khamenei-ir

Supreme Leader's Speech to Laborers
29/04/2012

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 29, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with laborers of pharmaceutical companies.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.
I congratulate our honorable laborers as well as the people of Iran on the occasion of Labor Week. If the efforts of laborers, entrepreneurs and skilled manpower are appreciated in a society, that society will make progress. When the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) bowed down to kiss the hand of a laborer, he was not just showing his appreciation to a particular person. He was teaching us a lesson on the value of labor. The labor of a laborer is so valuable that even a person like the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) - who is superior to the entire creation - bows down to kiss his hand. This is a lesson for us.

Labor in the broad sense of the word - which includes physical labor, intellectual labor, scientific work and managerial work - is in fact the pivot of a society's progress and survival. All of us should know this. In the absence of labor, neither capital, nor raw materials, nor energy, nor information would be useful for mankind. Labor is like the soul of capital, energy and raw materials and turns them into something useful, a product that can be consumed. This shows the value of labor.

In the Islamic Republic nobody stands on ceremony with laborers and makes ceremonial gestures. Certain people established a so-called labor government during an era and kept the world busy for a few decades, but they did not benefit laborers. Leaders of socialist and communist countries took advantage of their societies. They ruled their societies and held on to power. They lived a happy life just like other taghuti governments in the world, all in the name of laborers. What they did was a lie, a ceremonial gesture.

In the west, the main purpose of different kinds of labor insurance, support for laborers and other such things is to encourage laborers to work so that the "one percent" can enjoy the outcome and live a happy life. They are not honest with laborers. Islam is honest with laborers. This is an intellectual framework. Labor is a value. There is a narration which says, "Knowledge depends on action. Whoever knows takes action. Knowledge calls on action and if action responds, knowledge survives, otherwise it departs." Even knowledge depends on labor. This narration - which uses figurative language - says that knowledge calls upon labor and if labor responds, knowledge stays and develops and if labor fails to respond, knowledge disappears. Notice how beautifully the concept has been expressed. Emergence, permanence and progress of knowledge depend on labor. This is the logic of Islam. These are the intellectual principles of Islam. Islam is honest with laborers.

Of course, it is necessary to translate these things into action. These principles should reveal themselves in the process of implementation and planning. A lot of efforts have been made. A lot of things have been done in this regard and it is necessary to do a lot of other things. For this reason, I named this year the year of "Supporting Iranian Labor and Capital". Capital is a necessity for labor. In the absence of capital, there would be no labor. Labor and capital are the two wings of national production. It is necessary to appreciate both Iranian capital and Iranian labor. Labor and capital result in national production. And it is necessary to translate this principle into action.

So far, our honorable laborers have arranged annual meetings with me in a Hussayniyyah on the occasion of Labor Week. I would meet them in a Hussayniyyah and speak to them. This year I decided to come and visit our laborers. I chose this drug distribution company as a representative of all laborers. You dear laborers of this company and those of you who have come from other companies should pay attention to the point that I arranged this meeting to express my respect and gratitude for Iranian labor and laborers.

As long as we do not appreciate the value of Iranian labor and capital, we will not achieve national production. And if we fail to achieve national production, our country will fail to achieve economic independence. And if a society fails to achieve economic independence - that is to say, if a society does not manage to make independent economic decisions and stand on its own feet - it will not achieve political independence. And if a society fails to achieve political independence, other things will not matter. As long as a country has not strengthened its economy and made it independent, it cannot play a significant role in political, cultural and other areas.

Our country needs a powerful and stable economy. In my public addresses over the past 3, 4 years, I have warned our people, youth and officials that the enemy has focused his machinations on our economy. Now you can see that the signs of this great plot are becoming visible one after the other.

Of course, by relying on your firm determination, you dear people of Iran will remove this obstacle from your path, just as you removed the other obstacles that lay on your path. Our laborers and investors and our managers in the state and private sectors should make efforts in this regard. And our people should show their firm determination in consuming our domestic products.

It is necessary to adopt fundamental measures. Fortunately efforts are already being made. As was pointed out by our esteemed executive officials, since the beginning of this year they have focused on this issue in their meetings, plans and discussions. I would like to highlight this issue. It is necessary to remove the obstacles. Everybody must make efforts in order to give promote national production and to strengthen our economy. Primarily it is our government officials - in the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of government - who should make efforts in this regard. Sometimes things might end up in the judiciary. As far as labor, production and investment are concerned, the health of our economy depends on the cooperation of all the three branches of government.

Various measures should be adopted on different fronts: regarding the issue of improving the skills of the workforce, the issue of correct managerial attitudes, the issue of empowering the workforce, the issue of confronting economic disruption in the right way, the issue of sense of security for both laborers and investors. That is to say, our plans, laws and regulations should be such that both our laborers and our investors should feel secure. One example of economic disruption is the issue of smuggling. Another example of economic disruption is misusing our national assets and the funds in our banks which belong to the people. Receiving these funds for a particular reason and diverting them to other things is treachery and stealing. Sometimes stealing is from a particular individual and other times it is from a nation, which is more serious. It is necessary to confront such disruption.

Several years ago, when I wrote letters to the heads of the three branches of government and warned of economic corruption, certain people were alarmed that my warnings would scare off the potential investors. I announced that the opposite was true. An investor who wants to have healthy economic activities in the country would be happy to see that we are fighting economic corruption and economically corrupt individuals. We should be able to fight this battle against economic corruption on a legal level.

We should pay attention to creating competitive advantages. I have stressed domestic production. Of course, fortunately many advances have been made today in the area of domestic production. Definitely what has been done in this regard is more than what the people know. The novel and outstanding work that has been done in this company is very valuable. The company was established and operated by the Iranian workforce in a short period of time. The plans and the equipment are domestic. However, as far as highlighting domestic production is concerned, the issue of quality is very important and our esteemed production managers and laborers should pay attention to this point. Making the cost of production competitive is important and it is necessary to pay attention to it. Of course, this requires assistance from the government. These are the things that must be done and it is not just the government that is responsible in this regard. The executive branch, the Majlis, different managerial organizations, the private sector, the people and those who can improve the culture of our society through their words - they should all be at the service of national production. If we succeed, I assure you that we will strike a serious blow to our blood-thirsty enemies.

Production-based policies, promoting the culture of consuming domestic products, improving the quality of domestic products, modernization of production equipment, and innovative products, management and production - these are the things that must be done and I hope by Allah's favor, they will be taken care of.

I apologize to the friends and the brothers and sisters who sat in the sun in this hot weather and listened to my statements. I hope that by Allah's favor, you will live an enjoyable and happy life.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Supreme Leader's Speech to Army Commanders
22/04/2012

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 22, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with Ground Force commanders of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Army.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Today has been an enjoyable and pleasant day for me: being in the company of you dear brothers and youth from the Armed Forces, speaking to you in person and benefiting from the manifestations of your motivation and dynamism and from your pure and enlightened hearts. I extend my congratulations to you on the occasion of Army Day. I hope that each and every one of you - who are mostly young and are going through the good part of your life - will protect the future, dignity, glory and power of our nation in a perfect way. I hope Allah the Exalted makes this happen.

