Statements at the Meeting with the Supreme Council of the IRGC

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 and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen family, especially the remainder of God on earth (may our souls be sacrificed for him).

Peace be upon Hussein, and upon Ali ibn Hussein, and upon the children of Hussein, and upon the companions of Hussein.

I am very happy and grateful to the Almighty God for once again granting us the opportunity to witness your radiant faces in this annual meeting. God willing, may He bestow upon all of you His special graces and guidance, and elevate you to the highest ranks that a seeker desires.

Among the various phenomena that have emerged from the Islamic Revolution, which are not few, the IRGC has a unique characteristic. The IRGC is one of the institutions and phenomena that arose from the Islamic Revolution; it possesses qualities that are less observed in other blessings resulting from the Revolution. Firstly, the birth of the IRGC occurred amidst the tumult of significant events and excitements of the Revolution; then, the growth and maturation of the IRGC took place during the tremendous upheaval of the Sacred Defense. Throughout these eight years of Sacred Defense, the IRGC grew, like a teenager reaching the stage of youth, maturity, and valor.

After the war, which was a period of deep and extensive political and cultural alignments between the Revolution and the enemies of the Revolution - that is, the opposing front of the Revolution - during this great period and alignment, where difficult tests arose, many faltered, many faced problems. In such a time, the IRGC was able to reach a significant level of maturity and development. In this third period, which is the post-Sacred Defense era, in the personal and political and social lives of individuals and organizations, a dangerous crossroads often arises; a crossroads of elevation or decline; this is usually the case. After the stages of entering the world of youth and movement are completed, generally, both individuals and organizations, and even revolutions, reach a crossroads: one path leads to elevation, and the other leads to decline; either the driving force of reason, wisdom, guidance, and spirituality elevates them to the peak, or the attractions of materialism degrade them to the level of petty material desires. This crossroads often presents itself at a certain period, both before individuals and humanity, and organizations - and as we mentioned - even revolutions; some revolutions and significant political transformations start well, grow well, but at a critical juncture, they experience decline and downfall. This crossroads naturally arose for our society and country in the post-Sacred Defense era. Well, now regarding the essence of the Revolution, we have much to say; I do not wish to delve into that topic, but the IRGC emerged from this period with its head held high; it did not suffer from fatigue or decline; it preserved the essential elements of its identity and moved towards elevation.

Of course, there are both losses and gains everywhere; the IRGC is not an exception, but the criterion is to see whether the predominance is with the losses or with the gains; I firmly judge that regarding the IRGC, it is clear that the predominance is with the gains; this movement was a growth movement, a progressive movement, an elevation movement. No one should object that we had some losses; yes, we did, it is everywhere, it is always there; the criterion is not that, the criterion is to compare and see how the gains are and how the losses are. The same applies to the essence of the Revolution, which is not the place for discussion here.

You see, the most eloquent arena where an organization like the IRGC can participate is the arena of jihad and martyrdom; of course, there are other arenas, but the arena of martyrdom in the way of God is the peak and the brightest and most beautiful area of human vision; in the arena of martyrdom, thirty years after the end of the Sacred Defense, we have a mature man with white beard like martyr Hamadani, and a newly arrived teenager like martyr Hajji; all of these have meaning; all of these are signs of the preservation of the same freshness and the same essential identity. The same is true in other arenas that I will now mention where the IRGC has entered.

I want us all to reach a judgment; of course, for you, this may be repetitive, this matter that I want to present, but nonetheless, it is good to say it so that everyone knows, everyone understands the situation of the IRGC. A criterion for measuring the situation of any organization, for any collection, is to compare the successes of that collection with its failures, to see how much success it has faced in confronting its missions, how much failure it has encountered; if we take this as a measure, in my opinion, the IRGC is one of the most honored collections; in this calculation, with this criterion, with this measure that its successes and achievements have been greater than its failures; with this measure, the IRGC is very honored.

I will present several important headings in this regard, which must certainly be accounted for in this calculation; one is the issue of innovation and creativity in the IRGC; both innovation in military and combat tools - that once the IRGC was searching here and there for two 120mm mortars to be able to use them somewhere; now you see what tools the IRGC uses and in what production and construction of tools it has taken the lead, and the success of that has created these capabilities in the country for military forces - it has both innovation in military tools and success in military methods, in countering methods, in combat methods; the innovations of the IRGC are prominent innovations. The issue of innovation and creativity and success is one element and one heading.

