Statements in Meeting with Workers of Mapna Industrial Group

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

I express my gratitude to the Almighty God for granting me the opportunity to be present today among you, dear ones, in this very important working, economic, and industrial center, and to meet with you on the occasion of Labor Day - which has always been a significant occasion for us. Today, my joy is doubled; let me put it this way: one of the programs that is usually attractive to me throughout the year is the program of meeting with workers on Labor Day; this occasion today coincided with a visit to this active and pioneering center, the Mapna Group, which, thanks be to God, has combined multiple desirable aspects of work in the country; and these two factors together are a source of joy and happiness today. Well, today’s visit was very valuable for me; meeting with you dear ones, workers, and activists is another opportunity to seize.

We are on the verge of the month of Rajab. The month of Rajab is the month of servitude; it is the month of attention and reminder. We, the entire nation and those interested in the fate of the country and the nation, believe - almost everyone in the country believes - that with divine help, divine guidance, and divine support, many things can be accomplished and significant steps can be taken.

I will briefly present two points: one point regarding labor and workers. What we have always emphasized and firmly believe is a necessity for the country and the public culture of the country is the honoring and respecting of work and workers. The term 'worker' has a general meaning; Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) used to say: the prophets were also workers; that is true. In your group, your managers, your activists, your planners, and entrepreneurs who create the conditions for the expansion of work and the elevation of work quality, all workers - educated workers, skilled workers, experienced workers, and even simple workers - are all workers. The essence of work deserves respect; the essence of movement and effort in the right direction is worthy of respect; this is the Islamic perspective. Everything must be shaped based on this honoring and respect. If we define something called workers' rights and the dignity of workers, it must be based on this respect for work and respect for workers. The reality is that human civilizations and material advancements throughout all eras, as well as spiritual, moral, and inner progress of every human being, cannot be achieved without work; work is necessary, effort is necessary. This noble verse that our eloquent reciter read for us today: وَ اَن لَیسَ لِلاِنسانِ اِلّا ما سَعی (And that man will have nothing but what he strives for); means that your achievements are only in the shadow of your efforts, your endeavors, and your work. We must think this way at every level; we must work. The hostile view between workers and entrepreneurs and similar notions is a misinterpretation of a reality; everyone must cooperate. The very perspective of conflict and contradiction that has dominated Western thought - not only Marxists; even before Marxists, the perspective of observing conflict and contradiction was prevalent in Western thought - is rejected from the Islamic viewpoint; it is not an acceptable perspective. In Islam, there is a call for coalition, a call for unity, a call for cooperation, a call for compassion, a call for collaboration; this is the basis of Islamic thought in all activities. Of course, interaction has its limits, its regulations, and everyone has rights; these must be observed, which can be realized under the Islamic government. The conflictual perspective is wrong; the perspective of cooperation and interaction is correct from the Islamic viewpoint; and this is a thought that must exist in all aspects of our lives, in all matters related to life. In contrast to someone who harms the psychological, spiritual, intellectual, and existential dignity of a human being and society, a person must defend themselves; however, the main course is cooperation, interaction, collaboration, and coalition; this is the fundamental perspective of Islam. We believe that our working community must be honored; it must be respected. We believe that anyone who is engaged in work and performs their work well is under divine mercy; it is said: رَحِمَ اللهُ اِمرَءً عَمِلَ عَمَلاً فَأَتقَنَه (May God have mercy on a person who does a job and does it well); the one who performs work correctly is under the mercy of the Lord. This is the first point and one of the two essential points I needed to present.

The second point is about a truth that one of its beautiful manifestations can be seen in this working group - the Mapna Group: the truth of efficiency, efficiency stemming from knowledge, intelligence, perseverance, innovation, and steadfast determination, which fortunately we observe in this group; this is our perspective on the entire movement of the country.

