Statements at Imam Hussein (Peace Be Upon Him) University on the Graduation Ceremony of Students

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.

God willing, may this be a blessed occasion for all of you dear brothers; both for the graduates of this university and for those who will receive their epaulettes, who, God willing, will attain the rank of guardianship after completing their educational and training stages.

It is the month of Sha'ban, the month of divine mercy. If one looks at the passages of the Sha'ban supplications and the prayers of this month, especially on the night of the fifteenth and other prayers and deeds, one feels that the month of Sha'ban is a very valuable time for benefiting from the Lord's mercy. You dear youth, with pure hearts and ready spirits, can benefit greatly, and I hope that, God willing, you will take advantage of the blessings of this month and the divine mercy in it.

One of the most prominent characteristics of the month of Sha'ban is the blessed birth of the pole of the world of existence, Hazrat Baqiyatullah (may our souls be sacrificed for him). The significance of this day and night is greatly multiplied by this great birth. Of course, the night of the fifteenth of Sha'ban is a blessed night, a night of prayer, a night of supplication; it has been said that it is one of the instances of Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of Destiny), but with this birth, all of these are multiplied. Let us pay attention to the sacred existence of Baqiyatullah (may our souls be sacrificed for him) with a few brief points about that great figure. First and foremost, we must congratulate all of you on this birth, this occasion, and the sweetness of the blessed birth of that great figure. The month of Sha'ban, from beginning to end, is a month of divine favors, sweetness, and joy. Of course, this year, unfortunately, with the incident that occurred in the mine, we have been saddened, and prior to that, the incident concerning our border guards in the south of the country has also saddened our hearts, but the month is a month of joy and affection for the lovers of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them).

Regarding Imam al-Mahdi (may God hasten his appearance and peace be upon him), the first point is that this great figure is the caller of God. Looking at that great figure is a means of expressing devotion and servitude to the presence of the Almighty God. Peace be upon you, O Caller of God and Lord of His signs; everything, all the prophets, all the saints, all the sacred figures, all the pure souls that illuminate our lives, our world, and the entire existence, are signs of God, manifestations of the Lord; this is a point that must be noted. We turn to Imam al-Mahdi, we seek intercession through him, and we express our humility before that great figure, so that this humility reaches the essence of the Divine and we may have expressed our servitude before the Almighty God.

Secondly, the name and memory of this great figure constantly remind us that the dawn of truth and justice at the end of this dark night is certain. Sometimes, when people observe the overwhelming waves of darkness and oppression, they become hopeless. The remembrance of Imam al-Mahdi indicates that the sun will rise, the day will come; yes, there are darknesses, there are oppressors and creators of darkness in the world, and they have existed for centuries, but the end of this dark and gloomy night will certainly be the rising of the sun; this is what belief in Imam al-Mahdi teaches us; this is the guaranteed promise of the Lord: Peace be upon you, O the appointed standard and the poured knowledge and the vast mercy, a promise that cannot be denied; this is an inescapable divine promise. At the beginning of the visitation, it also states: Peace be upon you, O the promise of God that has been guaranteed; the promise guaranteed by the Lord is the appearance of this great figure. Therefore, this is the second point. Believers in the appearance of the Master of the Age and the existence of the Master of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him) will never fall into despair and hopelessness, and they know that this sun will certainly rise and will eliminate these darknesses and these blacknesses.

The third point is that we are commanded to await; what does waiting mean? Waiting means being on alert. In military literature, there is something called "readiness"; waiting means "readiness"! We must be in a state of "readiness". A faithful and expectant person is one who is in a state of "readiness". If your Imam, who is tasked with establishing justice in the entire world, were to appear today, we must be ready. This "readiness" is very important; waiting means this. Waiting does not mean being impatient and stamping one's feet and asking why it is delayed and why it has not happened, and so on; waiting means you must always be in a state of "readiness".

The fourth and final point is that this waiting necessitates righteousness and action; we must reform ourselves, we must be people of action regarding what pleases that great figure's heart. If we want to act in this way and provide this righteousness and reform for ourselves, we cannot suffice with individual action. In the community, in the country, and in the global environment, there are also responsibilities that we must fulfill; what are these responsibilities? This is what requires insight, requires knowledge, requires a global perspective, requires clarity; this is what you, dear active youth of today, are obligated to do.

