New Year Message on the Occasion of the Beginning of 1399

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

O Turner of hearts and sights, O Manager of night and day, O Transformer of years and conditions, transform our state to the best state.

This year's Nowruz coincides with the martyrdom of Imam Musa ibn Ja'far (peace be upon him); therefore, it is appropriate to present part of the special salutation for that great figure at the beginning of the speech: O Allah, send blessings upon Musa ibn Ja'far, the trustee of the righteous, the Imam of the virtuous, the repository of lights... the companion of long prostrations, abundant tears, and numerous supplications; O Allah, send blessings upon him and his pure, innocent, and virtuous ancestors and descendants, and may God's mercy and blessings be upon them.

I congratulate the dear nation of Iran on the blessed occasion of the Prophet's Ascension and the refreshing Nowruz; especially to the esteemed families of the martyrs, to the disabled veterans and their patient and hardworking families, and to the health workers who have shone brightly in these past weeks, and to all the hardworking servants who have taken on part of the work in difficult conditions, serving with sincerity, enthusiasm, and motivation in the cities, villages, roads, borders, and throughout the country; I congratulate all of them; may your holiday be blessed. And I send greetings to the pure soul of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) and the noble souls of the martyrs.

I find it necessary to express condolences and congratulations to the families of the martyrs of 1398; whether martyrs of the defense of the shrine, martyrs of the borders, and at the forefront, our dear and honorable martyr, Martyr General Soleimani and his companions, and Martyr Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and his companions, as well as the martyrs of the Kerman incident, the martyrs of the airplane incident, and the martyrs of health, [that is] those who have reached the lofty rank of death in the way of God and martyrdom in the way of God while serving the patients; to all their families, we express our condolences and congratulate them on the holiday and the ranks of their children. And we believe that all these events, God willing, will ultimately be in favor of the Iranian nation, which we will now discuss.

The year 1398 was a turbulent year for the Iranian nation; it began with floods and ended with the coronavirus. Throughout the year, various incidents occurred for the country and for some of the people; incidents such as earthquakes, sanctions, and the like. The peak of these incidents was the terrorist crime of America and the martyrdom of the renowned martyr of Iran and Islam, Martyr Soleimani. Throughout the year, the people's hardships were not few; the year passed in this manner; therefore, it was a difficult year. However, the important point is that alongside the hardships, there were also triumphs in this year, some of which were unprecedented, and the Iranian nation truly shone.

In the first flood of the year, the flood of the faithful and determined people flowed towards the flood-affected provinces and cities and villages to help the people. Our dear people—from the young to the old—created beautiful scenes and went to the flood-affected areas, washed the houses that were filled with mud, emptied them, cleaned the belongings and carpets for those people, and alleviated the hardship of the flood for the people.

In the incident of the martyrdom of our great martyr, the dear martyr, the people performed a tremendous movement; they showcased their tens of millions of presence to the world. The gathering that took place in Tehran and the gatherings in Qom, Ahvaz, Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, Kerman were gatherings that are typically not seen in any part of the world with this volume, intensity, and motivation; it was unparalleled in our history. The public presence and enthusiasm of the people, and the fact that the people showed what they are attached to, was very important for the dignity of the country and the honor of the Iranian nation.

In the recent issue of this disease, [that is] the coronavirus, the sacrifices were so remarkable that they compelled even those outside the country to admire; primarily the medical teams; doctors, nurses, paramedics, managers, and staff around the hospitals. Alongside them, volunteer groups, students, seminarians, Basij members, and various elements went to serve in the treatment and nursing of these patients, assisting the caregivers; all of these are a source of dignity and honor. Support groups, those who provided their factories, even some of their homes for the production of necessary supplies and equipment such as gloves or masks for patients or for the general public, all the people provided. Service groups, like those who went into the streets to disinfect the streets or even the places where people visit. Or groups like the young people who decided to help the elderly, going to their homes, doing their shopping. Or those who prepared goods and gave them to the people for free; free gloves, free masks. Some helped struggling shopkeepers; they did not collect rent, postponed their debts, and provided such services. These are the beauties that reveal themselves amidst difficult events; the Iranian nation demonstrated its virtues in these groups, in these actions that I have briefly mentioned. I sincerely and wholeheartedly thank all those I mentioned and assure them that divine rewards await them; both worldly rewards and rewards in the Hereafter.

Well, this was a difficult test. The tests of 1398 were difficult tests, but overcoming difficulties and passing through them with spirit strengthens a nation. A nation that seeks only comfort and ease will not reach anywhere; facing problems and maintaining one's spirit in confronting and overcoming difficulties—God willing, the Iranian nation has overcome this and will continue to do so—is what gives nations power and credibility.

