Statements in Meeting with Members of the Assembly of Experts

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 progeny, especially the remainder of God on earth.

We are very pleased that the time for the visitation of the esteemed members of the Assembly of Experts has come again, and we have the opportunity to serve our friends. I have benefited from the statements of the gentlemen, and God willing, may He assist us and grant us the ability to act upon what we understand.

I must also express my condolences for the loss of two valuable scholars and truly learned jurists, the late Mr. Shahroudi and the late Mr. Momen; both were truly pillars for the Qom seminary, they were beneficial, and they were scholars who worked in service of the goals of the revolution. Their loss is a blow to us and to the seminary. Both the late Mr. Momen and the late Mr. Shahroudi were genuinely dedicated to what they felt was necessary for the country and the revolution, without any expectation of reward. May God elevate their ranks and compensate us for their loss. God willing, our young jurists will strengthen their efforts, precision, and work in the field of Islamic jurisprudence as much as they can; the presence of strong, up-to-date scholars who are aware of the country's issues is necessary.

The discussion I have prepared to present to you today is not a new topic for you; the reason I bring it up is that each of you, thank God, has a position in a certain area—whether among the people or among students and seminaries—and your words are heard. The mention of these matters is for you gentlemen to elucidate these titles and topics with the knowledge, skill, and analytical ability you possess, so that they become a discourse and a public understanding. It is very important for our people to reach a public understanding regarding this specific issue that I will now present.

What I want to discuss as the topic is this issue: the manner in which the country and influential individuals in the country confront challenges and events; this is what we want to discuss. Every country, every society has events; some of these events are good, some are bitter, and sometimes there is pressure—consider that we are under sanctions, facing cultural aggression, and similar issues, or some countries are facing hard aggression and military attacks; events occur for countries—sometimes there are advancements as well. The manner of confronting these events is very important; how we confront these events is crucial. This is my discussion and the topic I want to present.

I will present several dualities in this regard; that is, the manner of confrontation can be depicted in several ways: sometimes our confrontation with these events is active, sometimes it is passive and reactive. Active means that when we face an event, we look to see what we should do in response to this event—to repel it, to alleviate it, to weaken it, and in some cases to strengthen it; we think and actively enter the field; this is the active confrontation. The passive confrontation is when a bitter, hard, or problematic event occurs, and we begin to lament, constantly vocalizing our complaints, repeating them without taking any action in response. Thus, we have two types of confrontation: active confrontation and passive confrontation.

From another perspective: innovative confrontation or reactive confrontation. Reactive confrontation is when, for example, we are faced with an enemy, and the enemy draws us into a confrontation; we also go into that field and act according to their plan—when they make a move, we make a similar move; this is passive confrontation, this is reactive confrontation; in fact, our movement is a function of their movement. Innovative confrontation is when, for instance, the enemy attacks us from one direction, we attack them from another direction, we take the initiative and confront them in a way that we can strike them. These are two types of confrontation.

Another duality is the hopeless versus hopeful confrontation. Sometimes a person, when faced with an event, becomes hopeless due to the enemy's capabilities or actions; they may enter the field but do so hopelessly; this is one type of confrontation. Another type is that a person enters the field with hope; these two differ. If we enter the field hopelessly, the continuation of our actions will be one way; if we enter with hope, the continuation will be different; this is another duality.

Another duality is fear versus bravery. Sometimes a person enters the field but is afraid; they fear the enemy, the event, or entering into difficulties; they enter with fear; this is one type of reaction and presence against the enemy, while at other times they enter with bravery. In the narrations, it is stated, "Enter the difficulties for the truth"; they enter the field with bravery, with courage; this is another type of confrontation. Look at the situation of countries around the world; we see both types of movements in their actions. For instance, in some places they confront American pressure on certain countries; in some cases, they enter with courage, while in others, they enter with fear; each is a different approach; even those who enter with fear may take some action, but the nature of that action will differ from that of someone who enters with hope and courage.