Another heading is the powerful entry into various social service arenas. You look at the collection of service works that the IRGC has done in these years and continues to do, and is increasing day by day; which other organization or institution can be compared with it? With which armed organization in the world can it be compared? One example is the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, which has been a strong executive arm for various governments over these years; another example is deprivation alleviation, these deprivation alleviations that the IRGC, the Ground Force, and various sections of the IRGC are carrying out - which I think about ninety percent of these are not even seen in advertisements; that is, there is no advertisement, it is mostly unknown; now we become aware of it through reports and such - is very extensive across the country, in deprived areas.

Another example is the extraordinary aid in disasters; consider the Kermanshah earthquake or the floods that occurred at the beginning of this year in several provinces; the presence of the IRGC was a prominent and decisive presence, it was a benchmark; and other small and large works that this is also a heading; that is, extensive social services from which all people benefit; it has nothing to do with military work and logistical issues; it is purely service-oriented, purely helping the progress of the country, and in important sectors, helping the same policy of resistant economy.

Another heading is the entry into the realm of culture, thought, and art, where the IRGC and Basij have made remarkable works; that is, those who are engaged in the realm of culture, art, literature, poetry, and other branches of art feel that a new entity is being born or has been born in the world of art, it is a new event, it is a remarkable work; this also has nothing to do with logistical and military issues. This is another arena.

Another very important arena is the broad perspective on the geography of resistance in the region; the resistance collection in this region has shown its capability in confronting global arrogance, in confronting America, in confronting the united front of infidelity and oppression; now observe the role of the IRGC in this vast collection: from the issues of Palestine to other issues in West Asia and various sections that now entering them is not our task and the dignity of our current session. The presence of the IRGC in this geography of resistance is so prominent that it has also incited enmities against the IRGC; the enmity of bad people, the front of the bad, which itself is a great honor; if the worst of the world are hostile to someone, this itself is a great honor.

Another heading that seems to us to be more important than all of these is the effort to preserve spirituality that exists in the IRGC; this issue of spirituality is very important - which I may also present some points about later - and is like a rain of mercy that falls on a diverse garden; it is both life-giving for the garden, and freshness-giving and beautifying for the garden. When it rains, it is not just that it gives life to various parts of this garden, but it also gives beauty, it gives appearance, it gives freshness, it makes it precious in the eyes; the rain of spirituality is like this.

Now these were the several headings that I mentioned; the components of these headings can be explained, developed, and clarified - which is very important - and other headings can also be added to this. Therefore, the IRGC has advanced completely in the realm of hardware, in the realm of software, in the path of elevation and progress, and has passed a good test; my belief is that it has reached its peak. And this has also caused America and the arrogant system and the bad people of the world to become very hostile towards the IRGC. Surely in these news and writings and statements and the virtual space and so on, you see how much is said against the IRGC, how much work is done; their agents and extensions inside the country too - who are not very noticeable but exist - are also trying to find a weakness in the IRGC, if they can, and magnify it. America, too, thinks it can strike a blow and, for example, sanctions the IRGC; these successes, these advancements, and these prominences attract this enmity; this is a source of pride; just as it elevates the dignity of the IRGC in the eyes of individuals, people, and even enemies. That is, these advancements cause the IRGC to gain dignity in the eyes of enemies, let alone friends; and today this is the case, and this dignity has, thanks be to God, been achieved. Well, these are part of the virtues of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, part of the virtues of this honored collection.

Well, you are dear children of this humble servant; if someone asks me whether I am satisfied with these children, I will say that I am one hundred percent satisfied! But I am not content; I am very satisfied, but I am not content. The expectation is not "excessive"; because I believe that the Almighty God has given you a talent that you can advance ten times more than what we said - now I cautiously said ten times, but it could be a hundred times more - why? Because you are now in a position one hundred times greater than that first day. The children of the first day of the IRGC are sitting here; what did you have? How much opportunity did you have? How much was your presence felt? You look and see where the IRGC is today, where it was then; this indicates that the Almighty God has given the talent and capability and opportunity; when He gives the opportunity, the duty also comes: God does not burden a soul beyond its capacity; the more your capacity is, the more your duty is; I say this. The summary of our words and our statement is this: because your capacity is great, your ability is great, your duty is also great.