Well, regarding Imam Hussein University; first, it is a blessing for you to be in this university, to have studied or to study; this is a very valuable and precious opportunity; secondly, this university is the place where saplings that have been planted in fertile soil sprout. This university is where it can bring capable individuals to a point that any prominent knowledgeable person, when looking at that point, would feel envy. Someone like our great Imam, that great personality, that spiritual figure, that scholar of religion, that jurist, that sage - Imam was not a small person - when he looks at the position of the Islamic warriors and martyrs of this path, he looks at it with envy; this has been repeatedly heard in his statements; this university brings people, youth, to that point. This university is an example of this noble verse: "Like a seed that brings forth its shoot, then strengthens it, and it becomes thick and stands firm on its stalk, it amazes the farmers, so that it may provoke the disbelievers with them"; those who have prepared this farm sometimes marvel at the products of this farm! It is a blessed farm and can nurture such fruitful and abundant saplings and present them to society. So that it may provoke the disbelievers with them; and the disbelievers become enraged and furious at this human being who is nurtured here.

Today, if we look among the strata of our society, there are several strata that in the international propaganda of global arrogance, in the statements of the politicians of arrogance, in the conspiratorial behaviors of arrogance, the signs of the hatred of arrogance towards these few strata are evident; at the forefront of these is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Why? Why are they so hostile towards the IRGC? Why are they so hostile towards this brave young man who is being trained, growing, and maturing in spirituality? Because it is the source of the country's power; this point is very important. The reason for their hostility is that this entity is the source of the country's power. Anything that is a source of the Islamic Iran's power is hated by them, is the object of their animosity, is the object of their rage.

There are two or three other examples, let me mention them as well. Science is also a source of power; our scientific progress is also a cause of their rage and anger. You saw, they sent agents to assassinate our nuclear scientist, meaning they identified them one by one, found their paths, paid mercenaries to come and assassinate them. Science and scholars are among the things that provoke their rage and anger.

A strong and independent economy of our country is also a source of our power, hence they oppose it. They impose sanctions to strike the economy; they employ various measures that I wish our faithful economists would come and explain to the people the strategies that our enemies across the borders are employing so that we cannot have a strong, independent economy within; why? Because the economy is a source of power, and a country with a strong economy has a means of power.

Military power is a source of power. You see what uproar they create in the world regarding missile issues, that Iran has missiles, Iran has precise missiles. Yes, we have missiles, we have precise missiles; our missile can hit a target from several thousand kilometers away with a few meters of distance; we have achieved this with power, we maintain it with power, and we will increase it with power, God willing. They oppose this too because it is a source of the country's power, they have disputes with it, they are angry and furious about it. You see what they do in the world.

A self-sacrificing military element is also a source of power; in addition to military organizations, a self-sacrificing military element, a Sayyad Shirazi, a martyr Shushtari, and a self-sacrificing and honest human being who is a military element is also the object of their rage and anger. These individuals were not martyred in war; they were assassinated; they were identified, pursued, and assassinated because they presented themselves as an obstacle to the enemy's encroachments and were a source of the country's power; thus, they are also enemies of them.

The faith, modesty, and ethics of the youth are also a source of power, hence they are hostile towards that. They are active in cyberspace and in the media, spending billions to strip the Iranian youth of ethics, faith, adherence to the Sharia, and modesty; why? Because these are sources of the country's power. They are hostile towards a faithful, religious, modest, and believing youth who does not waver in the face of these lust-inducing tools and can maintain himself, and is a source of power for the country; they are enemies of them.

The spirit of jihad and resistance in the nation is one of the sources of power, hence they are hostile towards the spirit of jihad and resistance. In global colonial literature, they label the spirit of resistance and the spirit of jihad as violence; violence, extremism - which unfortunately sometimes we also learn from them and repeat them - this is because the spirit of jihad and martyrdom is a source of power for a country.

Well, all of these are sources of power and all are hated, but what preserves security is of higher importance than security; the entity that can maintain the country's security has greater importance. That is why they are opposed to the security-preserving entities - the armed forces are among the most important of these; because if there is no security, there is no science, no economy, no innovation. What enables a country to train scholars, to grow in various sectors, is the existence of security. The security environment for a country is more important and necessary than anything else. What preserves the country's security is what causes them distress; thus, they strive to eliminate this security that exists in the country. This is one of the very important points.

Well, my dear brothers, my dear children, my dear youth! Today we are a "Resistance Government". The Resistance Government is very important. The Resistance Government is different from such and such a resistance organization, it is different from such and such a resistance current in such and such a country, it is different from such and such a resistance personality. Of course, they are also enemies of them; global arrogance, which is greedy, aggressive, and seeks to encroach upon all the material and spiritual wealth of the nations of the world, is opposed to every element of resistance; thus, it is opposed to resistance organizations, it is opposed to resistant individuals, but where are they and where is the Resistance Government that is formed based on resistance? The Islamic Republic is a Resistance Government; a Resistance Government that has policies, has an economy, has armed forces, has international movements, has a wide sphere of influence both within and outside the country; this is very important, and it is incomparable to any other element of resistance. That is why hostilities from all over the world - whether from the power-seekers or from the servants of the power-seekers - are directed towards the Islamic Republic.