Another duality is whether the action we want to take against the enemy should be with prudence and foresight or with carelessness and negligence. For example, consider the statements of the gentlemen regarding cyberspace and similar issues; the manner of dealing with this matter can be either prudent or careless. Of course, negligence is one thing, and carelessness is another; carelessness means that a person does not see the complexities of the work, does not pay attention to the twists and problems of the work; this is carelessness. Negligence means that a person looks at the danger and passes through it indifferently. We can act in both ways; we can either act with prudence, precision, and consideration of the aspects or act carelessly.

Another duality is viewing events as both threats and opportunities simultaneously, versus a one-sided view: either threat-focused or opportunity-focused. For instance, when we confront the enmity of America, we can approach it in two ways: we can look to see what opportunities we have against this seemingly powerful enemy and what threats we face; we should consider both, summarize them, and then decide. There are times when we only see the threat and do not see our opportunities, or we see some opportunities and do not pay attention to the threats; this one-sided view is erroneous; we can have a comprehensive view in such matters. This is another duality.

See, all of these are important for the people; they are not just for the officials; of course, the officials are the primary audience for such recommendations and statements—political officials in one way, military officials in another, and social officials in another way—but the general public should also have opinions in these matters; they should have a deep understanding and comprehension. When we say that we must reach a public understanding among the people, this is what we mean; I will explain a bit more later.

Another duality is recognizing the realities of the field versus not recognizing them; that is, we must know where we currently stand: "Where are we? Where is the enemy? What is our position?" This is one of the fundamental issues that the enemy works hard on. The enemy's effort in recent years has always been to portray our position as weak and the enemy's position as strong; to instill the idea that "we are doomed, we are helpless, there is nothing we can do." This is one of the fundamental dualities; we must truly know where we stand. For example, if we do not know that our position in the region is such that the enemy fears us, we will act one way; if we know that our position is such that the enemy fears us, we will act differently. Those who, for instance, speak, write, and make unreasonable objections regarding our presence in the region are, in fact, unknowingly—now I do not accuse anyone—helping the enemy's narrative. This is another duality: to recognize our position in the field and the enemy's position in confrontation.

Another duality is the issue of expressing emotions. In various events, sometimes a person lets their emotions go—whether positive emotions, such as joy from a success, or negative emotions, such as sadness or grief; this is one way; another way is to control emotions, to express them as necessary. One of the areas where we may truly suffer—sometimes we have suffered from this—is the lack of control over public emotions. Now, for example, I emphasize the youth a lot and truly believe in the issue of youth—well, we have worked with the youth since before the revolution and have always been alongside them throughout the revolution until now—but it must be noted that while we trust the youth, their emotions should not dominate society in an uncontrolled manner; emotions must be controlled. There are two ways to approach this: one is to deal with uncontrolled emotions, and the other is to deal with emotions that are expressed as necessary, which is not an easy task.

Another duality is adhering to religious laws and limits versus not adhering to them. Sometimes we see in the period of struggles, even before the revolution, that some who were very active in the struggle did not pay attention to many religious matters. They would say, "We are working for the struggle, for the goal; if we miss the prayer at its appointed time, so be it; or if slander and backbiting occur, it does not matter much to them." Well, this is one approach; another approach is to observe piety. As it is narrated from Amir al-Mu'minin, "If it were not for piety, I would be the most astute of the Arabs"; who is more astute, clever, and aware than Amir al-Mu'minin? However, piety sometimes prevents certain actions. This is another duality.

Utilizing experiences or being bitten twice by the same snake; this is also an issue. Now, in our confrontations with foreign enemies—for example, with the West, with America, with Europe—we have certain matters; we have past events, from the very beginning of the revolution, but we also had the recent issue of the JCPOA and their commitments and then their violations and disregard; this is an experience. In dealing with this faction that has treated us in this way, despite firm agreements and treaties, has not fulfilled its duties, and has proceeded with smiles and mockery, our approach to this party, this person, this government, this front, should be based on this experience, and we must know how to deal with them.

