Statements in Meeting with the People of East Azerbaijan on the Anniversary of the 29th of Bahman Uprising

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the Awaited One of God among the people, and may God's curse be upon all their enemies.

Dear brothers and sisters, welcome! The 29th of Bahman each year is one of our most glorious and epic days in this Hosseiniyeh due to your presence. For me, who is eager to meet the dear people of Tabriz and Azerbaijan, this is an opportunity to visit a group of the youth, officials, and scholars from various sectors here in the Hosseiniyeh. Welcome! Please convey our greetings to the rest of the dear people in Tabriz and in other cities of Azerbaijan.

The issue of the 29th of Bahman is not merely a historical matter; it is a lesson, a title. I present this to you young people: the people of Azerbaijan and Tabriz have been one of the main pillars of struggle in all significant social transformations in the country and important political issues for about 120 to 130 years. This is the identity of Azerbaijan. Whether in the Tobacco Movement and the late Haj Mirza Javad Tabrizi, or in the Constitutional Movement—where the events of the Constitutional Revolution in Azerbaijan are well-known—or in the National Movement and the separation of oil from the British, Azerbaijan played a crucial role; in the Islamic Revolution, in the imposed war, and in the events before the war in Tabriz and Azerbaijan itself, it was the people of Azerbaijan who played a significant role.

In the early days of the Revolution, some initiated a movement against the Revolution, attempting to create a rift among the revolutionary people of Iran, thinking that Tabriz was a suitable place for this—this has always been part of the old policies of Britain and anti-Iran elements. They went there and caused disturbances. We were members of the Revolutionary Council; discussions were held in Tehran, and some were worried, but Imam said no one should be concerned; the people of Tabriz will respond to them, and that is exactly what happened; there was no need for anyone else; the people of Azerbaijan are like that. During the war, the Ashura Division was one of the breakthrough divisions; it was not just that division; the scholars of Azerbaijan, various sectors of Azerbaijan, and the support apparatus of Azerbaijan were all in the field; this is the history of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has always stood alone against the greed of those who have their eyes set on creating ethnic rifts in the country; and today they are still pursuing these actions.

Our country is composed of various languages and ethnicities; there are Turkish, Persian, Arabic, Baluchi, Lori, and Kurdish speakers; this diversity is an opportunity, but the enemy has always sought to use it as a means to create division. The great ethnicities of Iran, and of course, the people of Azerbaijan have bravely stood against the wicked policies of the enemies. Our dear youth across the country should be aware that the enemy is watching and is trying to exploit any fissure they think they can create to undermine the foundation of this country's independence and the foundation of the Revolution; they want to use all means, searching for fissures; while in reality, there are no fissures; the people are united, the people are cohesive.

Well, you who are from Tabriz and Azerbaijan know your feelings. This poem that you recited here: "Bi'aytida vafa daru, biz anda ola Qur'ana" (We swear by the Quran that we are loyal to our allegiance) is well-known; this is a certainty. The people of Azerbaijan have proven this not only in language but also in action, showing that they stand against the tempting and divisive enemy. My dear ones! Fortunately, the rest of the Iranian ethnicities are the same; the people of Khorasan are the same—despite religious differences in eastern Khorasan—the Kurds are the same, the Baluchis are the same. Among the Baluchis, there were scholars who stood against the enemies of the Revolution in the early days of the Revolution. I have been there for a long time and knew the scholars there. Let us name them so that people recognize them: the late Molavi Abdulaziz Sadati, from Saravan; an old man—just a handful of bones—stood against the opponents and critics of the Revolution and defended it; he was Baluchi and Sunni. In Kurdistan, the late Sheikh al-Islam spoke firmly and strongly in Sanandaj; he was Sunni—Kurds are Shafi'i—but he defended the Revolution because he saw that the Revolution raised the banner of Islam. However, the anti-Revolutionaries martyred Sheikh al-Islam for that speech, for those positions. In Khuzestan, young Arabs stood against the aggression of Saddam's regime. They were Arabs, and these were Arabs too, but this Arab stood firm. The name of martyr Ali Hashemi—a young Arab commander from Khuzestan, from Ahvaz—and the names of these individuals will not be forgotten; they stood firm. He spoke Arabic, and this one spoke Arabic, but he understood this truth, recognized the enemy's conspiracy, and stood firm; the rest of the Iranian ethnicities are the same. The people of Azerbaijan are ahead and better than all. Now, they may conspire continuously, sit down, talk, spend money, and continuously pull out oil dollars from the pockets of the wealthy to create division in the country; they cannot.

