Statements at the Gathering of Pilgrims and Visitors 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, our prophet, and the beloved of our hearts, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen family, especially the Awaited One among the inhabitants of the earth; our souls are sacrificed for him.

First, we express our gratitude to the Great Lord who has once again granted us the opportunity to serve the dear people of this city and the esteemed pilgrims who have come from various parts of the country after several years of deprivation. Indeed, this is the best and most distinguished place in our dear and vast country, and I thank God that I meet with you, our dear people, the faithful and motivated, the residents and pilgrims, in this important center and spiritual base, the place where divine angels descend.

In these past two or three years, there has been a public trial that, thanks be to God, has been largely contained. I feel it is my duty to sincerely thank all those who have worked to contain this public calamity and widespread illness; from the researchers who identified this vile virus in various laboratories across the country and prepared vaccines for it, to those who produced and multiplied this vaccine in the country's pharmaceutical and health centers, to the doctors and nurses who helped deliver this vaccine to our people and those eager to receive it, and those who volunteered alongside doctors and nurses to assist patients, and those who helped procure protective equipment against the disease, such as vaccines and necessary facilities. I must thank all of them. And let us pray that the Almighty God removes this calamity from our dear nation and the Muslim nations and all the people of the world, God willing. If, God willing, dear brothers and sisters could reduce this commotion a little, I will present the matter I have prepared for you. Now, to help calm this existing commotion in the atmosphere, please send a loud salawat (blessing).

The topic I have chosen for today's discussion is derived from the first prayer of the year. In the prayer for the new year, we read: "O Turner of the year and the conditions, turn our condition to the best condition." My discussion today is about transformation, meaning change of state, change of condition. Of course, we must ask God, but we must also strive. Prayer and supplication to the Almighty God are often answered when a person takes steps towards what they have asked of God. You pray for healing from your illness, but you also visit the doctor, and the Almighty God answers your prayer. We seek transformation from God, but we must also strive ourselves; it is our effort that causes the Almighty God to bestow His favors upon us and fulfill this desire.

In the past, I have spoken several times in public speeches about transformation in society, in the system, in the country; today I will speak with a bit more specificity in this regard; this is necessary due to the importance of the issue. You see, fundamental issues must be presented to public opinion, and public opinion must become familiar with fundamental needs; [this way] thoughts will become active. New ideas, young thinkers regarding important issues that are presented to public opinion will become active and bring them to the necessary level; therefore, we present important issues, including this issue of transformation. If public opinion does not welcome an idea, that idea does not materialize; it will merely be waves in the atmosphere, something a person says, and then it is forgotten; or it will be a few lines on paper. For great desires and demands to materialize, they must be discussed with the people, with thinkers, with the public opinion of the people. Well, I will now present this issue today and discuss some aspects of it; however, the continuation of the discussion and its follow-up is up to you; it is up to you young people, it is up to you thinkers, it is up to you students and academics; you must sit down and discuss.

The first point I must mention in this regard is to clarify what we mean by transformation. What does transformation mean? Transformation means change. What do we want to change and transform? This is the most important issue. The enemies of the Islamic system also speak of transformation; they too seek transformation, [but] the transformation they seek is exactly the opposite of what we desire. They present this transformation, and unfortunately, some inside also repeat the same words, either imitating them or out of negligence, with different expressions: for example, changing the constitution or changing the structure of the Islamic system; this is the same foreign narrative, the same enemy narrative, but sometimes an internal element, either out of negligence or sometimes with other motivations, repeats that narrative. What the enemy seeks, which they call transformation, is to change the identity of the Islamic Republic. The enemies of Islamic Iran are global arrogance and Zionism; they oppose the identity of the Islamic Republic; when they speak of change, transformation, structural change, revolution, and the like, their intention is to alter the identity of the Islamic Republic. Their goal is to eliminate everything that reminds the people of the revolution and of Islam; pure Islam and revolutionary Islam. They oppose the repeated mention of the Imam, they oppose the teachings of the Imam being brought up, they oppose the issue of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, they oppose the twenty-second of Bahman (February 11), they oppose the Day of Quds, they oppose elections in the Islamic Republic and the enthusiastic participation of the people, they oppose anything that prominently reflects revolutionary Islam and the Islamic Republic; their aim is to change these things. When they mention structural change, when they speak of transformation, their intention is to eliminate these, which are actually all the strengths of our country, the strengths of the Islamic Republic.