'National determination and jihad management' is introduced as a slogan in the year 93, but this is not something that pertains only to the year 93; this is our identity, this is our dignity, this is our future, this defines our destiny. If there is national determination, if there is jihad management, the economy will progress, culture will progress; and a nation that has a developed economy and a developed culture will be at its peak and will not be humiliated. We were humiliated for decades before the revolution; the Iranian nation, with this history, with this ancient civilization, with this deep cultural heritage, with all these scholars in various fields throughout history, reached a point where the rulers of this nation had to seek permission from the British and American embassies for essential national matters; what greater humiliation for a nation? At a time when there was no knowledge in Europe and the West, when ignorance truly dominated those countries, Iran presented figures like Farabi, Avicenna, and Zakariya Razi to the world; this is our heritage, this is our past, we should not have been humiliated; we should not have allowed the global plundering powers to take control of our economy, to take our oil, to seize our resources, and to humiliate our nation politically and socially; however, this happened. If the Iranian nation wants to find its rightful place, this place is defined. I have repeatedly said, our nation must reach a point where the world's scholars must learn Persian to reach the peaks of knowledge; this is a defined place. We may reach this point in fifty years; so be it. If we want to reach this defined place, the way is to utilize knowledge, intelligence, high mobility, innovation, and steadfast determination in all sectors. We must elevate the economy, and elevating the economy without cultural growth is neither possible nor beneficial; culture must also be elevated, it must progress. Therefore, this year's slogan is the slogan of our life, it is our eternal slogan. Fortunately, today in various sectors of the active economic and industrial community of the country, including in the Mapna Group, this can be observed. I, of course, had reports; today I observed some of what we had read and seen in these reports up close. This shows that the slogan put forth by our great Imam, namely the slogan 'We can' is a real slogan; it is not merely a verbal slogan; it is truly the case. The works that were once deemed unattainable for our country by some of our elites and managers are now being carried out easily and smoothly in your group.

I do not forget in the early years of the 60s when I was president, we had a half-finished gas power plant in a certain location in the country that I do not wish to disclose; we insisted, saying that we must complete this power plant ourselves; some officials came to me - some are alive, some have passed away, may God have mercy on them - they said: Sir! It cannot be done; do not waste your efforts, do not try. They came to convince me and persuade me that we cannot do it; we must ask the manufacturing company or another company in the world to come; it was during the war, a time of immense pressure, a time of severe sanctions.

Today, you young people of this country, the activists of this country, and the valuable jihad managers have managed to elevate yourselves to a high rank in the construction of gas power plants - that is, the sixth rank in the world - a company in America, a company in Germany, a company in France, a company in Italy, a company in Japan, you are the sixth in the world; and you are building gas power plants; this is very important. Those years they told us it could not be done, but with perseverance, determination, reliance on the Almighty God, encouragement of talented forces, and the steadfast determination that our managers employed, this work happened. I want to say, my dear ones! You are at this level today, make it ten times greater; that is also achievable, that will happen. Some things cannot be understood and comprehended by short-sighted efforts and narrow-minded perspectives because they do not recognize human nature; because they do not understand divine assistance; because they do not appreciate the value of steadfast determination and deny our inner talents. This is also one of the calamities that befell our nation; for many years, the cultural, political, and economic dominance of foreigners over this country had convinced us that Iranians have no talent; see what a great betrayal that is! Iranian talent is above the average talent of the world; Iranian youth, Iranian talent, is among the highest degrees of human talent in the world; yet they portrayed it as if there is no talent here. This was before the revolution, and unfortunately, there were still those who held these erroneous thoughts in their minds for years after the revolution.

Let me share this memory with you dear ones - brothers and sisters - someone came to me to prove that the road and highway projects we have should not be pursued; they said we do not have project managers, we do not have managers; they gave examples. Such thoughts hold a nation back. Thanks be to God, in your group, your workers, your managers, your officials, your designers, all have worked well, and today this Mapna Group is a source of pride; it is a source of pride for the country in relation to you, and pride for you that you have been able to create this capability and showcase it to friends and foes; you should take pride. All of you, wherever you are; workers, managers, officials, designers, planners, and various sectors, should take pride in having contributed to this beautiful and honorable result. Of course, the activities of this group and similar groups must be supported. One of the supports is that government agencies must commit themselves not to create foreign competition for the products of these groups; one of the sectors of the resilient economy that we have mentioned is this. The backbone of the resilient economy is domestic production. If domestic production is to thrive, it must certainly be supported, obstacles to its growth must be removed, markets for its products must be created, imports of similar products must be controlled in some way - I do not use the word prohibited - and must be carefully monitored, and the government must assist in the foreign contracts that this group and similar groups have. We have said our economy is inward-looking and outward-looking; we must grow and flourish from within, but we must also look outward; global markets belong to us, we must be able to enter these markets with our own efforts and innovations, and this presence is not possible without government support; of course, various government sectors can have a share in this regard.

