Statements in Meeting with Members of the Assembly of Experts at the End of the Fifth Session of the Fifth Term of the Assembly of Experts

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, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the Awaited One among the earth's inhabitants (may our souls be sacrificed for him, may God hasten his reappearance, and may God's blessings be upon him).

Welcome, esteemed gentlemen; I thank you for your efforts and for coming here today after the busy sessions you had over the past two days.

These days are significant; this last decade of Dhul-Hijjah, indeed the second half of Dhul-Hijjah, holds important days in the history of Islam and its historical events. Yesterday - the twenty-fourth - according to popular belief, was the day of Mubahala (the mutual imprecation) and also the day of the revelation of the verse of Wilayah (Guardianship) regarding Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him); "Indeed, your guardian is Allah and His Messenger and those who believe, those who establish prayer and give zakat while bowing." Today is also the day of the revelation of Surah Hal Ata (Does the Human Being Not See?) and according to some, today is the day of Mubahala; these are significant days. Well, in this second half of Dhul-Hijjah, we also have the Day of Ghadir, which is the greatest feast and a significant event in Islamic history. Mubahala - which we must commemorate and is very important - is, in fact, a manifestation of faith's assurance and power and reliance on the truthfulness, and this is what we always need. Today, we also need this faith's power and this reliance on our own truthfulness; because we are moving on the path of truth, we must rely on this against the enmity of the enemies and the enmity of global arrogance, and thanks be to God, we do rely on it; from this perspective, the Iranian nation, public opinion, and the overall inclinations of our people reflect that since they are on the right path, there is a public assurance, thanks be to God. Surah Hal Ata is also a manifestation of the blessing of a sincere act; a sincere sacrifice that the Almighty God, due to the sacrifice that the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) made, revealed a surah in their honor - Surah Hal Ata - which, while being a very important and honorable historical event, is also a lesson; sacrifice in the sight of the Lord, when accompanied by sincerity, has worldly and otherworldly rewards.

Well, thanks be to God, in this session of your assembly - as reported by Mr. Jannati and Mr. Mohammadi - you raised important issues, addressed significant matters, and the good categorization that Mr. Mohammadi made and the report that Mr. Jannati provided from the think tanks is also very good that you have started this work; the more this work progresses and is given attention and intellectual and human investment, the more its blessings will manifest. This intellectual endeavor of the scholars and thinkers and the experts of the nation is very important, of course, with the conditions that exist, and God willing, it will be taken into consideration.

I must not forget and should mention these two esteemed brothers who have passed away, Mr. Imani and Mr. Mohammadi, two successful and respected Friday prayer leaders; may God, God willing, envelop them in His mercy and may God grant our dear brother Mr. Shahroudi a swift and complete recovery.

What I want to convey today is a point around which we will have some discussion and I will present some remarks, and that is the issue of unity and national cohesion and the general arrangement of public opinion - the thoughts of the nation - in the direction of this unity; this is my discussion today, and I have some thoughts that I will share with you.

We are in a sensitive period; right now - the period we are going through - is a sensitive one; not in the sense that we have more enemies or stronger enemies; no, these enemies today have all been present since the very first day of the revolution, and nothing has been added; in addition, those who were before them were stronger than them; do not doubt this; it is the same with the Zionist regime, the same with the American regime, and also with some of the reactionaries in the region; those who were before them were stronger and more experienced than those today; they could not do anything against the revolution, while the revolution at that time was a weak sapling, a new sapling, and uprooting it from the ground was very different from uprooting this good tree that exists today and has expanded, "its root is firmly established and its branches are in the sky." Therefore, when we say "sensitive," it is not for this reason. They also did harsh things back then; they shot down our passenger plane, attacked Tabas, imposed an eight-year war on us through a madman in the region, imposed economic sanctions, and did many things; all of these actions took place back then, and now many of the things they did back then cannot be done, meaning they are not capable of doing those things. So, we do not want to say that this period is more critical than that time; rather, it is because a society and a system, when it steps into a new path and presents an unconventional claim, a different claim, and enters this dense jungle of international contradictions with this different claim and new path, naturally in different periods, various situations arise that must be adapted to those situations and proceed accordingly. It was the same in the early days of Islam, and it is the same today; there are global contradictions; this world of international politics is a dense jungle, and we are moving against the current. The overall current of the world is the current of global arrogance and the system of domination; that is, there are some who dominate, and there are some who submit to this domination, who are submissive; we are moving against this current; in these forty years, we have moved this way, we have progressed this way. Naturally, situations will arise for us that we must be vigilant about, we must be very careful, we must constantly monitor and assess various aspects of the situation and see.