In summary, the enemy's goal is to transform Islamic democracy into a government that serves global arrogance. They seek a government in Iran that aligns with the desires of global arrogance: either a personal government where a compliant individual is in power, or a seemingly Western democratic government that is, in reality, a false and deceptive democracy, which operates under their control, according to their desires; they desire this. Global arrogance seeks a government in Iran that can threaten or entice them and fulfill their demands through threats and enticements, plundering the country, gaining political or economic dominance; they are pursuing this. The change that the enemy speaks of, the transformation that the enemies of the Islamic Republic propose, is this kind of change.

What I mean by transformation is entirely different from this transformation that is sometimes repeated in the language of the enemies. What I mean by the term transformation refers to changing defective parts and points; whether in the Islamic system or in Iranian society. We have defective points, we have weak sections, we have weaknesses; we must identify these weaknesses, we must specify these points, and with a decisive will — which I will say is not an easy task — we must eliminate these weaknesses and turn them into strengths, some examples of which I will mention later.

Of course, this task is difficult and heavy and requires national self-confidence. If a nation has confidence in its abilities, in its capacities, it is capable of transformative actions; a nation that has self-confidence can successfully carry out transformative actions; the officials of this nation will also dare to speak of transformation and take action for transformation. Well, our nation, thanks be to God, possesses self-confidence; our nation is a nation of dignity, self-confidence, independence-seeking, and bravery, as you have all seen examples of, and I will mention a few examples later. Our nation has shown in various arenas that it trusts itself, that it trusts its capabilities.

This is one thing; if we want transformation to take place, we need national self-confidence; this is one. Secondly, we need vigilance. If we are not vigilant, if we are negligent, in the name of transformation, we may harm our strengths; one can sometimes observe this. Some are well-meaning towards the system, interested in the Islamic system and the revolution, but sometimes they become negligent, and in trying to carry out a good movement, a reform movement, they act carelessly and harm the strengths. We must be careful not to harm our strengths. Well, keep this point in mind.

If we want to avoid harming our strengths, we must recognize our strengths. What are the strengths of our society? We must identify them correctly, pay attention, and recognize them. I will mention one or two examples. Of course, these are lengthy and detailed discussions; thinkers, especially [you] young people, must sit down and think about these and work on them. Dear youth! My expectations from you are very high. (3) (Thank you very much, pay attention!) Today, I will only briefly mention one aspect of these strengths; the rest is up to you.

One of the most important strengths of the Iranian nation and our Islamic community is that the internal foundation of our Islamic community is strong and solid; think about this; this is very important; the solidity of the internal foundation of the Islamic system and the Iranian nation. I previously made a reference to this issue in a speech (4); now I will explain it a bit more. This solidity of the Islamic system's foundation, this strength of the Islamic system's foundation, the internal solidity of the Islamic system and the Iranian nation, stems from faith. The people of Iran are faithful people; even those who may seem to lack proper adherence to some Islamic rulings have good heart-felt faith; they believe in God, they believe in religion, they believe in the Quran, they believe in the Imams; they are faithful people. The Iranian nation is faithful, is dignified, is self-confident; these factors have caused the internal structure of the Iranian nation and the Islamic system to become solid. How can we recognize and feel this solidity? What are the signs of this solidity? I will mention two or three of these signs.