The important factor of jihad management is self-belief, self-confidence, and trust in divine assistance. The reason I mention the blessed name of Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) and the blessed name of Amir al-Mu'minin and congratulate the blessed days of Rajab at the beginning of my remarks is because of this; in all matters, we must rely on the Almighty God and seek divine assistance; we must trust in divine help. When you seek help from the Almighty God, paths will open for you: وَ مَن یَتَّقِ اللهَ یَجعَل لَهُ مَخرَجًا ، وَ یَرزُقهُ مِن حَیثُ لایَحتَسِب (And whoever fears God, He will make for him a way out, and will provide for him from where he does not expect). This sustenance mentioned in this verse and in other verses comes to you and me in various forms; sometimes an idea suddenly shines in your mind, a path opens up; this is divine sustenance; in a moment of pressure, suddenly a great hope arises in your heart; this is the same divine sustenance. Therefore, trust in divine assistance; utilizing intelligence and knowledge, which is also one of the pillars of economic resistance that has been explained in its place; knowledge-based groups, which fortunately your group is one of the prominent examples of knowledge-based groups; and employing perseverance, do not underestimate the work, do not be satisfied with the progress you have made, aspire for greater advancements, being satisfied with the level we have reached will stop us and lead to stagnation; and innovation, taking unexplored paths, and shortcuts are necessary.

Among the things I noted to mention, which fortunately we saw today during the visit here and is noteworthy, one issue is research and development, which is very important. Thanks be to God, I saw that a significant part has been dedicated to research and development. Another issue is collaboration and connecting capacities in various sectors, so that they are aware of each other. Are the facilities available in Mapna known to the other active economic and industrial sectors of the country? Are they aware? Are the universities of the country fully aware of the capacities of Mapna? And are you aware of the capacities of the universities? Of course, the report that friends provided indicates that they are active in these areas; however, I emphasize this issue - the issue of collaboration and utilizing the capacities of others, like related entities - everyone should benefit from each other, and this synergy will lead to greater advancements. A point that the respected manager - Mr. Ali Abadi - mentioned in his speech, which I also agree with and have always paid attention to; he said that wherever we achieve capability, sanctions disappear; he is right. Sanctions exist where your hands are tied. In any sector where you can show movement and progress, the other side feels that sanctions are futile, a pointless endeavor, a foolish act; a clear example of this is the twenty percent enriched uranium that we urgently needed for this Tehran research reactor. The country's reserves were running out, this reactor would shut down, and the radioisotopes produced here would be out of reach for the people; the officials endeavored to procure the twenty percent. The saga of the powerful nations - led by America and some other powers - regarding the twenty percent is a long and sweet story worth hearing about what they did! We were willing to buy this, but they resorted to various tricks to create obstacles, until finally, the Islamic Republic concluded that it must produce the twenty percent itself; however, they did not believe that this could be achieved, and they did not believe that after producing the twenty percent, it would be possible to produce fuel rods and fuel plates; this was also accomplished by the young scientists of the Islamic Republic - like you - with their intelligence, innovation, and good management. Now that the whole world has realized and acknowledged that the Islamic Republic has achieved this technology and produced the product and can utilize this product, they have started to say, buy from us, buy from us; they say we are ready to sell to you; but do not produce; this is how the world operates. The pressure from the world, the arrogance of various powerful nations, big and small, against the Islamic Republic and any independent system is contingent upon the weakness and strength of that system; wherever you are weak, their arrogance increases; wherever you are strong, capable, and able to stand on your own feet, they are compelled to behave more politely and reasonably with you; this is the key to solving all the problems of the country. The country must thrive from within. Your production, your economy, your future must be secured by yourselves from within; and the Iranian nation is a talented nation; it can; both our human resources are infinite, and our natural resources are fortunately abundant. We hope that the Almighty God grants all of you success, and grants us, the officials, and all people, God willing, the ability to fulfill our duties.

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