One more point, another type of movement, another duality that will be the last one is that in confronting events, we constantly criticize ourselves, always pointing fingers at ourselves; I blame you, you blame me; this is one type of approach that unfortunately occurs in many situations when groups face difficulties—whether a party, a government, or a nation—they accuse each other, or instead of shouting at each other, as Imam said, "Whatever you have to shout, shout at America"; the opponent is the enemy. I have repeatedly stated in public speeches that we do not fall into the mistake of not recognizing our enemy; our enemy is clear. There are others who work against us—but out of negligence or similar reasons—these do not matter; the real enemy is the one that Amir al-Mu'minin referred to. In such matters, we should not unnecessarily shout at each other or quarrel; we should see who we should really confront and act accordingly.

Well, in my opinion, these dualities are important questions; we must ask ourselves how we should act in these dualities. Of course, giving verbal answers to these is easy, but providing practical answers and committing to them is not so easy. In my opinion, the answers to these are clear in our Islamic sources. For example, in confronting victories, the Quran teaches us: "When the victory of God and the opening comes, and you see people entering the religion of God in droves, then glorify your Lord with praise and seek His forgiveness; indeed, He is the Most Forgiving"; it does not say to rejoice, for example, go to the field and shout; it says to glorify your Lord; this does not pertain to you, it pertains to God; seek forgiveness. In the course of this movement, there may have been a negligence on your part; seek forgiveness from God the Almighty; this is how we should approach positive events: do not fall into arrogance, and recognize that "And you did not throw when you threw, but it was God who threw". This self-deception and arrogance towards God, where a person becomes conceited, is not correct; "It is your right that the righteous should not be deceived by you"; in the supplications of Sahifa Sajjadiyya, it is stated that even the righteous should not become arrogant and think, "Our situation with God is clear"; no, God the Almighty does not have any reservations with the righteous; if they make a mistake, they will suffer the consequences. The good work that is done, we should not attribute it to ourselves, but to God. The reality is just that.

Well, the 22nd of Bahman this year was stronger and more crowded than previous years; who did this? Which factor, which person can claim that I was influential in this matter? As we look, there was nothing but the hand of divine power. Everyone said that this year was better in various places than previous years; this is nothing but divine power, this is the hand of God. Once, during Imam's illness, I said something that this was God's work and a great success; he told me that since the beginning of the revolution or from the very beginning of the work—something like that—I see that a hand of power is advancing our affairs. I wrote down his exact words after I left; now I do not remember the exact phrase; he said he sees a hand of power. The reality is just that; it is a hand of power that is doing these works. However, this hand of God’s power is there so that if we improve our behavior, the mercy of God the Almighty will encompass us. O God, I ask You for the causes of Your mercy; the causes of mercy are in our hands. Imam said that Khorramshahr was liberated by God; all these youths fought there, became martyrs, worked, and Imam said God liberated it; this is correct; God liberated it. They could have sacrificed the same number of martyrs and nothing would have happened. In the Ramadan operations—during the war that took place at that time—God did not want us to achieve victory, but in Khorramshahr, an event occurred; this was divine will. This was in confronting pleasant and positive events.

In confronting hard events, such as these sanctions, which are a hard event, or consider military attacks—these are hard events that may be imposed by the enemy—here too, God the Almighty has taught us His command and the correct method: "And when the believers saw the confederates, they said, 'This is what God and His Messenger promised us, and God and His Messenger spoke the truth,' and it only increased them in faith and submission." We did not expect that an Islamic government would arise during the dominance of materialism and material governments in the world, and that the materialists of the world, who have all the material power, would sit quietly and watch; it was clear that they would oppose us, it was clear that if they could, they would impose sanctions, and it was clear that if they could, they would wage a military war; we must act in a way that they do not think of doing these things, and if they do think and act, they should be suppressed; otherwise, the expectation that the enemy will not attack us is not a correct expectation. Therefore, this is also a divine command.

