Statements in Meeting with System Officials on the Seventh of Ramadan; at the Hosseiniyeh of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified)

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 al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and infallible family and his chosen companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment.

I extend my warm welcome to dear brothers and sisters, esteemed officials in various sectors of the country, and the political and managerial elites in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is a very important session; I also thank Mr. President for his strong and good statements on various topics.

The month of Ramadan is a special opportunity to rejuvenate the spirit of faith, purity, and spirituality within us; fasting, reciting the Quran, praying, supplication, listening to sermons, all of these create an atmosphere that allows our hearts, to the extent of their capacity, to benefit from this spiritual and divine environment. It could be said that among the twelve months of the year, this month is like the two or three hours before dawn in the entire day; just as those one or two hours before the dawn have a special quality and human spirituality is more refined during that time - as mentioned in the Quran and abundantly referenced in narrations - it indicates that those hours have a quality that other hours do not possess; the month of Ramadan, among the twelve months, has a similar quality.

Well, this opportunity exists for all people, but for the elite and managerial atmosphere of the country, this quality has an additional advantage; because a heavy responsibility rests on our shoulders. Ordinary people, busy with their daily lives, do not bear this heavy burden, and their spiritual strength can motivate them; however, we who have responsibilities, if we do not strengthen our spiritual foundation, we will not be able to fulfill our necessary duties and carry this heavy responsibility to its destination. You observe that the Almighty God addresses someone like the Prophet, a noble human being like the Messenger of God in Surah Al-Muzzammil: "In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O you who wraps himself [in clothing], arise during the night, except for a little - half of it or subtract from it a little or add to it, and recite the Quran with measured recitation;" (Surah Al-Muzzammil, verses 1-4) - "Arise for worship, pray, supplicate, read the Quran during those hours; why? Because We will send down upon you a weighty word;" (Surah Al-Muzzammil, verse 5) - "Your task is difficult, a heavy burden is upon you, a weighty word will be revealed to you; you must be able to bear it. If this midnight awakening, this supplication, this prayer exists, you can bear this burden and carry it to its destination; if not, then not. Our situation is like this. My dear ones! If we do not strengthen our spiritual foundation, we cannot; wherever we are - from this humble servant, whose responsibility is heavier than all, to managers at various levels - we are all addressed by this statement: "We will send down upon you a weighty word;" we must prepare ourselves.

Well, regarding current issues, Mr. President raised a good discussion, and I will also present some points in this regard. We are at a juncture; the Islamic Republic has gone through various stages from the beginning until today, and at each stage, an experience, a test, a significant trial has emerged; the Islamic Republic has faced various events of these stages with strength, resilience, and has progressed. This is also a juncture that, God willing, the Islamic Republic will face with strength, capability, and wisdom and will advance; we have experiences that we must utilize and apply.

The main issue in this specific matter is that we have observed an enemy from the very beginning of the revolution until today; from the first hours of the revolution, this enemy emerged, appeared, and began to oppose, and this enemy was the government of the United States of America; from the very beginning - of course, after their confusion was resolved and the days when they did not know what was happening passed - they began to oppose and resist. The Americans, until today, as we speak here, have carried out various forms of enmity, tricks, and schemes to strike at the Islamic Republic; in fact, you will not find any type of opposition that they have not directed against the Islamic Republic; they organized military coups, incited ethnicities, encouraged Saddam to wage war against Iran and attack Iran; then during the war, they supported him in various ways; they imposed sanctions; they exerted influence against us in the United Nations; they conducted round-the-clock propaganda; they utilized art; they used Hollywood to produce films against us, not just one or two; at various times, they engaged in military actions; they shot down our airplane; they attacked some of our centers in the Persian Gulf; they did everything against the Islamic Republic; security, political, economic, propaganda, cultural opposition; everything. The goal of all these actions was overthrow; now that this term is repeated in the statements of American officials, it is nothing new; from the very first day, their goal was the same. Even that president who repeated and insisted that our goal is not overthrow, his goal was also overthrow, which became completely clear.

Well, in all these matters, what is important and interesting is that all this enmity, attack, and plotting against the Islamic Republic has failed. Today, observe the Islamic Republic, after about forty years, with strength, resilience, and various capabilities - some of which I may refer to, some of which Mr. Dr. Rouhani mentioned - it is moving forward; in other words, everything they did, all their forces consumed, utilized various means, all of this has failed; like that famous cat in the story of "Tom and Jerry," in all these plans, despite the vast volume, they ultimately remained unsuccessful. Well, today is another juncture, and again they will fail; in this matter, you can be certain that America will fail, and the Islamic Republic will emerge victorious and proud from this ordeal.