Well, what does the "Resistance Government" mean? It means not submitting to bullying, not submitting to greed, standing in a position of power. The Resistance Government positions itself in a position of power. You see, the Resistance Government is neither aggressive nor seeking domination and encroachment upon nations and countries, nor is it sinking into a defensive shell and a position of passivity; none of these are true. Some think that if we want to distance ourselves from the accusation of seeking domination and international and regional power, we must go into a defensive shell; this is not the case. We do not go into a defensive shell, we do not take a position of passivity, rather we position ourselves in the stance of "Prepare for them whatever strength you can and of steeds of war, to terrify the enemy of God and your enemy". We position ourselves in a stance that is described in this noble verse as "to terrify the enemy of God and your enemy"; "to terrify them" means what? "To terrify them" is what is referred to in today's political literature as "deterrent power". The Islamic Republic positions itself in a place that has deterrent power; it has deterrent authority; they want this authority not to exist.

What the Islamic Republic has, what it has achieved so far - which it has achieved through its own innovation and effort and is not indebted to any government or any other power - has been acquired for deterrence and for having deterrent authority, and it will continue to advance in this path. We will continue to advance, as much as we can and with all our efforts, with all our endeavors, with all our human resources, which are not few, in the path of increasing deterrent power and will employ it so that the enemy does not think of aggression and knows that if it does, it will receive a severe blow, it will face a hard reaction. I said long ago that the era of "hit and run" for the Islamic Republic is over; that is, come and hit and run, is no longer the case; if they hit, they will get caught; the beginning may be with them, but the ending is no longer in their hands. This is the power that the enemy is afraid of; this is the authority that the enemy does not want the Islamic Republic to have.

Well, what is the enemy targeting? I will tell you this. You are my dear brothers, my children, and my youth. The report that our dear commanders presented here shows that in addition to military training, you also have training in insight, spirituality, and political awareness, and so on. What is the enemy after? What is the enemy's goal in the Islamic Republic? The enemy has a short-term goal, a medium-term goal, and a long-term goal. The enemy's short-term goal is to disrupt the country's security, to create chaos and sedition in the country, to destroy this great honor that the Islamic Republic, thanks be to God, enjoys. In a region full of tension, full of unrest, indeed in a world full of tension and unrest, we have been able to create a secure environment for our country. This has been done by the nation, this has been accomplished by the caring officials, this has been created by awareness, vigilance, and being up-to-date; they want to take this away from the great nation of Iran. One of the most important goals, or perhaps the most important short-term goal of the enemy, is to be able to strip security from the country. I will say another sentence later regarding this matter.

Their medium-term goal is the issue of the country's economy, the issue of people's livelihoods. The economy must not move, people's livelihoods must stagnate, work and production must remain low in the country, unemployment must become a widespread calamity in the country, and people must become hopeless and despondent towards the Islamic Republic and the Islamic system due to livelihood problems. This is the enemy's goal; they are after this, they are trying, they are planning, they are forming what they call think tanks to be able to carry out this work in our country. This is their medium-term goal that they are pursuing. When we understand this goal, then we must remedy it; we can remedy it if we wake up, pay a little attention, and follow through. If we pursue the very slogan we raised at the beginning of the year - "Resilient Economy; National Production and Employment" - the enemy's plan will certainly be thwarted; just as if we are aware and ready to confront and face that short-term goal and the nearby goal, which is the issue of insecurity and creating insecurity and chaos, we will certainly be able to neutralize it.

The long-term goal is the very essence of the Islamic system. One day they explicitly said that the Islamic system must be destroyed; then they realized that this statement was detrimental to them and, first of all, they cannot do it and they remain in it, and their reputation goes before their supporters, their dependent and mercenary governments in the world; thus, they came to moderate this and said: change the behavior of the Islamic Republic. I told the dear officials of the country at that time: gentlemen! Be aware that changing behavior is no different from changing the system. The meaning of changing behavior is not that if we came at seven in the morning, now we come at seven-thirty or six-thirty. Changing behavior means that we were following the path of Islam, we were following the path of the revolution, we were following the line of Imam, now we should take a turn; first 20 degrees, then 45 degrees, then 90 degrees, then 180 degrees in the opposite direction; changing behavior means this; it means the same as destroying the Islamic system; this is their long-term goal. Therefore, the enemy's goals are these. The enemy is the enemy; it will use anything it can to exert hostility.

