Statements of His Eminence at the Grand Gathering of Basij Resistance Force Commanders Nationwide on the Second Day of Basij Week

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

We thank Almighty God for bestowing the great blessing of the Basij upon our revolutionary and faithful people. To provide clarity for all people regarding the Basij, which is a very important subject in the revolution and for our people, and today, thanks be to God, fourteen years have passed since the establishment of this sacred institution and this blessed tree, we will say a few words.

Regarding the Basij, there is a history that pertains to the past. There is also the future of the Basij. There are also duties that rest upon our shoulders and all the people, which we must, God willing, fulfill. As for the history of the Basij, in my opinion, it is something that will never be forgotten in the history of our great and eventful country. In a long multi-year war, it cannot be said to be just eight years; because even before these eight years, the people's Basij force was present in the field. After that, until today, it has been a great people's force that entered the field and overturned all calculations to the detriment of the political and military analysts of the world. This people's force is the same Basij force. Our armed forces, including the Revolutionary Guards or the army, have worked hard and performed great services. But I can boldly claim: if there was no popular presence; if there were no Basij forces that, over these many years, poured out from homes, schools, factories, offices, cities, and villages, from different ages and from both men and women, to the scenes and fields where they were needed, we would not have been able to defend the country in the war as it deserved, nor could we have demonstrated our national power and the stability of the Islamic Republic to the whole world in other scenes that we have faced almost every moment against the enemies until today. It was the Basij that gave us such power. This is the multi-year history; both what happened in the military battlefield and what happened in other scenes like these various demonstrations and the massive presence of people in all different scenes, truly until today, as we speak, in my opinion, has not been fully documented and reported. Many books need to be written. Many images, paintings, photographs, films, performances, and other artistic signs need to be employed to show the greatness of this people's presence and its impact to someone who has not seen it with their own eyes. Even we who have seen it with our own eyes, when we receive a report from a place where we have not been, we see that many points have been hidden from our view. When a movement is to be made on the front against the enemy, you see those who must take up arms, pouring in from all sides. Those who must train these armed individuals appear from wherever they are and can. Those who must bring these armed individuals to the front lines come with their own vehicles and perform this duty. Those who must support this group and provide them with food, clothing, and comfort and nutrition facilities, engage from all over this country: homes turn into sewing rooms, and Hosseiniehs and mosques turn into kitchens to support this armed group that has set out and gone to the front. Those who cannot do any of these tasks come to pray for the heroes in the middle of the scene. They chant slogans for them and boost their morale. If there is no faith and enthusiasm, how can such a situation be planned?! This was the faith of the people. This was the enthusiasm of the people. This was the hope of the people.

There is a point here, and that is that the Iranian nation, the population, and the masses have always existed. But why did this not happen in other periods of history, that in the face of great social events, people would pour out in this way and solve a great social problem with their presence? Of course, we do not say that it never happened in the past. Why! When a deadly incident occurred, often our people, when they felt that this was a religious duty, which of course this religious duty had to be told to them by religious leaders and scholars, they set out and defended. We have multiple cases in past history, whether in the constitutional events, before that, after that, and in wars. But why was there no universal presence from all over the country, with this perseverance, with this clarity; that too for several years, seen in the past? Why in the past one or two centuries, perhaps from two hundred years ago to this side, Iran has been defeated in all the wars it had with its neighbors and others; except in this imposed eight-year war, which was harder and longer than all the wars that the Iranian nation faced during this period? This has no precedent. In the Iran-Russia wars during the time of Fath Ali Shah, we were defeated. We were defeated in the Herat war. In World War II, when the Allies entered our country, we were defeated. During this period, whenever any of the neighbors made a move and aggression in any part of this country, we were defeated in the face of their aggression. But in this eight-year war, where almost all the military powers of the world joined forces and mobilized a country against us and attacked us, we defeated them. We were not defeated, and we won. Why? The same is true in other countries. I say these things so that you think and find the correct answer to the question, so that with a correct rational understanding, with rational guidance and precise calculation, the future path can be found. Just as, by God's grace, the Iranian nation has moved in this way until today.

Look at other countries: the people of other Islamic countries are also Muslims. It cannot be said that the people of a certain country do not have proper religion and faith. Now, if in some countries, due to some factors, people suffer from weak faith and have some non-religious habits, this is another matter. But the faith of the people, in most Islamic countries, is deep faith, and evidence of this can be found. In these Central Asian countries, where they worked against religion for about eighty years, you still see that people have religious interest. In many countries, the prayers of the people, the fasting of the people, that is, the things they have understood that their religion demands of them, are done correctly. But the same people, in the face of the cultural invasion of the enemies, in the face of the political invasion of the enemies, in the face of the economic invasion of the world's arrogant companies, and if a day comes in the face of the military invasion of the enemies, they cannot do anything. Why? Why can't the large and populous countries in the Middle East region and some of these populous countries that are neighbors with the aggressive Zionist regime, cure this cancerous tumor?

