Statements to the Army Ground Forces Commanders

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

It is a sweet and desirable day for me to be present among you dear ones, brothers, youth, and the brave members of the armed forces here, to see you up close and to speak a few words with you, and to benefit from the manifestations of your motivation, movement, and pure and radiant hearts. Happy Army Day to all of you. I hope that each of you—who can generally be said to be young and are experiencing good times in life—God willing, will be a symbol, a bastion, an excellent example for the future of the country, the dignity of the country, and the pride and power of this nation, as God the Almighty has decreed.

Well, thanks be to God, the ground forces of the army have grown and flourished; one can feel this. This movement, this blessed trend, began with the victory of the Islamic Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic. It should not be thought that during the reign of the tyrannical regime, there were no or few faithful forces within the army; no, that is not the case. I was connected with some of the military personnel at that time—some we had friendly relations with, and with some we had revolutionary and combat connections—there were many faithful, interested, and sincere individuals within the army at that time; one could see them in various occasions and places, which I had witnessed. There were also other friends who were familiar with various sections. However, the orientations of individuals have one meaning, while the orientation of the organization and the whole has another meaning. When the overall orientation of a society, an organization, or a collection is wrong, individual efforts, no matter how abundant they are in that society, will not yield results. It was like that back then.

It has been narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him)—apparently from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him)—that he narrates a sacred hadith, in which he said: "I will surely punish every subject in Islam who obeys a tyrannical leader who is not from God, even if the subjects are righteous and pious in their actions." The essence of the hadith is this: If the reins of a society's system are in the hands of corrupt, worthless, oppressive, and deviant individuals, the faithful actions of those individuals in that society will not reach anywhere; and if in such a society there are those who submit and obey those oppressors, God will punish them as well. Of course, in this hadith, the opposite is also mentioned: "And I will surely forgive every subject in Islam who obeys a guiding leader from God, even if the subjects are unjust and sinful in their actions"; these have explanations, and one cannot suffice with just the apparent meaning.

The summary and essence of the matter is that if in a system, in a collection, in a country, in a society, the sovereignty and system is divine, and a just system, those who obey this system are under divine forgiveness, even if they have made mistakes. You can calculate this on the scale of a country, on the scale of a nation, on the scale of a society; you can also observe and calculate this on the scale of an organization, such as the army.

Back then, the army was under the control of the unworthy; but when the people's movement began, this faithful body and a few high-level faithful elements recognized their path and found their place. From the very first days of the victory of the revolution, individuals came to help the revolutionary elements so that they could find a common language with the army and speak together. Well, they did not know each other; neither the officials, nor the revolutionaries, nor the combatants, nor the clergy, nor the academic circles had any dealings with the army; they had no common language. Thanks to the revolution, this common language was created.

Today, the army is one of the most popular institutions in our country. Among the various institutions that make up the structure of the country and the system, when we look at the army, we see it is one of the closest to the masses, to the people's tendencies, to the people's feelings, and one of the closest to assisting the general movement of the people; this is a very valuable and precious thing. It is true that armies in the world are formed and employed under the slogan of preserving national interests, but is it really so? Did the American army in Iraq preserve America's national interests? Did the American people benefit from the occupation of Afghanistan? Were they pleased and satisfied with the killing of the Afghan people? With mercenary soldiers coming to shoot people, then mutilating their corpses, and then taking souvenir photos with parts of their bodies, were America's interests secured? If someone from the leaders of the United States regime were to ask, 'Sir, why do you want this vast army, this modern and ultra-modern equipment?' their answer would be: 'For national interests.' But do they speak the truth? This is almost the case everywhere in the world. Of course, I do not claim that this is definitively the case—because we do not have complete information; there may be exceptions here and there—but what we have seen and recognized is that generally in the world, armies are formed in the name of national interests, but they do not serve national interests; they serve political ambitions. Throughout history, it has been the same. They rise from here, take more than a million soldiers and send them to Greece—these are the historical glories of our tyrants; Xerxes—to conquer Greece; then they return defeated, shipwrecked, and destroyed. These were not for national interests. Throughout history, the armies of the world—as far as we know and history shows us and we can access today—have generally been like this; either serving personal ambitions or serving the preservation of tyrannical powers.

At the beginning of the revolution, in one of these royal palaces where a part of the army was concentrated there for guarding, a sign was put up that read: 'We—the army—are formed solely to protect the life of this tyrant!' Well, this is very far from national interests. If we find an army in the world whose beliefs are like the beliefs of the people, whose feelings are like the feelings of the people, which is not in the service of individuals, but in the service of the people and in the true sense of national interests, this army is very valuable; this army is you. I truly do not know of another example. Now, in those countries that have just revolted, let us see what will bear fruit and what they will do; but until now, I truly do not know of such an army; an army that is neither in the service of personal ambitions nor dies for an individual. I must emphasize this; neither God is pleased, nor do the laws of Islam allow us to say that our army, or our armed forces, or our elements, die for the sake of a certain person; no. Yes, for the sake of Islam, let everyone be ready to die; let that certain person also die for the sake of Islam. For the sake of keeping the flag of independence of the country—which is an Islamic country—everyone should be ready to die in this path; this dying is called martyrdom. In this case, this army becomes a divine and spiritual army; this army becomes an Islamic army; this is the good tree that I mentioned. From the beginning of the revolution until today, this has been the goal. And fortunately, we have been getting closer and closer to this goal; I want to convey this to you.

