Statements in Meeting with Commanders and Staff of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Army

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and may God's blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his pure family.

Dear brothers! Welcome, and I am pleased that the nineteenth of Bahman each year serves as an opportunity, an excuse for us to meet with a group of you dear members of the Air Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thanks be to God, a bouquet from the beautiful garden of the Air Force comes here every year, and we have the chance to speak with them for a few words.

Today’s occasion is significant; because on the nineteenth of Bahman, when the Air Force of that army presented itself to the Revolution and stood before the Imam, they were a sample, a handful from the whole, a bouquet from a collection. In fact, the equations in the country changed, and the prevailing thoughts of everyone transformed; it became clear that the threat of the army against the people, which the senior military officials loyal to the court of that day and the court itself and their American supporters insisted upon, was an illusion and did not exist. I was present that day and saw the motivations, the enthusiasm, the people up close; it was a phenomenon, and a strange phenomenon. This phenomenon must be cherished; this meaningful and impactful movement must not be allowed to be erased from our history and our minds. Important historical events, impactful historical events are not merely a memory; they are, in fact, a lesson, a guiding star. This movement of the Air Force that day is a guiding star for all those who are in this collection and will be in the future. Thanks be to God, the Air Force has shown since that incident that it is moving in a straight and good line; truly and justly, this is the case. Over the many years that I have been in close contact with the army, with the armed forces, and with their various events, I can firmly testify that the Air Force in the Islamic Republic of Iran has acted well in the true sense of the word, both in operations, in support, in internal construction, and in preparing tools and equipment. For many years, they have not sold us anything or have sold us very little; however, the Air Force has managed to keep itself standing; God willing, it will continue to stand and will become stronger day by day.

Another point is that this movement on the nineteenth of Bahman 1979 was immediately responded to by the people. This is also a lesson; that is, on the night of the twenty-first and twenty-second of Bahman, when the Air Force headquarters was threatened by the Imperial Guard - they attacked; their intention was to punish the so-called rebellious Air Force - the people rushed to help the Air Force. You see, an immediate reaction was shown; that is, being with the people, serving the people, constantly being with the people is a military organization, and it responds immediately; that is, the people support them. It makes a big difference whether a military organization is reliant on the people or not; this makes a significant difference. They immediately received the result of that movement.

I will never forget the middle of that night - which was the night of the twenty-first or the night of the twenty-second - when we were going to a house on Iran Street and were staying there at night, I heard the voices of individuals from inside Iran Street calling for help for Victory Street, saying come there, the Imperial Guard has attacked; I saw this with my own eyes. That is, a group had gone there to help the Air Force; another group had set out across the city - the part where I was was Iran Street, but certainly others had gone elsewhere - and they were calling out to the people, asking them to come help the Air Force; the people rushed and went to help. This is also a point; that is, when you are with the people, the people are behind you, and an army that has the people behind it has no concerns in facing the enemy.

Thanks be to God, the difference between the current Air Force and the Air Force of that day and the Air Force before the Revolution is like night and day. They should not say that before the Revolution, new planes and those made where were at the disposal of the Air Force, and today we do not have such planes. Yes, it is true that the Air Force had glamour back then, but it was hollow; today it may not have that glamour, but it is solid, steadfast, and has emerged from within; today you are self-reliant. In the report of the esteemed commander of the force, you heard that you manufacture the parts, you create the tools, you provide the capabilities, and you carry out the movement with your own planning; it was not like that back then. Yes, back then they received money without accounting - and today the government officials have dealt with the lack of accountability of the money they received back then - and in return, they provided the Air Force with tools at any price they wanted. Of course, after the Revolution, some wanted to return the F-14s they had just purchased, but by the grace of God, we did not allow that; they wanted to return them so that even those tools would not be available. Today, the Air Force has initiative, has power, and its capabilities are not comparable to those days; and it must become stronger day by day.

When a nation is threatened by the enemy, the primary duty of the government is to maintain the security of that nation. The first duty of the government is to preserve the security of the country, the security of the nation. This security is maintained in various ways; one of them is through military means and strengthening military capabilities. Today, you must have every tool that can ensure and guarantee security at your disposal; some of it we manufacture, some we buy, and some we maintain. The Air Force must progress day by day; that is, it should not be satisfied with any limit.