We have no doubt about the enemy's defeat; I have no doubt. Anyone familiar with Islamic teachings knows that "If you support God, He will support you," (Surah Muhammad, part of verse 7) and "Indeed, God will support those who support Him;" (Surah Al-Hajj, part of verse 40) or the verse that was recited, "And victory is only from God;" (Surah Al-Imran, part of verse 126) these are certain and there is no doubt about them. We know they will be defeated; we know that the fate of the current president will not be better than the fate of his predecessors - Bush and the neocons and the associates of Reagan and the rest - he too will be lost in history like them, and the Islamic Republic will remain proud; we have no doubt about this. However, according to divine tradition, we have responsibilities; this certain result of progress and divine support for the Islamic Republic should never make us neglect our duties. We have responsibilities that if we do not fulfill, we cannot be assured of those results; we must perform our duties. Well, we want to discuss our current responsibilities a bit today, and this discussion will help us to create a consensus in various sectors, at various levels - thanks be to God, all officials are present - in this regard. We will consider the topic in two parts: one is the behavior we should have towards America and the JCPOA and the claims against us - this is one discussion - and the other discussion is how we should act internally and what we should do to take firm steps and achieve the desired results; these are the two parts of the discussion. I will try to clarify these two parts, God willing, as much as we can with the opportunity and time available.

Regarding the first part, the necessary prelude to any decision is that we refer to our past experiences: "He who tests the tested will regret;" (Arabic proverb) if we do not learn from experiences, we will certainly suffer losses. We must place experiences before our eyes, observe them, and learn from these experiences. Several experiences are before us; I will present four or five clear experiences that you will all acknowledge; these are before us. These are important for our current decision-making, as well as for future generations; they are important for those who will face various tasks in the future and will advance the Islamic Republic with strength, God willing.

The first experience is that the Islamic Republic cannot interact with America; why? Because America is not committed to its obligations. Do not say this is the fault of this government or Trump; no, the previous government also sat with us, talked, and its foreign minister was bound to meetings in Europe for ten or fifteen days, they were almost the same; now they acted differently but violated their commitments; they also imposed sanctions, they also acted contrary to their commitments. The American government acts contrary to its commitments; this is not the first time; various previous issues confirm this. The series of interactions they had with the JCPOA, in the words of our diplomats, was a violation of the spirit and letter of the JCPOA; our esteemed diplomats, who had truly worked tirelessly on the JCPOA, repeatedly stated during this government and the previous American government that the JCPOA had been violated; sometimes they violated the spirit of the JCPOA and sometimes the letter of the JCPOA. Well, a government with such characteristics that easily violates an international treaty, then casually withdraws from it and says I have exited the treaty - with theatrical television actions; showing its signature that we have exited from such [treaty] - it is clear that the Islamic Republic cannot interact with this government at least. This is the answer to those who have repeatedly asked us over time why we do not negotiate with America, why we do not interact with America; this is the answer. Of course, America behaves similarly with many other countries; with various other governments, it is the same, which is not our current discussion; at least the Islamic Republic cannot interact with America, it cannot work with it; this is the first experience.

Iran was committed, loyal to this commitment, meaning they have no excuse; the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly confirmed, others have also confirmed that Iran has been committed, [so] they have no excuse; yet you see that they easily disrupt this international treaty, they violate their own signature, they say no, we do not accept it. Well, with such a government, we cannot sit and negotiate, we cannot trust it, we cannot sign contracts with it, we cannot work with it; this is the essence of the matter. Of course, when we said "they cannot be trusted," this is a very certain matter; when I look at the regional issues and our own country's issues and similar matters, I see they have behaved similarly with others. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was completely obedient to them from 1953 to 1979, that is, for 25 years. They repeatedly behaved in ways that if you look at Alam's memoirs, you will see that the Shah, in meetings with his close associate Alam - of course, he does not dare to say this publicly or to the Americans themselves - begins to complain about the Americans that they did this, they did that; but ultimately, he is submissive to them. After the fate of that unfortunate and disgraced man turned out this way that he fled Iran and went, they did not allow him into America; he first went and stayed in America for a while, then they expelled him. That is, they behaved this way even with a 25-year loyal servant. Similar to this was Hosni Mubarak. In those critical days when the revolution in Egypt had begun and reached its peak and at any moment an incident could occur, they supported Hosni Mubarak for one hour, a few hours later they rejected him, a few hours later they spoke differently, and then they let him go; it was over; Hosni Mubarak, who had been completely at their disposal for thirty years and did everything they said regarding Palestine and non-Palestine. This is how they are; the Americans are like this; the American government, the American regime is like this; this is the first experience.