The first sign is the Iranian nation's overcoming the chain of hostilities over decades. Which country do you know, which revolution do you know that has been able to withstand for many years against the blows of the most powerful countries in the world, resist, and not yield? The Iranian nation has been able to stand firm against this long chain of enemy conspiracies and tricks; against coups, against sanctions, against political pressures, against media attacks; this media attack that has been launched for Iranophobia and revolutionophobia in the world is unprecedented; such a thing has never existed. In the face of security conspiracies, which nation besides the Iranian nation can or has been able to stand against these? This is internal solidity; this indicates that the foundation of the Iranian nation is a strong foundation. A clear example in front of everyone's eyes is in the recent disturbances [that occurred] a few months ago, when disturbances were incited and everyone got involved; see! These are important points. The president of a country like the United States openly supported the internal disturbances of the country. The presidents and leaders of some European countries also openly supported these disturbances — which were a very small percentage of the Iranian nation; very, very, very, very few — they provided not only verbal support, but also military support, financial support, security support. They provided various forms of assistance to these disturbances; in fact, they prepared themselves to weaken the Islamic Republic, thinking that they could weaken it. The goal was to weaken the Islamic Republic, but what happened on the ground was exactly the opposite of what they wanted. The Islamic Republic showed that it is strong, not weak. It overcame such disturbances, such a global conspiracy, and showed the world that it is strong. The twenty-second of Bahman (February 11) of 1401 was more enthusiastic and more populous than all the previous twenty-second of Bahman celebrations; this indicates the internal solidity of the Iranian nation. [Thus] we said that the Iranian nation has solidity and a strong foundation; one sign is the steadfastness and resistance against major conspiracies.

Another sign is the great advancements of the Iranian nation. They do not want these words to be repeated. The enemy is very upset and dissatisfied with the repetition of these words, but it is a reality. We have made advancements that I will briefly mention some of, and all these advancements occurred during sanctions, during economic blockade, during the most severe economic pressures that had occurred until that time; the Americans themselves said this; the Americans said that the economic pressure we placed on Iran was unprecedented in history; they are right, despite all their lies, they spoke the truth; it was the most unprecedented economic pressure. In such conditions, the Iranian nation made advancements. It advanced in the field of science, it advanced in technology, in some scientific fields, it ranked among the top countries in the world; in some areas, it was among the top five countries, in some among the top ten countries, in some among the top three countries; among two hundred countries. Our scientific advancements, our technological advancements are like this; in nanotechnology, in biotechnology, in various sectors; in health, Iran's advancements have been better than many advanced countries in the world; this was evident in the case of COVID-19; in the nuclear field, in aerospace, in defense; which they all acknowledge and confess, because they want to create a card against the Islamic Republic, they confess that Iran has advanced in terms of defense, in terms of weapons. In the field of biotechnology, we have made significant advancements. The world has praised us, the scientists of the world have praised our scientists, our young scientists.

Advancements in the country's infrastructure; in roads, in railways, in dam construction, in water supply — [like] the recent inauguration of the Ghadir water supply project (5) — in building refineries, in building hospitals; many of these were accomplished in 1401; a part of it, a section in South Pars was entirely done from start to finish by Iranians; this [advancement] occurred; when? At a time when there were so many sanctions, when there was economic pressure. [Advancement] in the production of liquefied gas, which was a very important task — which will hopefully create an opening for the country — occurred recently; in previous periods, significant work was also done.

Advancements in foreign relations. The West pressured to isolate Iran; the Americans and Europeans pressured to isolate Iran. "Isolation" in foreign policy means cutting relations with countries; [when] countries do not have relations with a country, they say it has been isolated; what happened was the opposite result. Yes, our relationship with the Westerners weakened — we had no relationship with the Americans, our relationship with Europe also weakened — but we strengthened our relationship with Asia by one hundred percent; we will continue this as well; we will continue our political, economic, technical, and scientific communications with important countries in Asia. We have joined some important regional agreements; the enemy wanted to isolate us, but the efforts and capabilities of the Iranian nation enabled us to join some important and effective regional agreements; we were not isolated; on the contrary, we became prominent, and our relations with regional governments and peoples were strengthened. Strong connections with Africa and Latin America are among our definite plans, and God willing, we will pursue this program. Of course, we are not at odds with Europe; we are ready to work with any European countries and governments that do not blindly follow the policies of the United States.