I mentioned that in the early days of Islam, the situation was the same. There too, various necessities and conditions created various duties. One day, the Almighty God says, "If there are twenty of you who are patient, they will overcome two hundred," one day He says: "If there are one hundred of you who are patient, they will overcome two hundred." This means that one day you must fight with ten times the number, one day with twice the number. In divine wisdom, there is certainly no deficiency; it is clear that this relates to the conditions. In one condition, the situation is such that the Almighty God says one of you must fight ten, another condition arises where the situation is such that the Almighty God says one of you must fight two. This difference in conditions brings about differences in rulings and obligations. One day is Badr and that kind of movement, or the conquest of Mecca, and so on; another day is "When your multitude amazed you" on the day of Hunayn. And on the day of Hunayn, when your multitude amazed you, it did not help you at all; this is how it is. In every place, there is a condition that must be acted upon according to that condition. Well, if we neglect the conditions, we will suffer; whether the people do not understand the conditions or the elites do not pay attention to the conditions. Especially if the elites neglect the existing situation and the position of the system, we will be harmed.

Now, with this introduction, I say this: Where is our war today? Well, it is said that it is an economic war, and that is correct. The enemy has launched a comprehensive economic war against us. They have a war room, they are examining it carefully, they have agents, and they are constantly active; there is no doubt about it, we have such a war, but there is another war that we often neglect; the importance of that war is no less than the economic war, rather it sometimes lays the groundwork for the impact of the economic war; what is that war? That war is the media war, the public space manipulation war, the propaganda war; it is very important. Yes, this has existed before, there has always been propaganda against us; today the situation has intensified; like the economic war, it has intensified.

In this second war, in this second arena, the enemy's activity and movement have increased, multiplied; we must not neglect this war. Our news, our information shows that - this is information, not analysis - an organization has been established by the intelligence apparatus of the Zionist regime and the intelligence apparatus of America, they have created an organization, and they are being financially supported by the Qarun-like figures in the region; they are sitting around the country, in some of these countries close to us, planning and working seriously. Some of them need to learn a language, they learn a language; some need to become familiar with the conditions of the country, they pay to do this; so that they can contaminate the intellectual and propaganda space of the country. And this issue is a significant one; it is a very sensitive issue; that the propaganda space of the country is such that it either causes anxiety among the people, or causes despair and hopelessness, or creates distrust among them - towards each other and towards the institutions - or gives the people a sense of deadlock, or even exacerbates the economic problems. Now you pointed to the issue of coins and currency and the depreciation of the national currency and the rise in the prices of foreign currencies; yes, this is correct; a significant part of this is happening due to this very propaganda; that is, it is this propaganda, these media that are creating the groundwork, you suddenly see that a price has doubled; that is, in a short time, the value of the national currency has halved, for example, the purchasing power of the national currency has halved in a short period; these media are doing this.

Of course, no expectation is from the enemy; that is, nothing but wickedness can be expected from the enemy; the enemy is the enemy. What is important is that we do not contribute to this atmosphere; I want to convey this; the main point of my remarks is this. We should not contribute to this atmosphere; we should not influence the contamination of the public mental space; that is, we must act in the opposite direction. Sometimes we do not pay attention and this happens; sometimes we exaggerate in stating some problems, sometimes we exaggerate in the criticism we have towards a certain institution or person. This exaggeration is harmful; this exaggeration will contribute to the contamination and further anxiety of public opinion; this is something that must be taken into account. And the virus of distrust should not be spread. You see! I myself am critical; I have had objections and criticisms towards all these governments that have come to power since the beginning of this responsibility of mine until today, in various matters, and sometimes the criticisms have been harsh and severe; we have made these criticisms. I myself am not one to be lenient in dealing with the problems of the responsible institutions, but the manner of speaking, the manner of acting, the manner of dealing should not be such that it causes the people to become captives and afflicted with the disease of distrust; this distrust cannot be corrected. It should not be such that the people reach a state where no matter how much positive propaganda is done in one direction, it is not believable for them, but a single lie from the enemy, once said, is believable for the people; this is very dangerous; we must not allow this to happen; we can influence this area. This virus of distrust is a bad thing; distrust towards the IRGC, distrust towards the government, distrust towards the parliament, distrust towards the judiciary, distrust towards revolutionary institutions and foundations, distrust towards these.

