corruption in the field of culture without hesitation; that is, this is how it must be dealt with. The main way to confront and combat the enemy's soft war is to support correct movements in the field of culture and encourage them, appreciate them, and stand against incorrect movements. The realm of media and culture can be, on one hand, a great university and is, and on the other hand, a battleground of virtue and vice, a battleground of truth and falsehood, and a field of cultural warfare against those whose culture creates corruption in the world; it must be viewed from these two perspectives.

Let me say a word about foreign policy. Of course, there are many discussions regarding foreign policy that will be addressed in their time and place, God willing; in summary, foreign policy is very important and has a significant impact on the country's issues. Our activity in the diplomatic arena must increase and be multiplied. The economic aspect of diplomacy must be strengthened; economic diplomacy is very important. Today, one observes that many countries have foreign ministers, but the president himself engages in economic matters with various countries or a specific country, especially, and follows up on the issue; that is, communication with various countries in economic matters is very important. This economic aspect of diplomacy must be strengthened.

And foreign trade is very important, especially with neighbors. We have fourteen or fifteen neighbors who form a large population and create a vast market, but we should not be limited to them, and communication with other countries is the same; there are about two hundred and some countries in the world; we do not intend to have relations with a very limited number, with one or two countries; with some, it may not be possible, but with most, there is the possibility of good and smooth communications; effort is needed.

And diplomacy should not be influenced by the nuclear issue; that is, it should not be the case that the country's diplomacy is tied to the nuclear issue; no, the nuclear issue is a separate matter that should be resolved in a suitable and appropriate manner for the country, but the scope of diplomacy is much broader. In the nuclear issue, the Americans have truly exceeded the limits of audacity; they have really exceeded the limits of audacity: they exited the JCPOA right before everyone's eyes, and now they speak as if Iran has exited the JCPOA, and they act as if they are the ones who have been wronged! For a long time, there was no movement from Iran in response to these American actions; after some time, with announcements and considerations, some commitments were set aside; some, not all. They did not fulfill their commitments.

The European countries that are allied with America are the same; they are not less guilty of breach of promise and immorality than America; they are like America, but in terms of rhetoric and speaking, they are always demanding; they are always demanding. It seems that it was us who mocked the negotiations for a long time and trampled on our commitments; this is what they did. And the current American government is no different from the previous one; that is, what they are currently demanding from Iran regarding nuclear issues is the same as what Trump demanded, which at that time, senior government officials said was impossible, unreasonable, and so on. Today, they want the same thing; there has been no difference. He spoke with one language, and they speak with another. We must pay attention to this.

Honestly, America is a ravenous wolf behind the scenes of diplomacy; on the surface, it is diplomacy, smiles, and sometimes it speaks in a seemingly just manner, but the essence of the matter is a wolf, a wild ravenous wolf that one observes in many parts of the world; sometimes it is a wolf, sometimes a cunning fox; it takes various forms. One manifestation of this is the current situation in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is our brotherly country; same language, same religion, and culturally similar; and the problems and calamities of Afghanistan deeply affect one. The events that are occurring one after another, this incident on Thursday, these killings, these problems, these hardships they endure, are the work of America. They came to occupy Afghanistan for twenty years and committed all kinds of injustices against the Afghans during these twenty years; they bombed their mourning assemblies, their wedding ceremonies, killed their youth, and unjustly imprisoned many of them in various prisons, increasing the production of narcotics dozens of times; they did these things and did not take a single step for the advancement of Afghanistan; that is, Afghanistan today, in terms of civil and developmental progress, is not ahead of that time; they did nothing. Now, as they leave, it is accompanied by this disgrace; the situation at Kabul airport, the gathering of people, and this problem. Those Afghans they are taking—those who supposedly cooperated with them over these long years—and want to take them out of Afghanistan, there are reports that the situation where they are taking them is worse than that; there are many problems in the centers where they are accommodating them there; this is the situation of America.

In any case, regarding Afghanistan, we are supporters of the Afghan nation; governments come and go; various governments have come to power in Afghanistan over the years. Governments come and go; what remains is the Afghan nation; we are supporters of the Afghan nation. The nature of our relationship with governments also depends on their relationship with us. And we hope that, God willing, God Almighty will grant goodness to the Afghan people and rescue them from this situation, and may He place their situation in the best possible state and bestow His blessings upon them and upon us, God willing.

We pray that God grants success to the Iranian nation; resolves the problems, and we pray that you, the respected officials of the new government, succeed in the tasks you have undertaken, overcome the problems, and be able to fulfill what you have said, and relieve the people of their problems and make them satisfied with you, God willing. The satisfaction of the people, God willing, will also bring the satisfaction of God Almighty; pure intentions and the intention to serve, the divine intention, God willing, will assist you. May God's mercy be upon our dear martyrs, may God's mercy be upon our great Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), and may God's mercy be upon all the servants who worked and strived for the truth and for God.

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