Meeting with the People of Mazandaran on the Anniversary of the Epic of February 6

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

I extend my warm welcome to all dear brothers and sisters who have come from afar and illuminated this gathering with their warm breaths and eager hearts. You are all very welcome, dear brothers and sisters—especially the esteemed families of martyrs, respected scholars, and hardworking officials—and you have revived the great memory of February 6, which is one of the prominent epics of the Iranian nation, and its honor belongs to the people of Amol.

Indeed, I share this belief; we must not allow these glorious memories, these unique and decisive events in the history of the Revolution, to fade in our minds. Our youth must recognize these memories correctly, be able to analyze them, and place them as guiding lights for their adventurous future and lofty goals.

Of course, the honors of Mazandaran, particularly the people of Amol, are not few. Whether in the realm of jihad in the path of God, or in the fields of knowledge, jurisprudence, understanding, and mysticism, the face of Amol is indeed a brilliant one. Today, thanks be to God, the esteemed clerics of Amol are among the honors of the seminaries and among the valuable spiritual resources of our country. In the great test of the eight-year imposed war, both the city of Amol and the vast province of Mazandaran were among the proud sections of the country. I was familiar with them at that time, both with the stationed forces in Mazandaran and with their Basij members and their devoted youth; I knew them from afar and near; I was aware of their struggles; these will not be forgotten from the memory of the Revolution. You see a structure that is solid, magnificent, and proud; who placed these bricks, these stones on top of each other to create this edifice? Who was able to implement this splendid plan and bring this structure into existence? Can the role of those events and those personalities, whose efforts, sacrifices, and sense of responsibility caused this edifice to rise, gain height, take shape, and gain glory, be overlooked? One of the mistakes that sometimes occurs is overlooking these great contributors.

"City of a Thousand Fortresses"; is this expression too little? Is it a small matter? The event of February 6 was so significant that our great Imam included it in his historical will, leaving it as a legacy; meaning it should not be forgotten. Now, why should it not be forgotten? Because historical events are both lessons and admonitions. The issues faced by a nation are often repeated in various periods. Today, twenty-eight years have passed since that time, but the path of the Islamic Republic has not changed; the enemies of the Islamic Republic have not changed either. Therefore, what happened there can serve as a lesson for today and for the future as long as the Iranian nation, by the grace of God, remains attached to these principles and this Revolution; thus, it must not be forgotten.

Now, let us mention another point regarding the virtues of February 6 in Amol. What does "a thousand fortresses" mean? The apparent matter is that within the city, the people built fortresses against the groups of evildoers and aggressors—whether a thousand or more or less—but I have another interpretation: these fortresses are not the fortresses of the streets; they are the fortresses of hearts; there are not just a thousand, but thousands of fortresses; for every believer, for every motivated and honorable person, there exists a fortress against the enemy's aggression. If a nation, when pursuing a goal, does not know what dangers lie ahead, what ambushes are waiting, and what must be done in the face of these, and if it frees itself from its restraints and becomes indifferent, it will be struck. All nations that have moved towards a great goal and have been struck along the way, sometimes falling so hard that they did not rise for centuries, their problems began from here: they did not know what awaited them and did not prepare themselves to face it. The lessons of the past help us understand our path, recognize the ambushes, and identify those who are lying in wait.

The Islamic Revolution triumphed with its grandeur. The people came with their bodies, with their unprotected and unarmed selves, standing against the weapons of the tyrannical regime and achieved victory; then these same people voted for the Islamic Republic and chose it. Well, what does a fair and honorable person do in the face of this people's demand? Some came into the arena, claimed to support the people, called themselves democratic, introduced themselves as supporters of the people; then, with the same people who had brought this system to power at such a heavy price, they began to confront them. They were hypocrites, outright infidels, supporters of the West, and pretenders to religion; all of these formed a front, a movement against the Islamic system, against the Iranian nation. They claimed to support the people, yet they clashed with the people; they claimed to support democracy and the people's votes, yet they opposed the people's votes and the results of those votes; they claimed enlightenment and free thought, yet they rigidly accepted the imposed frameworks of Western thinkers—tainted with malice and ill will—and confronted the Iranian nation. Initially, they began with intellectual or pseudo-intellectual criticisms of the Imam and the Islamic Republic and the foundations of the Imam; then gradually they set aside their hesitations, entered the field, and transformed intellectual struggle and political struggle into armed struggle or chaos—this happened in our country; it is not history, it belongs to the very first decade of the Revolution—they began to cause disturbances. Instead of sitting down to think, to see what the problems of the country were—so many problems were directed at our country; some were remnants of the past, some were imposed—they did not help solve these problems, did not assist the officials; if they thought they should guide, they should guide; if they should bear a burden, instead of doing so, they engaged in confrontation, slander; then wherever they could, they confronted the people, in various sectors. The country was engaged in war at its borders, yet they ignored the war; within the very streets of Tehran, at every intersection they could reach, at every passage, they began to confront the Islamic Republic and the system.