Strengthen your connection with the system and with this vast sea of people - who you see are still moving behind the system and the Revolution even after 37 years - as much as possible. The people become encouraged when they see that the armed forces are with them, alongside them, ahead of them, and protecting them. The armed forces also become encouraged when they see that the people are moving behind them and supporting them; these are a few words about the Air Force.

We have two celebrations ahead; one is the celebration of the Revolution, which is on the twenty-second of Bahman and is three days away; the other is the celebration of elections; elections are, in fact, a celebration. We must cherish these two celebrations. These two celebrations are meaningful and significant for us. Regarding the first celebration, which is the celebration of the Revolution - the twenty-second of Bahman - truly our nation has cherished this day as a real celebration over the past 37 years. A celebration is an occasion that is repeated every year; the root of the word "celebration" is from "return"; that is, we repeat a day every year for a certain occasion, joyfully repeating it; this joyful repetition regarding the twenty-second of Bahman, which has been designated as the day of the victory of the Revolution, has continued with strength and power every year. This is unparalleled in Iran and across the world; that is, we have had countries that have revolted, but the anniversary of the Revolution with the presence of the people and with this massive turnout across the country is not found anywhere else in the world. What I am saying is a reality, this is information; it is not a guess or analysis; the reality is this. In revolutionary countries, they commemorate the anniversary of the Revolution; some stand on that balcony, and some march in front of them; this becomes the anniversary of the Revolution; the people are busy with their own affairs. Here, the anniversary of the Revolution is fundamentally commemorated and maintained by the people. It is the people who come out in the cold weather, facing difficulties, frost, rain, snow, and all sorts of challenges, and show themselves; the presence of the people. This series is endless. Perhaps half of those who participate this year on the twenty-second of Bahman are those who have never seen the twenty-second of Bahman [1979] and their age does not permit it; they are from after the twenty-second of Bahman [1979], but they participate. In fact, this is the re-creation of the Revolution; because our Revolution was not with bullets and guns, it was with the presence of the people in the streets; the people came not only with their will, not only with their determination, not only with their feelings and emotions, but with their bodies in the arena and on the scene. It was hard; there was shooting against them, there was killing, there were various dangers; they endured these dangers and came to the streets. The continuity of this strong and steel-like will uprooted the baseless system and the decayed and dependent regime of Pahlavi; that is, the physical presence of the people, along with their will, determination, love, and support, in the streets and on the scene; these are signs of presence. This presence has been maintained by the people over these 37 years, and this year you will see that, by God's grace and favor, the presence of the people in the streets will be significant and will break the enemy's spirit.

We must not allow this memory to become old; we must not allow this great event to be forgotten due to negligence; the Revolution is alive, and we are halfway through the Revolution. My dear ones! Do you realize that the Revolution is not a sudden event; the Revolution is a transformation; this transformation takes place gradually. Yes, revolutionary movement is necessary at first, establishing a revolutionary system is necessary, but until this Revolution can solidify its foundations and achieve its goals, there is a gradual process, and the passage of time is necessary. If those goals are forgotten, that event is forgotten, then it will become like what has been seen in many seemingly revolutionary countries; some revolutions suffocated in their infancy - like those that occurred in our time, in recent years, and truly suffocated in their infancy - and some died young after being born. The reason for this was deviation from the declared goals. Those goals must remain; the goal of social justice, the goal of achieving a truly Islamic life - which is the dignity of this world and the hereafter in Islamic life - the goal of forming an Islamic society where there is knowledge, justice, ethics, dignity, and progress. These are the goals; we have not yet reached these goals and we are halfway to these goals.