These advancements have occurred. These advancements are signs of the solid and strong foundation of the Iranian nation and the Islamic system. These advancements have arisen in the shadow of faith, in the shadow of a sense of national dignity, in the shadow of a sense of need for internal capabilities; that is, our nation and our officials have realized that they need to rely on internal capabilities; previously, reliance was on others, on foreigners; they understood that this reliance on others is not credible; it is there one day, and not there the next; we must trust in our internal capabilities. When we announced "resilient economy," we said that resilient economy is "endogenous" and "outward-looking"; (6) it is endogenous, meaning that internal capabilities and capacities must be utilized for the economy, and of course, it is outward-looking, meaning we are ready for economic communications with all countries. We felt this; both the Iranian nation felt it, and our youth felt it, and our officials felt that they need to rely on their internal capabilities.

Therefore, we have many strengths; I mentioned internal solidity, I also mentioned advancements; these exist, and there are many more that cannot be discussed here. These are our strengths; these must not be harmed. The Islamic system is "the Islamic Republic"; neither "the Republic" should be harmed, nor "Islamic" should be harmed. These are strengths. In any transformation, we must rely on these strengths, we must enhance them, we must highlight and expand the strengths, but alongside these, there are also weaknesses. Transformation is aimed at changing weaknesses. I will briefly discuss weaknesses, mentioning two or three points.

If we have four or five major weaknesses in our country, at the top of all of them is the issue of the country's economy. The economy of the country is honestly one of our weaknesses. [Of course] many economic policies are a legacy of the past; "the past" means the past before the revolution, and some have emerged after the revolution; some of these fundamental economic problems and infrastructures are related to before the revolution, and some are related to after the revolution.

It may be said that the most important problem of our economy is state control. Our greatest focus in the 1980s was on handing over the keys of the country's economy to the government; this harmed our economy; this is related to us; we did this ourselves. Perhaps the most significant weakness of our economy is the excessive state control. When people are sidelined from economic management and economic activity, major projects, important companies, wealth-generating productions are placed in the hands of the government and not in the hands of economic activists from the people, the problems we observe today in our economy arise. The most important problem is "the state of the economy."

In presenting and announcing economic policies, Article 44 was carefully worked on with the help of numerous experts — that is, experts worked on it — and the policies were communicated. The foundation of these policies was that we should hand over the management and economic activities needed by the people to the people; of course, there are some sectors that either the people do not demand or must necessarily be in the hands of government agencies; those aside, but important sectors of the economy must be in the hands of the people. We have repeatedly emphasized that state-owned enterprises, government companies, quasi-government companies — which are derogatorily referred to as "privatized" which is not a good term; [rather] they are quasi-governmental — should not compete with private enterprises and should allow the people to carry out production. The day we handed over all the reins of work to the government, we did so with the intention that economic justice would be established; and economic justice was not established. They mistakenly thought that if the keys to the economy were in the hands of the government, economic justice would come about; this was a mistake, and such a thing did not happen. The government must reduce its control, increase oversight; reduce interference, increase oversight; they must be vigilant. One of the major flaws in our economy, perhaps the biggest flaw in our economy, is this; this has been recommended to every government that has come to power; these handovers have not been carried out in some cases, and in some cases, they were done incorrectly. Instead of being handed over for the benefit of the people, in some cases, they were handed over to the detriment of the people. This has caused this work not to be done. Today, one of the essential tasks that the respected government must undertake is to carefully, vigilantly, and with necessary oversight hand over economic management to the people.

Another major flaw in our economy is dependence on crude oil exports. We export crude oil while we do not have control over crude oil. The one who imports our oil — when the Europeans were buying and importing our oil — benefited more from this oil import than we did, who owned the oil and extracted it from the wells and sold it to him. The taxes he collected and the benefits he derived were greater than those of the oil owners; the same is true now. We must cut the umbilical cord of the economy from crude oil exports and focus more on non-oil activities [instead]. Fortunately, as reports indicate, movement towards increasing non-oil exports and non-oil economic activities has begun, and good work is being done.