Thankfully the Ground Forces of the Army have been thriving. One can feel this. This movement and this auspicious trend started from the victory of the Islamic Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic. It is wrong to think that during the time of the taghuti regime, there were no pious people in the Army or that there were few such people. No, this was not the case. I was in contact with a number of people from the Army at that time. I was friends with some of them and I used to engage in revolutionary activities with certain others. Even at that time there was no shortage of pious, enthusiastic and honest people in the Army. I had seen them on different occasions and in different places. I had certain other friends who shared certain sympathies. However, individual orientations and organizational orientations have different meanings. When the orientation of a society or organization is wrong, individual efforts will not be effective in that society, no matter how strenuous they are. This was the case at that time too.

There is a narration - which I think is from Imam Sadiq (a.s.) - and it contains a qudsi narration: "I will punish any group of Muslims who follow an oppressive ruler who has not been sanctioned by God even if they are pious and do good deeds." This is what the narration means: if a society is ruled by corrupt and oppressive individuals, pious deeds of the members of that society will not get them anywhere and if some people surrender to those oppressive individuals and follow them, God will punish them. The opposite situation has also been mentioned in the same narration: "And I will forgive any group of Muslims who follow a ruler who guides them under God's order even if they are oppressive and commit sins."

Of course, the narration needs explanation and one should not limit oneself to the apparent meaning, but it essentially means: if in a system, a community, a country or a society, the system of government is divine and just, those who follow the government will be forgiven by God even if they make certain mistakes. This can be applied to a country, Ummah or society. Similarly it can be applied to an organization such as the Army.

At that time the Army was in the wrong hands. But when the popular movement started, the pious members - and the few high-ranking commanders who were pious - found their path. Since the early days after the victory of the Revolution, certain people stepped in and helped the revolutionary elements to find a way to speak to the Army. After all, they were not familiar with each other. Neither our officials, nor the revolutionaries, nor the activists, nor the clergy, nor our academia were familiar with the Army. They did not know each other's language. This common language was created thanks to the Revolution.

Today the Army is one of the most populist organizations in the country. Among the different organizations that make up the government, we see that the Army is one of the organizations that has come closest to the people and their tendencies and feelings and that it has contributed most to the popular movement in our society. This is a very valuable and precious thing. It is a fact that throughout the world, armies are established and deployed with the slogan of safeguarding national interests, but is this really the case? Did the US Army safeguard the interests of the American people in Iraq and Afghanistan? Did the people of America benefit from the occupation of Afghanistan? Were they happy about killing the people of Afghanistan? Were the interests of America served by the mercenary soldiers who shot the people, dismembered their bodies and took pictures with the body parts? If somebody asks the leaders of the US regime why they need the big army and the advanced military equipment, their answer would be: we need them to protect our national interests. Are they telling the truth? This is the case with almost every part of the world. Of course, I am not claiming that this is definitely the case everywhere because I do not have all the necessary information. The situation might be different in a particular corner of the world. But based on what we have seen and learnt, this is often the case throughout the world: armies are established in the name of national interests, but they are not at the service of national interests, rather they are at the service of political ambitions. This has been the case throughout the history of mankind. A man deploys more than a million soldiers to go and occupy Greece, but he is defeated and is forced to return to the country. This was an achievement of our taghuti past, during the time of Xerxes. These things were not done for the sake of national interests. As far as I know and on the basis of what has been recorded in history books and what is available to us, this has often been the case with armies throughout history: they have either been at the service of personal ambitions or at the service of safeguarding taghuti powers.

During the early years after the victory of the Revolution, part of the Army had been stationed in a royal palace in order to protect it. A notice had been put up at the palace which said something along the lines of "basically the Army has been established to protect this government" which is very different from protecting national interests. If we find an army in the world whose beliefs and feelings are the same as those of the people, an army which is truly at the service of the people and national interests rather than at the service of certain individuals, that army is a very valuable army. And you are such an army. I really do not know of another example. As for the countries that have recently carried out a revolution, we should wait and see what happens, but currently I do not know of any such army, an army that is not at the service of personal ambitions, an army that would not fight to death for the sake of a particular person. I would like to stress that neither God nor Islamic principles would allow us to order our Army, our Armed Forces or our men to fight to death for the sake of a particular person. Yes, everybody may fight to death for the sake of Islam. For the sake of raising the flag of our independence as an Islamic country, everybody must be ready to fight to death and this death is called martyrdom. Then our Army would be a divine and spiritual army. It would be an Islamic army, an example of the "immaculate tree" that I have discussed previously. This has been the goal since the beginning of the Revolution. And I would tell you that fortunately we have been moving closer to this goal.

I have been witness to the growth of the Army over the past thirty years. I was present when we first celebrated the 29th of Farvardin. In the year 1358, when our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) had been hospitalized, a temporary platform was built in front of the hospital and a few units of the Army paraded past the platform and Imam Khomeini (r.a.) announced the day as Army Day. I am familiar with the conditions of the Army. Among the people who are present in this meeting - those who have been in the Army in the past thirty years - maybe there is not even one person whose graduation ceremony was held in my absence. I think I was present in the graduation ceremonies of each and every one of you, those of you who graduated from our military academies and were awarded epaulets. I see that today our Army is more advanced than 20, 15 years ago. It is much more advanced compared to the beginning of the Revolution. We have made good progress and it is necessary to maintain it. This progress will bring about happiness in this world and in the hereafter.

Today a movement has started in the world and everybody has realized that the movement is opposed to the system of hegemony. We do not have a problem with individuals, no matter in which part of the world they live. The issue is the system of hegemony. What is the system of hegemony? It is the mechanism in the world according to which countries and nations are categorized into two groups: the domineering and the dominated. Some of the evil hegemons are denying this and they do not announce it. But there are some others who announce this because of their stupidity. One example is the previous US President who openly announced that in the case of Afghanistan, the Twin Towers and other such issues, those who are not with America are against it. Well, this is stupidity. The hegemons of the world build their relations with the world on the basis of domination.

The problem that the powerful hegemons of the world are faced with is that there is a movement in the world that is opposed to this mechanism and Islamic Iran is at the epicenter of this movement. You are at the epicenter of this movement. Islamic Iran has been very patient in this regard. The day when we started the movement, we did not receive any response from any part of the world. We thought that certain nations would soon join the movement, but that did not happen. After the passage of years, this thought seeped into the bodies and minds of nations. They gradually changed until a capacity was created. This is the case with all historical movements. Historical movements might appear to be abrupt, but none of them are actually abrupt. They are gradual, but they need a spark. Then a single event might trigger a movement, releasing the energy that has accumulated over time, just like what happened in Egypt or certain other places. It took us thirty years to reach this point. Therefore, this movement is an important movement. The colonialists and superpowers are afraid of this movement in the real sense of the word. These threats, sanctions, conflicts and other such things are all caused by fear.

I am not claiming that they are afraid of the Islamic Republic, especially as a government or as an army. This is not the issue. They are afraid of the movement. They are afraid of this unprecedented phenomenon that is completely unknown to them. And it is in our country that the movement is being strengthened on a daily basis. They are afraid of our pious youth, our determined youth and our national sentiments which are accompanied by good - if not perfect - understanding.