The nation is united, the nation is cohesive. Today, I am speaking about this issue, and I will also discuss the 22nd of Bahman, and I will address the officials and their responsibilities; all of these must be viewed together. The Iranian nation stands firm, they are united. Now, some have learned to express "national reconciliation, national reconciliation"; these words, in my opinion, have no meaning; the people are united, they are cohesive; where Islam is at stake, where Iran is at stake, where independence is at stake, where standing firm against the enemy is at stake, the people stand with all their being. It is possible that in a certain political issue, two people may have differing opinions, but it does not have an impact. Why do you say reconciliation? Are they at odds that they need to reconcile? These expressions are inflated by newspapers, not realizing that they create problems. When you say reconciliation, it is as if there is a rift; while there is no rift. Yes, our people are at odds with those who insulted on Ashura. The nation is at odds with those who, on Ashura, with cruelty, mockery, and shamelessness, stripped a Basij youth naked in the street and beat him; we are at odds with them, and we will not reconcile with those who are against the essence of the Revolution, who say the essence of the system is our target, who say elections are our pretext; of course, they are a small number, a minority; against the vast ocean of the Iranian nation, they are but a drop; they are nothing. This ocean is cohesive and united; this unity exists and must exist and must be strengthened day by day.

Thanks be to God, the elites of Azerbaijan have always been aware of these points. The valiant youth of Azerbaijan, the people of Azerbaijan from various sectors, have always been aware of this point and have stood against the enemy's conspiracy, the enemy's temptation, and the enemy's activities; they have defended national unity and have sacrificed their lives for it. You yourselves, first and foremost, and we all and all the officials and the entire nation must recognize the value of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a strong point for the Revolution and for the Islamic system. This is the first point.

As for the 22nd of Bahman. First of all, I must sincerely thank all the people of Iran. This year, the 22nd of Bahman has brought honor to the Revolution and to the Islamic system and to Islamic Iran. The assessment of domestic officials and those who usually estimate the crowds in the streets was that in the major cities of the country and in seventy percent of the cities, the crowd was larger than in previous years; some were much larger, some doubled. This was stated by our internal evaluators; not only did they say this; foreigners also said it; the enemies of the Revolution also said it; the same ones who belittled the 22nd of Bahman rallies every year and said a few thousand people came to the streets, this year used the term millions. Yes, it is true; millions of people came to the streets across the country. My tongue is inadequate, and I am not someone who wants to thank; the Revolution belongs to the people. We must thank God, we must express gratitude to God for turning the hearts of the people towards this.

The important point is that throughout the year, with the money of the CIA and Mossad and the intelligence and espionage apparatus of Britain and the oil dollars of the wealthy, hundreds of media outlets speak against the Revolution. Throughout the year, day and night, they are busy; they find dozens of bankrupt political exiles who have fled Iran, pay them a wage to sit down and write analyses, news, and prepare speeches against the Revolution and against the system; to belittle Imam, the Iranian people, and the various activities of the Revolution—which I will briefly refer to—and to accuse the Revolution, to accuse the system, to weaken it. They work for a year, and then on the 22nd of Bahman, this rain of divine mercy, this immense popular presence rains down and cleanses this polluted and dusty atmosphere. It is like a blessed current that flows in the streets, purifying the minds of the people and cleansing them from pollution. This is the 22nd of Bahman.