One of the problems in our economy is dependence on the dollar. Some countries that have been sanctioned have cut their dependence on the dollar, and their situation improved. We now know countries — I do not want to name them — that have been subjected to severe Western sanctions and have cut their relations with SWIFT — which is a Western international mechanism — have set aside the dollar, conducted transactions with local currencies, and their situation improved; we must do this as well.

One of the things I want to mention regarding the economy — these are our fundamental issues, and I want public opinion to pay attention to these matters, to be approved in public opinion, and to be published — one of the most important issues we need for the country's economy to improve is continuous and rapid growth. Our economic growth has been weak. In the economic policies we announced to the governments, we declared an eight percent growth; while in many years of the 1990s, our growth was below zero. Overall, when the transfer of power occurred, the growth was very low; now I do not want to mention the exact figures, for example, about one percent or less. We need rapid and continuous economic growth; not that we have growth one year, then stop again. When can we achieve this rapid and continuous growth? When we can increase production with the help and guidance of the people. The respected government officials and also the representatives of the people in the Islamic Consultative Assembly must encourage the people to play a productive role in the economy and guide them; they must create trust in the private sector to invest, to create jobs; the private sector can do this. In 1401, last February, a number of important technologists of the country met with me in the Hosseiniyeh; (7) some of them spoke; the facts they presented and the examples they showed were astonishing; that is, this demonstrates the capabilities of the Iranian nation. We have great capabilities; we can accomplish great things. If the capabilities of the nation are utilized in the economy, the livelihood of the people will definitely improve, and the inflation situation will definitely improve. We set the slogan of the year, among other things, as controlling inflation and increasing production; (8) "controlling inflation and increasing production." Controlling inflation depends on increasing production, and increasing production is in the hands of the people; if the people act and strive, this work is practical and can be accomplished.

One of the important flaws we have is that we have not thought about ways for public participation. I hereby recommend to the respected officials, to economic experts, to those who care about the fate of the country to sit down and find ways for the general public to participate in economic matters. Wherever the people have entered, we have made progress. In the Sacred Defense, the people entered, and we succeeded; in the political matters of the country, wherever the people have entered, we have succeeded; in economic matters, it is the same; [if] the people enter, all the people enter, we will succeed; but how should the people enter? We must show the map of the people's entry into the economic sphere. Of course, in past years, I have emphasized [the creation of] small companies and support for small companies; (9) there have also been unsuccessful experiences in this regard; some actions were taken that were not complete and well-considered; such actions must be taken.

Another problem in our economy is the lack of dynamism in foreign trade. Our production capacity domestically is high; whether in agriculture or in industry; the global markets are also very vast. We can increase our foreign trade, advance it, and organize what directly relates to the livelihood of the people and their tables, God willing, which is one of the important tasks. Today, our dynamism in foreign trade is low; our methods are sometimes incorrect; these need transformation; they require transformation. One of the areas that needs transformation is this issue of foreign trade.

Assistance to knowledge-based companies, which I recommended last year, and fortunately it has been realized; although it was not done to the extent we desired, it has developed. Knowledge-based companies have done a lot; both their efforts have increased, their products have increased, and their revenues have increased; [creating] small enterprises, knowledge-based transformation of large factories; these are useful actions that help this transformation.

Another area that requires transformation, which must be considered by the dear brothers and sisters in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, is transformation in the legislative sector; law-making. The general policies of legislation have been communicated; (10) these policies must be taken into account, and law-making must be done more completely and thoughtfully than what is currently being done. One of the things that has often caused differences between the executive and legislative branches in various governments, in all periods — now that, thanks be to God, the two branches are working together and are close — is that there is a complaint that sometimes in the annual budget law in the Assembly, definite expenses are approved while uncertain revenues are placed against them; this leads to a budget deficit; the budget deficit, as we said, is one of the major economic calamities; these must not happen. We have other weaknesses in various fields, which we will leave for other opportunities, God willing.

