Statements at the Gathering of Pilgrims and Residents of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza

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 Muhammad, and upon his pure, chosen, and infallible progeny, especially the Awaited One among the people of the earth. O God, send blessings upon Your guardian, Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha, as many as there are in Your knowledge, a continuous prayer for the duration of Your kingdom and sovereignty. O God, grant peace to Your guardian, Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha, as many as there are in Your knowledge, a continuous peace for the duration of Your glory, greatness, and majesty.

I congratulate you on the blessed birth of the leader of justice and the ever-believing commander throughout history, His Excellency Amir al-Mu'minin Ali ibn Abi Talib, who is the true Nowruz. I also congratulate you on the arrival of the new year and the Nowruz holiday, which the beautiful taste of Iranians has designated as the beginning of the year, and the Iranian solar year, the Iranian lunar year, begins with the arrival of spring and the Nowruz holiday. I extend greetings and congratulations to the illuminated hearts of our devotees during the days of I'tikaf (spiritual retreat); I hope that God's mercy, grace, and acceptance of the Lord of the worlds will encompass all the people of Iran and all individuals—especially our youth. Thanks be to God, I have been granted the opportunity once again to meet with you, dear people, residents, and pilgrims in the light of the radiance of the blessed shrine of Imam Reza on the occasion of the new year.

The topics I have prepared to share with you, dear brothers and sisters, are four: one topic is about the current year, that is, this year 1398; another topic is on the occasion of and regarding the West and our issues with Western governments; the third topic is about the economy and this year's slogan, which is the slogan of economic prosperity; and the last and fourth topic is a word with our dear youth regarding the issues of the country, future issues, and the issues of the revolution.

Regarding the issues related to the current year, one sees that some speakers, writers, or commentators have expressed that this year, 1398, is a year of threats. I absolutely do not accept this; I believe that the year 1398, with God's grace, is a year of opportunities, a year of possibilities, and a year of openings. Of course, those who express a different opinion and constantly threaten this and that are knowingly or unknowingly influenced by the taunts of the enemies of this nation. The enemies of this nation, in addition to what they do in reality, also engage in psychological warfare, make statements, and issue threats. These threats should be understood as they are. They had similar threats regarding the year 1397 and tried to instill fear in some hearts. One of those foolish individuals, whom I introduced some time ago, said in the middle or early of 1397 that if we exit the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action)—meaning if America exits—there will be riots in the streets of Iran, and people will not even be able to buy bread. Another one of these foolish individuals stated that in 2019, the Americans would celebrate Christmas in Tehran. Well, these are the statements they made. I do not know; I mean, is there really a duality of opinion regarding whether their analysis of the region and the country is so detached from reality that they seriously make these statements, meaning that saying these things is foolishness? Or do they intend psychological warfare and are being malicious, spreading these statements in the global media for the purpose of psychological warfare? This is not clear to me; it could be both, both foolishness and malice.

As for why we say that 1398 is a year of opportunities, I will explain a little: the main problem of our country at the moment is the economic issue and the livelihood of the underprivileged; part of this problem is related to the sanctions of the Western powers, namely America and Europe; part is also related to our internal deficiencies, to our managerial weaknesses. Both sanctions can be an opportunity—of which I will explain—and observing these weaknesses and deficiencies can provide us with invaluable experiences for the future and for the management of the coming years of the country; both of these can be an opportunity.