What is the reason? The reason is the same thing that had caused the great Iranian nation, despite its religion and faith, to fail in all the cases that came before it in the periods before the revolution. The reason is the same everywhere. The reason is that our nation did not possess those excellent qualities that it enjoyed during these eight years in the past. Today, unfortunately, many other Muslim countries do not possess them. But our nation, during the years after the revolution, possessed them. What is that? This is a fundamental point. This is the factor of the great victories and successes of the Iranian nation. That is, the connection of this great faithful mass, these young people, these men and women, and various classes with that central and divine leadership of faith that was striving with all its being for Islamic goals and guiding the people in the path they had to move. The existence of a leadership, a centrality, and a guiding apparatus, which was embodied in our great Imam, that wise and spiritual man. He was the one who showed the way to this great faithful, committed Muslim mass. He told the people who they should fight against. He invited the people to connect their hearts with God and rely on God. He warned the people on how to equip and prepare themselves against the enemy so that the enemy could not deceive them. Whenever necessary, he told the people what they needed to know. Behind the Imam, there was the country's managing apparatus, that is, the Islamic Republic system. But the issue is not limited to the person of the Imam. Let no one think that in the Islamic Republic system, the great masses of people should only be connected with the person of the leader and that the country's managing apparatus, as a phenomenon, has no role in attracting, guiding, mobilizing the people's force, and supporting them! No; this is a mistake. That is why you saw that the great Imam repeatedly supported and backed the country's official officials.

Of course, if at any time, God forbid, a deviation occurred in the country's officials, the great Imam would warn, and this is a duty. But the centrality that I say "the masses of people and the general mobilization of people are connected to it" is the centrality of the Islamic Republic system. That is, in our Islamic system, the people, this great mass, have a permanent connection with the country's officials, whose axis is the officials and the central point of which is the person of the great Imam and the leader. This is what has been the factor of the Islamic Republic's victories until today. Pay attention to this.

I said some time ago: the reason for various defeats in history is that people sometimes lose the power of analysis. Wherever people could not analyze correctly, that is a dangerous point. That is where the enemy might strike.

I want to tell you, my dear ones, and you, my Basiji children and brothers, to make this the basis of a long and permanent analysis to know the enemy and understand what the enemy is doing today. When in a system, officials, a group that manages a large country like Iran, rely on the people; on these lively and energetic forces; on these young people who consider danger in front of their goals as nothing; on these hearts full of enthusiasm and love for the high goal; these same people who managed the eight-year war; these same people who today, if we stand powerfully against global arrogance, it is because we have confidence and assurance in the steadfastness of this great force within the country; when there is a strong bond and connection between this great force and the country's centrality, with the country's officials, with the country's managing apparatus, with the leader, with the government, the administrators gain such spiritual power that they can say "no" in the face of global pressures and impositions; so that arrogance cannot impose anything on them. Just as today, the Americans and the rest of the oppressive and usurping powers impose on many governments. Both they gain power, and the people's force is used in the path of the country's interests. The people's wills, the people's clenched fists, are used in the path of independence and the country's development and in the path of living freely and the nation's dignity. And what dignity is higher for a nation than that no power can use it as a tool and means to achieve its own desires?! This is higher than any dignity for a nation.

Today, the world's powerful have become so shameless, the spirit of arrogance has become so strong in their impure insides that they openly say that a certain government, a certain country, and a certain regime must work for our interests! Who are you?! What are you doing interfering in the affairs of a certain Asian or African country or any other point in the world?! If you are very good people; if the people of your country are behind you, you should manage your own country. What does it matter to you to interfere in the affairs of a certain country that is in another part of the world?! Unfortunately, this "what does it matter to you" is not openly slapped in the face of the system of arrogance by governments, nations, and the world's managing apparatus; otherwise, arrogance would not have become so brazen. But the Iranian nation has the power to punch the arrogant, the bullies, and the brazen ones in the face. This power, the officials of the Islamic Republic, from the beginning of the revolution until now, have gained from the connection with the people, and the people from the connection with the officials, and all from reliance on God and inspiration from the teachings of the Holy Quran and divine verses.