The event of the Revolution and the truth of the Revolution must always remain alive in our minds and hearts; they must remain. The enemy's front, incidentally, relies on this point. That you see in foreign news that a certain American politician has said that we do not want to change the regime of the Islamic Republic [but] we want to change its behavior - they say this; you have heard - changing behavior means this; that until now the behavior of the Islamic Republic has been revolutionary behavior, has been in service of the Revolution, we want to change this. I also told our diplomats who gathered here a few months ago that they are not particularly concerned about the name of the Islamic Republic; they are not even concerned about having a cleric at the head of the Islamic Republic; if the Islamic Republic loses its content, loses its Islamic and revolutionary nature, they will accept it. What they are hostile to is the content of the Islamic Republic; the enemy's front is like this. All their efforts are to eliminate the movement of the Islamic Republic towards divine and Islamic goals, towards dignity-creating and power-creating goals; they seek to renew their domination over this country.

For many years, we were under the enemy's domination; in every era, in a different way; in the Qajar era in one way, in the Pahlavi era in another way. In the Qajar era, we were under the domination of two rivals: Britain and Russia of that day; at that time, the Soviet Union did not even exist. One would take a concession, and he would come and say you have given this concession to me, give it to me as well; he would also take a concession. A competition for concessions was underway in the country between two powers; the incompetent rulers of the country sacrificed the nation and the goals of the nation for them. At that time, Iran had a population of fifteen to twenty million; they sacrificed everything of this nation. In their time, it was like this; in the Pahlavi era, it was another form, which was certainly worse; that is, they served their goals and opened the country for them. Because Iranian and Islamic culture could motivate the nation to resist, they changed this culture. The spirit that could slap the foreign company in the tobacco case, the motivation that could bring the people into the scene in the constitutional movement, in the Pahlavi era, they tried to eliminate that spirit and that motivation; that was their effort. Reza Khan and Mohammad Reza did everything they wanted in service of them. Of course, they themselves had no belief and were unbelievers, but they did everything they were ordered to do. For many years, this was the situation of the country.

This country, because of its Islamic essence, because of its Iranian talents, because of the privileges and characteristics that Iranian society has and many neighboring societies and many societies in the world do not have, because of these characteristics and because of the emergence of an extraordinary and exceptional leader like Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), was able to free itself from under this heavy burden, to stand up, to speak its mind, to do its work, to carry out its movement. They want to eliminate this; today the enemy's front is pursuing this.

It is true that today there is a clamor of hard war in the enemy's mouth - it is possible; although we find it unlikely, we do not consider it impossible - but what is currently on their agenda is soft war. The goal of soft war is to take away the components of power from a country and strip them; to take away the components of power from the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation and turn them into a weak nation, a submissive nation, a nation that accepts surrender; this is their goal. Then, when a nation becomes submissive, there is no need for hard war; if it ever becomes necessary, they can do it without concern, which today they do not dare. The day that, God forbid, the Iranian nation becomes weak, loses its components of power, this task will be very easy for them. Reviving the Revolution in minds, preserving and safeguarding revolutionary thought and revolutionary orientation in action, in speech, in behavior, in decision-making, and in regulations and laws; these are the tasks that can prevent that terrifying situation; they can advance the nation in the same path of stability and firmness that it has. Well, this relates to the issues of the Revolution anniversary, which God willing, on the twenty-second of Bahman, the presence of the people in the streets and in various arenas will, by God's grace, be a discouraging presence for the enemy. Then there is the celebration of elections; elections are also a celebration.

I have previously spoken a bit about elections; there is much to say about elections. Elections are a fresh blood infusion into the body of the Islamic Republic; a renewal of strength and energy for the nation. Some come to take on responsibilities and do some work; some can do, some cannot, some can, some cannot; it is the right of the nation to come to the forefront at a specific moment - regarding the parliament or the presidency and so forth every four years, regarding the Assembly of Experts with a longer interval - and decide that this should be and that should not be. This is what elections mean; it means giving a new spirit, fresh blood, and a new breath to the country, to the nation, and to the people; this is what elections are. That is why I insist that everyone participate in the elections. When elections are universal and everyone participates, the country gains dignity, the Islamic Republic gains dignity, the country becomes insured, and the Islamic Republic becomes insured. Elections are a new allegiance to those lofty goals; this is the meaning of elections. Therefore, it becomes an obligation for all people to participate in this great event.