The second experience; the second experience is the depth of America's enmity with Iran and the Islamic Republic. The enmity is deep, not superficial. The opposition is not based on and centered around an issue like the nuclear issue, everyone has understood this; the discussion goes beyond these matters. The issue is that they oppose a regime that has risen in this sensitive region, stands tall, has grown, opposes the injustices of America, does not show any consideration towards America, develops the spirit of resistance in the region, and has taken the banner of Islam; they are deeply opposed. Their issue is that this Islamic regime and the Islamic Republic should not exist; not only should this regime not exist, but also the people who support this regime, that is, the Iranian nation, are also detested by the leaders of the American governments. One of the vice presidents of America - not this president, one of the previous presidents - explicitly said that we must uproot the Iranian nation - not the roots of the Islamic Republic. Well, then America's issue with the Islamic Republic is not that now their dispute is, for example, over the nuclear issue or over missiles or similar matters; no, the nuclear issue and missiles and such things have another story, meaning their emphasis on them - I may have mentioned this during the talk - is because they want to eliminate the components of the Islamic Republic's power. These are the components of the Islamic Republic's power and the might of the Iranian nation; that is why they focus on them. This is also this experience, and we cannot overlook this experience. Let us remember that America is the enemy of the Iranian nation and the enemy of the Islamic Republic; [and that is] deep enmity. The nuclear discussion and atomic issues and these talks are not the issue; the issue is the essence of the Islamic Republic.

The third experience; the third experience is that flexibility in the face of this enemy - due to seasonal expediencies that we have in some cases - will not dull the edge of their enmity, but rather will make them bolder; this is also an experience. Let us not forget that wherever we have yielded a little, they have come on stronger. That same wicked president - George W. Bush - named Iran the axis of evil in response to the flexibilities that the then government had shown towards him, and proudly stood, naming Iran the axis of evil; [because] flexibilities had been shown towards him. Now you also observe; we have protested against many of these sanctions they have imposed, the actions they have taken, the violations they have committed, but we have not taken any strong practical action; [this] was actually a kind of paying a cost. In response to paying these costs, now you see that the American president and his foreign minister, boldly, arrogantly, come to the field and speak, making demands; retreating in front of them, showing flexibility in front of them has no effect on reducing their enmity. If someone assumes that "Well, let us get rid of such an enemy, let us not let him act as an enemy," the way to prevent his enmity is not flexibility and yielding; if you want to do something to prevent him from being an enemy, very well, find that way, but this is not the way that we yield and retreat in front of him. [This] is not specific to America; the Westerners are generally like this. We do not forget - I mean this is one of the things that cannot be forgotten in our history - that at one time our president, who was in favor of flexibility towards the West and such matters, was summoned to court by a Western government - by Germany; in the Mykonos incident - over a baseless and illogical statement; that is, these are so brazen and shameless; such events have happened again. This is also an experience. Let us remember that the way to prevent the enmity of these enemies is not retreating and flexibility and such things.

Another experience, the opposite of this is that standing firm against them has a very high possibility of pushing them back. This happened in the nuclear issues; in 2004 and 2005, all our facilities were shut down; you know that we had sealed the UCF factory in Isfahan due to the negotiations we had made and to normalize the file of the Islamic Republic, the Iranian nuclear file; every time we yielded, they advanced; every time we showed flexibility, they became more aggressive; until finally, they told the Iranian delegation that the guarantee you must provide can only be achieved in one way, and that is to dismantle all your nuclear facilities; collect them all! Something similar to what Libya did. The real guarantee is this; otherwise, the peaceful nature of your nuclear activities cannot be guaranteed in any other way; only in this way can you eliminate all your facilities; that is how they entered the field. Now, the Isfahan factory - which was a basic factory - was shut down, enrichment did not exist in its true sense at all; even to have one or two or three centrifuges, we were discussing, and they said it was not possible! They would not agree that we have one centrifuge or two or three centrifuges. Then we saw that they were speaking too much, they were being too brazen, they were truly being shameless, we said then the game is over; we broke the seals, restarted the UCF factory, started enrichment in Natanz and then in other places, we reached twenty percent; that is, we moved from the three and a half percent that they did not allow us to move to, and our faithful youth were able to achieve twenty percent enrichment and many works that you are aware of and know. When we reached this point, they came to us insistently, in a sense pleading with us to say that very well, now you come and agree that you will not do twenty percent, for example, have five thousand or six thousand centrifuges - now these were the same ones who did not allow even three centrifuges or two centrifuges - [they said] it does not matter; come do enrichment, for example, have six thousand centrifuges or have that amount of three and a half percent enrichment; these are the same ones. Now Mr. Dr. Rouhani said; these - the United Nations and various political bodies of the world - in their own way have recognized Iran's right to enrichment; yes, they have recognized it, [but] its origin is not negotiation; do not make a mistake; its origin is our progress; because we have progressed, because we have moved forward, because we have reached twenty percent, they have settled for that; otherwise, if we were to negotiate to achieve this, it would not have been achieved until today and never. This is also an experience that in the face of the excessive demands of the opposing side and the opposing front, one should pursue one's own interests and move forward courageously.