Now, since the duty is heavy, our recommendations are based on this: The first recommendation is that you should never allow the IRGC to become old and conservative; the IRGC must not become old. The meaning of becoming old is not about old people; that is, of course, it is not without effect - regarding youthfulness, which I will mention - but the meaning is the spirit, the youthful spirit of the IRGC must remain and can remain; an organization can be imagined that with divine help, with divine guidance, with various methods, never reaches old age and always remains young; it can be imagined. How?

Firstly, with youthfulness, which, thanks be to God, is present; that is, it has been a long time since youthfulness has started in the IRGC and attention to the younger generation exists, and the religious and revolutionary education of the second and third generations. Do not allow generational disconnection to occur; the same spirit that the great and renowned martyrs of the IRGC showed in the battlefields during the Sacred Defense and before the Sacred Defense and some after the Sacred Defense must flow and continue in the successive and consecutive generations that enter the IRGC: religious and revolutionary education, preventing generational disconnection, continuing the method of creativity and innovation. The fact that I said the IRGC has innovation in tools, in methods, this must not be allowed to stop; this innovation must exist continuously in methods, in rules of work, in tools of work, in combat tools, in the collective movement tools of the IRGC, in the various arenas that I have mentioned, in all of these. Of course, this spirit is now present in the IRGC, I see this; in various sections, air, ground, various sections of the IRGC, at different levels, one observes this; this must continue day by day, and be strengthened. Therefore, the first recommendation of this humble servant is that you should not allow the IRGC to become old, conservative, or content with the current situation; no, you must advance day by day, improve, in the direction of becoming revolutionary, in the direction of becoming religious, in the direction of becoming efficient.

Secondly, maintain your readiness to confront major events; this has been one of the characteristics of the IRGC. From the very beginning of its birth, the IRGC has always stood at the forefront in major events. In the early days when the IRGC had just been born, various events around the country, the ethnic issues and provocations that arose in the east, west, and north of the country, the IRGC stood at the forefront, showed its readiness. Throughout the blessed life of Imam, the issue of the imposed war arose, the IRGC moved forward and showed its readiness; from the very first day, from the very first hours when the war began and Saddam attacked, the IRGC was in the field. It was also present before that, of course; before that, when the enemies were being mischievous, causing harm, there was constant harassment from the borders, the IRGC was also present there. After the passing of Imam, in political and social events, various provocations, wherever there has been any incident, the IRGC has shown that it is ready. I do not want to say that everything has been excellent, but everywhere the presence has been excellent. This readiness must be maintained; it is not only security and military issues that are considered; no, in all sectors. Now friends have pointed out, for example, in the field of resistant economy, in the field of production boom, helping the deprived, helping the underprivileged - these are important issues of the country, the day-to-day issues of the country - the IRGC must maintain its readiness. Both in the field of service and deprivation alleviation, and in confronting enmities, and in strengthening organizational structure and scientific and practical preparedness and political awareness, in all these areas, you must be able to maintain this readiness and preparedness.

Thirdly, do not lose this broad perspective of the geography of resistance; do not lose this transnational perspective. Do not be content with our own region: "A people that is besieged in their own home will be humiliated"; this hadith from the infallible (peace be upon him) indicates that those who sit at home until they are attacked become humiliated. It should not be that we choose a four-walled space and our work does not extend to who is behind this wall, what threats exist. This broad transnational perspective, this extension of strategic depth is sometimes more necessary than the most obligatory duties of the country that must be considered, which many do not pay attention to, many do not notice. Now some do pay attention and speak in favor of the enemy - for example, they say "neither Gaza nor Lebanon" - but many do not pay attention; the reality is this. This perspective on this vast geographical area, which is part of the duties and responsibilities of the IRGC, must not be weakened within the IRGC.

The fourth recommendation; in the face of the enemy, make your evaluation of the enemy realistic. Do not confuse vigilance with fear; do not be afraid of the enemy at all; no matter how strong the enemy is, do not be afraid. Because the faith you have, your enemy does not have, regardless of its size; but recognize the size of the enemy. "The enemy cannot be considered insignificant and pathetic"; do not consider any enemy - small or large - insignificant, weak, pathetic, or unworthy of attention; no, even if the enemy is small, consider it, have a correct evaluation in front of it, be vigilant in front of it. I said, do not confuse this vigilance with fear; do not be afraid at all, but recognize who you are dealing with.