One of the permanent goals of the enemy's front - which is led by America - from the beginning of the Revolution until today has been to create a dangerous bipolarity between the people and the system; exactly the opposite of what the Islamic Republic is based on; that is, the complete integration of the system with the people. They have sought to create this rift; of course, they have not succeeded. Elections are one of the instances that frustrate the enemy in this arena; that is, it demonstrates the strong connection between the system and the people and completely eliminates the bipolarity that the enemy desires. In this regard, elections are a manifestation of "If you help God."

The Quran says: "If you help God, He will help you"; if you support God, the Almighty will support you. What does it mean to support God? How is it done? Supporting God means striving to realize the divine legislative will on earth. The Islamic Republic is the greatest manifestation of this; anyone who supports the Islamic Republic in any form is supporting God. And what is the response? He will help you; God will help you. Hasn't this been the case? Hasn't this been answered since the beginning of the Revolution? Hasn't it been tested? From the beginning of the Revolution until today, what powers have faced us? Truly, a careful look will reveal this; of course, the thinkers and scholars will take this look. From the beginning of the Revolution, the first-rate material powers of the world have been opposed to the Islamic Republic and have not been able to do anything. When a revolution enters a country, the nature of a revolution is that it creates some chaos and disorder. In those early days of disorder, they tried to disintegrate the country; they tried to stage a coup, but it did not happen; they launched a war of aggression and imposed eight years of war on this country; from those early days, they imposed sanctions; these sanctions you see are a continuation of the initial sanctions and, of course, they have intensified day by day. Well, which country can withstand? Which country can resist against all this threat? But the Islamic Republic and Islamic Iran resisted; not only did it maintain itself, but it strengthened itself. Today, the power of the Islamic Republic is not comparable to the early days; as a regional power, in some respects, it is a global power; in some issues, your country is a global power; its opinion and vote in some global matters are more influential than those of the first-rate powers of the world; today it is like this; it has turned into such a thing. That is, divine support came, the "If you help God" that you did, followed by "He will help you"; God helped you; if God had not helped, it would not have happened. This "If you help God" must continue. The presence of the people in elections is one of these things.

Of course, I have a lot to say about elections. There are things being said, comments being made these days that I do not want to address, which cause public anxiety and create doubt in the hearts of the people; inappropriate and incorrect remarks, looking at issues only politically, completely disregarding the divine perspective; such remarks are sometimes heard these days. I do not want to address these things for now; what I want to convey is that the nation should know that its dignity, its pride, its power, its steadfastness in the face of the enemy depends on fulfilling its revolutionary duties well, and one of the most important of these is elections; this is a message to the nation. I also have a message to the officials regarding elections. Well, the officials, the government officials are truly working hard, making efforts; they are busy working for the elections and other issues. I want to say that the electoral media and newspaper controversies should not distract the officials of the country from ongoing and fundamental issues. Elections are very important; as we have said and will say, they are of utmost importance, but elections are a temporary issue, belonging to a specific moment; this moment will pass, and what remains are the fundamental issues of the country, one of which is the issue of the economy; strengthening the country in the realm of the economy, in the overall economic work so that the enemy cannot exert pressure on the country through the economy and impose its desires and will. If we are not dependent on oil, if we strengthen our domestic production, the day that oil drops from a hundred dollars to twenty-something dollars, we will not tremble. If we can boost domestic production, eliminate recession, then when the enemy restricts imports of certain goods, we will not flinch. The internal economy must be strengthened. The country is a large country; we have a large and four-season country, a country with abundant resources, and our most important resource is our human resources; talented, efficient, young, and motivated human resources. We have one of the highest numbers of educated people in the world; we have one of the highest numbers of engineers in the world; in many scientific fields, we are among the top four, five, or six countries in the world. This human resource is not insignificant; it is the highest source of progress for a country; then this vast land, these different seasons, climates in various parts of the country, these immense resources that exist in this country, all these are capabilities that give us the power to make our economy resilient. When you strengthen your economy internally, instead of others sanctioning you, they will come to beg you; when they see that you do not flinch from economic pressure, from economic sanctions, that you do not retreat, then they will think twice about sanctioning you; they will realize that it is a futile effort. This is the essence of the work. That is why I say "resilient economy" and repeat it; I have been saying this loudly for ten, twelve years that if we make our economy resilient internally, most of the problems caused by the enemy will be eliminated, and for our employment, for our youth, for resolving many social issues that arise from unemployment and recession, then clear solutions will emerge.