Another important experience in these JCPOA issues is that tying the resolution of the country's issues to the JCPOA and similar agreements or to external matters is a great mistake. We should not tie the issues of the country, the economic issues of the country, and various issues of the country to something that is beyond our control, that is managed and decided outside the country. When we tie the economic issue of the country, the business of the country to the JCPOA, the result is that business owners and investors must wait for several months to see what decisions the foreigners will make regarding the JCPOA; they must wait, be patient, and see whether they will remain in the agreement or withdraw from it; after they sign, will they remain committed to the signature or not! The active economic apparatus of the people of the country must constantly wait for the behavior of foreigners. We cannot leave the capacity of the country idle waiting for the JCPOA agreement; a period of idleness for the implementation of the JCPOA, a period of idleness for the exit and non-exit from the JCPOA; that too in front of an enemy like America. These are parts of our experiences; we must keep these experiences in mind so that they are not repeated and we do not get bitten twice from the same hole and in future matters, we apply these experiences completely.

Well, if we do not utilize these experiences, and we are content with trivial matters, we will suffer losses. Just as Mr. President said, the Americans have truly lost in this matter from the moral, legal, and political reputation in the world; well yes, America has lost its reputation; this is a reality and there is no doubt about it, but I want to raise this: did we start negotiations to make America lose its reputation? Was the goal of our negotiations this? We started negotiations to lift the sanctions - and you observe that many of the sanctions have not been lifted, and now they are threatening that we will impose such and such sanctions on Iran; the same secondary sanctions that were lifted with the JCPOA and the resolution of the United Nations Security Council, they want to bring them back - was this the goal? Or it is said that, for example, a rift has emerged between Europe and America; well yes, there may be a minor, insignificant apparent rift between them, but we did not negotiate for this. Did we negotiate to create a rift between America and Europe? We negotiated to lift the sanctions; the beginning of the negotiation was for this, the continuation of the negotiation was for this; and this must be secured; if this is not secured, the rest of the things that have been achieved will not have much value. And I said that [the Europeans] do not oppose; the Europeans move along with America, they help each other: "And thus We have made for every prophet an enemy, devils among men and jinn, inspiring to one another adornment of speech delusion;" (Surah Al-An'am, part of verse 112) they help each other, send messages to each other, support each other morally. Well, these are things that we must consider as experiences of the JCPOA.

One important point I want to mention here; in the matter of the JCPOA, in dealing with the JCPOA, it is essential that political elements, managerial elements, and media and cultural elements avoid blaming each other; do not do this. Criticism, fair, reasonable, and wise criticism is not a problem; officials must listen to criticisms; but that we blame each other, insult, disrespect, accuse, these must be eliminated; a division and bipolarity based on the JCPOA should not arise. Now there are actions that must be taken, activities that must be done, which I have made a reference to and will make; this is reserved for itself; [but] let us not violate unity, solidarity, and mutual understanding in this matter; this is also a fundamental point.

Well, now considering what we have said, how should we deal with the JCPOA from now on? I have mentioned a few points here. The first point is: we should assess the issues realistically in dealing with this matter; let us not deceive ourselves with probabilities and things that are said, mentioned, and there is no certainty behind them; let us assess realistically, and also convey this realism to the people. That we were in the early negotiations and we imagined and told others that "yes, if we negotiate, one hundred billion dollars will enter the country," well this has a meaning; for our country, one hundred billion is a significant amount, it is an important amount, it can completely solve many of the country's problems; this was not a reality. Now the shameless American president still says that we gave Iran 100 billion, sometimes he says 150 billion; you made a mistake! When did you give money to Iran? You did not give even one dollar to Iran. We also, in a way, believed this 100 billion; well this was a conjecture, an imagination, an illusion, it was not a reality. We must be careful that what we specify for our future and our interests and in exchange for the costs we pay must be real and we must understand that reality and convey that reality clearly to the people.

I tell you, today the economy of the country cannot be fixed through the European JCPOA; the economy of the country will not be fixed this way. There are many signs that you are currently observing: some notable Western companies announce that they will leave, some have left, some say it is unclear what we will do; the leaders and officials of Western governments speak in various ways; Germany one way, France another way, the other one another way. The discussion of correcting the economic situation of the country cannot be fixed through the European JCPOA; now the European JCPOA is one issue, but we should not rely on it for the economy; the economy has other paths that I will refer to shortly. This is one point.