Yes, criticism is not a problem; rather, it is necessary; criticism is necessary for reform, criticism is a friendly act, it is not a hostile act; when you criticize, it is a friendly act; the believer is a mirror to the believer; that is, what exists in the other party that is a defect in them and is subject to your criticism, you bring it out, you tell them, this is a very good thing; criticism must be done. Sometimes criticism must also be public; we do not always believe that criticism must be whispered; no, sometimes it must be public, but we should not criticize in a way that causes the listener of the criticism to feel that "everything is lost, we are doomed"; we should not criticize in this way; sometimes we make mistakes in the quality of criticism and we act this way. These institutions that are criticized, well, they also have good works, those good works should also be mentioned. A few days ago, in a meeting we had with the gentlemen, I told the government officials that positive works must be seen, negative works must also be seen; it should not be that we only see all the negative works. The government has positive works, it also has problems; the parliament is the same, the judiciary is the same, various institutions are the same; we all have positive things; they mixed good deeds with bad ones; perhaps God will accept their repentance. This mixing of good and bad deeds is something that exists everywhere, in every place. If we mention the bad deeds, we should also mention the good deeds; this will make the people realize that there is a problem here, and it will also prevent them from becoming completely hopeless and saying, "Sir! Everything is lost"; this should not be the case. There are good works, there are bad works; all must be seen and said. That noble verse says: "O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak a word of appropriate justice; He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins." If we want to have a word of appropriate justice - a word of justice means a word with backing - we must move this way, we must act this way. "If only the rabbis and the scholars had forbidden them from saying sin and consuming unlawful things." These two important points [in this verse] are that the Quran admonishes that why the scholars and the rabbis did not prevent them from these two things, one of which is "saying sin," that is, false words, incorrect words, unconsidered words, words without knowledge; the other is "consuming unlawful things" - which is the same economic issues, unhealthy economic relations, these corruptions and corruptors and the like - both of these must be completely treated.

Well, I say and I say that the revolution and the country are progressing; this is something I do not say as a boast; I say this based on knowledge that the country is progressing, the revolution and revolutionary principles are progressing. Yes, anti-revolutionary words come out, statements are made, but what actually exists is that the country is moving towards revolutionary concepts and revolutionary ideals and revolutionary truths; now this movement may not be at the speed and pace that is needed, but it exists, this movement is there. The country is progressing; we are making progress in various fields: we are making progress in scientific fields, we are making progress in industrial fields, we are making progress in political dignity, we are making progress in intellectual growth, we are making progress in spiritual fields. I will mention one example later at the end of my speech. There are not just one or two of these examples; we are making progress. There are so many good youths in the country; you see what is happening in the virtual space! How many "misleading temptations" are there in this virtual space and in satellites and in these organizations, and the youth are exposed to all of these, yet you see how the Arbaeen march is, how the I'tikaf is, how the congregational prayers in universities are. These are very important; why should we not see these? These should be seen, analyzed, and spoken about; those who have prominent platforms should express these and say them.

One important point is the cohesion of the people and the management institutions of the country. The people must connect with the management institutions of the country - whether the judiciary, the executive branch, or other institutions - cohesion. Of course, a significant part of this trust-building is the responsibility of the institutions themselves; that is, the government, the judiciary, and other institutions must behave and act in a way that builds trust; this part is their responsibility, but part of it is also our responsibility, part of it is the responsibility of those who have an audience; those who have platforms must speak in these official and unofficial platforms. No government can work without the support and backing of the people, neither our government nor any government in the world. We must not do anything that undermines this support and trust of the people towards the governmental institutions and executive institutions of the country - whether in the judicial sector, the executive branch, or other sectors [such as] the armed forces - being taken away. The remedy for problems is not to abandon the government; the remedy for problems is not to disassociate ourselves from what the responsible institutions are doing; no, the remedy is that we criticize, we express our opinions, we help, we provide intellectual support, and we provide practical support; that is the remedy.