Well, the Islamic Republic has no identity other than the identity of the people, the faith of the people, and the determination of the people. Today, it is the same. We are nothing; we are not anything; it is through these people and their hearts that God Almighty supports this system; "He it is who aided you with His victory and with the believers". God Almighty tells His Prophet that the Lord supported you through the believers. The Islamic Republic is the same today as it was then. We have no other means; the means is the faith of the people, which is more effective than any weapon, more impactful than any tool. It was the same then. The people swept away these conspiracies. Of course, the sweeping away of one conspiracy does not mean that the conspiracy is over; the enemy is awake; another game, another conspiracy, another incident. The people are awake; it does not matter; even if they bring a hundred conspiracies, the people will stand against them and continue their movement. The great movement of the Iranian nation will not be halted; they will advance, while also confronting opposition, enmities, and disturbances. This has been the situation for these thirty years.

There have been mistakes among the opponents of the Islamic Republic, which as long as these mistakes exist, the actions they take may cause harm and distress to the people, but more so to themselves: one is that the opponents of the Islamic Republic have often considered themselves above the people. The second mistake is that they have placed their hopes in the enemies of these people, have relied on them. These are two major mistakes. When they consider themselves above the people, it follows that if the people take a legal action, demand something, do not want something, or carry out an election, they will say no; the people are ignorant; this is populism; we do not accept this. Considering oneself above the people manifests here. Claims are not the criterion that they say we are people; in practice, one must be with the people. This is the first flaw.

The second flaw is that they rely on the enemies of these people—whose enmity is established and clear. Who has been the most hostile to these people over these thirty years? First and foremost, America and Zionism. Do we have any enemies more hostile than these for the Islamic Republic? From the very beginning, the American government and the Zionist regime and the Zionists of the world stood against the Islamic Republic. Today, they are truly and justly the most hostile enemies. When I look, I see that some Western governments sometimes make nonsensical and irrelevant statements; however, the instigators are the Zionists; the agents are the same dominant class that controls the American government, the American state, and the American elections; they are the ones orchestrating the scene. Well, then these have become the most hostile enemies of the Iranian nation.

Now, if someone who stands against the people relies on these, this is the second mistake that occurs. Relying on the enemy?! When we see that this enemy has entered the field, we must understand and recognize; if we have made a mistake, we must correct it. From the very beginning, the Americans conspired against the Islamic Republic. Well, these conspiracies are redundant to say they were ineffective; it is clear that they were ineffective; if these conspiracies had been effective, there would be no trace of the Islamic Republic left; you see that today the Islamic Republic is dozens of times stronger than it was on the first day; thus, these conspiracies were ineffective. Today, they are still plotting new roles, still conspiring; they do not learn from experience. I am astonished! They do not think back to the past that, well, we conspired so much, spent so much money against the Islamic Republic, saw this and that, raised mercenaries inside and outside against the Islamic Republic; it had no effect. They still sit down and approve a budget of forty-five million dollars to defeat the Islamic Republic! They approve a budget to destroy the Iranian Revolution through the internet; to overthrow the Islamic Republic! See how desperate this enemy is. Well, how many times have you spent "forty-five million dollars" so far? How much diplomacy have you conducted to defeat the Islamic Republic, imposed economic sanctions, carried out various conspiracies, sent spies, trained spies; what benefit have you gained that now you want to enter through this route and separate the Iranian nation from the Revolution? This is what the enemy does not understand. This is the divine tradition; this is striking the eyes and ears of the enemy, who is oblivious to God Almighty, so that they do not understand the truths; it is to blind the enemy. "They will spend it, then it will become a source of regret for them"; they spend money, then it becomes a source of regret for them; because it is futile. I do not know how long they have been planning to incite chaos in Tehran under some pretext; God knows how long they have been planning; well, what happened? Did the people not become more awake than they were? If someone thought it was no longer necessary to come into the field to defend the Islamic Republic, with these events, everyone felt they must always be ready to defend the Islamic Republic.

Sometimes these games that the enemy plays are to extract tribute from the Islamic Republic. It was the same at the beginning of the Revolution; some of these antics they performed were to force the Islamic Republic to share power with them, to make them partners, without merit; without the people wanting this, without a popular backing. Sometimes, the international enemies of ours create these disturbances to compel the Islamic Republic to pay tribute; like many governments that as soon as they feel a danger, they go before their bigger master, ready to pay tribute; to pay monetary tribute, to pay political tribute. Imam did not pay tribute—everyone should know this—we will not pay tribute to anyone on behalf of the Iranian nation and on our own behalf.