The opposite of the transformative movement in the country — whose goal is to strengthen strengths and eliminate weaknesses — is the policy of the enemies of Islam and the enemies of the Islamic Republic; they are working and acting in direct opposition to this transformative movement; their goal is to strike at the strengths, as I previously mentioned; we must inevitably share these with the people; the people must know. The day Saddam attacked us during the Sacred Defense, information was disseminated, and we informed the people that a war had broken out in the country, meaning public opinion was made aware of the great event of war.

Of course, today in this existing hybrid war, there is no military attack; the enemy does not carry out a military attack; it does other things; here too, information dissemination is necessary, so that the people know how the enemy enters and with what policies, and look at events with clarity. When our dear people become familiar with the situation, whenever any event occurs, they look at it with clarity.

Yes, in the hybrid war, there is no military attack, but there is an attack on religious and political beliefs; the enemy's attack is on religious beliefs and political beliefs. When you say in Surah "Qul A'udhu Birabbin-Nas": "Min Sharil-Waswasil-Khannas * Alladhi Yuwaswisu Fi Sudurin-Nas * Min Al-Jinnati Wan-Nas," (11) the Khannas are these foreign propagandists and their followers inside; they whisper, distort the truths; their goal is to weaken the will of the nation, their goal is to extinguish hopes; they want to extinguish the flame of hope in the hearts of our youth, to make the youth despair. Despair means a dead end; when a youth becomes despondent about progress, about the future, they feel a dead end; one cannot expect someone who feels a dead end to act correctly. They want to sow discord, they want to create a bipolar society; they want to take away the real software of national power from the nation, to make it ineffective; this software consists of the faith of the people, the religious values of the people, the national values of the people, the beliefs of the people. When they do these things, they seek to create instability in the country, to create insecurity, and if they can, to instigate a civil war; but their heads have hit the rock and will continue to do so.

In the hybrid war, the enemy uses media, cultural factors, security factors, infiltration, and economic factors; it uses all these factors to besiege the nation, to cause despair among the people, to make the people oblivious to their own power. They try to separate the nation from the means of information dissemination. Well, we have means of informing the people; they make them suspicious: do not listen to the radio and television, its news is false; do not pay attention to the reports of officials, their reports are false; do not listen to the words of the Leader, his words are repetitive; is it repetitive? For years, the enemy front has loudly declared that we want to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees, and the Leader responds, "You are mistaken"; this is not repetition; this is steadfastness. The Almighty God has commanded us — the command to the Prophet is a command to all, a command to us — that "Fa-staqim Kama Umirta Wa Man Taba Ma'aka"; (12) this is steadfastness, holding onto and preserving this truth and standing firm on it; this is not repetition. Thanks be to God, the people are awake, the people are standing, the people are in the scene; this has been shown by our dear people over many years. The Iranian nation has dealt a blow to all those who incited the people during the recent disturbances or supported the disturbances, and by the grace of God, in the future, the Iranian nation will strike back at its enemies.

I firmly declare that the Iranian nation is strong, the Iranian nation is progressing, the Iranian nation is capable of rectifying its flaws, capable of creating transformation, it can eliminate its flaws, the Iranian nation supports the resistance front. We explicitly declare our support for the resistance front, and we categorically reject participation in the Ukraine war. They falsely claimed that Iran is participating in the Ukraine war; absolutely not; we have no participation. The Ukraine war was actually initiated by America; for the expansion of NATO eastward, the groundwork for this war was actually created by America; now, they are reaping the most benefits from the Ukraine war; the unfortunate people of Ukraine are in trouble, and the American arms factories are benefiting from it; therefore, they do not cooperate with the end of the Ukraine war; America is the obstacle to the actions that must be taken to end this war and does not allow it; they are dissatisfied with the end of the Ukraine war.