However, sanctions can be an opportunity; why? Because experience has shown that countries rich in natural resources—like oil—whenever their revenues from these resources decrease, they begin to think about implementing economic reforms, they gain motivation, they find the motivation for reforms, they find the motivation to free themselves from dependency and take appropriate actions. This happens when the income from those natural resources decreases; then when these resources return to their original state and their financial resources increase, they neglect the continuation of reforms, they forget. Thus, the pressure of reduced income from natural resources has this great benefit not only for us but for all countries similar to us, which frees them from dependency on this natural resource, from this single-product economy, from this oil-dependent economy—which is one of the greatest problems of our economy, that it is oil-dependent. Indeed, this is the case; right now in the country, both at the governmental levels and at the research and academic levels, extensive studies have begun on how we can manage the country with non-oil revenues; this is very important and good. When oil revenues are abundant, neither government officials nor others naturally think about this. We have experienced something similar in a tangible and concrete way regarding the country's defense capabilities. During the years of the Sacred Defense, the war that was imposed on us, the material powers of the East and West, namely both the material capitalist powers and the material socialist and communist powers, provided Saddam with the best military equipment, but our hands were tied. They did not even sell us barbed wire, as became well-known and everyone knew; of course, it was hard, but this hardship caused our youth, thinkers, and those with talent and innovation to think about changing our dependency on foreign weapons. Today, thanks to God, our situation in terms of defense capabilities is almost better and higher than all the countries in this region; our enemies also rely on this, they acknowledge it, so that they can use it as a means of pressure; but of course, it will not be used as a means of pressure. We will continue to strengthen our defense capabilities, to the chagrin of our enemies. If during the years of the Sacred Defense they had sold us weapons, given us tanks, given us missiles, provided us with equipment, we would not have thought about producing ourselves; well, if we had it, dependency would remain, the need for others would not disappear; like many other countries in our region that you know; their countries are stockpiles of weapons, but weapons belonging to others, dependent on the will of others; they themselves have neither the power nor the scientific and practical ability to use them properly; we would have become like them; today, thanks to God, this is not the case. Thus, the need creates movement for us, creates motivation. When we are completely deprived of oil revenues—meaning the complete oil income—we naturally seek to find alternative paths; this is a task that has begun and, God willing, will reach fruition; the Iranian nation will later taste the fruits of it, will see the results.

I say we should not lament over sanctions; we should not have excessive expectations from the sanctioners—who are America and Europe; now I will later explain in the section regarding the West why; we cannot expect anything from them. We must sit down and examine plans to counter the sanctions and pursue them seriously; this is our duty; both the duty of government agencies and the duty of the relevant research sectors of the legislative branch, and also the duty of our youth and thinkers in the country, to sit down with awareness of the country's issues, examine ways to counter the sanctions, find them; and there are many ways to counter the sanctions and neutralize the oppressive and malicious sanctions of the enemy. Of course, I have been informed that high-ranking government officials are drafting these counter-sanction strategies; they must enter into action and implementation more seriously, urgently, and practically; issues should not be delayed.

Today, everyone agrees that the enemy is waging economic war against us; everyone knows this. Of course, we have always repeated that the enemy is at war with us; we said it, but some did not believe it; today everyone has accepted it; all officials have understood and accepted that the enemy is at war with us. War is not just about cannons and guns; economic war, security war, information war, political war, these are also wars; sometimes they are even more dangerous than military war. The enemy is at war with us; well, the manifestation of this war is in economic issues; everyone accepts this today. Of course, in this war, we must defeat the enemy, and with God's grace, we will defeat the enemy; yes, we will defeat the enemy, but this is not enough. My message and demand from all the various activists in the country, whether in the government sector or in academic, public, and popular sectors, is something else; I say we must, in addition to defeating the enemy, create deterrence; this is my point. Sometimes you defeat the enemy, but the enemy waits for an opportunity and later strikes again; this is of no benefit; we must reach a point where we are deterrent; that is, the enemy feels that it cannot inflict damage on our dear country through economic infiltration, cannot pressure the nation; we must reach this point; deterrence; this is also possible, just as—again, here I will give an example from military issues—thankfully, our situation is like this in military matters. There was a time when we would sit and the enemy's aircraft would come at high altitude and bomb our cities, and we had no means of defense, or when they sent missiles, we had no means to counter them; after we gained capabilities, today our enemies—at least in the region; those who are in the region or have forces in the region—know that the Islamic Republic can confront and face any enemy with its precise and effective pinpoint missiles; they have understood this. This is deterrence; this means that enemies who sometimes have the desire for military aggression should take notice; they should understand that it is not like that; the Islamic Republic has a strong fist and a powerful hand in response; this becomes deterrent; we must reach this point in economic matters. Therefore, this is an opportunity that is available to us in the shadow of the enemies' sanctions; today we can work on this.