You are part of this sensitive and important organization. The Armed Forces are sensitive and important. You should continue like this. In the meeting with esteemed commanders I quoted a sentence from a commander. During the early years after the victory of the Revolution, the commander came to me and made an accurate point that I liked very much. It stuck in my mind. He said, "There is an element of leadership in command." You are the future commanders of the Ground Forces and the Army and you should improve your leadership qualities. Command means issuing a set of orders, telling people what to do and what not to do. Leadership means showing the standards that would take the place of those orders, giving rise to a movement without having to order people what to do and what not to do, a movement that originates from the heart. Instead of establishing a relationship with bodies, it is necessary to establish a relationship with hearts. You should create and strengthen this capacity in yourselves, in which case your country and nation will definitely achieve victory. That is to say, these feelings and this state of mind will prove helpful in difficult times. I have seen certain examples in this regard. Certain people - such as Shahid Sayyad Shirazi and Shahid Babai - are very famous and everybody knows them: those who were present from the beginning to the end of the war and were finally martyred. But I have met many such people in the Armed Forces during the war, both on the front line and in the meetings that used to be held behind the front line in order to make decisions. And this is very important as well. Often the courageous actions that are carried out on the front line originate from the determination and willpower that is mainly shaped behind the front line. If the determination is sincere and if it can make its way to the front line, then those courageous actions take place on the front line. And sometimes one could clearly witness these courageous actions. You should take these things into consideration.

In any case the Ground Forces are important. The Ground Forces are a crucial part of the Army. The Ground Forces have always been described as the spine of the Army. It might be that ground battle is less likely in the conventional wars that take place in the modern world. And this is really the case. Today naval and air defense is more likely to happen in a war. However, the Ground Forces should always maintain and improve their preparedness. Genuine preparedness consists of religious faith, motivation, training, military knowledge, the necessary expertise, being on standby and firmness of character. One's ethical and behavioral character should be so strong that different temptations cannot affect it. Sometimes certain temptations might affect and overwhelm people. There are some people who are humiliated for the sake of money, social position and carnal desires. The most honorable and powerful people are those who refuse to give in to temptation. Of course, this does not mean that we should turn our backs on the attractions of life. It just means that we should resist being overwhelmed by these attractions. Otherwise Islam neither tells people to avoid money, nor does it tell people to avoid benefiting from the attractions of life. Islam only says that people must not be overwhelmed by these attractions. It is necessary to have the power to resist and to exercise self-restraint, which makes you prepared.

There are many things that I would like discuss with you dear friends, brothers and youth, but there is not enough time. I hope Allah the Exalted bestows success on you.

Dear God, bestow Your blessings on these people. Dear God, bestow Your blessings on the Iranian nation. Bestow Your grace and blessings on our Armed Forces and on the Islamic Republic of Iran's Army. Dear God, make the bond of kindness, brotherhood, friendship and closeness stronger among different organizations of the Armed Forces, including the Army, the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps, Basij and the Police Force. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, help us be among the servants about whom You have said, "Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Allah." [The Holy Quran, 5: 119] Dear God, help us be among the servants whom You have promised to protect and support. Dear God, make us benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) and fulfill his prayers that are related to us.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Supreme Leader's Speech at Imam Ridha's (a.s.) Shrine
20/03/2012

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on March 20, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution to a group of pilgrims at Imam Ridha's (a.s.) shrine in the holy city of Mashhad.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.

I am thankful to Allah the Exalted from the bottom of my heart who gave me another opportunity to meet you dear people and youth - including the honorable people of Mashhad and the surrounding areas as well as the esteemed pilgrims who have travelled from other cities - at the spiritual shrine of Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha (a.s.) and to enjoy the spiritual blessings of sitting in the shade of Imam Ridha (a.s.) and his holy shrine.

I extend my congratulations on Norouz and the arrival of the new year and I hope that for all the people of Iran, this new year will be full of happiness, blessings, joy, dynamism, activity and success in acquiring religious knowledge and achieving piety.

I would like to discuss a few issues with you dear brothers and sisters in this meeting. The first part of my speech is a brief look at the events that happened in our country in the year 1390 and at the regional and global developments that were related to us. The reason why I want to discuss the developments of the year 1390 - and particularly the achievements that were made by the Iranian nation last year - is that our enemies and ill-wishers are making threats against our dear nation. The leaders of the arrogant powers, those who have power and wealth and their followers in our region are doing everything in their power - their financial, propaganda and political power - to intimidate the Iranian people and to disappoint them. Anybody who has followed the political propaganda of the ill-wishers of the Iranian nation realizes that all the activities, all the economic and political efforts and all the security and military threats are aimed at stopping, disappointing and intimidating the vibrant, living, dynamic, determined and capable Iranian nation, a nation that is standing firm in the middle of the arena in a totally courageous way, a nation that is moving forward. In fact, aside from the slogan of "we can" which our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) taught us, the Revolution also gave us the courage to say, "We can". They want to convince us that we are incapable. They are doing everything in their power to achieve this goal and their activities reached full swing in the year 1390. I would like to stress that despite their will and much to their disappointment, in the year 1390 the Iranian nation once again convinced the enemies and the entire world - with its activities, advances and decisions - that it is capable.

The reason why we stress our strengths is to prove that the Iranian nation made use of its capabilities. The Iranian nation proved that it is capable in spite of the will of the ill-wishers who wanted to prove that the Iranian nation was incapable. We are aware of our weak points. We have our own weak points, but in general, our strengths are far more than our weak points.

The year 1390 was named "The Year of Economic Jihad". For this reason, I will start with economic issues. What is noteworthy is the economic movement of our government officials which was accompanied by the exemplary and praiseworthy cooperation of the people throughout the year 1390. Among the things that can be mentioned in this regard is the issue of redistributing state subsidies. All economic experts - both the ones who served in the previous governments and those who serving in the current government - unanimously agree that redistributing state subsidies is a necessity for the country. Everybody has acknowledged this. In spite of the fact that everybody agreed on the necessity of taking action, nobody had done anything due to the complexities and hardships involved. In the year 1390, the executive and legislative branches of government made efforts and carried out important stages of this work while we were under sanctions and while the hardships and complexities were more than ever before. The work is not finished yet, but what has been done so far by our government officials both in the executive branch and in the Majlis - which have been mostly successful due to the support and cooperation of the people - are very important and remarkable.

The subsidy law pursues a number of objectives which I will discuss briefly. All our honorable people are familiar with the objectives, but it is necessary to reflect on them. The work that has been done is great. It is important work. One of the objectives of this law is fair distribution of the state subsidies. I explained in a speech that state subsidies have always been distributed among the people in an unfair way: this is the nature of general subsidies. Through targeted subsidies, a kind of balance and justice has emerged in the way subsidies are distributed in the country. I have received reliable reports from across the country that targeted subsidies have played a significant role in improving living standards of the lower social classes. This is one of the goals, which is also the most important objective of the subsidy law.