I have been closely observing this long movement of the army for over thirty years. I was present at the first ceremony of the 29th of Farvardin. At that time, when Imam was hospitalized in 1979, a podium was set up in front of the hospital, and groups from the army came there to parade, and Army Day was announced by the Imam. I see the situation of the army. Among you who are present here—those who have been in the army for the past thirty years—there may not be anyone whose graduation ceremony I have not attended. Apparently, I have been present at the graduation ceremonies of each one of you and the receiving of ranks; you who went to the academy and became officers and had ranks placed on your shoulders. I look and see that today our army has advanced beyond twenty years ago, beyond fifteen years ago; it has advanced significantly since the beginning of the revolution. This is a good movement; this movement must be continued. This movement is one that holds the happiness of this world and the hereafter.

Today, a current has emerged in the world that everyone has recognized and acknowledged that this current opposes the system of domination. We have no issue with individuals—individuals from this side of the world, from that side of the world; up, down—the issue is the system of domination. What does the system of domination mean? It means that mechanism in the world that divides countries and nations into two categories: the dominators and the dominated. Now, some of these wicked dominators conceal and deny this meaning and this essence; but some, due to their inherent foolishness, express it openly; like the former President of the United States who explicitly said: 'In the case of Afghanistan and the case of the Twin Towers and these matters, anyone who is not with America is against us!' Well, this is foolishness. The dominators of the world organize their relationship with the world in this way; one must be submissive.

The problem of the powerful dominators of the world today is that a current has emerged in the world that opposes this mechanism. At the center of this current is Islamic Iran; it is you. Islamic Iran has been very patient. On the first day we started this movement, there was no response from anywhere in the world. We thought that some nations would join this movement very quickly, but it did not happen that way. After years passed, gradually and slowly, this thought penetrated into the minds of nations; they were gradually built up, until at one point an opportunity arose. All historical movements are like this. Historical movements, although they may seem sudden, are not sudden at all; they are gradual; however, they await a point of explosion; an incident occurs, a matter happens, suddenly that potential, that accumulated force of the compressed spring reveals itself and releases itself; it becomes like Egypt, like other places. It has taken thirty years for us to reach this point. Therefore, this movement is an important movement. The colonizers and the powerful are truly afraid of this movement. All this posturing, this bluster, these sanctions, these disputes, and threats are all out of fear.

I do not claim that they are specifically afraid of the Islamic Republic as a government or as an army; that is not the issue; they are afraid of this movement; they are afraid of this unprecedented phenomenon that is completely unknown to them. And this movement is where its pulse is increasing, it is being breathed into, renewed day by day. They are afraid of our faithful youth, of our aspiring youth, of our national feelings at their peak, which are accompanied by good awareness—not to say excellent. Today, the level of awareness and insight in our country is truly good.

You are part of this sensitive and important collection—the armed forces are sensitive—you must preserve this, you must continue it. I am now in the presence of the esteemed commanders, and I recalled a sentence from a military commander. He came to me at the beginning of the revolution and said a sentence that I liked very much—and it is true—that I have remembered until now. He said: 'In command, there is an element or part of leadership.' You are the future commanders of the forces and the army; you must strengthen the power of leadership within yourselves. Command means do and do not, order and prohibit; leadership means movement, behavior, and showing characteristics that take the place of do and do not; without do and do not, it creates movement; a movement from the heart. Instead of connecting with bodies, there must be a connection with hearts; this must be created and strengthened within yourselves. If this happens, then victory for our country and our nation is certain. That is, in difficult moments and hard times, this feeling and this state will assist a person. And I have seen examples in this regard. Now, some faces are very famous, and everyone knows them; Martyr Sayyad Shirazi, Martyr Babaei; those who were present from the beginning of the war until the end and were martyred; but I also saw many individuals of this kind within the ranks; in the armed forces, during the war; both at the front and in decision-making and decision-influencing sessions behind the front; this is also very important. Often, the movements that take place in the front lines stem from the determination and will that many of those wills are formed and shaped behind the front. If these wills are sincere and can reach the front layers, then those acts of bravery occur; sometimes one would observe these acts of bravery prominently. You must keep these in mind.

In any case, the ground forces are important. Within the army, the ground forces are a very important part. It has always been said that the backbone of the army is the ground forces. It may be that in today's conventional wars, the expectation of ground engagements is less—just as it is indeed so; now the naval and air defense sections have more probable engagements—but the ground forces must always maintain their true readiness and enhance it. True readiness means faith, motivation, training, military knowledge, necessary expertise, readiness for action, and the strength of character. The moral and behavioral character must possess such strength that various and deceptive attractions cannot influence it and humiliate it. Sometimes, some attractions of life humiliate people. One sees some who become humiliated for the sake of money, for the sake of position, for the sake of sexual motivations; this is the humiliation of a person. The dearest and most powerful individuals are those who are not humiliated by these attractions. Of course, this does not mean turning away from the attractions of life; this means not being subdued by attractions; otherwise, Islam does not say you must not have money, nor does it say you must not have a position, nor does it say you must not benefit from these various attractions; but you must not become a slave to them, you must not be subdued by them, you must not be humiliated by them; you must have the power of resistance and steadfastness, you must have the power of refusal. This prepares you.

Well, I have much to say to you friends, brothers, and dear children; but time is also limited. We hope, God willing, that God the Almighty grants you success and support.

O Lord! Bestow Your blessings upon this gathering. O Lord! Bestow Your blessings upon the nation of Iran; bestow Your blessings and grace upon our armed forces, upon the army of the Islamic Republic. O Lord! Strengthen the kindness, bond, brotherhood, friendship, and intimacy among the organizations of the armed forces, from the army and the IRGC and Basij and the police and others, more than ever. O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, make us among those servants of Yours of whom You said: 'God is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him.' O Lord! Make us among those servants of Yours for whom You promised defense and support. O Lord! Include us in the prayers of the Awaited Savior (may our souls be sacrificed for him) and grant our prayers.

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