Another point in these events is—whether natural events like floods and earthquakes and the like, or man-made events by foreigners like sanctions and the like—that it makes one aware of one’s weaknesses; both our natural weaknesses, so that one knows there is no place for arrogance, we are all weak, we are vulnerable, and the weaknesses that arise when facing events, one inevitably encounters those weaknesses. We must recognize our weaknesses; one should come out of arrogance and negligence, become aware of God, and seek help from God. "Those who turn to others than You are in loss, and those who seek refuge in others than You are in vain"; this is from the supplications of the month of Rajab. We must only go to the door of God; if we go to the door of 'others', we will return disappointed; if we extend our hands to anyone other than God, our hands will return empty. All the tools of the world are divine means; He is the Cause of causes; we must work with these means, use these means, but seek the result and effect from the Almighty God. This is another point.

And now for the year 1399, which is about to begin. First of all, we ask the Almighty God to make this year a year of great victories and to the Master of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him), who is the captain of this ship, we say to him to bring his country to the shore of salvation, to support the faithful people of Iran, and to help them. I also tell the Iranian nation that just as they have courageously faced various events over these many years—not just in 1398—they should continue to face all events with spirit and hope, and be assured that the bitterness will pass, and "Indeed, with hardship comes ease." Certainly, ease awaits the Iranian nation; there is no doubt about it. That some may think that there is negligence in a certain part of the country's organization, I do not confirm this either. We witness closely; we see; everyone is busy, everyone is working and striving, each according to their capacity; scientific and research groups in one way, social activists in another way, government and judicial officials in another way, and God willing, the Almighty God will bless all these efforts and will help the nation pass through this passage with health and dignity, God willing.

And now for the slogan of the year. We introduced the year 1398 as the year of "Production Boom" and I tell the dear nation of Iran that this slogan was welcomed, in practice; now at the beginning of the work, experts welcomed it, saying that production is the main point, but it was also welcomed in practice. According to credible reports that I have, the country's production has gained momentum; some factories that had become stagnant and closed have returned to work; some that were operating below capacity have gained good capacity; knowledge-based companies have entered the field; various devices have worked and produced, and production has gained momentum, some work has been done. The issue of research—which is the source of production, research and investigation—was seriously pursued in the country this year, and we saw its examples. Well, this work has been done in the country; it is not the case that no work has been done, but what I want to say is that this work that has been done so far may not even be one-tenth of what the country needs. Of course, I do not say "one-tenth" based on precise statistics, but I estimate "one-tenth"; meaning that perhaps really ten times this much work needs to be done; whether research work, production work, or various works of this kind, so that the production boom shows its effect in people's lives. In 1398, production moved, it gained momentum and started to some extent, but its effect was not felt in people's lives. We must bring production to a point where it impacts people's lives. Of course, the economic issues of the country are numerous—banking reforms, customs reforms, tax reforms, improving the business environment, and the like—but the role of production is a unique and unparalleled role. If we can launch production and, considering the vast domestic market of our country—although production needs to be sold and to foreign markets, but while we can connect with foreign markets, our main market is within the country with this eighty million population—if we can, God willing, move and advance production, economic problems will certainly be resolved, and these sanctions that have been imposed will ultimately work in our favor; until now, of course, there have been losses, but there have also been gains alongside them; that is, they have forced us to think about our own capabilities, to think about providing the necessities of life and the needs of the country through domestic capabilities, which is very valuable for us, and this will continue, God willing. Therefore, we still need production.

Last year we said "Production Boom"; this year I say "Production Leap"; this year is the year of production leap. This has become the slogan of this year; those who are involved should act in such a way that production, God willing, leaps forward and brings about a noticeable change in people's lives, God willing. Of course, this requires planning; the Planning Organization in a certain way, the Parliament and its research center in a certain way, the Judiciary in a certain way—the Judiciary also has a role—knowledge-based groups in a certain way. Thank God, there are many young and innovative groups in the country, and I have had very good and useful meetings with some of them during this year—1398—and the previous year; I have seen them up close, I have heard their words up close; young people who are eager to work, committed, hopeful, energetic, motivated, talented, and innovative. Thank God, these people exist; they should all participate in the planning, and this work should progress with planning, God willing.

We hope that the year will be blessed for all of you and that the blessed occasion of the Prophet's Ascension will be blessed for all of you, and God willing, you will receive divine attention and the Iranian nation will increasingly enhance its spiritual devotion and connections.

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