The second point is that the three European countries have committed a great betrayal and dishonesty with us regarding this nuclear issue over the past thirteen or fourteen years; in 2004 and 2005, they committed a great dishonesty with us; they promised something, did not act, acted contrary to it. They must prove that they no longer have that state; this is their responsibility. The European governments must prove to the Islamic Republic that today they will not have the dishonesty and betrayal of that day; they must compensate for it. This is the next point.

Another point is that in the past two years, America has repeated its violation of the JCPOA; various actions; as I mentioned, in the words of our diplomats, they have violated the spirit and letter of the JCPOA; [but] the Europeans remained silent; they should have stood against America, they should have protested against it; if they had protested, it might not have reached the point where America would casually put aside its signature and say I am exiting. They must compensate for the negligence they have shown in these two years.

The next point; America has violated Resolution 2231; (18) those who are members of the Security Council must bring a resolution against this American action to the Security Council; a resolution against America as a violator of Resolution 2231. One of the things they must do is this.

Europe must commit that it will not raise the issue of missiles and the presence of the Islamic Republic in the region; they must promise this. That at any time they raise something and bring up the missile issue in various forms is absolutely unacceptable. The leaders of these three countries must promise and accept that they will not raise the missile issue at all.

They must also confront any sanctions against the Islamic Republic. That is, now he says I will sanction Iran, they must stand firmly against America's sanctions. If there is to be an agreement between us and the Europeans, this is one of its conditions.

Of course, let everyone know that now we said they should not raise the missile issue; [but] the Islamic Republic will certainly not give up its components of power, one of which is the defensive force; defense from afar. One of the components of power is the defensive force; one of the components of power is our strategic depth. Presence in the countries of the region and the support of the peoples of the region for the Islamic Republic is the strategic depth of the Islamic Republic; the Islamic Republic cannot give this up; no wise government would give this up. Or the social capital of the people; this unity of the people and the gathering of the people under the banner of Islam; the movement of the Islamic Republic with the slogan and pride of being Islamic and Muslim; these are things that are the foundation and backbone of the Islamic Republic; let everyone know that no one will give up on these.

Another point is that Europe must guarantee the complete sale of Iran's oil; that is, now if the Americans manage to harm the sale of the Islamic Republic's oil, they must buy as much as the Islamic Republic wants; it may be that we welcome selling less oil - this depends on the policies of the government; the government may conclude that the less oil we sell and move our economy away from being oil-dependent, it may be in our interest, we may reach this conclusion - but if this does not happen and the decision is made to sell oil at the same level we are selling today, if the American actions create a disruption in this path, the Europeans must certainly compensate for it and must purchase it in a guaranteed manner.

The next point; European banks must guarantee the receipt, payment, and transfer of funds related to government and private trade with the Islamic Republic. When we said they must guarantee, guarantee means doing these things; they must guarantee these. I said: we do not have a dispute with these three countries, [but] we do not trust them. Our issue is not about fighting and creating disputes; our issue is about distrust; we do not trust these countries and this is based on a history; therefore, these guarantees must be genuinely fulfilled.

The next point is that if the Europeans delay in responding to these demands, our right to resume the suspended nuclear activities is preserved. Our nuclear organization officials must be prepared. I do not say now go start enriching at twenty percent, but I say be prepared. When the Islamic Republic deems it appropriate and necessary, to resume the suspended activities - which were due to the JCPOA; these were costs we were paying for the JCPOA - when we see that the JCPOA is of no benefit and we are not willing to pay the costs, naturally one of the ways is to go back to those things and activities that were suspended. This is regarding the matters related to the JCPOA.

The second part of our discussion is about our internal issues and our responsibilities within the country, which are economic issues. The first issue of the country is currently the economic issue. The activities that the government is engaged in, God willing, must continue with strength; the expansion of services and the works that the government is doing must be carried out. Well, the reality is that the economic situation of the country is not satisfactory; many people are under economic pressure. You are somewhat aware of the issue of inflation and these matters, and many people feel it with all their being; this is a fundamental problem of the country.

Well, in order to solve these problems, first and foremost, we must sincerely acknowledge a few things: first, we must know that the economic problem of the country can be solved by relying on abundant internal capacities; we must believe this. This is a reality that some do not accept and some are not aware of. We have many capacities in the country that are still unused, and later I will quote something in this regard from non-Iranian experts.

The second point we must believe is that Western prescriptions are not reliable for us. I do not say we should completely reject them; no, we should assess them. We should not submit unconditionally to Western prescriptions; neither in the field of economy nor in other areas like population issues. The population issue is one of those Western prescriptions. Recently, the malicious propaganda apparatus of the British government has prescribed that Iran would be a very good country for a population of thirty million! You are dreaming! God willing, this population will reach 150 million. The population policies of the country - those we pursued - were wrong policies. I have said this before; of course, the beginning was correct; the start was correct, [but] the continuation was not correct and was wrong, and we neglected this area; we must compensate for it. The economic problem of the country is the same; it will not be solved with Western prescriptions. Until now, whenever we have applied Western prescriptions over the years, we have not gained any benefit, we have suffered losses from some areas; the issue of adjustment when it came in the 1990s, the problem of social justice in our country was genuinely harmed, class gaps emerged; it may have had some benefits, but we also endured these major harms.