The fifth recommendation; have cooperation and synergy with all the great components of the Islamic system; with the government, with the judiciary, with the Islamic Consultative Assembly - the legislative branch - cooperation and synergy with various sections is necessary; this duty is not specific to you; we recommend this to everyone, and we recommend it to you as well. Of course, the meaning of this synergy and cooperation does not mean separating from the identity elements of the IRGC; pay attention to this point! The identity elements of the IRGC must be preserved in all interactions, in all behaviors, and in all cooperations and synergies.

The sixth recommendation; be popular, be people-friendly, be welcoming to the people, behave in a popular manner. The IRGC is a popular organization; from the very beginning of its formation - these young people who came, came from universities, from the market, from workshops, from everywhere, grew, became prominent, reached a point where people like me must look and feel regret and envy - it was formed by the people. Be with the people, be from the people, have a popular behavior; arrogance is contrary to this behavior, worldliness is contrary to this behavior, elitism is contrary to this behavior. This is also a strong recommendation. Of course, in this sixth recommendation, there is a lot to say; I always make this recommendation to all the officials of the country, I emphasize it, but now there is not much time, we want to move on.

The seventh recommendation; place jihad work and the spirit of jihad at the forefront of all activities in various arenas. Jihad work is against laziness, against indifference, against procrastination. We encounter some various sections that are supposed to do a job, they acknowledge it, they approve it, they even welcome it, but when it comes to doing it today, they postpone it to tomorrow, which has another tomorrow; sometimes I tell them, I remind them that the matter we discussed six months ago, you also gave a written order to your subordinate, he also recommended it to someone else, but six months have passed, no movement has taken place; this is because they do not pursue the work in a jihad manner; jihad work. Pursue the work in all arenas in a jihad manner.

And the last recommendation is that do not lose reliance, seeking intercession, spirituality, and prayer; do not lose your connection with the Quran; do not lose your connection with the Ahl al-Bayt and the progeny; do not forget to avoid sin. Among the most emphasized recommendations, or perhaps at the top of the recommendations of those whose every word we hold in high regard, was avoiding sin; this is the foundation of the work. Both in yourselves, in your families, in your children, and all those related to you, institutionalize these matters. These are regarding the issues of the IRGC. We have stated that if there is time and our elder allows, we have much to say to you, but now, given the capacity of time and place, this much regarding the IRGC is sufficient; there are other issues I want to present.

Regarding international issues, there is an important point that if we pay attention, we will clearly understand this point, and that is that our enemies, the more they spend, the more they suffer losses. You look at this region, consider how much they spent in Afghanistan? Their feet are still stuck, they are still suffering losses; in the region of West Asia - in Syria, in Iraq, in other places - they have spent so much; how much did they spend to create ISIS? Now they say we have destroyed ISIS; you are wrong to say you destroyed it. Did you destroy it? ISIS was destroyed by the young people of Syria, the young people of Iraq, and the young people of Iran, not you. Firstly, you created ISIS; secondly, you spent a lot, provided them with weapons, facilities, and money; you spent a lot, provided them with propaganda facilities. Those who are in this field said that the propaganda facilities of ISIS were among the most advanced television and propaganda facilities; where did they get them? The global arrogance gave them; these same people who now pretend to withdraw, are still supporting them; in many places, they got trapped, and they came with helicopters to rescue them and take them away so they would not be destroyed in the siege. They sold Iraqi oil for a long time; here one of the leaders of the countries told me that we see from above, from satellites, the line of trucks that are taking oil to sell to them, and American planes are flying above them and protecting them; now they do not attack, but in some cases, they also provide protection; but as I said, the efforts of the faithful youth in those countries and in our country destroyed ISIS, eliminated it; now they say it has not been completely eliminated, very well, if they come back, it will be the same; "If the scorpion returns, I will crush it again"; the scorpion was crushed with a shoe, and it said if it comes back, I will crush it again with the same shoe. Therefore, the more they spent, the more they suffered losses. This current American president said they spent seven trillion dollars in this region; now what do they have from this region? What have they gained? What do they have? The more they spend, the more they will suffer losses; after this, it will continue to be the same, by God's grace.