In confronting events, we should not fall into fear and anxiety. Behold, the friends of God have no fear upon them, nor do they grieve; this verse is in Surah Yunus; I looked, and in Surah Baqarah, perhaps four or five times, "They have no fear upon them, nor do they grieve" has been mentioned regarding the believers. This is due to faith, due to the connection with God, due to acceptance of divine guardianship; there should be no fear or similar feelings. Imam truly did not fear. Once, we were sitting with him—right at the beginning of the revolution; at that time, when we had some issues with that person regarding the armed forces and such matters—I told him, "The reason you said such a sentence about such a person is that you are afraid ..."; I wanted to say, "You are afraid that the armed forces might be displeased," as soon as I said, "You are afraid," he immediately said, "I fear nothing." He did not wait for me to specify the object of fear; as soon as I said, "You fear," he said, "I fear nothing." He truly was like that; he feared nothing. "Behold, the friends of God have no fear upon them, nor do they grieve" means this. Why should he fear? A great man like him was truly like that.

In that duality of hope and despair, we should not fall into despair either: "Do not despair of the mercy of God; indeed, no one despairs of the mercy of God except the disbelieving people"—which is in Surah Yusuf—this pertains to worldly matters; "Do not despair of the mercy of God" does not pertain to spiritual matters, it pertains to finding Yusuf: "O my sons, go and seek news of Yusuf and his brother, and do not despair of the mercy of God"; thus, "Do not despair of the mercy of God" in finding Yusuf, which is a worldly matter. Therefore, this "Do not despair of the mercy of God" is a general principle in worldly matters. Of course, it is the same in the hereafter, but the verse pertains to worldly matters. Do not despair! No, we hope that we can bring the arrogant powers to their knees and humiliate them; we can do this, we hope; if we strive, if we make an effort, if we want, if we rely on God, and ask from God, it can happen.

We should not fall into hastiness and excuse-making either. One of the things that we all—myself, you gentlemen—in cities, in Friday prayer sermons, among students, scholars, and seminaries must pay attention to is that one of the flaws of work is this impatience and hastiness; constantly, a person stamps their feet and says, "Why hasn’t it happened? Why hasn’t it happened?" Well, everything has its own time, every matter has its own deadline; not everything happens quickly. Once, someone came to Imam and complained about the state of the government—at that time, I was the president—he said something; Imam told him a sentence that I will never forget: "Managing a country is difficult"; I, who was the president myself, truly confirmed this from the bottom of my heart when Imam said this. Many things must be done, and we must prepare for them, and we must strive, but it takes some time to reach that point. This impatience and stamping of feet and feeling that it is late is not a good feeling.

I have noted this noble verse regarding the issue of Prophet Musa when he returned and brought the tablets and saw that the incident of the calf had occurred. He said, "O my people, did your Lord not promise you a good promise?" Well, God has promised you that He will set your lives right; has the time for the divine promise to be fulfilled been too long for you to be so impatient? Well, be patient; God the Almighty will fulfill His promise. Having a good opinion of God the Almighty—which I have mentioned once again in this session—is a necessary thing, and having a bad opinion of the divine promise that "Why hasn’t it happened, why hasn’t it happened?" is truly condemned in the verses; "Has the promise been prolonged for you, or do you want the wrath of your Lord to descend upon you?" I suspect that "O you who have believed, do not be like those who harmed Musa, and God cleared him of what they said" may refer to this: "And when Musa said to his people, 'O my people, why do you harm me when you know that I am the Messenger of God?'" Perhaps it refers to this, that they constantly pressured him, saying, "Why hasn’t it happened, why hasn’t it happened?" Of course, these complaints were after being saved from Pharaoh, but even before being saved from Pharaoh, it was the same; they said, "We were harmed before you came to us and after you came to us"—the complaints of the Israelites are truly like this; we must be careful that these do not ensnare us.