Well, in conclusion, I mentioned the flaws of the system as a whole and pointed out some of the flaws; some flaws also exist among us, the people, which we must also rectify. Among us, there are some flaws that are actually related to economic issues; one of them is extravagance. We waste; we waste water, we waste bread, we waste electricity, we waste gas; we act extravagantly. Some countries that have several times our population consume less gas than we do, consume less gasoline than we do. Our gasoline consumption is high, our gas consumption is high; we act extravagantly. We waste water, we throw away bread; this is a major flaw; we must rectify this. A few years ago, I emphasized this specifically.

Another problem among us is extreme consumerism; consumerism. This is what has made marriages difficult; a young person at the age of marriage — whether a girl or a boy — is unable to marry; why? Because their parents are caught up in the expectations of relatives; a certain dowry, a certain bridal gift, certain extravagances, certain parties! The costs of marriage have risen. We must step out of this race of consumerism; a number of people have started a competition in consumerism; you must remove yourselves from this competition. This is one of our flaws.

Another major flaw is that we do not have a bias towards domestic products; bias in many places is a bad thing, but here it is a good thing. We must have a bias towards domestic production. There is a product that has been produced domestically, and there is a similar foreign one — of course, the importer should not have imported it, now they have imported it — sometimes the quality of this domestic product is not less than that of the foreign product, sometimes it is even better, [but] we go for the foreign product; why? Why do you not help this Iranian worker? This domestic product was made by an Iranian worker; when you do not buy it, that worker becomes unemployed. You buy the foreign product, you prefer it over the domestic product; this is a major flaw and is upon us; these are our flaws. Not all flaws are related to the system and the governing bodies of the country; some things are also related to us.

In some places, leniency and forgiveness are necessary, [but] we do not forgive. Over a small difference of opinion, we grab each other's collars; why? Two people may have a difference of opinion on an issue — for example, in a political matter — well, let them have it; why should they fight? Why should they grab each other's collars? Why should a bipolar society be created? We must be forgiving. In some places, we must overlook, we must be forgiving. This is also one of our problems.

One important recommendation I have for all those who have the ability to speak to the people and have media at their disposal — whether in cyberspace, in the press, or in radio and television — is to create hope. The enemy tries to make our youth hopeless; we must, in turn, create hope. There are many hopeful issues in the country; the very things I mentioned and ten times more are hopeful and encourage hope. Everyone is obliged to create hope; take this seriously.

Creating hope is not self-deception. Some think that creating hope is hiding weaknesses, self-deception; no, weaknesses must also be expressed, that is fine; but alongside expressing weaknesses, hope must also be created, and a bright future and horizon must be placed before the eyes and shown. Our situation, thanks be to God, is a good situation. Today, we must keep this noble verse in mind: "And do not weaken," do not become weak, "and do not grieve," do not be sad, "and you will be the uppermost," you are the best, "if you are believers"; (13) your faith is what elevates you, what gives you superiority. The situation of our enemies, the United States, is exactly the opposite of our situation today in this region. We know what we are doing in the region; our policy is clear, our path is clear. The Americans are perplexed about whether to stay in the region or leave; if they stay, the hatred of the nations towards them increases day by day. The Americans entered Afghanistan with great force and military might, stayed there for twenty years; they made the Afghan nation dissatisfied with them, made them resentful, and were forced to leave. If they stay, they become hated; if they leave, they lose their interests; they have interests here, the Americans have interests in Syria, they have interests in Iraq, they have interests in the whole region; if they let themselves leave, these interests will be lost; they do not know what to do; whether to stay or leave; they are perplexed. Thanks be to God, our path is clear, our insight is intact, our steps are, thanks be to God, firm and stable, and our enemy is in a state of weakness.

O Lord! Increase these successes day by day. O Lord! Unite our great Imam who opened this path for us with Your saints. O Lord! Unite our dear martyrs who were able to bring this great movement to fruition with the Prophet, with the martyrs of the early Islam. O Lord! Make the heart of Your guardian and proof, the Awaited One (may our souls be sacrificed for him), pleased with us; include his prayers and intercession for us; always keep our nation proud, dear, and happy.

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