In the policy of maximum pressure, which was the policy of America, they have also failed so far. They thought that if maximum pressure was applied on Iran regarding economic issues - mainly economic - and some peripheral issues, Iran would kneel, the Islamic Republic would have to show some flexibility. So far, by God's grace, they have understood that this maximum pressure has caused them trouble and hardship. Recently, they tried to create a symbolic situation for Iran's surrender and forced our president to meet, they even resorted to begging, their European friends also acted as intermediaries, all of them came and went, but in the end, they were unsuccessful. Therefore, so far, maximum pressure has failed, and I firmly tell you that this maximum pressure will fail until the end.

Therefore, in international confrontation, our situation is this; thanks be to God, we have continued our path with strength and power. Their insistence is that the Islamic Republic should abandon its revolutionary nature - that is, the same thing we recommend to maintain - they say come and become a normal country; a normal country means a country that conforms to the mechanisms of the system of domination; I have repeatedly explained the system of domination. The system of domination means that the whole world is divided into dominators and the dominated; this is how it is now that some governments are dominators, and some are dominated. Now, not all of the dominated are necessarily servants, but they accept domination and are under the burden of domination; when they say do this, they must do it, they do it; this is the current system of domination. They say the Islamic Republic should enter this system; that is, it should also become dominated. The Islamic Republic has been moving against this system of domination since the very first hour of its birth and realization; how can it possibly give this up? We oppose the system of domination, we oppose the division of the world into dominators and the dominated, we confront this, we absolutely do not submit to its impositions, and until today, we have been able to make significant progress in this regard and have accompanied many people of the world, thinkers of the world, and popular movements of the world with our path, and we will certainly continue this path; the path of revolutionary struggle, the path of confrontation and resistance against the system of domination.

Another topic that it is good to say a word about is the nuclear issue. We will continue to reduce our commitments regarding the nuclear agreement, and it must continue; it must be done with complete seriousness. The responsibility is also on the Atomic Energy Organization; they must carry out and continue the reduction of commitments that the government of the Islamic Republic has stated, announced, and said, accurately and comprehensively until we reach the desired result, which, God willing, we will certainly reach by God's grace.

In the face of the enmities that are directed against the economy of the country, we have sought the remedy in looking at domestic capabilities and have found it; this is the remedy. Our domestic capabilities are very good. Even now, you observe that previously some predicted that the year 1398 (2019) would be like this and that; now the officials of the country refer to the year 1398 and say that, for example, there has been some relative economic growth. Of course, the situation of the people is difficult, livelihoods are hard, but if the movement is strong, logical, persistent, and jihad-like, it will certainly gradually affect the lives and livelihoods of the people.

An important point is that this sanction - which is mainly the sanction on oil sales - and this maximum pressure is mainly focused on the issue of oil - is undoubtedly a problem for the country, but it is a short-term problem; from this short-term problem, a long-term benefit arises, and that is the disconnection from oil. A few days ago, government officials announced and said that from a certain date - they apparently mentioned a date - they will disconnect the budget from oil; this is very good news, this is a very significant achievement. Well, if we keep selling our oil and receiving dollars in return, we will never think about separating the budget of the country, the expenses of the country, the current costs of the country from oil; we will never think about it. When the sale of oil is blocked, when this free income is taken from the government, then we will think about making a fundamental change. Many countries now have better economic growth than us, their economic situation is better than ours, and they do not have a drop of oil, nor do they sell it; so it is possible. The capabilities of our country are better than some of those countries I mentioned, much better than some; therefore, we can. Therefore, this pressure that is tactically imposed on us is strategically in our favor, it helps us.

I also want to say at the end of my remarks that wherever I look, from every direction I calculate, I see that in this confrontation of the Iranian nation under the shadow of the Islamic Republic with the world of oppression and global arrogance and infidelity, the ultimate victory belongs to the Iranian nation. We have a strategic victory, God willing; both the verses of the Quran and the divine promise assure us of this, and the experience of these forty years makes this tangible for us. "But let my heart be assured"; that is, when Prophet Abraham asked the Lord about the revival of the dead, he said, "I believe, but I want my heart to be assured"; now the Iranian nation, when it looks at these forty-year achievements and this slender sapling that has been attacked from all sides to destroy it and has not been able to, and now has turned into this towering structure and this tree with leaves and fruits from all sides, that "let my heart be assured" comes to them.

O Lord! Bestow Your grace, mercy, and favor upon the Imam of the martyrs, upon our dear martyrs, and upon the Mujahideen who opened this path more and more; make the sacred heart of the Awaited Savior pleased and satisfied with us.

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