My recommendation to the esteemed officials of the country is that these media controversies related to elections should not distract them; focus on the economy. Direct resources towards where they should be directed; that is, towards production; whether agricultural production or industrial production. In such a vast country, with such greatness, with so many diverse products, it is embarrassing to see - now I see in the newspapers, you see in the streets - various foreign fruits in the streets! Our oranges, our apples remain on the trees, and we go to import foreign fruits? These are things that need to be thought about, these are things that need to be worked on. Direct the resources of the country towards production, not towards greater dependency, not towards imports. Then, when an issue like elections arises, it should not distract all attention; well, no, this issue is a transient issue; those who need to think are thinking, those who need to act are acting; the officials of the country should not let their minds be occupied with these things. This is what I convey to both our dear people and to the esteemed officials: all our policies, all our behaviors must be in consideration of the existence of a vast enemy front; all our attention must be directed towards this. No human being, no organization will be praised by the people when they neglect the existence of the enemy; they will not be praised for being happy with everyone. Well, yes, he smiles, you smile too, but be careful what lies behind that smile! The enmities must not be forgotten, the enemies must not be overlooked. There is an enemy front in front of us. Today, in our security issues, in our economy, in our livelihoods, in our culture, in the issues of youth, in social harms, we must pay attention to what role this enemy plays and base all our policies on this, base our legislation on this, base our actions on this, base our speech on this. Neglecting the enemy is not honorable; we must know there is an enemy. Some protest that why do you always say enemy, enemy; well, if we do not say it, we forget that we have an enemy, and then the enemy will come and do whatever it wants in our negligence.

We must recognize the enemy, recognize its enmities, and as Saadi says - similar to this phrase - when the enemy is unable to do anything, it stirs up a series of friendships; when it stirs up a series of friendships, then it does something that no enemy can do; that is, it strikes in the guise of friendship. All of us must be mindful of these things. Well, thanks be to God, the activities of the officials of the country are good; truly and justly, they are working hard; however, double vigilance is necessary; because this enemy is a treacherous enemy, a shameless and impudent enemy.

America does not answer the simplest questions of world public opinion today. World public opinion asks the Americans, do you know that a country has been bombing Yemen for ten months, eleven months, destroying cities? Are you aware or not? If you are aware, why do you support it? If you are aware, why do you not protest? If you are aware and consider this a crime, why do your refueling planes help them? Why do you support them? Why do you give money? Why do you constantly yield to what you call the Zionist lobby inside America and always flatter them? Why? These are simple questions of public opinion. They do not answer any of these questions. Then they claim friendship, they claim concern for human rights, they claim democracy. In the countries that are America's allies in our region, the name of elections cannot even be mentioned; they are completely unfamiliar with a phenomenon called elections; they do not even understand what elections are, but America, which claims to support democracy, has made a pact with them; and how! It defends them in every way. Our enemy is such an enemy; America is such a being. Of course, I have said many times that I mean the ruling body of America; I mean the American system - we have no issue with the people of America - the American system is such a system. They commit the most shameless and unlawful acts, then they smile in your face, and they do not answer these questions! Well, if they really have answers, let them answer the public opinion of the world. When a country is facing such enmity, it must be vigilant; the Iranian nation must be vigilant. By God's grace, the vigilance of the Iranian nation is present and has been present, and this great popular movement has been able to thwart the schemes of this treacherous and deceitful enemy; after this, by God's grace, it will humiliate this enemy.

My dear ones! Appreciate your responsibility, appreciate your youth; you are young, you are motivated, you have responsibilities, you can work; working in such an atmosphere, in such an environment is worship. Work with pure intention for God and for advancing the country and the army and the Air Force towards these goals. The more you work, the more God Almighty will bless your life and your efforts.

We hope, God willing, that the pure soul of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) and the pure souls of the martyrs, especially the martyrs of the Air Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran, will be pleased with all of you and all of us.

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