Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in the Presence of the Staff of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting

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

I thank God for granting me the opportunity to once again be present among the esteemed and dear staff of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and to visit the active friends in this very important cultural and political sector up close.

I am satisfied with today’s visit; we visited some sections up close, met with senior managers of the organization; and at this hour, I am pleased to have this meeting with the dear brothers and sisters who are present here. This is a cultural organization and perhaps it can be said that it is the most influential cultural organization in the country, this national and public media.

Culture is the main foundation of nations' identity. It is the culture of a nation that can make that nation advanced, esteemed, capable, knowledgeable, technological, innovative, and possessing global prestige. If culture in a country declines and a country loses its cultural identity, even the advancements that others inject into that country will not be able to grant it a deserving place in the human community and preserve the interests of that nation. When I look at the events of the colonial era - colonialism began around the late 18th century, peaked in the 19th century, and continued until the mid-20th century. The movement of colonialism means the presence of the dominant military and political powers in countries where they could use force to establish their presence and secure their interests, essentially creating a material and spiritual capital for themselves from that country, which they called colonialism and is still referred to today - I saw that wherever they entered, if they had the ability to undermine, influence, and weaken the culture of that nation, their power bases were solidified there. And if in a place the national and indigenous culture, due to its ancient, rooted, and prominent nature, was not undermined and destroyed, the colonizers and occupiers could not secure their interests for long and were forced to abandon that region. This is true for all the conquests and territorial expansions of past eras in history - which we read about in history. Those conquerors who were able to remain stable in the lands they conquered by sword and force were those who could seize the culture of that country. Sometimes they eradicate a culture; for instance, they completely eliminate the language of a country. You can now observe that Africa, Latin America, and many countries have no indigenous language at all. The Portuguese and Spaniards came there and changed the languages; they destroyed the indigenous languages and many cultural signs; of course, in some places, they could not. Culture is the backbone of a nation's life and identity.

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution - which was a revolution based on a defined cultural goal - importance was given to the issue of culture and to the issue of national identity - which the national identity of a country is culture itself, and this is part of the prominent manifestations and lines of a nation's culture - blessings were attached to this work that could not possibly have come into existence in this country. These innovations, these scientific advancements, this courage to enter new scientific and research fields - which, fortunately, we observe today in our country - is due to the self-confidence that has arisen from the revival of national identity; this was brought about by the revolution. Before the revolution, they frequently mentioned national identity and nationality; however, they did not strengthen national identity in the true sense of the word at all. The reason was clear; those who wanted Iran for their own interests and had defined their interests in our dear country knew that if national identity were revived in this country, it would be incompatible with their interests, and they could not achieve the goals they aimed for. Therefore, national identity was weakened at that time. We advanced in our country to such an extent in dependency and the dissolution of identity in the face of foreigners that prominent individuals did not hesitate to propose changing the Persian language and script! Of course, they worked less on changing the language; however, for changing the Persian script - the script of a country is one of the prominent points and important cultural indicators of any country - in the newspapers and publications of the Pahlavi era in our country, they openly and explicitly wrote, defended, and spoke about changing the Persian script; that too with completely contentious and fallacious arguments. They went so far.

Those who brought the Pahlavi regime to power were not willing to tolerate any of the indicators of nationality. Of course, our nationality has always been intertwined with Islam; our language, our customs, our knowledge, and our scholars have been intertwined with Islam. In history, you see that our prominent and enduring scholars are those who possessed religious knowledge alongside the ordinary knowledge of life; that is, all knowledge has emerged from the collection of religion. Of course, this does not mean that the students of religious schools had this characteristic; no, the society was a religious society. Our culture, our knowledge, our behavior, and our traditions are intertwined with religion, and many of them have originated from religion. When they fought against national identity and its indicators, naturally, the fight against religion was part of it, and since religion and faith are the backbone of all human values, they naturally opposed faith vehemently. They were not willing to accept that we even have local clothing. We Iranians, with several thousand years of history, do not have indigenous clothing and do not recognize our local and indigenous attire, while many other countries in the world do. Of course, indigenous clothing does not hinder progress; however, we do not have it because they did not allow it. This is acting on the same recommendation that said an Iranian must become foreign from head to toe! See how far self-abandonment goes. This is what I always say is cultural invasion; cultural invasion is different from cultural exchange; it is different from taking the highlights and selecting the best from other cultures; this is something permissible, rather obligatory. Islam instructs us, and reason independently demands that we learn and utilize anything good, beautiful, and valuable that we see anywhere. These well-known phrases in our people's languages, such as "Seek knowledge even if it is in China" or "Look at what is said, not who said it"; do not look at who has the good word, the wise saying, the knowledge, and the understanding; if the word is good, learn it, this learning is cultural acquisition, and cultural acquisition, cultural exchange, and selecting the best culturally are necessary, and this is different from cultural invasion. I have often said that there is a time when a person, of their own will and according to their needs and appetites and necessities of life, chooses a type of food, a type of medicine, or a necessary substance and incorporates it into their body; this is selection, which is very good; however, there is a time when someone is laid down and a substance that is neither necessary for them nor do they have any appetite for it, nor is it beneficial for them, is forcibly poured into their throat or injected into them; this is uncertain; this is cultural invasion; the same thing that was done to the Iranian nation over many years. From the politicians who were dependent, from those who silenced them with financial contracts, no expectations exist; however, from the scientific and cultural figures of that era, there was an expectation that if they had any beliefs, even if they did not accept Islam and did not have Islamic faith, they would respect the cultural identity of this nation; however, they did not show any respect; they opened the gates and closed their eyes and became captivated and dazzled, and they pushed us back. Because of this, we fell behind in the field of science and technology. The fact that in the culture of my youth - which, fortunately, is not the case now and has changed significantly - truly any product simply because it was foreign was desirable, and simply because it was domestic was undesirable, was the public culture of those times, and within the country, the audacity and boldness of scientific and research work and breaking through deadlocks and crossing the frontiers of knowledge was not even conceivable, and those who saw such talent in themselves thought of no way other than to work in environments outside the country. The idea that we should build ourselves, produce ourselves, and innovate ourselves was not even conceivable. I have many concrete examples from various reports and information that have been provided to me, which perhaps some of you are aware of. But today, fortunately, this spirit of courage, self-reliance, and bravery to enter various fields exists. This culture was changed by the revolution. This is the issue of culture. This was one example and one instance.