I said we should not rely on the West. I will enter the second discussion, which is the issue of confronting the powers and governments of the West; in this regard, we have a lot to say. I say that in order to create this economic deterrent power within ourselves, we must completely turn our backs on the help and companionship of the Westerners; we should not wait for them. Because the Westerners have shown that we cannot expect help from them; we can expect plots, we can expect treachery, we can expect backstabbing, but we cannot expect help and sincerity and companionship. Wherever you see the Westerners helping a government, a country, they are actually working for themselves. Yes, the Westerners helped the tyrannical regime, but this was not really help to him; it was help to sell their weapons, help to their unconditional dominance over the country's oil, help to the presence of 60,000 military advisors in the country. The day the revolution triumphed, about 60,000 American forces were concentrated in the country—mainly in Tehran—feeding off the public treasury of the Muslims and working for themselves. If they help somewhere, it is actually help to themselves; they are tipping the scales in their favor; we cannot expect help from them. This is not specific to us; it is not that we say the Westerners are only like this with the Islamic Republic or we say they are like this with Iran; no, this is the behavior of Western countries with all countries they can dominate; look, for three centuries, the phenomenon of colonialism—colonialism of weak countries—has oppressed hundreds of millions of people and put them under pressure; Europeans—at that time, Americans were not involved—colonized countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, drained their resources for their own benefit, and prevented them from scientific, practical, and technological advancement, pushing them back. This phenomenon of colonialism was not specific to us; it was the case for all other countries that they could dominate. Regarding Iran, from the mid-Qajar period, the Europeans struck us. In the Iran-Russia wars, the British betrayed Iran; they entered the field as intermediaries but stabbed us in the back. In the tobacco concession issue, in the case of Amir Kabir and the behavior they had with Amir Kabir; the pressures of the British and European embassies in Tehran forced the foolish Qajar king to shed Amir Kabir's blood and remove him, who could have transformed Iran. Also, the behavior of the Europeans in bringing the dictatorial government of Reza Khan to power, their behavior and that of the Americans in overthrowing the Mossadegh government, their behavior in various economic, political, and security issues, and their behavior in the imposed war and then their behavior in the sanctions issue; we must not forget these. The Westerners have always behaved like this with us; we cannot have any hope in them. In this recent issue, regarding the JCPOA, what was the duty of the Europeans? Well, a seven-party agreement had been made—six countries and Iran on one side; seven countries—one side, which is America, exited; what was the duty of the other parties? The duty of the Europeans was to stand firm against America, to say we are committed to our obligations; their obligation was that the sanctions should be completely lifted; they should have stood firm, but with various excuses, they did not stand firm. In addition to not standing firm against America, they themselves, while constantly emphasizing to us, “Do not exit the JCPOA,” have practically exited the JCPOA; that is, they have even created new sanctions against Iran. This is the behavior of the Europeans; can we expect anything from them? This financial channel that has recently been repeatedly mentioned as having been established is more like a joke; of course, it is a bitter joke. This has no meaning; what their duty is and what they are presenting is worlds apart. In our latest international issue, again the Europeans stabbed us in the back, betrayed us. We cannot expect anything from them; we cannot expect anything.