We have one 22nd of Bahman, we have one Quds Day, and each has its own meaning, its own goal; the people understand this meaning well and enter the field with that understanding. Now, who is in the field? This is a very important point. You look at the massive crowd moving in Tabriz or in other cities or here in Tehran; most of them are under 37 years old—the age of the Revolution is 37, 38 years—meaning they have not seen the early days of the Revolution, have not seen Imam, have not seen the era of sacred defense, have not seen the bitter and dark era of oppression during the Shah's time, yet they come; with the same enthusiasm, with the same feelings, with the same awareness, with the same enlightenment, they clench their fists in the streets and shout slogans; what does this mean? It means the Revolution is alive; it means the Revolution is growing, these are the new sprouts of the Revolution; this is the third and fourth generation of the Revolution that is coming and standing against the enemy and expressing its firm stance. This is very important.

The enemy tries—of course, they are beating water in a mortar—to portray the Revolution as ineffective; well, we have disarray; which country in the world has all its issues completely resolved? Disarray exists everywhere, and we have it too—now I will refer to it—but the enemy tries to ignore the advancements of the Revolution in the face of these disarrays. The Revolution and the Islamic system have accomplished great things in these 38 years. I have a list of the main programs of the Revolution over these 38 years, detailing what efforts have been made for the country; such efforts have not been made by capable and active governments in a hundred years.

When we compare to before the Revolution; in foundational areas—which are very important for the future and progress of the country—in some cases, the country's progress during the Revolution is a thousand percent, meaning ten times; in some cases, two thousand percent to six thousand percent, meaning sixty times. The number of students, scientific progress, significant cultural developments, national dignity and honor are compared with before the Revolution, with the era of the Shah, with the era of American dominance, with the time when Tehran was a resting place for Zionist elements who would come here to enjoy themselves whenever they were tired, staying here for seven, eight, or ten days and then returning; we compare this with that. The country has progressed, has moved forward, has made leaps. Back then, the country was run by a subservient government. The Shah's regime was a subservient government; subservient to America, subservient to Britain, subservient to great powers; they had humiliated the nation, degraded it, completely paralyzed the country's capacities, and had handed some over to the enemy; the Revolution activated many of these capacities; today the country is dear. Today, at the regional level, almost in all regional matters, nothing moves forward without Iran's presence and will. The Iranian nation has shown that it is a resilient nation; all of this is acknowledged by our enemies in their analyses; they say that one cannot confront and oppose the Iranian nation; it is a resilient nation, it stands firm, it does not submit to the enemy; this is dignity. This dignity is compared with the humiliation they imposed on this nation, on this country. Yes, it is clear; this is a source of joy and delight for the youth who come to the field. This is the 22nd of Bahman; the 22nd of Bahman is a divine blessing, a divine opportunity for the nation to show itself, to shout its will loudly. What is in the hearts of all the people is manifested in their slogans on the 22nd of Bahman across the country. We seek progress, we seek Islam, we seek an Islamic system that arises from the people and can solve the problems of the people; this is the slogan of the 22nd of Bahman every year; and the nation stands firm; any official who does not align with the nation and does not stand firm will undoubtedly be rejected by the nation. Well, this is also the issue of the 22nd of Bahman.

But the next point I want to address is directed at the esteemed officials of the country. I tell the officials not to interpret the people's presence on the 22nd of Bahman as a sign of their lack of grievances against our activities as officials. The people are dissatisfied; they are dissatisfied with many things happening in the country; the people have no tolerance for discrimination; wherever they see discrimination, they feel discomfort and pain. Wherever they see negligence, they feel the same; wherever they see a lack of progress in work, they feel the same; the people are dissatisfied. The 22nd of Bahman has its own significance; the people's resistance against the lurking enemy that seeks to devour Iran is one thing that manifested on the 22nd of Bahman, but their expectations from us officials are another matter.

Well, we declared this year as the year of "resistance economy; action and implementation"; the year is coming to an end; now it is the end of Bahman, action and implementation must be demonstrated. I said at the beginning of the year that the officials of the country—whether the officials of the executive branch and the government, the officials of the judiciary, or the officials of the parliament; it does not matter, all—must show by the end of the year what they have done for action and implementation this year; they should not say it should be done; they should say it has been done; this must be specified.