Another goal is to reform the structure of production and the structure of our economy. The cycle of production in the country has been a faulty cycle. The process of production has been wasteful and expensive, and productivity has been low. Economic experts unanimously agree that targeted subsidies can resolve this problem. They agree that wasteful and low-yield production can be remedied and a balance can be created between input and output.

Another goal is to manage energy consumption. Because we have been an oil-rich country, we have been in the habit of using gas, natural gas, diesel and kerosene in a wasteful way. Our consumption has been more wasteful than many countries - and in a sense, more wasteful than all countries in the world. Targeted subsidies will encourage the country to economize on energy sources. Reliable statistics have been published which show that if the subsidy law had not been implemented, we would be consuming gas almost twice the amount we currently do. When we do not produce sufficient gasoline to meet our domestic needs, what do we have to do? We would have to import it. That is to say, the Iranian nation would have to be at the mercy of the ill-wishers and the enemies. The subsidy law encouraged us to economize on gasoline. Today our domestic consumption of gasoline is approximately as much as our production. We do not need to import gasoline, which is a great advantage for the country. This was done in the year 1390, exactly when our enemies increased their sanctions on us in order to bring our nation to its knees. But our youth made efforts and foiled the plots of the enemy with their actions.

Another important economic measure which was taken with the help of our people was in the arena of science and technology. Science and technology is one of the pillars of a nation's economic power. A nation that enjoys advanced knowledge and technology will achieve wealth, political independence, honor and power. I am sensitive to the issue of scientific and technological progress because of the key role it plays. I receive different reports from different channels on a regular basis and I can say with certainty that the level of our country's advances is much higher than what has been reported.

According to the reports prepared by reliable scientific centers of world - and not our own scientific centers - the fastest scientific growth is taking place in Iran. Reliable scientific centers of the world reported that in the year 2011 - which ended three months before the year 1390 - the scientific growth of the Iranian nation was 20 percent more than the year 2010. What is the meaning of this? The Iranian nation acted like that in a situation in which the enemies of the Iranian nation were betting on our collapse and were describing their sanctions as crippling.

Reliable scientific centers of the world also report that Iran is the top country in the region in terms of its scientific level and that it ranks 17th in the world. These reports are prepared by those who would not refuse to present false reports against us if they could, yet they acknowledge our growth like this. In the year 1390 we made progress in biotechnology. We made progress in nanotechnology. We made progress in aerospace and we launched the Navid satellite. We made progress in nuclear industry and managed to enrich uranium to 20 percent. In the year 1389 the Americans and others proposed certain preconditions for this 20-percent uranium. We had to prepare it for our research reactor in Tehran, which has been built to produce radiopharmaceuticals: we had run out of 20-percent enriched uranium. They proposed certain preconditions for providing this uranium. They said that we had to ship our uranium abroad to be enriched to 20-percent. But we did not accept their offer. The Americans used the Brazilian and Turkish governments as intermediaries in order to reach an agreement with us. We accepted their offer of negotiations. Turkish and Brazilian officials travelled to our country and arranged meetings with the President. They spoke and signed an agreement. After the agreement was signed, the Americans broke their promise: the agreement was not the kind of agreement they wanted. They wanted to win many concessions. They wanted to bully and blackmail us. Because the Americans broke their promise, the Brazilian and Turkish governments were embarrassed in front of us. This is the story of the 20-percent uranium.

Our youth said that they were prepared to produce 20-percent uranium in spite of all those problems and all that obstructionism. In the year 1390, they produced 20-percent enriched uranium for the research reactor in Tehran and they announced their achievement to the world. Our enemies were astonished. Although they knew the nuclear reactor in Tehran only produces radiopharmaceuticals, they refused to provide the 20-percent uranium we needed. The reactor in Tehran fulfills the needs of our hospitals and laboratories across the country and thousands of patients need these radiopharmaceuticals, yet they proposed preconditions to blackmail us. Our youth produced the uranium we needed. The work was complicated and difficult, but our youth managed to do it. Currently various kinds of radiopharmaceuticals are being produced at the research center in Tehran with domestically produced uranium. This was done in the year 1390.

In the year 1390 fuel plates were produced domestically in the nuclear industry. It would take a long time to fully recount the story in this meeting, but in short, they said that we should send our 3.5-percent enriched uranium to Russia in order to be enriched to 20 percent. Russia was supposed to give the 20-percent enriched uranium to France to be turned into fuel plates and sent back to Iran, a truly complicated process. Our scientists and youth said that they would produce plate type fuels on their own. They made determined efforts and produced the fuels. Then they announced the achievement and put it on display. This was done in the year 1390.

The sixfold increase in recombinant drugs and the increase in the export of knowledge-based products and services - these achievements were made in the year 1390. These are part of achievements which were made in "The Year of Economic Jihad". These are scientific advances. These are technological advances. These achievements are indicative of the scientific power of the country, but they also affect the economy of our country directly. This is economic jihad.

Last week at the end of the year 1390, I visited the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry. There were certain things in the institute which can be witnessed when touring different other research centers of the country as well: they convince one that these advances are the rule, not the exception. These important advances - which our people would not even dream about - have been made already and they have become the rule.

Now I would like to mention a number of the characteristics and phenomena that I witnessed at the institute. First of all, jihad-like spirit and thought were predominant in the institute. The scientists were working with a jihad-like spirit. They were working as if they were involved in jihad, as if they were fighting in the battlefield in the way of God. There is a big difference between those who work for the sake of money, social position, fame or knowledge and those who work for the sake of jihad in the way of God. This spirit is predominant in the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry as well as other scientific organizations of the country. This is very valuable.

The second characteristic is that our scientists consider the sanctions that are imposed on our nation as opportunities. During the visit to the institute, which lasted a long time, a few people told me, "Thank God they imposed sanctions on us. We were awakened and spurred into action." The feeling that the sanctions imposed by the enemies provide us with an opportunity is very valuable. As a result, they paid serious attention to domestic production. They provided opportunities for our youth. They provided opportunities for innovation and creativity. And the work still continues like a continuous stream.

The third characteristic that I noticed among the employees of the institute was their great self-confidence. Certain parts of the oil industry have been monopolized by three, four countries in the world: they do not allow other countries to access their technologies. Over these years, our country has always asked them to do such important and complex things for us and we have paid for their services. I realized that they were determined and they were saying, "We can. We will do this on our own. We will build these things on our own." This self-confidence is very valuable for a nation, for the scientists of a nation, for the youth of a nation.

Another characteristic is the tendency to employ young people. The work is being done by the youth. It is the youth who are in charge. The youth are a source of innovation and creativity.

Another characteristic is the relationship between industry and university, which has always been among my wishes. I used to advise the officials in charge of the relevant sectors in the previous governments that they should try to establish a relationship between industry and university. Fortunately I saw at the institute that the relationship has been established. Of course, the relationship should be prevalent and all our industries should be linked to our universities. Then both our knowledge and our industries will grow. I saw these characteristics at the institute, but the characteristics are not particular to the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry: I have noticed the same characteristics during my visits to other research centers as well, which shows that this is the rule in the country and that our movement is such a movement.