Look! In general, I want to tell you this; this is the result of extensive studies and observations of our own experiences and the experiences of others: I say that politics and power in the West, in Western governments, including America and Europe, are both oppressive, both tyrannical, both illogical, and both greedy. They have no logic; they are truly alien to logic. In essence, Western politicians are, in the true sense of the word, savage. Do not be surprised; yes, they wear suits, tie their ties, wear perfume, carry Samsonite bags, but they are savage; they act like savages. You observe in this recent issue in New Zealand and the massacre of Muslims, well, a person enters two mosques, opens fire on dozens of people, kills more than fifty of them, martyrs them; well, is this not called terrorism? The Europeans, neither their politicians nor their press, were willing to label this act as a terrorist act; they called it an armed movement! Is this an armed movement? Then what is terrorism? Wherever an act is even carried out against an individual they favor, there, terrorism and human rights and everything is lined up to confront it, but here—so clearly—they do not call this act a terrorist act! This is how they are.

I do not know of a country in this region and perhaps in the whole world as bad as the Saudi government; the Saudi government is both tyrannical, both dictatorial, both oppressive, both dependent, and both corrupt. For this kind of government, they provide nuclear capabilities; they announced that they are building a nuclear power plant for it, they announced that they are creating missile production centers for it! That is fine; there, because it is dependent on them, because it belongs to them, it is fine to build. Now, of course, they are announcing; even if they build, I personally will not be upset; because I know that, God willing, these will fall into the hands of Islamic fighters in the not-too-distant future.

Therefore, malice and wickedness are the nature of the Western powers; America and Europe do not differ in this regard; of course, America is more wicked, the wickedness of America is greater for various reasons, and it is not specific to this individual who is currently at the head of the American government; rather, it is their policy. I have been informed that in these recent issues, the American Congress—this is an interesting statistic—has approved or presented 226 bills and motions against the Islamic Republic in the years 1396 and 1397! 226 anti-Islamic Republic bills and motions; this is wickedness. Now, of course, here I also want to express a grievance about our own parliament: how many bills and motions has our Islamic Consultative Assembly presented or approved in response to the wickedness of America? Well, this is how the Western powers are; we cannot expect anything from them.

Of course, unfortunately, some people inside beautify the West, justify the evils of the West, retouch them, and do not allow public opinion to realize how much wickedness and malice exist in the essence of these seemingly righteous governments—like France, like England, and like others; there are media people among them, there are journalists among them; like Taghi Zadeh. During the tyrannical regime, a person like Taghi Zadeh said that Iran should become Westernized from head to toe; that is, the lifestyle in Iran should become Western. Today, new Taghi Zadehs are saying such things; of course, they do not say it so explicitly, but the essence of their words is this. Those who continuously inject Western thoughts, Western lifestyles, Western methods, and Western words into our literature, our thoughts, our universities, and our schools are the new Taghi Zadehs. Those who stand behind Document 2030—Document 2030 means reverting the Islamic lifestyle to a Western lifestyle—are the same new Taghi Zadehs; of course, today, thanks to God, our faithful youth and our revolutionary people will not allow these Taghi Zadehs to have their words accepted.

This point should be noted, as some people engage in fallacies; I want to say this. The statements I make in no way mean cutting off relations with Western countries; communication is not a problem. I have always encouraged governments to establish relations with various countries; with neighbors in one way, with Islamic countries in another way, with various movements in one way, and with European countries in the same way; I still believe this. Communication is not a problem; following them is a problem; trusting them is a problem; I say do not trust them. Perhaps many, or at least some of our problems stem from the fact that trust was placed in the Westerners; in various negotiations, in various contracts, in various political decisions, trust was placed in the Westerners. Communication is not a problem; establish communication, but know your counterpart; do not be misled by their smiles, their tricks, their false words; this is my point; communication is not a problem. Of course, thankfully, our government officials have reached the conclusion that it is not possible to move in the same direction with the Westerners; they have felt this; perhaps in the future, God willing, behaviors and interactions—due to this new understanding that has emerged—will change.