The third point we must pay attention to and believe is that handing over work to foreigners, given the broken promises we have seen from them until now, should be limited to emergencies, that is, only after we have completely lost hope in internal capabilities, then we should go to others; we must prioritize internal capabilities - which I believe are very abundant - over others.

The next point is the internal capacities I mentioned. The internal capacities are very abundant. A study conducted by the World Bank - this is not our issue; it is a professional study that the World Bank has conducted - they say: Iran is a reservoir of unused human and territorial talents; pay attention! They say Iran ranks first in the world in terms of not utilizing human and territorial talents; that is, there are abundant talents before us that we have not utilized, we have been negligent.

Human capacities: the number of people of working age and the level of education and such matters; those experts have said that if Iran properly utilizes these talents, it will be among the leading economies of the world. These are our capabilities, and we have immense wealth at our disposal.

[Of course] in this expert calculation, natural wealth is not mentioned, human wealth and territorial wealth - capabilities and territorial capacities - are mentioned. The issue of natural capacities and natural wealth is also an extraordinary issue. I once said in this session years ago that we have one-hundredth of the world's population, if we have one-hundredth of the important and essential metals needed for industries, it is enough; [but] we have more than one percent; some things we have three percent, some we have four percent, some we have five percent. The figures for oil and gas are very high; we are first in the world; in oil fourth, in gas first, in total oil and gas, we are also first in the world.

These are our capabilities; these are our capacities; we must utilize these capacities, and it is possible to utilize them; we can sit, think, plan. Of course, these are not things that will come in cash; it will take some time, but whenever we start, we will ultimately reach results. A few weeks ago, we held a meeting about the economic issues of the country; the esteemed heads of the three branches were present, active economic officials in the government, parliament, and judiciary were present; a relatively good discussion took place there, things were said. Of course, I am not an economist; the discussions were based on the words of experts. We said some arrangements must be made that must be carried out. Friends must follow these; now I recommend - the heads of the three branches are present, those gentlemen who were present in that meeting are all here now - [if] they follow the things that were discussed and decided that night with seriousness, the economic issues will certainly progress; we have no doubt about it. I have learned that the friends in the government’s economic team also confirmed what was discussed and said that night and announced as a decision in the meeting.

I say our enemy has taken the war room to the Treasury Department; [the war room] against us instead of the Ministry of Defense is their Treasury Department, and they are actively engaged. It was the same before; in 2011 and 2012 [when] they started those sanctions - thinking they were paralyzing sanctions that, to their dismay, could not paralyze the Islamic Republic - they were active; even the American minister would contact each of the heads of various banks in different countries; they were this active; day and night they were busy. I say here that a headquarters to counter the malice of this enemy must be formed in the economic structure; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must support it, must help in a supportive manner, but a headquarters must be formed in the economic center of the government and this work must be pursued. Of course, resistance economy is the remedy for all these, which must be pursued with seriousness; but today, given the actions the enemy is taking, specific parts of the resistance economy may gain priority that must be pursued.

Another point regarding the economy is that state economy does not work; the people must be involved, the policies of Article 44 must be taken seriously. I have repeatedly said this to the previous government, I have said this to the government of Mr. Rouhani as well, and I say it again; the policies of Article 44 must be taken seriously, the private sector must be brought into the field, support must be given to the private sector; this "National Development Fund" is for this purpose. The fact that now Mr. Dr. Rouhani pointed out that a portion of the currency and foreign income is not given to the government means it goes into the National Development Fund. This National Development Fund is under the control of the government and nothing of it is outside the government; the fund itself is under the control of the government, the officials of the fund are appointed by the government, the policies of the fund, withdrawals from the fund, everything is in the hands of the government, but in some cases, because a withdrawal is urgently needed for the government and the opportunity to go to the parliament for permission is not available, they come to me, they get permission from me to withdraw this money for this work, otherwise this fund is under the control of the government. This fund is important, and our strong recommendation is that this fund should not be spent for current expenses and the current costs of the country; it should only be made available to the economic activists of the private sector so that they can work. This is how the issue should be viewed and understood.