This was the situation of the economic sector in the year 1390, a year in which the enemies and ill-wishers of the Iranian nation were constantly trying to intimidate us. Sometimes they made threats. Other times they mounted political pressure on us. Yet other times they imposed sanctions on us. The agents of the US government are making efforts throughout the world to implement the sanctions, hoping that they will harm the Iranian nation and create a rift between the Iranian people and the Islamic Republic.

In the year 1390 we made other great achievements as well, including the active diplomacy that we employed in case of the regional issues. The Conference on Islamic Awakening, the Conference on Palestinian Intifada, the Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, the World Without Terrorism Conference and the Islamic Awakening and Youth Conference were among the activities which were carried out in Tehran. The Islamic Republic became the center of attention in the world of Islam which has awakened today.

In the area of economic services, tens of thousands of houses were built in the country and were made available to the people. These statistics are great. They are important statistics. Houses were built in rural areas. Roads were built. Highways and freeways were built. These are the preliminary stages of "The Decade of Progress and Justice". We named the current decade "The Decade of Progress and Justice" and these things are the preliminary stages. Three years of this decade have passed. In spite of the efforts by our enemies, in spite of the efforts by our evil and spiteful ill-wishers, our vibrant and dynamic nation has managed to achieve these advances.

One great example of the praiseworthy movements which were carried out by the Iranian nation in the year 1390 was the parliamentary election that was held on the 12th of Esfand. Of course, I would stress that the election is not over yet. Our people should show the same magnificence in the second round as well. The election was extremely important. As I have pointed out before, the enemies did everything in their power for around six months in order to discourage the people from taking part in the election. Sometimes they said the election would be rigged. Other times they said if the people did not take part in the election, the enemies would become less hostile, and they broadcast various kinds of propaganda in order to drive the people away from the polling stations and ballot boxes. Yet other times they tried to intimidate, discourage and disappoint our people by assassinating our scientists. They carried out three assassinations in less than six months.

The election was held in such an atmosphere, yet the voter turnout was so large. The turnout rate of more than 64 percent is a significant rate. You should know that this rate is higher than the average rate of voter turnout in parliamentary elections throughout the world. In America the average rate of voter turnout in congressional elections is thirty five percent. Over the past ten years, the rate of voter turnout in the congressional elections - the Senate and the House of Representatives - has never reached forty percent. If you compare this with the turnout rate of the Iranian people and their dynamism and presence, then the significance of the matter will be revealed. Through those pressures, through that psychological warfare, through those threats, through those assassinations, they wanted to make the 12th of Esfand a day of disappointment for the Iranian people and the Islamic Republic, but despite their will and much to their disappointment, the 12th of Esfand became a day of honor and glory for the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran. The parliamentary election acted as an honest and powerful media outlet. They distort the news related to Iran. They report events that have not happened in Iran and they do not report the events that have happened, but they cannot deny the election. It happened in front of everybody's eyes. The election presented an accurate picture of the Iranian nation to the world like a great and powerful media outlet.

These were the events that took place in the year 1390, a year in which the enemies made so many investments in order to harm the people of Iran and the Islamic Republic. These things are only part of the achievements made in the year 1390. Why are they so hostile? I would say that on different occasions they have different pretexts for hostility. Since the time the nuclear issue was brought up, the pretext for their enmities has been the nuclear issue. Of course, they know and they acknowledge that Iran is not after nuclear weapons, which is true. We have our own reasons not to go after nuclear weapons. We have not manufactured any nuclear weapons and we never will. They know this and the nuclear issue is just a pretext. One day their pretext is the nuclear issue, another day their pretext is human rights and yet another day their pretext is other domestic issues of our country, but they are all pretexts. What is the real problem? The real problem is that the Islamic Republic is safeguarding the great oil and gas resources of the country in a powerful way. As has always been the case, economic and political power - and the resultant scientific and military power - depend on energy sources, on oil. The world will need oil and gas for decades and this is an undeniable truth. The arrogant powers know that their survival depends on oil and gas. The day they fail to acquire oil at a cheap price, the day they are forced to make concessions and stop bullying for the sake of oil and gas - that day will be a tragic day for them.

On the other hand, western countries have faced problems in terms of oil resources and their problems will increase on a daily basis. Some of the European countries - and western countries in general - will run out of oil in four years. Some others will run out of oil in six years. Yet other western countries will run out of oil in nine years. As a result, they have to use the resources of other countries. According to the calculations of our experts, which are based on the statistics presented by the Americans themselves, the US currently has oil reserves of thirty-something billion barrels and it will run out of oil by 2021. That is to say, the US will run out of oil in nine years.

Currently more than fifty percent of the world's oil flows out of the Persian Gulf and in the future the global flow of oil will depend on three oil-rich countries in the Persian Gulf region. Of course, Iran is one of the three oil-rich countries and I will explain this point later. Among all the countries of the world and not just the Persian Gulf region, the Islamic Republic of Iran has the greatest sources of oil and gas. Some countries have more natural gas than we do and some others have more oil than us. We are the second country in the world in terms of our gas reserves and Russia is the first. In terms of our oil reserves, we are the fourth country in the world. There are three countries in the world which have more oil than we do. However, in terms of total amount of oil and gas reserves, the Islamic Republic, your dear homeland, has more proven oil reserves than any other country in the world. This is very interesting for the consumers of oil in the world and for the arrogant powers whose survival depends on energy sources, on oil and gas. This is the wealth that Iran enjoys. They will run out of oil in four, ten, fifteen years, but considering the proven oil reserves, the Islamic Republic will have oil and gas for another eighty years. A country that ranks first in terms of its oil and gas reserves is very interesting.

What do the arrogant powers want? They want our country to be ruled by a government whom they can easily control, just like certain countries in the region which have a lot of oil, yet they are like putty in the hands of the Americans. The Americans order them to produce certain amounts of oil and they say, "Yes, sir." The Americans order them to sell their oil at a particular price and they say, "Yes, sir." The Americans tell them where and where not to sell their oil and they say, "Yes, sir." In our oil-rich country, which has the largest proven oil and gas reserves in the world, they will oppose any government that safeguards this national wealth in a proud way, does not allow other countries to plunder this wealth and does not follow the policies of the enemies. This is why Islamic Iran is faced with so many enmities.

Those who think that if we had backed down in the case of the nuclear issue, America would no longer be hostile - they are unaware of this truth. Their problem is not the nuclear issue. There are certain countries in our region that have nuclear weapons, but they do not care at all. The problem is the issue of nuclear weapons or nuclear industry. The problem is not the issue of human rights. The problem is the Islamic Republic which is standing firm against them like a lion. If the Islamic Republic had agreed to betray its own people like certain regional regimes, if the Islamic Republic had surrendered to them, they would not be bothering it. The problem is their arrogant greed and this is the reason behind their enmity towards the Iranian nation.

