Statements at the Meeting with the Organizers of the National Congress Commemorating 9,800 Martyrs of Kermanshah Province

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, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and virtuous family, especially the Awaited One on earth.

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters. I am very grateful for the remarks of the esteemed Friday prayer leader and the respected commander of the IRGC, with the text they read, which was both beautiful and profound; thank you very much.

Kermanshah is one of the prominent regions of our country. Aside from its activities during the revolution and the war, Kermanshah is essentially a place where various religions and ethnicities gather and live together in peace and dignity; this is the situation in Kermanshah. And all of this collection in all parts of this province, this natural boundary of the province — now, what we call it geographically is not important — were the sincere and loyal border guards of the country in that area and region. This is a brief definition of Kermanshah.

As I recall from my memory and from what I know about Kermanshah, it brings joy and happiness to anyone who learns about it. I saw Kermanshah during the war, and I came to Kermanshah before the war started and witnessed the people's movement there. On the twenty-second of Bahman, I was in Kermanshah. During the war, I saw various cities of Kermanshah — Kermanshah itself, Gilan-e Gharb, Islamabad-e Gharb, Paveh, and the rest of the places. At that time, Mr. Mullah Ghader was a young cleric in Paveh; and the late Mr. Ashrafi Isfahani, the great martyr, who truly is a source of pride; the late Ashrafi, an old man, yet a fighter with determination. Likewise, the people of Kermanshah, who, as they commonly express, were truly "heroes" and ready to defend and shield themselves. Thanks be to God, our memories of Kermanshah are all prominent and sweet memories.

During the Sacred Defense and before it, from the very beginning of the revolution when conflicts began in that western region of the country, Kermanshah was on the front line; that is, the first group that went to confront the treacherous separatists in the Kurdistan region came from Kermanshah. The first group was the children and youth of Kermanshah who, at the right time, understood what the situation was. We saw at that time; there were some in Tehran who did not understand the meaning of this event at all; they viewed it as a normal popular movement; they did not see the hands behind the events and the heavy consequences that this situation could bring for the country. The young fighters of Kermanshah saw this; right from the beginning, they formed a group and set out to confront and resist. During the war, it was the same; in those strange bombings at the beginning of 1981, some cities of Kermanshah were deserted — I would go there, and it was empty; some cities were such that you would not see anyone in the streets — but the people stood firm, welcomed the fighters who had come from other places, cooperated with them, formed a military unit, and presented martyrs, whose names the commander mentioned; of course, he mentioned some of them who were prominent martyrs.

Well; now we are here with the legacy of these martyrs; we are here with the memory of these martyrs. What benefit can we derive from this great movement of the faithful and devoted youth for the country and for Islam today? This is important. These youths once shielded themselves and did not allow the enemy to invade this land; they stood firm in those deserts, in those towering mountains, in those harsh conditions. I remember, as we passed by the roadside, the "Bar Aftab" mountains were on our right; when one looked at these mountains and knew that the enemy's main bases were on top of these mountains, one's heart would tighten knowing that these sensitive places were under the enemy's control. Well, under those conditions, these youths stood firm — both the youths of Kermanshah and those from other places who went to Kermanshah and joined the fronts there — some were martyred, and some became disabled. Nearly ten thousand from this province of yours were martyred; two or three times that number became disabled. Well, they did their part at that time; now what? Now does the country not need the presence of these youths, who, although their bodies are not here, their essence is present, or does it still need them?

I say that the country's need for these youths today is no less than during the days of the war. Today we need them; why? Because the enemy's war back then was a visible and overt hard war, today it is a hybrid war; it has both hard and soft aspects; it is both a physical war and a psychological war. Today, the enemy enters this way. It is both a war with fire weapons and such things — when they deem it necessary — and a war with cultural weapons. Today, this is the situation of our country. We are strong; today we are a hundred times stronger than we were back then; do not doubt this. Thanks be to God and by divine grace, we are not comparable to that day in any respect. Back then, the enemy was firing missiles at Tehran — the center of the country — we could at most hit Basra with a 155 mm cannon, for example, which of course we did not do — because there were people, we did not do it — today it is not like that; today you see, the situation is different. We have become stronger, but the enemy's plots have become more complicated; this is important. Today, it is not enough just to be present in the military battlefield and work and strive and build missiles. Yes, we have made good progress in these areas, but this is not enough; we must work on our hearts, on our souls, on our tongues, on our orientations.

Well, in the collection of "we" that I say we must work — "we must work" — who is this "we"? In this collection of "we" that includes the entire nation, who is the most effective? The youths; the youths are the most effective. Back then, the youths went and shielded themselves. Does today's youth know what you know about the martyrs, from the bottom of their hearts? This is important. That is, does our youth today and our future generation understand the depth of this value and the importance of the presence of martyrs in the battlefield and what they did? Do they recognize that sincerity, that selflessness, that Islamic ethics, that behavior in accordance with the Sharia that our youths had in the battlefield back then? You must answer these questions. These congresses must answer these questions, and if there is a gap, it must fill that gap.

Our youths back then were, in fact, as if they had transcended the human mold. Look at the wars of the world — both watch the films and read the stories; thousands of films and stories have been written about various wars in the world — a fighter in the battlefield is a careless being, an unrestrained being; a being who, if he gets the chance, will do anything for his own sake; and if he captures the enemy and takes that city, looting and destroying is a normal act for him; fighters in the world are like this. Compare this with our fighter who, if he is trapped in a place under siege and food and bread do not reach him, and there is a shop there that has biscuits, he will eat that biscuit out of necessity, but he will first seek permission from the Guardian of the Islamic Jurist, and he will write on paper to that shopkeeper that he ate the biscuit. These are not stories; we have seen this, I have witnessed this, I know it. Our youths in Susangerd were besieged for a while, nothing reached them; they were hungry, the shops were full of food and supplies and canned goods; they did not eat; they said they needed permission from the Imam. We repeatedly insisted from Ahvaz, saying, "Eat, take it"; they did not eat! What does this mean? Where can you find this piety, this abstinence, this devotion, this sincerity? This is what today's youth must know; this must be shown. This must be highlighted and demonstrated: the comparison between our fighting youth and the types of fighters in the world in terms of spirituality, in terms of intention, in terms of type of action, and so on. These words that we have said many times and have been heard and repeated that they sacrifice for their comrades; these have happened. The one who is thirsty does not drink water so that his friend does not remain thirsty and becomes a martyr, leaves this world; these are important.

The works you have done, which the commander briefly and profoundly enumerated, are very good; all of these are good; however, what are these works for? They are for impact, after all. Go and look for the output of these works; see how many people read your book, how many benefited from it, how many took notes, how many have noted the prominent points of the martyr you introduced in that book in their notebooks to use it; go after these and work on these, focus on these. The audience of your works is the youths; this collection of works you do must have an impact on the youths. Of course, these works are valuable; if these works are not superficial, there is no meaning or content left; like our own existence, if our body is not there and does not have strength, no spiritual work can be done; it must be done. One must go to the mosque with their feet, one must help others with their hands; therefore, the physical aspect of these works is good, but also be mindful of the spirit of these works. Its spirit is "impact"; it must be able to create a proper output in the perspective of your vision, God willing.

In any case, we thank you for your efforts, for the good work you are doing, for the trouble you are taking; God willing, may God accept from you, and may the people of Kermanshah become more and more successful day by day. This unity that the people of Kermanshah have is largely due to the blessings of the great scholars; these esteemed scholars, those dear ones who worked hard there, made efforts; these are very valuable and have been able, thanks be to God, to create this good atmosphere.

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