Of course, now that I have spoken a little about the West, I want to say this: you see, there are two opposing tendencies regarding the West, both of which are wrong; one tendency is that of unwarranted rigidity and prejudice and not seeing the positives of the West; the Westerners have made good progress in knowledge, they have made efforts, they have advanced, they have pursued; in technology, it is the same, in some ethical qualities, which I have repeatedly mentioned in speeches and elsewhere; these should not be rejected. We should take anything good from anywhere in the world. I have said many times, we have no objection to being students; we will be students of anyone who knows more than us; we have no objection; but our effort should be that we do not remain students forever; therefore, unwarranted rigidity against the West and unwarranted prejudice against the West, saying that everything that comes from the West is wrong, no; we do not say this and do not accept it. The opposite of this is Westernization; Westernization is a great danger. In the heart of the Westernized Pahlavi government, a rooted intellectual in religious matters, namely the late Jalal Al-e-Ahmad, who was a cleric's son and had religious connections—he was not unrelated to us, he expressed devotion and affection to Imam during Imam's exile—raised the issue of Westernization in 1342. Today, the issue of Westernization is an important issue; we must not forget it. So, therefore, the prejudiced and rigid tendency on one side, the Westernized tendency on the other side, both are wrong; regarding the West, as I said, trust cannot be placed; communication should be maintained, but reliance on them should not be made; we should use their knowledge and their positives, but we must not trust them at all; this is our statement. This is the second point.

Now, the third point, which is related to the economy. Now that we do not trust the West, what should we do for the country's economy? The issue of the country's economy is an important issue. My statement is this: for the flourishing of the country's economy, we need work that is both jihadist and scholarly. Laziness, lethargy, and lack of motivation will not solve the country's economic issues. Jihadist work must be done; jihadist management must have a grasp of the economic issues of the country, make decisions; jihadist work. Jihadist work means work that involves effort, tirelessness, and sincerity; that is, a person understands that they are not working for themselves, to fill their own pockets, they are working for the people, they are working for God; both this and scholarly; that is, they should sit down and find the correct paths with scientific standards, with precise scholarly methods; they should be educated, effective, and have various capabilities; these should sit down and work; the country's economy will certainly flourish.

I am not an economist, but I read the words of experts, I study, I seek their opinions, and I carefully consider their views. Our experts believe that the capacities of the country for economic flourishing are very ready, capable, and complete. We do not have a shortage. Our human resource capacity is very good, our natural capacities are very good, our geographical capacities are very good, which I elaborated on in the second step statement, that these capacities exist; therefore, there are capacities, there is money in the country. This liquidity that is constantly complained about and lamented—this is true, and of course, if liquidity is not addressed, it will strike—if good management is implemented and this liquidity is turned into investment, it will flourish the country, it will elevate the economy. Therefore, the capacity is completely present in the country.

Of course, some government agencies have acted well. The idea that some think that no movement has taken place is not true; some government agencies have acted, they have acted well; in various sectors—agriculture, water, soil, addressing some areas, infrastructure works—good work has been done. Of course, in some sectors, there is lethargy and negligence. Sometimes in some cases, work is done with delay and procrastination. In a letter, I believe in 1393 or 1394, one of the high-ranking officials wrote to me that we are preparing a bill to reform the banking affairs of the country, the banking issue—which is one of our economic problems—and that this bill will go to the parliament in a few months. I have been informed that now four years have passed since that time, and this bill has not yet gone to the parliament! This is delay; this is negligence. Those sectors that have worked well should be encouraged; those sectors that have delayed should be warned; I have also warned; I say these things publicly in front of a wide audience because I have repeatedly privately warned the individuals. These should be transformed into public opinion and public demands.