Of course, the government officials - who fortunately [are] present here today - must utilize the opinions of the people, utilize the opinions of the experts. The matters that have been mentioned here, this long list that was read, some of the items in this list are very important; the issue of the value of the national currency is very important. They should really set up groups to sit down and think correctly; not just government groups, but groups outside the government; there are economists, specialists in monetary issues in the country; they claim, they write to us, they tell us, sometimes they write in newspapers and say that all of these have remedies, there are ways, and we know the way; very well, seek these out, talk to them, find the way, and resolve this issue. Or for example, the issue we mentioned to the government officials that they should direct the liquidity of the country towards constructive work and towards production, this requires a working group and people must sit down [to think]; this work requires necessary movement. These works must be done; these are the duties of the government officials that must be carried out. We must guide the government officials in this direction and help them, and do something that the people see the efforts they are making; they see that yes, efforts are being made. This is what will resolve the mental knot of public opinion; some are worried about problems in public opinion, which is a legitimate concern; what resolves this is that we can create a correct and healthy relationship between the public opinion of the people and the responsible institutions; not in the sense of absolute optimism.

Now, sometimes I am told why I do not scold the government; they probably mean scolding in public, otherwise they are unaware of our private sessions! I at least have ten times more sessions with various officials - military, civilian, governmental, judicial, etc. - than what is reflected in the media; well, those who are unaware want me to scold in public. Well, what is the benefit of this scolding? The benefit of this scolding is that your heart feels cool, that’s it! I mean, it has no benefit beyond this; but it has great harms; these harms must be weighed. Fighting is not the way to reform, just as creating parallel organizations alongside the government is not the way to reform. What Mr. Jannati said about jihad work is completely correct; jihad work must be done, but by whom? By the officials themselves; this work must be done through legal channels. Yes, there may be a case where the responsible government official needs to do something against the law, it may be necessary to get permission from us, and we will certainly accompany and help; this is not a problem - like the work that the esteemed head of the judiciary did - but the work must be done by the relevant officials themselves. Parallel work alongside the government is not successful; this is my certain experience over these years. Yes, jihad work must be done, but who should do it? The relevant officials must do this; this is the matter.

I said that the enemy is making moves, and we will certainly defeat the enemy at this stage and in all subsequent stages by God's grace. "And if those who disbelieve should fight you, they would turn their backs [in retreat] and then they would not find for themselves a protector or a helper; this is the established way of Allah that has passed on before. And you will not find in the established way of Allah any change." If the disbelieving enemy confronts you, they will certainly be forced to retreat; of course, when you fight, when you struggle; if you sit and remain idle, no; but when we are moving, we are working, the enemy will certainly be defeated. Thanks be to God, we have seen this over time. I mentioned, even in spiritual matters.

Now let me mention an example. I have recently read a book that was very interesting to me. A young couple - a husband and wife - born in the 1970s, sit down to ensure that no sin occurs at their wedding celebration, they vow to fast for three days! In my opinion, this should be recorded in history that a young couple, in order to avoid committing a sin at their wedding celebration, turn to the Almighty God and vow to fast for three days. The husband goes to defend the sanctity of Lady Zainab (peace be upon her); the unintended tears of this girl shake his heart; he tells this girl - his wife - that your tears shook my heart, but they do not shake my faith! And that girl says that I will not prevent you from going; I do not want to be one of those women who will be ashamed before Fatimah al-Zahra on the Day of Judgment! You see, these are not events from a hundred or two hundred years ago; they are from the years 1394 and 1395 and from these days ahead of us; today this is the case. In our youth, such elements are present, such brilliant truths exist in them; these must be recorded, these must be seen, these must be understood. And it is not just this [one example] that you can say, "Sir! One flower does not make a spring"; no, it is not just about one flower; there are many of this kind. This couple I mentioned were both students, and of course, the husband later becomes a martyr; he is among the precious martyrs defending the sanctity of Lady Zainab (peace be upon her). This is the situation.

We are moving forward. We are progressing in both material and meaning; by God's grace, we will defeat global arrogance in both material and meaning and bring them to their knees and show that Islam, if it has supporters who are ready to struggle and defend, will certainly be victorious everywhere and at every point in the world, and this will become a model for all Muslims.

O Lord! Make what we have said, what we do, what we have done, and what we have heard, for You and in Your way; grant blessings to what we have said and want to do; keep us alive in the way of Islam and let us die in the way of Islam.

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