Now this culture is in your hands, the staff of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting; from your managers to the various staff in technical sections, various support, research, artistic, program production, and various programming, as well as in political and news sections. In all sections, it is you who can spread the sweet fragrance of correct culture in the atmosphere of society, and no one can resist this cultural expansion that you create. Today, the most important tool of war between powers in the world is media, and today even great powers are working with media. Today, the impact of media, televisions, arts, and these vast information networks on the internet, etc., is greater than weapons, missiles, and atomic bombs. Today, the world is such a world. Day by day, they are expanding this field. I told our managers in that meeting that today the media and cultural arrangement that stands against the Islamic Republic is a very complex, diverse, multifaceted, efficient, technical, and advanced arrangement. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting stands alone against this vast arrangement and, thanks be to God, has managed so far, and I want to tell you that you have managed so far. You see how much investment has been made for these radios and televisions and these information networks that target our country. They have invested several times more than what we invest in our own broadcasting. If things had gone as they calculated, today there should be no trace of Islam, faith, and the Islamic Republic left; because their activities are not related to today and yesterday, but they started their work from the very first day of the revolution's victory and have been developing and intensifying their work day by day for twenty-five years. Thanks be to God, our national media has taken care of itself and has truly prepared itself as much as it could to be present in this field and has entered the field; you can.

I tell you that the fundamental direction of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting should be exactly opposite to the direction they have. They want to turn the culture of the nation away from faith, values, and adherence to Islamic principles and the independence of national identity. You should focus on the exact opposite of this work. They want to destroy national unity; they want to undermine the self-reliance of the youth; they want to present a dark, ambiguous, and illusory horizon before the eyes of our young generation; they want to dissuade even the senior political managers of the country from courageous action in various matters and scare them - one of the most important tools of global arrogance; this is the same global powers and dominators, scaring. It has always been this way. Those letters that you have heard and seen, "The first of war is words," sent by kings to their political rivals in various countries, were full of threats and full of showcasing their power. This was because the threat; a threat that leads to the fear of the opponent plays an important role in victory, which is still a significant investment for this work - to take away the courage to act from these and make these managers worried about the future; they also place the youth in a certain way, the general public in a certain way, the managers in a certain way, the politicians in a certain way, and the innovators and scientific activists in a certain way in the crosshairs of their opposing media with the Islamic Republic. You should move exactly opposite to them.

Planning in the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting should be directed towards national unity, creating hope, showing the bright horizons that lie ahead for our nation, encouraging the innovative and research community of the country, encouraging the administrators and decision-makers of the country in various fields, and motivating the people to participate in the scene - which is the solution to all problems, the presence and will of the people and the people's decision. Of course, the essence of all of this is heartfelt and religious faith. If someone does not recognize religion for its inherent high spiritual value, they can rely on religion as a remedy that can solve the most important social problems of a nation. This is not only said by us who are the Islamic Republic, nor is it only for our country, but today thinkers and political and intellectual elites around the world have also come to the same thoughts. They feel the void of religion, especially in some European countries, where their distance from religiosity and religious faith has become very great, and they warn about this void. Faith is a very valuable thing and a very important element for organizing and shaping movements and preventing excesses and deviations and chaos in various aspects of life, and truly this work is a major goal for the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, which we hope everyone can accomplish.

I particularly want to emphasize two points: research and art.

Research work is very important. Work that is based on research and is scholarly has more value and appeal even for ordinary people who are not scholars. Of course, scholarly work does not mean being verbose; rather, scholarly work means meticulous and correct work; even if it is expressed in a way that is understandable to everyone. As you have heard, in all fields of scientific research, large budgets are allocated in some advanced countries. Research in the fields of cultural concepts and various issues that the national media deals with is among the very important works.

And regarding art, I have truly said too little about art. I have often said that art should be valued and should be elevated day by day, and the noble form of art should be chosen. Without art, ordinary speech does not even find its place in anyone's mind, let alone being attractive and becoming ingrained and lasting. Art is the most important means for spreading a correct or incorrect idea. Art is a means, a tool, and a media; a very important media. We should not neglect art and equate it with sin and wrong and these concepts. Art is among the most prominent creations of God and one of the most valuable works of the Creator, which should be appreciated. In all works, even in ordinary advertisements, art should be employed. If the tools of art are used in scientific works and intellectual and scientific presentations broadcasted from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the durability and appeal of those works will be multiplied. In all sections, a strong emphasis should be placed on research and art.

In any case, we hope that God Almighty grants you, us, and the esteemed and dear managers of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting success. I sincerely thank each and every one of you responsible and staff members in various sections. I thank all of you, both the sections mentioned by Mr. Larijani and some of the sections not mentioned in his statements. I hope that day by day your progress, development, expansion, and depth of work increases.