Support should be given to production. We said, "The prosperity of production." This year must be the year of production prosperity. Last year, when we raised the support for Iranian goods, a good movement took place; the people responded, some producers truly responded. We know that many people, in their visits to stores, demanded Iranian goods; they brought similar foreign products, and they did not accept them; that is, progress was made. However, if we want to say that it was fully implemented, no, I cannot say this; reports contradict this. Therefore, the slogan of supporting Iranian goods remains strong; however, the main and fundamental issue is the prosperity of production. If production occurs, then transformations will take place in various sectors; if there is production prosperity, it will affect employment, it will affect reducing inflation, it will even affect the budget balance, it will affect the increase in the value of the national currency. You see, these are all important economic problems we face. Experts and those knowledgeable about economic issues confirm and affirm that if production flourishes in the country, it will certainly have such benefits and results. This must be done and placed in the program; both in the government's program, in the parliament's program, and in the programs of all individuals who have the ability to enter the realm of production. We had individuals we knew who had money, had capabilities, could have placed this money in the bank and used its profits for years without trouble, but they did not do this; rather, they took the money to production and said they wanted the country to progress. These individuals have a reward before God; those who act like this have a reward before the Almighty God. Support must be given to producers, to investors, to healthy economic activists, to those who create wealth for the country; efforts must be made to improve the business environment; with necessary laws, with necessary methods and procedures.

Another condition is that abuses should not be overlooked. Some have abused; they are abusing; there are abusers; there are various types; this Iranian ingenuity, this inventive Iranian mind, just as it is useful in good works, sometimes this ingenuity also leads to wickedness; one sees strange and bizarre methods for abuse and observes them in reports. Well, officials must be vigilant; both the executive branch and the judiciary; monitoring agencies must be vigilant; I told this to the respected president. He publicly stated that we want to sell factories in such and such places; I said be careful; because the party comes to buy the factory from you; not with the intention of continuing work and production; they buy the factory, sell the machinery, build a tower on the land, and dismiss the workers. Care must be taken regarding such individuals; vigilance must be exercised against these abusers. The party comes to create a bank using the permission for the development of banks—which is one of the wrong actions taken in the country, that they allow banks to be created one after another—they collect people's money, then create fictitious companies, give people's money as loans, credits, and banking facilities to their own companies, filling their own pockets; they are doing these things; these must be monitored; we must not overlook them. If these are stopped and healthy entrepreneurs are supported and production flourishes, experts say that then the unemployment problem will be solved, the inflation problem will be solved, the poverty problem in the lower classes will be solved, the banking system problem will be solved, the issue of the national currency value will be solved, even the issue of the government's budget deficit will be solved with the prosperity of production; these can be solved through this. Therefore, the issue is a very important issue.

When we say production, we do not only mean industrial production; industrial production, agricultural production, animal husbandry, large industries, medium industries, small industries, even handicrafts, even home industries, even raising livestock—several livestock in rural homes—which will greatly help to expand public welfare in communities. These should sit down and plan; of course, the share of knowledge-based industries is very high; attention must be paid to this.

Uncontrolled imports must be prevented. One of the important sections and key points of the resistant economy that we have raised and that others—friends, officials and non-officials—constantly talk about and explain, is this issue of domestic production; and the condition for the prosperity of domestic production is controlling uncontrolled imports. Now I am being informed that we are doing these works for the resistant economy, we have laid out these programs and are implementing them; very well, certainly these reports are in accordance with reality, meaning they have done the work; but it has not been practically realized, the reason is that imports are coming, one sees the market is full of imports; they lead domestic production to failure. What is produced domestically is imported from abroad; this causes domestic production to fail. Officials must stop these; these are important issues. Then the resistant economy will be genuinely realized.

I will say in one sentence that government agencies should focus this year on boosting production, and if there are necessary regulations, they should ask the parliament to take action; if in some areas the presence of the judiciary and other monitoring agencies is needed, they should ask for it—in this very session we said, the gentlemen gather together; the session of the heads of the three branches—they should ask and take action and cooperate; ultimately, production must flourish domestically; this is the third point.