Of course, the Americans are making a mistake. It is a big and fatal mistake to think that they can force the Islamic Republic to retreat or back down through hostility, enmity and threats, and they will be punished for this mistake. They should treat the Iranian nation respectfully. They should be satisfied with their rights. They should see the tragedy that is awaiting them. Western countries do not allow their people to learn about the future oil tragedy. They do not want their people to realize what is awaiting them in the case of oil and energy sources. They do not want to tell this to their people. They think that they can move things forward by being hostile to the Iranian people, but they will not succeed.

Dear brothers and sisters, dear people of Iran, you should know that today the situation of America is precarious in spite of all its muscle-flexing, in spite of all the uproar it causes. I do not want to use confidential reports or superficial things as evidence: what I am saying is simple mathematics. Notice that the America President came to power with the slogan of change. What does change mean? It means that the existing situation is very bad and that we are determined to change it. He stepped in with this slogan and the people of America voted for him because of his slogan of change, otherwise racist people were not prepared to vote for a person from an African-American background. But they did, hoping that there would be change. The fact that the slogan of change affected the people like that shows that the situation was very bad. That is to say, on the admission of the American people, the situation of America was very bad when he decided to run for president. And he promised to bring about change. Therefore, it is an undeniable truth that the situation of America was very bad. This is not what we say: it was the American people themselves who admitted that their situation was bad. Then he came to power, but did he bring about change? Did he manage to change the situation? Did he manage to change that bad situation? Today America has a debt of fifteen trillion dollars. This debt is equal to - or bigger than - their gross domestic product. This is a big problem for a country. As for their political situation, they were forced to leave Iraq without any achievements and in Afghanistan their situation is becoming worse on a daily basis. They are becoming more disgraced on a daily basis in Pakistan, a country which used to be their ally. In Muslim countries, in Egypt, in North Africa, in Tunisia, the Americans have completely lost their original awe. Besides all these things, the Occupy Wall Street movement has started in the cities of America. Is this situation good? This is simple mathematics. It is not complicated. The people of America accepted that they needed change, thus admitting that their situation was bad. And that bad situation has not changed so far. Therefore, America is in a dire situation.

America might pose threats to other countries. It might do crazy things. And I would like to take this opportunity to say that we do not have atomic weapons and that we will not build such weapons, but in case the enemies attack us - be it America or the Zionist regime - we will attack them on the same level that they attack us in order to defend ourselves.

The Holy Quran has promised us, "And if those who disbelieve fight with you, they would certainly turn (their) backs, then they would not find any protector or a helper. Such has been the law of Allah that has indeed run before, and you shall not find a change in Allah's law." [The Holy Quran, 48: 22-23] Nowhere in the Holy Quran is it said that if you start a war, you will definitely win it. You might win or lose the war you start, just as the Muslims did not always win the wars they started during the early years after the introduction of Islam: they were defeated in certain cases. But it has been promised that if the enemy attacks, he will definitely be defeated. You should not say that this is only true of the early years after the introduction of Islam. No, "Such has been the law of Allah that has indeed run before, and you shall not find a change in Allah's law." This is a divine law. The Iranian people are determined and dynamic and they are not thinking of attacking other countries, but they are firmly attached to their identity, to their wealth, to their religion, to their Islamic Republic.

This year's slogan is "National Production" which has been explained in the rest of the slogan: "Supporting Iranian Labor and Investment." That is to say, when you consume domestically produced products, you help Iranian laborers, you create job opportunities, you contribute to Iranian investment, you give rise to growth and development. Consuming foreign products is a wrong cultural norm, which has unfortunately become prevalent in certain portions of our society. Consuming foreign products will harm us. It will stand in the way of our progress. It will harm our future. Everybody is responsible in this regard. The government is also responsible: it must support and strengthen national production.

Fortunately the "National Development Fund" was approved by the Majlis. Today a valuable source of money is available to our government officials who can channel the money into national production. They should facilitate national production. The Majlis should cooperate and the executive branch should make efforts in this regard so that they can boost national production. And the people should also cooperate: both those who have capital and those who have the power to work. We should manufacture high-quality and durable products inside the country. We must try to decrease the cost of production as much as possible. This requires cooperation from everybody. Different parts of the government should cooperate - both the parts that are in charge of financial and monetary affairs and the parts that are in charge of other economic affairs. The Majlis should also cooperate so that this goal is fulfilled in our country.

The people have the most important role to play. You dear people should develop a tendency towards Iranian products. It is wrong to prefer foreign brands - in the case of clothes, utensils, furniture, foodstuffs and other things - to domestic brands while in many cases our domestic products might be far better than their foreign equivalents. I have heard that the clothes which are produced in certain cities across the country are taken abroad and foreign brand names are attached to them, and then they are shipped into the country to be sold as foreign products. If these clothes do not go through this process, Iranian customers might not like to pay for them, but simply because the clothes bear French brand names, Iranian customers buy them. This is wrong. Domestic production is important. Pay attention to what Iranian laborers produce. Pay attention to the investments made by Iranian investors. In the area of consumption, the people play the main role. This is part of the effort to reform the norms of consumption, which I discussed with our people in this place two years ago. It is also part of economic jihad, which I discussed last year. National production is important and it must be the goal.

Now I would like to make a recommendation regarding political issues. Dear people, dear brothers and sisters, today we need unity and solidarity across the country. There are many pretexts for discord. In the case of certain issues not even two people have the same opinion. This must not become a pretext for discord. Sometimes a person might have a certain tendency that might not be shared by other people, but this must not become a source of discord. All opinions should be treated with respect. Internal disagreements and conflicts would cause weakness. The Holy Quran teaches us, "And do not quarrel for then you will be weak in hearts and your power will depart." [The Holy Quran, 8: 46] If we quarrel about different issues - political issues, economic issues, personal issues - if we fight with each other, our enemy will be encouraged. Some of the courage that our enemy has found in the past years is due to our quarrels. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) teaches us a lesson. He says, "A person who seeks the truth but makes a mistake is not the same as a person who seeks falsehood and achieves it." Opponents are of two kinds. One kind of opponent wants the truth, the Islamic Republic, the Revolution, Islam and God, but he might choose the wrong path. We must not be hostile to such opponents. Such opponents are different from those who work against the Islamic system and pursue hostile objectives. Make hearts tender towards each other and treat each other with more kindness.

Unfortunately these electronic and internet media outlets have prepared the ground for widespread slander. Our government officials should take certain measures in this regard. However, the most important factor is that we should feel committed to observing the Islamic rules of conduct. We should feel committed to observing the law. My statement must not be used as a pretext to criticize and persecute our revolutionary youth as extremists. No, I consider all our proud youth and all our faithful and revolutionary youth as my own children and I support them. I support our revolutionary, faithful and proud youth, but I also advise everybody to observe the Islamic rules of conduct and the law in their behavior. Everybody must observe the law. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic embodies the values of the Revolution.

The same is true of our government officials. The executive branch must not undermine the authority of the Majlis. Similarly the Majlis must not undermine the authority of the executive branch and the President. They must work together and cooperate. This does not mean that everybody should think in the same way. It just means that two people who think differently must not fight each other. Any internal quarrel and any internal fight would make the enemies hopeful and happy.

I hope the year 1391, which starts from today, will be full of dynamism, activity, success and happiness for the people of Iran.

Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, make our dear youth and people steadfast on the straight path. Dear God, suppress and defeat the enemies of this nation. Dear God, help our dear, self-sacrificing and resistant people achieve their great wishes. Make the holy heart of the Imam of the Age (a.s.) satisfied and happy with us and help us benefit from his prayers.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Supreme Leader's Speech to Members of Assembly of Experts
08/03/2012

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on March 8, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with the chairman and members of the Assembly of Experts.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

I would like to welcome the honorable gentlemen, the esteemed members of the Islamic Republic's Assembly of Experts. I would also like to express my gratitude to the gentlemen who made certain points in this meeting, which shows that they are sensitive to the domestic issues and events and that they feel responsible towards the future of the country. I hope Allah the Exalted will bestow success on all of you. I hope Allah the Exalted will help all of us make efforts with pure intentions in order to fulfill the responsibilities that have been placed on our shoulders. Whether our efforts will be effective or not is up to God. Whether our efforts will be accepted or not depends on God's mercy and generosity. However, all of us should make efforts – no matter where we work – to move things forward.

Before discussing the points I have written down, I deem it necessary to thank our honorable people for their timely and highly effective presence in the parliamentary elections. Our dear people did their best for the elections and they brought their power – which originates from their religious faith and insight – into the arena of confronting the camp of the enemies and opponents of our country and people. Anybody who knows what efforts the enemies made during the past few months in order to discourage the people from voting on the 12th of Esfand, anybody who knows how much money they spent, anybody who knows how many people they recruited, anybody who knows how many plots they designed, anybody who knows how hard they tried in their think tanks to influence our people's thoughts and actions with their carefully prepared statements, should know how great the achievement of the people was and how great the popular movement was.

First, it is necessary to be thankful to God because these things are the result of God's will, mercy and grace. Second, it is necessary to thank the people with all one's heart and soul because divine blessings do not come to a particular country and its people without good reasons. We pray to God, "Dear God, I ask You for the requirements of Your mercy."We should prepare the ground for divine blessings and then we will be showered with divine grace and blessings. Our people prepared the ground for divine blessings. The presence of the people on the scene, their resistance in the face of the enemies' attacks, their insight and other such characteristics prepared the ground for divine blessings. Again, it is Allah the Exalted who gives people the opportunity to prepare the ground for His grace and blessings. We are thankful to Allah the Exalted for this opportunity and we prostrate before Him in gratitude. And we are truly grateful to our people and we hope that Allah the Exalted will fully reward them.

The first point that I would like to discuss is related to the issue of elections. Elections are not fleeting events: they are significant events. Therefore, we need to reflect on the issue of elections. First of all, elections are an important pillar of the Islamic system. Religious democracy is founded on elections. Without elections, there will be no democracy. Elections are the standard of relying on the people: a concrete, tangible and measurable standard. Therefore, anybody who firmly believes in the Islamic system considers taking part in the elections as his responsibility. Such a person takes part in the elections even though he might have objections about certain things, about a particular election or about a particular form of elections. This is a responsibility. Therefore, all those who entered the arena of elections throughout the country fulfilled this obligatory responsibility. They carried out their duty. They showed their accurate understanding. This accurate understanding shows that the issue of elections is about a pillar of the Islamic Republic. We cannot stop voting simply because we have objections to certain individuals or certain things. Such objections are not a good reason to stop voting. This is an essential point.

One outcome of this election was that it dispelled illusions: of course, elections often have this outcome. Elections are like an awakening slap across the face of the individuals who wallow in their illusions and fantasies. Elections are a slap across the face of those who cherish illusions about the future of the Islamic Republic, about the essence of the system, about the people, about the country, about the enemy. Elections put an end to their illusions and open their eyes to the truth.

Two days ago, I heard the American President has said that they are not thinking of going to war with Iran. This is very good. This is a good and wise statement. This is an exit from illusion. He has also said that they will bring the people of Iran to their knees with sanctions. This is an illusion. The exit from illusion in the case of not going to war is good, but remaining under an illusion regarding the sanctions will harm them. When a person builds his calculations on illusions rather than realities, it is obvious that he will fail in his plans that are based on these calculations. And this is what they are doing.

It is one year now that they have been imposing what they call "crippling sanctions". Of course, we have been under sanctions for 33 years. They said the purpose of the so-called crippling sanctions was to separate the people from the Islamic system, but they saw that the people went to the ballot boxes and voted for the Islamic system. Every vote for any candidate is a vote for the Islamic system. The people proved this. I described elections as a slap: there are different kinds of slaps. One of kind of slap is awakening – it has an awakening effect. This parliamentary election was of this kind.

The second point – which I mentioned in passing earlier – is that elections show that the people trust the government. After the controversial and eventful elections of the year 1388, certain people predicted that the people would lose their trust in the government and that they would no longer go to the ballot boxes to vote. This election was a decisive and clear response to this wrong assumption and inference. The people showed their objection to such inferences. They showed that they are committed to the Islamic system. They showed that they trust the Islamic system. They showed that they will enter the arena and respond to the government's call which invites them to determine the plans through the ballot boxes. As I said, every vote is in fact a vote for the Islamic Republic. The vast majority of the people who stepped into the arena gave rise to one of the highest turnout rates over the past 33 years. After the passage of 33 years, the people step into the arena like this, which is indicative of their full trust in the Islamic Republic.

The insight and intellectual level of the people were another obvious point about this election. The people entered the arena of elections after having analyzed the situation. They had their own analyses. You saw that whoever was asked why he or she had taken part in the election – including the youth who were voting for the first time as well as old men and women – he or she would present a reason and an analysis. They did not say, "It is an election and we have to come and vote." No, they would explain why they were voting. They would say, "Because the enemy is lying in ambush, because the hungry wolves are lying in ambush." By Allah's favor, I will explain in another speech how the enemies lay in ambush in order to devour us, thinking that the Islamic Republic was a lamb that could be devoured. They do not know that the Islamic Republic is a lion and that it cannot be approached. The people saw the opposing camp. They saw the enmities. They saw the objectives of the spiteful enemy. As a result, they entered the arena with insight and clear analyses. This is a very important point.

Another point that is related to this election is that the Majlis that has emerged out of this election has a heavy responsibility to shoulder. This is always the case. Any elected government official at any level has a responsibility that is as important as the election through which they were elected. The Majlis that will be formed will have to shoulder a heavy responsibility considering current conditions, the uproar that the enemy has cause and the presence of the people in this arena. The brothers and sisters who will come together to form this Majlis in the near future – both the ones who have already been elected and the ones who will be elected during the second round – should know what a heavy responsibility has been placed on their shoulders. They should come and fulfill their responsibilities with wisdom and acumen.

The country is as important as the laws that are passed. In all areas, we need laws that can remove the obstacles. Members of the Majlis should look at the realities on the ground. They should identify the needs and on the basis of the needs they have identified, they should provide our government officials with the appropriate legal solutions. The laws that are passed should remove the obstacles. A law that creates obstacles and blocks the paths, a law that cannot be implemented, a law that creates many problems, a law that contradicts itself – such laws are useless. It is not enough to simply draft and pass legislation. We should know that laws should be drafted in a judicious way and that they should remove the obstacles.