Today we are facing problems; we cannot ignore the problems and grievances of the people; officials must take this seriously. The issue of unemployment is important, the issue of recession is important, the issue of inflation is important; these are issues that exist. Of course, the officials are making efforts; we see that, but the capacities are greater than this. Now, God willing, I will address this in due time; we are not at an impasse; we are not at an impasse in economic matters; there are problems from two, three, four sides, but the way out of these problems is also specified. How can we get out of these problems? Officials must strive.

I said four or five years ago in my New Year speech that today the enemies of the Iranian nation are focused on the economy; they are trying to pressure the country's economy so that the people face difficulties. When the people face difficulties, they become disheartened, they become discouraged; this is exactly what the enemy wants. The enemy wants the people to become disheartened with their Revolution, with their system, with their government, with their country; therefore, they exert pressure on the economy; and they have applied pressure. Officials must pay attention to this point.

Of course, it is not the case that our issue is only the economy; everyone knows, I have great sensitivity regarding cultural issues, I have great sensitivity regarding science, but when we look at priorities in limited times, the issue of the country's economy takes precedence; because the enemy is aware of this; today they are doing the same things; everyone should pay attention to this. Whether during the previous U.S. administration or the current U.S. administration, one of the enemy's tricks has been to constantly threaten war; and that the military option is on the table and similar things. That European official also tells our officials that war in Iran was inevitable; if it were not for the JCPOA, there would have definitely been war; pure lies! Why do they say war? So that our minds go to war, while the real war is something else; the real war is economic war, the real war is sanctions, the real war is taking away the fields of work and activity and technology within the country; this is the real war. They direct us to military war so that we neglect this real war; the real war is cultural war. All these various televisions and different internet networks are busy working to divert the hearts and minds of our youth from religion, sanctities, chastity, and modesty; they are seriously trying, spending money for this work! This is the real war.

Officials must be vigilant. I told the esteemed President to remind your managers to ensure that management is conducted with transparency, that management is conducted with oversight. A manager must supervise, must follow up on work. Just because we said a certain task should be done, the other side saying yes does not mean the work will be accomplished. Work must be clearly demonstrated in the field and on the ground; these are the things we need and must pay attention to.

I say in the noble verse "And prepare for them what you can of power" that the likely meaning of "power" is not just military power; of course, military power is included, but it is not just military power. Prepare for them what you can of power; strengthen yourselves in every way you can. This is the meaning of the internal strengthening of the country that I repeatedly mention. Strengthen yourselves scientifically, strengthen yourselves technologically, strengthen yourselves in domestic production, strengthen yourselves in penetrating foreign markets, strengthen yourselves in discovering the many capacities that exist in this country and have not yet been utilized, and employ these capacities. We have declared in our policies that the country must achieve eight percent growth; some said it cannot be done! Then specialists and experts came and said that if we consider the capacities, growth of more than eight percent can also occur in the country! Not growth in the sense that we sell more oil—of course, that is beneficial, but that is not what we are aiming for—meaning the growth of domestic production, the internal economic strengthening of the country; that is the resistance economy that we have emphasized and repeated many times. Then a group comes and points to the shortcomings, exaggerates, and does not mention the advancements or the solutions! In fact, these are the same people who provided the enemy with the coordinates to impose sanctions on Iran; these are the ones who provided the coordinates for sanctions. These same people focus more on weaknesses—less inside, more outside.

Dear brothers, dear sisters, Azerbaijani youth, you brave ones who have proven yourselves in hard fields! I tell you: know that if we continue to move forward in this manner and, in common parlance, with this steering wheel, victory undoubtedly belongs to the Iranian nation. Everyone should think, everyone should strive, everyone should put in effort, everyone should consider the future, everyone should keep their ideals in front of their eyes and move towards those ideals, everyone should keep this sacred hope alive in their hearts. We thank God for keeping the flame of hope alive in our hearts so that we have not despaired for a moment regarding the future of the country, and thanks be to God, we have achieved what we hoped for, even better and more than that; but this is not all our wishes, this is not all our demands; this is not all of God's demands from us. We have taken a small step; we must take bigger steps and move towards what the Islamic system has promised, which is to create a just, advanced, powerful, and dignified Islamic society, God willing, and we will certainly reach it; God willing, and with God's permission. May God protect you, may God keep you safe.

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