My final point today is addressed to the youth, that is, to the entire nation, especially the youth. First of all, I must say that the response of various sectors from elites and all youth, students, clerics, and seminarians to this statement of the fortieth year, the second step statement, was very appropriate and gratifying. This indicates that there is a need for clarification and readiness throughout the country, especially among the youth; the officials of the country must make maximum use of this readiness. My statement is that the youth must shoulder the burdens of difficult responsibilities, both small and large; the remedy for the country's problems is this. In the second step of the revolution, we must place the movement of the country on the shoulders of the youth, just as in the first step during the revolution, the leadership was provided by the Imam, but the movement and the engine of progress were ignited by the youth; they created the movement. Today, your efforts and endeavors are to secure the independence of the country and the dignity of the country; you are paying the cost of this work today; the cost of today for the Iranian nation and our youth is the cost of achieving complete independence—in various aspects—and national dignity and an Islamic society; future generations will benefit from this achievement of yours; just as one day the youth paid the cost of fighting against the tyrannical regime and endured its prisons, its beatings, and the revolution, thanks be to God, triumphed, the tyrannical system was destroyed; or during the imposed war, families paid the cost of defending the country, and today you live in security; today, you must pay the cost of standing against the enemy so that future generations, God willing, can benefit from your achievements.

My statement is that what must happen in the second step of the revolution is, first of all, recognizing and taking seriously our own assets; we must recognize our own assets and take them seriously; our advantages, our capacities, the advantages of the country, the capacities of the country, these must be recognized, taken seriously, and utilized; the country has very vast capacities; secondly, we must recognize the pitfalls, recognize the corruptions, recognize the enemy's infiltration routes, and stand firmly against them. Today, the second step of the revolution is this: recognizing capacities and advantages and utilizing them, and recognizing corruptions and infiltrations and shortcomings and standing firm to solve them. Pay attention to this: the West and America have come to the conclusion that if the Iranian nation wills something, it will certainly achieve it; they have come to the conclusion that they cannot fight against the national will of the Iranian nation; if the Iranian nation wills, obstruction and stone-throwing will be of no benefit. What do they do? They have come to the conclusion that they must do something so that the Iranian nation does not will, that its will weakens; they are thinking about this. Today, billions of dollars are being spent worldwide to create infiltration in the political and religious beliefs of our youth so that the will to move, the will to rise in them is eradicated; they want to eliminate the will, they want you not to decide. Their effort is to prevent the will of the Iranian nation from forming for progress, for confrontation, for creating an Islamic society and Islamic civilization; they know that if this will takes shape, it will undoubtedly be realized. Of course, they have done this before and for years; during the tyrannical regime, they conveyed to the youth of the country that if you want to achieve civilization and progress, you must set aside religion; they said that religion and religiousness and faith do not align with science and progress. Today, let them open their blind eyes and see that our best industries, our most advanced large industries, which are at the forefront of competition with the world's top countries, are advancing through the efforts of prayerful and devout youth; youth who are engaged in I'tikaf, youth who are engaged in Du'a al-Nudbah, devout youth. We are at high ranks in the discussions of today's advanced industries, in nanotechnology, in nuclear technology, in missile technology, in biological technology, and in other advanced techniques; today we are at the forefront; most of those who are doing these works are devout youth, with whom we are closely acquainted. Youth must double their efforts in the fields of science, thought, and knowledge, in politics, and in work; they should not pay attention to marginal and peripheral issues; they should pursue unity, concentrated movement, and committed and jihadist movements; in the very areas mentioned, they should emphasize the borders with the enemy; but with the self, with internal forces, they should not create borders over minor differences of opinion. Just as the Imam said, they should shout as loud as they can against the enemies and against America. The government, parliament, judiciary, and others should help the youth of the country as much as they can for this progress. And I tell you—as we have said many times—by God's grace, the future of this country will be much better than our present; with God's grace and, God willing.

O Lord! By the right of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, make what we have said and what we do for You and in Your way, and accept it from all of us; make us true soldiers of Islam and true fighters in the path of truth; convey our greetings to the Awaited One (may our souls be sacrificed for him); include us in his prayers; and unite the pure souls of the martyrs and the sanctified spirit of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) with their saints.

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