Well, another issue that I want to mention is the boundary with the enemy for protection against soft attacks. One of the very necessary actions is that we do not allow our boundary with the enemy to become blurred. If there were no boundary with the enemy and the boundary was not prominent, crossing this boundary—whether from this side to that side or from that side to this side—would become possible; just like geographical boundaries. If there is no geographical boundary and it is not prominent, then a person from the other side can come here and infiltrate; a smuggler, a thief, a spy can come from that side to this side; and from this side, a careless person, a sleepy person can cross the boundary and get caught there. The ideological and political boundary is exactly the same; when the boundary is not clear, the enemy can infiltrate, can deceive, can act deceptively, can dominate the cultural space. If the boundary with the enemy is clear, their dominance over cyberspace and the cultural environment will not be so easy; this is also a matter that is mentioned in the noble verse, "Do not take My enemy and your enemy as allies, showing affection to them"; it reaches this point that "You secretly show affection to them, and I know what you conceal"; God the Almighty has forbidden us from dealing with the enemy in this way. This is also an important point.

This boundary with the enemy that I mentioned has an important caveat, which is not to consider everyone an enemy; this is also an important issue. Sometimes, due to our bias against the enemy—which is a justified bias, a good bias—when someone says something that does not align with our view of the enemy, we accuse them of being with the enemy; this is not correct. Now, for example, there is a discussion in the country regarding a certain convention, regarding a certain international issue; one is against it, and one is in favor; there is no reason for the one who is in favor to accuse the one who is against; or for the one who is against to accuse the one who is in favor; well, there are two opinions, two arguments; this one does not accept the argument of the other, and the other does not accept the argument of this one. Not accusing each other, not turning against our own, is the same matter I mentioned earlier; that is, we must not lose our boundary with the enemy; the issue of boundary with the enemy is very important, but this should not lead us to immediately connect someone who has a slight disagreement with us to the enemy; no, this also seems incorrect to us.

In conclusion, I would like to mention two points: First, the maximum aggression of the enemy requires the maximum mobilization of forces. Today, the enemy's aggression is at its peak; that is, they are using all their resources and means; primarily the Americans, alongside and beneath them the Zionists, and generally the Westerners and all the Europeans. Now, for example, consider that in Europe, the ban on purchasing oil from certain countries has been lifted by America, but they do not buy oil from us; well, this is enmity; this has no other face; however, this is a type of enmity, a specific type of enmity; they have mobilized to the maximum; the Americans have repeatedly stated that the sanctions we have imposed on Iran are the most severe sanctions in history, and they are right. I also once stated in response to them that the defeat America will face in this matter will be the hardest defeat in history for America, God willing; if we, God willing, strive correctly and move forward. Therefore, the mobilization of all resources is necessary. In the face of maximum aggression, maximum mobilization of resources is necessary; this is one point.

The second point is that the foundation of work is divine remembrance: "And do not be weak in My remembrance." God the Almighty said to Musa and Harun at that critical moment when two people are going towards a tyrannical power like Pharaoh with all its resources, He said: "And do not be weak in My remembrance"; be careful. He repeatedly said: "Do not fear; indeed, I am with you; I hear and see"—I will help you, I will support you—but He also said, "Do not be weak in My remembrance"; do not neglect. Divine remembrance is the means and source of all these abilities that we have counted and mentioned that must be utilized; divine remembrance is the foundation of all of these.

We hope, God willing, that God the Almighty grants us and you the ability for remembrance and the ability to pay attention to God the Almighty and that His promise regarding this nation, regarding this community, is soon fulfilled, God willing.

Additionally, I would like to mention that I heard some say that someone says, "Youthfulness means eliminating the elderly"; I reject this; my meaning is not the elimination of the elderly. Youthfulness has a meaning; it must be thought about, contemplated; we have a clear meaning of youthfulness; it does not mean eliminating the elderly.

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