Look at global propaganda! Look at domestic propaganda too! Look at the statements of individuals too! This is a criterion. Every speech and every voice that tries to weaken the bond between the central apparatus of the Islamic Republic system and the masses of the people belongs to the enemy. There is no doubt about it! Every apparatus, every voice, every speech, and every pen that tries to create doubt in the hearts of the people about the movement of the central apparatus of the Islamic Republic system, to shake and make people doubtful, belongs to the enemy. Although the writer himself may not know. The one who writes may not even be aware of what he is writing. He may say something or write something under the influence of a wrong momentary feeling; but ultimately and undoubtedly, it is at the instigation of the enemy or to the benefit of the enemy; it belongs to the enemy. All the pens, speeches, hands, and efforts that try to damage this unity and general unity of the nation in defending the interests of the Islamic Republic and defending the interests of the Iranian nation belong to the enemy. Because it was through this unity that we were able to bring the enemy to its knees. Any speech, any writing, any apparatus that tries to tarnish the image of the great Imam, even today when that great man has ascended to the highest heavens; to question his actions; to question the decisions that once brought the Iranian nation to the peak of credibility on a global level, know that it is related to the enemy. That breath, that heart, and that speech is right that tries to strengthen the bonds among the masses of the people, among the people and the country's managing apparatus, among the people and the principles of religion, among the country's officials with each other, and among the organs. It tries to create hope in the hearts of the people about the future and to prove and make people understand that a great force like the Iranian nation, when illuminated by divine love and faith and belief in God and the Islamic school, and when these hands and arms are intertwined, has the power to push back all enemies and build the nation and country in the way that is worthy of an Islamic nation. The speech of the one who creates hope in the hearts, strengthens the steps, enlightens the minds, strengthens the bonds, strengthens the faiths, and does not exaggerate the power of the enemy is right.

Of course, the enemy should not be thought of as smaller than it is; because then one will be struck. But the enemy should not be portrayed as bigger than it is either. That is exactly what the Zionist and arrogant propaganda apparatus is doing today: they have made a giant out of America and the powers, so that if someone has no experience, they think that with a gesture from them, everything will turn to smoke, powder, and disappear! What are these words?! If they had power, the Islamic movement in the world would not become more rooted and magnificent day by day! Wherever they intervened forcefully and powerfully, either themselves or their agents, they created a burning hell and a swamp for themselves and their agents, into which they sank up to their necks. Look at the places where they imposed people on the people! See in what ugly situation they are and in what troubles they live!

The power of arrogance should not be exaggerated. What is truly powerful is the power of nations; provided that with faith in Almighty God and with familiarity and knowledge of divine laws, their hearts are firm and strong. When the masses of the nation have faith, belief, and hope in the centrality and focus of caring officials, these form a real power. And this is what, thanks be to God, has existed in our country since the beginning of the revolution: the great Imam in front, the country's officials around him, and the great masses of the nation, illuminated by the light of the Imam's guidance. Wherever the interest of this country and this nation required, they turned to that direction; they did great things and, by the grace of the Lord, advanced the country.

Today, the Iranian nation is honored in the world. Today, the Iranian nation is recognized as a great nation. Today, within the country, it is the will of the people themselves that governs and opens the way for the Iranian nation. Today, the enemies do not have dominance and influence over us, and by God's grace, they will never gain this influence. Of course, they try to create problems, to create knots in the work, to put sticks in the wheels of the Islamic Republic system, and whatever they can, they propagate against this country and this nation and officials. But by the grace of the Lord, with your people's efforts, with the will of this nation, all of these will become void. "Scattered dust" will become and will disappear.

Know the value of the Basij. The Basijis should also know their own value. The officials should consider the Basij masses as the most deserving individuals of the Iranian nation for the tasks they are capable of. The Basiji youth, especially you commanders of Basij nuclei and Basij units across the country who have gathered here today, know the value of this divine organization and gathering, which is a very valuable thing. Try to keep these pure youth, these faithful youth, these pure and clear and luminous hearts safe from the enemy's propaganda harm. One of the things the enemy does is to contaminate our pure and clean and good and pure youth. They make a thousand efforts to contaminate our youth, both boys and girls. The youth themselves must be the first to resist the enemy's seductions and mischief; against the enemy's tempting propaganda that misleads the youth. Then the commanders and Basij officials, the intellectual and spiritual officials, must take care of this. In addition to attention and care, with divine and religious and military training, with practice, with necessary maneuvers, with a completely solid organization, by expanding the Basij apparatus, by assigning responsibilities to all Basijis, men and women, old and young, according to the opportunities and job possibilities that each person has, they must, God willing, be able to keep these elite Basij forces and elements steadfast in this sacred and glorious path.

I find it necessary to convey my sincere and friendly greetings to all dear Basijis across the country, of whom you are truly their representatives. We all must send salutations to the pure souls of the martyrs: the martyrs of the Basij, the martyrs of the armed forces of the army, the Revolutionary Guards, the law enforcement forces, and all the martyrs who drank the cup of martyrdom in various fields and gave their lives in the path of duty. Also, send greetings and salutations to the families of these dear martyrs and the families of the warriors who encouraged them, and also to the freed and missing persons who are still in captivity, and we hope that good news will reach us and their families, and also to the disabled and wounded and their families.

We hope that all of you and all these dear ones will be included in the mercy and grace of the Lord. It is very appropriate that, God willing, the Basij centers become warmer day by day and the enthusiasm and reception for them among the people increase.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings