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 Muhammad and his pure family.

I extend my warm welcome to all dear brothers, esteemed scholars, and trusted experts of the nation. The presence of Mr. Mahdavi is truly missed in this session, and we regret that this very good brother and this highly valued personality has been suffering from a severe illness for about three months. It is very appropriate for dear brothers, the respected gentlemen, to recite prayers for his recovery. O God, heal him with Your healing, cure him with Your remedies, and grant him health with Your blessings, by the right of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad. We honor the memory of friends and brothers who have departed from among us during this time, and we ask for forgiveness for them: the late Mr. Mohammadi Gilani, the late Mr. Zarandi, the late Mullah Mojtahedi, and recently the late Mr. Jabari (may God have mercy on them).

It is the month of Dhul-Qi'dah. The late Haj Mirza Javad Maleki (may God’s mercy be upon him) states that the month of Dhul-Qi'dah is the month of repentance, the month of returning to God, the month of self-monitoring so that, God forbid, we do not engage in warfare against the Almighty God and the Messenger of God through our actions. He states that Dhul-Qi'dah, which is the month of sitting down from fighting the enemies of God, should primarily be a month in which one is careful not to fall into warfare against the Almighty God. He mentions the well-known act of the Sunday of Dhul-Qi'dah and emphasizes, insists that we perform this act.

The late Haj Mirza Ali Qazi (may God’s mercy be upon him) has a letter to his friends, disciples, and students regarding the arrival of the month of Dhul-Qi'dah, which is recorded in the book detailing his life. The late Mr. Qazi has prominent poetry in Arabic; according to the late Mr. Tabatabai, he was an outstanding poet. He composes a very eloquent ode that begins with: "Be aware, for the sacred months have arrived." He elaborates on this ode and offers recommendations to his students. It is an opportunity for us, for the people, to, God willing, benefit from the blessings of this month - which marks the beginning of three consecutive sacred months - and of course, the month of Dhul-Qi'dah is also the month of Imam Reza (peace be upon him), who is the benefactor of all, especially we Iranians, so that we may, God willing, benefit from the blessings of his shrine and, God willing, draw ourselves closer to the values of the Reza.

Regarding the current issues of the world and the country, I have prepared a point to present; the summary of the matter is that we must have a comprehensive and overarching view of global and regional issues, including our own country's issues; this overarching view grants us knowledge and insight that firstly allows us to regain our position, our place, our station in the current situation and understand what condition we are in; and secondly, it teaches us what we must do for the future.

In a broad view of the entire world - including the region - one encounters this fundamental point that the established order of the previous world is undergoing change and transformation; this is something one understands and observes. After World War I, a new order emerged in the world, especially in our region; powers arose, and the dominant powers of the world emerged; and after World War II - which has now been about seventy years since its end - this global order became established and the management of the world took on a specific form. The West, in fact, whether in the form of a socialist system or a liberal system - both of which were Western - dominated the management of the world, and the management of the world was placed in their hands. Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and various regions of the world moved under the influence and hegemony of their will over these seventy years. One can clearly see that this order is changing, and I will briefly mention the reasons for this change and the signs of this change.

Well, when the world is changing, the global order is changing, and a new order is in the process of being born, we will naturally have more important responsibilities. In the new order of the world, what will be the position of Islam, the position of the Islamic Republic, the position of our important country, Iran? We can think about this, predict it, and move towards it. The previous order - which we mentioned was established for about seventy years - had two fundamental bases: one was a theoretical and value-based foundation, and the other was a practical foundation, meaning military and political. My point is that both bases are currently facing challenges and instability.

However, that ethical and theoretical foundation was the claim of the intellectual and value superiority of the West - including Europe and America - over the rest of the regions of the world and the rest of the nations. They raised slogans that had nothing to do with scientific and industrial advancements; attractive and deceptive slogans such as freedom, democracy, human rights, and the defense of nations and individuals were put forward, and they sought to establish the superiority of their value system over other regions of the world, over the religions of the world, over various schools of thought, and especially over Islam, through this means. They succeeded; that is, in our Islamic world, there are individuals, groups, political figures, and governments that have truly come to believe in the superiority of the Western value system. Today, there are also those within our society who hold this same thought and belief.

In the second part, which is the practical aspect - which was the second base of Western power and dominance over global management - the issue was the political and military capabilities that if nations or governments or various movements did not fall under the influence of that value system and that first aspect and did not submit and resisted, they would face political pressure and military pressure from them, and they would carry out many actions that those who did not yield to that first factor would be forced to cooperate with them under the pressure of the second factor, namely political and military and security pressure.

We have observed this in the world, and we have observed it in our own country. The Western propaganda apparatus, which was developing and modernizing day by day and increasing its capabilities, constantly flaunted these two factors - namely the value superiority factor and the military and political dominance factor - to the nations; they made intellectuals, thinkers, and gradually the general public complacent regarding this.

Today, both factors are facing challenges; both the first factor and the second factor. Those two tools and two weapons - with which the West was able to manage the world and effectively took control of the world and managed it - both factors have gradually weakened in the world today. However, that first factor, which was the value factor - namely the superiority of Western values over the values of other nations, religions, Islam, and so forth - has been destabilized for reasons. Several factors have caused it to become unstable. I have noted a few of these factors here that I will present: one of these factors that has destabilized the Western value system and the spiritual dominance of this system is the increasing moral and spiritual crisis in the West; a prominent sign of this is the prevalence of feelings of emptiness, feelings of futility, feelings of spiritual insecurity among individuals - especially among the youth - in the West. The disintegration of the family; the foundation of the family in the West has faced severe instability and has disintegrated, leaving its effects. The issue of women, which has been directed by a Western approach, has led to a serious questioning of the feminist movement - which had begun decades ago - by thinkers and intellectuals; that is, they feel that this has been a trap for women and has placed women in strange and bizarre predicaments, which is a lengthy story.

The issue of the valorization of immoral acts; for example, homosexuality in the West becomes a value; opposition to homosexuality becomes a counter-value! That if today in the West, someone interviews a government official, a president, or a prominent figure and says that I oppose homosexuality, this is considered a negative point in their record in the world; that is, the moral atmosphere of the West has gone in this direction. Of course, it will not stop here and will progress to much worse and uglier places. This point has been noticed by Western thinkers and some well-wishers and concerned individuals in the West for some time now - perhaps for the past ten to fifteen years - and they keep warning; however, it is of no use; when a moral system has fallen into this decline, it cannot be stopped, and it has no fate other than disintegration. This is one factor for the challenge to Western values.

The second factor is the inclination towards religion; which is, in fact, a reaction to this first factor. Among various groups in Western countries, the inclination towards religion, the interest in religion, specifically the interest in Islam, the inclination towards Islam, the inclination towards understanding the Quran has been increasing day by day; those who are involved know this well. This is also one of the things that has severely challenged the moral and value system of the West.

The third factor is the emergence of practical contradictions with Western slogans; that is, they have been shouting about freedom, democracy, and human rights in the world; in practice, Western governments have so opposed and violated these slogans that today, the presentation of these slogans by the West has become a matter of ridicule; that is, thoughtful individuals understand. The number of coups that Western governments and powers have carried out against independent governments - mostly national governments - is astonishing. According to some reports, since World War II, the United States has acted to overthrow fifty governments! In the case of fifty governments, they have taken various actions; they have opposed dozens of popular resistance movements, which are recorded in the records of the United States and others. The use of the atomic bomb; the only instance in which the atomic bomb was used was by the United States, which shouts the most about people and human rights, resulting in the deaths of over two hundred thousand people - in those events in Japan - and many more suffering from its effects. Guantanamo prison, Abu Ghraib prison, these incidents that occurred, the secret prisons that were proven in Europe for all to see, where they torture people and keep them without trial, which still exists; everyone sees this. This was also the third factor that challenged the claimed value system of the West.

The fourth factor was the resort to the use of force, violence, and repression; various forms of violence, including sanctions. It has been seen and placed before the eyes of the world that when they have an issue with a country, with a nation, and cannot impose their cultural dominance on that country and secure their dominance, they resort to force and invade; sometimes with invasion, sometimes with assassination, sometimes by instigating terrorist movements; all of which have been seen in our recent times: the invasion of countries, the invasion of Iraq, the invasion of Afghanistan, various attacks in different forms on Pakistan and other places. This is also one of the things that has challenged the value system of the West.

And the fifth factor is the creation of movements such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS and similar groups. Now they claim that these are not related to us; however, everyone knows. I quoted something from a well-known American official, and then they denied it. Apparently, they admit that they have instigated these movements; even if they do not admit it, we have evidence, we know. I will never forget, the late Sheikh Said Shaban - now mentioning his name is no longer an issue - a well-known Sunni scholar in Mashhad - at the time we were in the war - told me that I have information that they are trying to distract you from the eastern side of your country and engage you; I said, well, our east is Afghanistan; he said yes, from Afghanistan. This was before the emergence of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan; he had connections with various political and religious circles of Sunnis, was present in sensitive places, was a very respected person, had become informed, and said I felt it was my duty to tell you this. Shortly after, the same events occurred, and we saw that it was just as he said. Therefore, there is no doubt that the instigation and creation of these movements is in the hands of these Western powers and their regional agents. Now, they may not directly intervene in some cases, and others may intervene. Of course, they have also intervened directly; in the case of the Taliban, I will never forget that in American magazines, they spoke of the Taliban in a way that was somewhat promotional; [of course] they did not explicitly promote them, but the nature of the propaganda work was to promote the Taliban in the early days when they came to power. Therefore, these are factors that have completely challenged the claimed superior value system that the West presented; this claim is no longer accepted by anyone in the West or by Western powers when they say that they are advocates of human rights, that they are advocates of human values, and so forth. Those things mentioned in the American Declaration of Independence two hundred years ago have all been practically violated.

However, the second factor, which was political and military power, has also been challenged; the most important thing that challenged this factor - the factor of military and political power - was the establishment of the Islamic Republic. In one of the regions severely under American influence, a massive revolutionary movement emerges with these dimensions, establishing a system based on the thoughts that they have strived so hard to eliminate, and this system does not perish under their various and diverse attacks - political, economic, military, security, and so forth - but rather grows stronger day by day; to this day, the Islamic Republic is a truly powerful system. Of course, the Islamic system is both powerful and oppressed. This power of the system does not contradict its oppression; at one time, we stated, like Amir al-Mu'minin: the powerful ruler of the Islamic system in his time, but at the same time the most oppressed of the oppressed; the Islamic Republic is the same. Its power does not contradict its oppression, and this oppression that this system has today is not a sign of lack of power; truly, the power of the Islamic Republic today is a clear matter; even its enemies acknowledge this.

Then there were the events that occurred, the eight-year steadfastness of the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation in the Sacred Defense; this was no small matter, it was a very important event. This showed that the military and security capabilities of the dominant powers of the world cannot diminish or harm the steadfastness of a nation, and this will be able to impose itself on them, as it did. Then there were other regional events, the events in Palestine, the events in Lebanon, the 33-day war, the 22-day war, the 8-day war in Gaza, and this recent 50-day war in Gaza, which is truly one of the miraculous examples. A small, limited region, with very limited capabilities, can do something that the Zionist regime, which is the symbol of Western power in the region, kneels; they insist on a ceasefire, and they do not accept the ceasefire; they insist on it, and they say no, the condition for accepting the ceasefire is these things; and until these things are achieved, they do not accept the ceasefire; this is a very important and analyzable event. These show that the military-political power and superiority of the West have been genuinely challenged. Today, in the Western world, this conclusion is a common one that many influential individuals in the West believe that "war" is no longer a viable and profitable option for the West; today, many politicians in America - mainly in America, and also in some European countries - are stating this and saying that war is no longer a profitable option for us, the meaning of this is that the military capabilities and military-security power of the West have been completely challenged. Well, new powers have also emerged in Asia and the East - such as China, India, and others - which also clarify other dimensions of the issue. Well, this is the state of the region and the world and a reason that the previous global order is no longer sustainable for the West to manage the world. A new situation is taking shape, which, of course, has not yet fully formed.

What should we do here? In our opinion, two matters are important: the first matter is that the realities we observe today should not be misinterpreted, should not be misunderstood, should be understood as they are; not only in our country but in the Asian region, there are still those who do not understand this reality; they believe that we have no choice but to submit to the West; now this submission may be either willingly - that is, accepting Western values and submitting to the order they express and the expectations they have for managing the world - or if a country does not willingly submit, does not go along with them, does not show obedience to their fundamental demands, it will inevitably face pressure; now economic pressure, sanctions pressure, political pressure, military pressure; it must submit, either through quiet submission or through noisy and problematic submission! This analysis exists. This is wrong; this analysis is a dangerous one; there are corners of this analysis in our country as well. No, it is not like that; just as we said, Western power was based on these two foundations - the ethical and spiritual and value foundations, and the military, political, and security practical foundation - both of these have become unstable. We must understand this reality.

The second important matter is that we must prepare ourselves to play a role in creating the new order; we must prepare the country to be a role player. And this will not be possible unless we strengthen the country; we must strengthen the country. Strengthening the country depends on utilizing all the capacities and capabilities that we have both inside and outside the country. Let us pay attention that our capacities and capabilities are not only those things we have inside; we also have significant capacities outside the country; we have supporters, we have strategic depth; in the region, in the country; some because of Islam, some because of language, some because of Shia religion; these are the strategic depths of the country; these are among our capabilities; we must utilize all these capabilities. It is not only in the region; we have strategic depth in Latin America, in significant parts of Asia, we have opportunities to utilize; we must use these; these will strengthen the country.

Three issues also play a significant role in strengthening the country: one is the issue of science and technology, one is the issue of the economy, and one is the issue of culture. In these three areas, we must invest; these are key elements. Our governments, our officials, our influential and powerful individuals must become active and work in all three areas. The issue of population is also very important - as some gentlemen have pointed out - it is entirely appropriate; the issue of population has a significant impact on national power; and increasing the young generation and having a large population is very influential in creating power. Of course, more importantly, the issue of culture; especially at the level of people's beliefs and convictions. You see how much they are investing. It has been pointed out that many various international investments are being spent on creating influential media, such as satellites, the internet, mobile phones, and the like; they are spending significant amounts to influence people's beliefs and convictions and to effectively remove them from the sphere of influence of the Islamic system and Islamic values; of course, the antidote to this is that we can have explanatory and persuasive plans at various levels regarding beliefs; our scholars, our cultural organizations, our propaganda organizations, our speakers, our media must be able to establish and deepen these beliefs in people's minds; of course, the direct connection of scholars with the people is an irreplaceable factor and element; nothing can replace this, nothing; even the media, which is a widespread medium, cannot replace the direct connection of scholars and religious thinkers with the people.

The issue of unity and solidarity in the country is also very important. There are differences of opinion in political matters - in minor and major political matters - but these differences should not undermine the unity and solidarity of the country; everyone must be together; one of the important points is that all must support the officials. Support does not contradict the fact that you may have a criticism of a certain official, or the government, or the judiciary, or the parliament, but support must be given nonetheless. In addition, thanks be to God, the officials are making efforts, they are working. In this past year since the new government was formed, they have made many efforts, many works have been accomplished, this is something one witnesses, sees up close; they have done a lot of work; they have achieved good successes; the judiciary is the same; and various agencies are busy working. I remember that sometimes individuals would come to Imam from the government and complain about some deficiencies and so forth, saying for example that in such and such a place this work has been done; Imam would respond to them, saying, "Sir, managing the country is a difficult task!" The reality is just that: managing the agencies is a difficult task. A person may have no faults or deficiencies in terms of thought, practice, or behavioral integrity, but if the agency under their supervision encounters problems, this arises; that is, truly encompassing and considering all aspects and dimensions of matters is not an easy task; it happens, now there are problems too. Of course, no one is against criticism - pointing out faults, criticizing, raising the weaknesses of programs and executive policies; no one denies these - but these should not mean destruction and standing against efforts and so forth. Supporting and assisting the government and executive and operational agencies should be seen as our duty, which, God willing, will be fulfilled.

We hope that the Almighty God does not withhold His favors from this nation and, God willing, He will not. The amount of attention and devotion to spirituality that exists today in our country is certainly helpful; there are indeed some cases where one reaches a dead end, but attention to the Almighty God and seeking refuge in the grace of the Lord truly opens dead ends, which we must, God willing, pursue. Just as I have repeatedly stated, I see the horizon, the future, very bright before me, and I know that with divine grace, with the divine support, the future of this country will be better than its past in all respects - material and spiritual - God willing.

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