The next point regarding the economy. Oil-dependent economy - that is, primarily relying on the sale of crude oil - is one of the fundamental flaws of our economy; that statement I made twenty years ago and some officials of those days smiled and passed over it, when I said we must reach a point where whenever we want, we can close the doors of our oil wells, saying, "Sir, we want to stop exporting oil for three months," and this should be in our control; I wish we could; and this should not be considered impossible; this is something possible. Now it is said that customers will be lost and such talk; no, there are ways for all these. We should not be enslaved to oil; today we are enslaved to oil, we are in the grip of oil; oil is not in our hands. Its production is in our hands, [but] its pricing is in the hands of others, its possibility of sale is in the hands of others, its sanctions are in the hands of others; we are actually enslaved to oil, [but] oil should be in our control, oil should be in our hands; this is a definitive policy. Oil is a national asset. Of course, many years will pass until this asset is exhausted, but it will be exhausted. We have gotten used to taking this national reserve from underground and selling it without any added value. Well, at least let us work, create added value for it; both for oil and for gas - now [for] gas, some added value is created in petrochemicals and such things, but oil is just going away - these are fundamental problems we have. We must reduce our dependency on oil day by day. This is also this point.

The next point is that we must give importance to knowledge-based economy. Rapid economic growth will be possible through knowledge-based economy. Today we have the capability; there are many young, educated, literate individuals who can do things. Sometimes you hear or see on television a young entrepreneur who truly brings joy, one enjoys seeing that he has entered a field - agriculture, animal husbandry, industry, small industries, services, and such - started with little capital and has reached a point. [Wealth] creation through thought, through knowledge-based activities is also an issue.

The next point is that we must strengthen domestic production and Iranian goods. We must truly give importance to supporting Iranian goods; this is a necessary and essential task. Government officials, officials of various sectors, armed forces - which have major purchases, significant expenses in these matters - should strive to use absolutely Iranian products wherever Iranian products are available.

Then also the economic issue, as I mentioned before, should not be tied to the JCPOA and similar matters; [that is] to say, "If the JCPOA happens, the economy of the people will improve; if the JCPOA does not happen, the economy will deteriorate," no, the JCPOA is one matter, as has been said, it must be dealt with in a certain way; it must be dealt with with strength, wisdom, and planning; do not mix this with the economy. Do not say that if this does not happen, our economy will deteriorate; if this happens, the economy will be corrected; well, it happened, you saw the JCPOA was formed, the economy did not improve; the economy needs other factors, other elements; it cannot be fixed with these things.

One very important point here is that we must vigorously combat the policy of despair and creating the illusion of deadlock in the country; this is a hostile American and Western policy that aims to create a sense of deadlock, to instill despair; they do various things for this matter; we must firmly confront this policy. Injecting a sense of incapacity, hopelessness, and misery is the enemy's definitive policy. The enemy's goal is to take away the sense of pride that the Iranian nation has; through rumors, lies, exaggerating weaknesses, and downplaying successes and victories, they want to take away this sense. The Iranian nation today has a sense of pride; it feels independent, it stands tall, it is respected in the world, it has influence in the region, it has done and will do significant work; the nation feels proud, they want to take away this sense of pride, deprive it, portray victories as defeats. Our nation and our officials, thanks to the revolution and the self-belief stemming from the revolution, have truly shown brilliance. Throughout these years, significant work has been done; we have had all these troubles, we have had war, we have had sanctions; there have been all these difficulties, yet you see in the fields of agriculture, science, technology, health and treatment, in raising the level of public awareness, in international dignity, in real and reliable democracy, in extensive public services across the country, how much work has been done; what has been done is truly very significant and noteworthy. The enemy wants to portray victories as defeats to undermine the hopeful movement and effort that is the solution to the country's problems.

The country, thanks be to God, is strong; the Islamic Republic, thanks be to God, is strong; if we were weak, this much equipment would not be necessary against us. You see the enemy has created a front and entered the field with diverse equipment; well, why is this? If we were weak, they would not need to kill themselves to bring various types of weapons into the field; military weapons, propaganda weapons, economic weapons, and so on. It is clear that we are strong; well, we are strong and they try, and of course, they cannot; as we illustrated and previously mentioned. Every time they have failed, this time, thanks be to God, with God's permission, they will fail.

In summary, our discussion regarding the economic issues of the country is that the country, thanks to its capacities, has the ability to completely overcome economic problems. Let us identify the capacities, enumerate the capabilities, consider the experiences, and above all, let us not forget divine support. We strive for the elevation of God's word; we are not seeking material power and such things; we want Islam to be exalted, we want Islamic law to be realized in society; we want to create a government, a society, a country that is governed by the laws of religion; we are pursuing this. To some extent, we have succeeded, in some areas we have not succeeded, and we strive, God willing, to succeed in those areas where we have not succeeded; this is our goal. With this goal, divine support is certain; the Almighty God has promised, and God's promise never fails.