Government officials should be aware who they are choosing – for which needs and purposes – and what their qualifications and characteristics are. They should both be careful and just. I do not advise them to be extremely careful at the cost of causing injustice in certain cases. They should be careful, but at the same time they should also observe justice. They should move forward in an intelligent and sincere way. Sincerity is indeed the basis. Mr. Mahdavi rightly pointed out in his statements that the weight and influence of Imam Khomeini's (r.a.) words and plans was mostly due to his sincerity. Yes, he was a truly sincere man. He was the embodiment of sincerity. If there is sincerity, our duties will be carried out successfully. The government officials in the judiciary and the Majlis, the clergy and those who are in the military or different other organizations should know that what is necessary is to identify our obligations and work hard to fulfill our obligations: we must not let other considerations affect our work.

Of course, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the officials in charge of the elections. Mr. Yazdi pointed out that the Guardian Council has been thanked for its efforts. When you see the volume, subtlety and difficulty of the work they are doing, you cannot help feeling appreciative in your heart. I told Mr. Jannati and certain other gentlemen that whenever I remember the work you are doing, my heart is filled with respect for you. I prayed many times to Allah the Exalted to give more strength to all those who are in charge the elections: members of Assembly of Experts, the government, the Ministry of Interior, the officials in charge of security matters who managed to ensure the security of the elections, the officials in charge of public relations, the IRIB and others. What they did was truly great and outstanding. They managed to carry out this great duty and this heavy and vital work in the best possible way.

Islamic democracy is our paradigm. In Islamic democracy, Islam is the essence and the soul. There must be no deviations from Islam. Currently, there are no deviations and by Allah's favor, there will be no deviations in the future either. When drafting laws and when assigning individuals to different positions, our standard should be Islam. The framework and the method of management is democracy. That is to say, it is the people who step into the arena to make decisions, people who firmly believe in Islam. Although they might not appear to certain people to be committed to Islam and the Islamic system, they are truly committed and they truly love Islam.

The experience of the past 33 years has shown that Islam can bring about dignity for a country. It can make a nation feel proud. It can delineate good goals. It can smooth certain paths towards these goals. It can give rise to a scientific movement. It can give rise to a technological and industrial movement. It can give rise to a movement towards piety and ethics. It can make a nation feel proud in front of other nations. These things have already happened in our country. These are great achievements that have already been accomplished in the country thanks to Islam. Islam is still the essence and content of the movement of our system and democracy is the form and the framework. Islam and democracy are not separate from one another. That is to say, democracy itself originates from Islam.

It is wrong to say that we have learnt democracy from westerners. The exterior form is the same, but our democracy has its roots in a different kind of religious understanding and a different world view. We believe that there must be respect for human beings. We consider the votes of the people as valuable and we consider their presence as a tool to achieve divine goals, which is impossible in the absence of the people.

Westerners act in a different way. Of course, we have our own frameworks and they have their own frameworks, but their frameworks are oppressive. When a person expresses his objection to the myth of Holocaust and announced that he does not believe it, they throw him into prison. They sentence him to prison for denying a fictitious event. Even if we assume that the event is not fictitious, even if we assume that it is a true story, is it a crime to deny a true historical event? If a person is not convinced of the truth of the Holocaust and he denies the story or expresses doubt about it, he is thrown into prison. This is what they are doing in the European countries that claim to be civilized. If somebody protests the Holocaust, expresses doubt about it or denies it, European courts convict him in a court of law. However, when they openly insult the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.), that prominent man of the entire history of mankind, when they insult what 1.5 billion Muslims hold sacred, nobody is allowed to protest against their actions. Notice how wrong and disgraceful their frameworks are. This is their framework: if somebody wears hijab to university or work, she becomes a criminal. It is still a framework, but it is wrong and twisted. It goes against human nature. It goes against correct human understanding. Our frameworks are divine frameworks. On the basis of what sharia and religion teach us, we are opposed to corruption. We are opposed to immorality. We are opposed to different kinds of human deviations. We believe that it is necessary to stand up against these deviations. We believe that it is necessary to learn the correct ways of life from Islam, the Holy Quran and divine revelations. This is our framework. This is religious democracy. This is our paradigm.

If Muslim nations are interested in what the Islamic Republic has to say and what its claims are, they should know that we will not abandon Islam. We believe that it is obligatory to observe divine command and sharia in all of our daily life affairs and our efforts are focused on achieving this goal. And religious democracy is our framework in this arena. The people should step in and vote. It is the people who should elect the law-makers who are supposed to pass legislation on the basis of these things. It is the people who should elect those who are supposed to implement the laws. Everything is decided by the people with honor and dignity.

I hope Allah the Exalted makes us successful in following this path and protecting ourselves against deviations. I hope Allah the Exalted enables us to achieve these lofty goals and helps us benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake).

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Interview with Supreme Leader after Voting in 9th Parliamentary Elections
02/03/2012

After casting his ballot in the early hours of the 9th parliamentary election, the Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution was asked to comment on the election.

"In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you journalists as well as other people who have made efforts for the elections. You have played a significant role in attracting attention to the significance of elections which are held in the country every year or every other year. May God bestow success on you.

I do not have a new recommendation. I believe this is an obligation and a right for all of us. We should make use of this right and we should fulfill this obligation. I also believe that as is the case with praying, the earlier you vote, the more the spiritual value. I do not want to say that this is based on sharia the way prayers are. From a rational perspective, when a person votes early on Friday, he or she will no longer have it on his or her mind while doing other things, as opposed to leaving everything to the last minute when the polling stations are crowded and there is always the chance and concern that one might not be able to vote. Therefore, the people should come to the polling stations and write the names of thirty people on their ballots. Our dear people should try to fulfill this duty and they will make their intentions pure.

Of course, you know that elections have always been important for our country and the Islamic Republic. This is because elections always play a determining role. They always reveal a certain truth about our country, which carries certain messages for our friends and our enemies in the world. This has always been the case and whenever this characteristic has been strengthened, the importance of elections has been increased. Today is one of those times. Thirty three years has passed since the victory of the Revolution. In the revolutions that have taken place throughout the world, the people grew tired and disappointed over time and their path and goals changed. However, during this time, our people have followed a straight path until today with firm determination. This is a very important event: after the passage of three decades, the people showed that they still enjoy the same characteristics. Moreover, you see and hear that today there is a lot aggression against the Iranian nation. By causing uproar, the arrogant powers that have been defeated and slapped across the face in many cases, want to say that they are not weak and frustrated. What is this uproar about? The issue of Iran is a significant issue, so they create uproar about Iran: the issue of sanctions, the issue of human rights and the other things that they constantly repeat. Because there is a lot of uproar and a lot of verbal threats against the Iranian nation, the Iranian nation is in a more sensitive position and its actions can speak louder than its words. As you know, actions speak louder than words. Our nation can take actions. The larger the voter turnout, the better it is for the future, prestige and security of the country. This is why this parliamentary election is so important. May God bestow success on all of you."