I would like to say a word about the elections. Elections are one of those areas in the country that can either be a source of elevation and dignity or can lead to weakness and problems; elections are like this. If the people participate, participate in an orderly manner, act ethically, and observe Islamic limits, if everyone observes the law, this will be a source of dignity and honor for the Islamic Republic system; and if they violate the law, if they act unethically, if they encourage the enemy with their words, the elections will turn against us. We are not new to elections. We have been dealing with elections for 37, 38 years - previously, there was almost an election every year; now, for several years, there has been a major election every two years in this country - we are experienced in the matter of elections, we know what elections are, we know what those who are involved in elections may think, what enmities may arise against them, what temptations may come to them; these are things that are well-known to us.

I advise all these honorable gentlemen who are candidates for the elections and I tell them - what we should convey to the people, we have conveyed - I tell them that in their promises, in their statements, in the programs they present to the people, they must pay attention to two or three things: one is economic issues. They must pay attention to economic issues and firmly state that they want to strive for the country's economy; this is one of the important issues. They should say that, first and foremost, the livelihood of the people is important to them.

The second point that must be prominently featured in their planning, in their statements, in the promises they make to the people, is the issue of national dignity and the independence of the Iranian nation. Gentlemen! The Iranian nation is a revolutionary nation, the Iranian nation is a proud nation, the Iranian nation is one that has been able to elevate itself from the utmost weakness and dependency to the peak of power and international dignity; this nation must not be weakened, this nation must not be humiliated, this nation must not be forced to submit to other nations, to great powers; this nation lives with dignity; if this dignity that this nation has is not shown, the enemy would not be satisfied with just giving an order to such and such a president of ours or to such and such an official of ours; they would come to dominate this country. They want to do the same thing to the Islamic Republic that they are doing to those dependent, mercenary countries that have no dignity in some regions of the world, including in our region; they wanted to do the same with our nation. The national dignity, the pride of the nation, and the greatness of the nation must be preserved in the face of arrogance; the candidates for the elections must show that they stand against the greed of America, against the wickedness of the Zionists.

The third point that must be very much considered in the programs and statements and promises of the honorable candidates is the very national security, the very national tranquility. They should try not to provoke ideological, geographical, linguistic, or ethnic fault lines; they should be careful! For many years, our enemies have been working on these fault lines. The enemies of the Islamic Republic have worked on Kurdistan [but] our faithful Kurdish people have struck them with their fists. They came to work on the proud and zealous people of Azerbaijan, invested in them [but] the zealous people of Azerbaijan stood up like the owners of the revolution and rejected them; likewise with the Arab people of Khuzestan, with the people of Baluchistan, with the Turkmen people. They are working, investing, paying money, hiring mercenaries, making false statements, to activate these fault lines; but the Iranian ethnicities stand firm with all their power, with all their sincerity, with all their faith. The presidential candidates should be careful not to pursue something that the enemy has half-finished due to a misjudgment and not to provoke these fault lines.

The issue of security and tranquility for this country is very important. In the elections, security officials, officials of tranquility, from the judiciary, from the police force, from the Ministry of Interior, and others must all ensure that security is maintained. If anyone wants to rise against the security of this country, they will certainly face a hard reaction; let them know this. That wealthy, wicked American Zionist who said, I was able to overturn Georgia with ten million dollars, thought of doing the same to the Islamic Republic in 2009. See where this misjudgment and this foolishness leads, that they compare the great Islamic Republic, the great Iranian nation, with third-rate countries in the world and want to have an effect and work; well, they faced a solid wall of national will and determination. Today, it is the same; let them know that security is very important for this country, the people give importance to security, and I, following the people, give importance to the security of this country; in the elections, security must be completely preserved; and anyone who deviates from this path should certainly know that they will face consequences.

Powers belong to God, hearts belong to God, hearts are "between the fingers of the Merciful" - in the midst of divine will -; hearts are in God's hands. The people of Iran have traveled this path with power, relying on divine grace, and, God willing, they will continue to do so. And among the people of Iran, the youth have a more prominent role, and among the youth, you dear youth have a special quality; appreciate this, be grateful to the Almighty God.

O Lord! We swear to You by the Mahdi, by the one whose "blessings have been bestowed upon creation and by whose existence the earth and the heavens have been established" to keep these youth and all the youth of the country, all the great nation of Iran, under Your grace and favor; grant victory to the nation of Iran over its enemies. O Lord! We swear to You by Muhammad and the family of Muhammad to unite the pure souls of the martyrs and the pure spirit of the Imam of martyrs with the pure souls of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.

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