The last point I will mention is a matter regarding the United Nations. The United Nations has not acted well over the years; it has spoken, acted, and worked under the influence of America, which you have observed and seen; a secretary-general condemned the Saudi actions in Yemen, the next day he came and retracted his condemnation! When asked, he said, well, there was pressure, there was this and that. Pressure comes in two forms: monetary pressure and coercive pressure; the money is provided by the oil tycoons of the Persian Gulf, and the coercion is from America. Unfortunately, the United Nations has been under the influence of America. It has also had many shortcomings regarding the Islamic Republic that must be compensated. What I am currently raising is this; there are several human rights issues regarding America that the United Nations must seriously pursue. These cases are unresolved, unfinished, and left half-done, some of which have not been pursued from the beginning.

These several issues, one is the issue of burning the Davidians' center during Clinton's time; why is this case not pursued? A group, a group affiliated with a sect of Christianity gathered in a house; the government had some reasons for opposing them, which may be correct or may be wrong; let us assume the reason is correct; well, what do they do in this case? Usually, they either arrest them or take them and bring them; they did not do this, they burned the house, and dozens of men, women, and children were burned alive and killed! Why is this not pursued? Does America have the legitimacy to give human rights lectures to others with such a history? The United Nations must pursue this. This is one case and a fundamental file that must be pursued.

The second issue is the Guantanamo prison; well, the Guantanamo prison is in front of the eyes of the world; why did the Americans take individuals and keep them here for years without trial in the harshest conditions? One of the reasons for Obama's victory was that he promised in his election campaign that he would close Guantanamo prison and he did not! He was at the head of the government for eight years, and this prison remained, and it is still there. Even if this prison is closed now, the history of this prison and the crimes committed in this prison must be pursued; the United Nations must follow this case. They took people - mostly from Afghanistan and some other places - brought them, kept them there in harsh conditions, with handcuffs, shackles, blindfolds, with very poor nutrition and living conditions, kept them for years. Is this a joke? This must be pursued by the United Nations.

One of the files that the United Nations must definitely pursue is the freedom of arms sales in America, which is causing so many crimes. You hear it; you see it; every day in schools, universities, markets, streets, a teenager, a young man, a man, a woman, due to some incident - either their nerves are frayed or they are insane or have personal problems - they shoot down a number of people, ten, eight, twenty, fewer, more, leaving families grieving. Why is this not stopped? The reason is that the arms sales companies prevent this, and the American governments are under the influence of these companies. This is a very important issue and the United Nations must intervene in this matter and pursue it. This is also one issue.

Another issue is the barbaric behavior of the American government and the American police towards black people. A black suspect or accused is subjected to various hardships, even death; it is no problem! Then they come to a court and make a hodgepodge, and the killer is released, and that poor person's blood is wasted. This is also subject to follow-up.

[One more] is the issue of creating ISIS, which this current American president explicitly stated in his election campaign. Of course, we had previously been informed; it had been said that the Americans played a role in creating ISIS and they were instigators of this issue; of course, in some places it was indirect, in some places it was direct. We were informed that in various instances in Iraq, they helped ISIS and in the sale of oil by ISIS and the escape of ISIS leaders from sieges that occasionally occurred, the Americans helped them. And helping the Zionist regime in the massacres, the latest of which is the recent massacre in Gaza.

[One more] is helping [the government] of Saudi Arabia in the massacre of Yemen and helping the Bahraini government in the crimes they commit against the people. These are things that the United Nations must intervene in. If the United Nations is an organization of "nations," if it is not an organization dependent on the American regime, it must intervene in these matters. These are actions that the United Nations must undertake. Are these excessive expectations?

The statements of the Islamic Republic are sound, reasoned, and provable. In all these areas we have mentioned, if we accuse America, we have solid evidence to prove it; if we distrust Europe, we have solid evidence behind it; if we believe that internal capacities must be relied upon and trusted, there is solid evidence behind it; all these things we have requested from the United Nations are all based on solid evidence. This firmness, this correct and precise reasoning is what has kept the Islamic Republic, by God's grace, strong and resilient until today, and the resilience of the Islamic Republic has increased and today it is incomparable to twenty or thirty years ago and is much stronger; and God willing, after this, this movement towards the power of the Islamic Republic will increase; along with the strengthening of internal structure and the correctness of officials' behavior with the people in economic, cultural, and other areas. We hope that the Almighty God helps us to move in the direction we have mentioned and desire.

O Lord! Through Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, make the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation more and more exalted day by day. O Lord! Support and strengthen the devoted and caring officials. O Lord! Through Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, unite our great Imam with Your saints; unite the dear martyrs of this path with the martyrs of early Islam; grant us a good end; make this month of Ramadan for us a month of spiritual elevation and purity of spirit and soul. O Lord! Make what we have said and heard for You and in Your way and accept it from us with Your generosity.

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