We have a rightful claim, and we stand by that rightful claim; we have committed no sin. We want to be a nation that the powerful of the world are not dominant over us; we want to take charge of our own affairs. We want to be a dynamic nation, moving forward. We want to be a nation that proves its Islam in practice—not just in claims; we want to act according to divine laws. We want our society to be a Muslim society, an Islamic society. We do not want to accept the fabrications and notions of materialist thinkers, Western politicians as guidelines in our lives; we want to accept God's command. Is this a crime?

We have also understood that if we want to live as Muslims, we must be powerful so that we can defend ourselves, our goals, and our beliefs against the enemy. We must be powerful to defend our rights as a country, our rights as a nation; we are pursuing this. Are these crimes for a nation? Then our claim is just. We stand by this right. We also believe that when truth confronts falsehood, if the supporters of truth speak rightly and stand by the truth, falsehood will certainly be defeated. We have experienced this; it is indeed the case. We have experienced it over these thirty years: we stood firm, we advanced. Wherever you see a retreat, a failure, it is because there was weakness in our steadfastness. Wherever we stood firm, we advanced. After this, it will be the same.

What is necessary for us is that all people, officials, non-officials, especially the youth, especially those whose words and speeches have an impact, do not lose the sense of responsibility to be present in the arena. No one should say I have no duty, I have no responsibility; everyone is responsible. Responsibility does not mean we should arm ourselves and walk in the streets; in whatever work we are engaged, we must feel responsible; responsible for defending the Revolution and the Islamic Republic; that is, for Islam, for the rights of the people, for the dignity of the country. This is the first condition: everyone must have this sense of responsibility. And I see that we have this sense of responsibility. The people of the country have proven this, they continue to prove it; now a clear example of this was the 9th of Dey that was mentioned; there are other examples; the 22nd of Bahman is ahead, the decade of Fajr is ahead. The people have shown their presence, their readiness, their vitality, and enthusiasm, and they will show it again.

The officials of the country, in particular, must put all their efforts into resolving problems with the touch of wisdom, with continuous work, without becoming weary, with enthusiasm and reliance on God, and seeking help from God to solve and address them. The aim is not only political and security problems—these are part of the problems—the advancement of the country, the economy of the country, various social issues are also the responsibility of the officials. The officials of the three branches and all officials of the country must know their duty is to work for this nation; work and work and work, planning and planning and planning; they must not be negligent for a moment. We have a good movement forward; they must not let this movement stop; this movement must not fall behind. We are advancing; we must continue this progress, increase the speed, and make it more comprehensive, addressing the blind spots as well.

The duty of all people towards the officials is also to trust the officials and be alongside them. Trusting the officials and being alongside them does not mean we should not remind them; where it is necessary to criticize them, we should not refrain from criticism; no, but we should be together. One of the enemy's goals is to create distrust among the people towards the officials of the country; this is the enemy's trick. Therefore, the general duty for everyone—from the top to the bottom—is to be present in the arena of the Revolution and in the arena of defending the country against the enemy front; fortunately, this front is today much further back and more troubled than it was thirty years ago; they are trapped in Afghanistan, trapped in Iraq, trapped in Pakistan, and recently they have trapped themselves in Yemen; they have problems with the nations of our region, they have problems with their own nations, they have problems in Europe.

In the face of this enemy front, the sense of presence, the sense of responsibility for presence, is the duty of all. The duty of the officials is to work, to value time for service, to provide service to the people, to value every moment, every hour for work, to resolve knots, to address problems; and the general duty of the people towards the officials is trust, support, and assistance. If someone has a suggestion for help, they should express it; if someone has a complaint, there is no harm in complaining, but the complaint should not be confrontational; it should be supportive, like two comrades sitting in the same trench; one may object to the other about why they stretched their leg or why they fell asleep? They do not confront each other.

Know this, my dear ones! The hand of divine power and will, according to numerous signs, supports you, the nation. Know that, God willing, the answered prayer of the Awaited Imam (may our souls be sacrificed for him) is directed towards you, the nation. And know that God Almighty, by His grace and favor, will lead this nation to its lofty goals and great aspirations, and God willing, will humiliate and humble the enemy before you.

O Lord! With this great nation, according to their faith, their intentions, their pure hearts, act. O Lord! Unite our dear martyrs, the martyrs of the Amol incident and the martyrs of Mazandaran province with Your saints. O Lord! Unite our great Imam and the souls of the martyrs with the Imams of guidance.

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