Meeting with Various Segments of the Party of God

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

At the outset, I sincerely and wholeheartedly thank all the brothers and sisters, especially the esteemed scholars and Friday prayer leaders, the dear families of martyrs, the disabled, the prisoners, the missing, and the honorable and dear young warriors who have come from various cities and distant places to express and prove their loyalty to the revolution and Islam.

The matter that all of us must pay attention to is that defending the revolution and discerning its interests is a task that is both easy and difficult (simple and complex). It is easy because the pure nature of the general public recognizes it. If you look at the vast population of the Iranian people, you will see that in all matters from the beginning of the revolution until today, almost the general public has thought correctly, discerned correctly, and recognized the path well, and essentially, doubt, temptation, and blemish have not arisen in their straight path, or have been fleeting. Therefore, for example, in the war, the general public from cities and villages and various segments, women and families, tribes, and workers—especially the oppressed and deprived segments—did whatever was within their means for the war. Thus, this means that the general public and the core of society recognize and understand the interests of the revolution.

However, on the other hand, it seems that discerning the interests of the revolution and defending it is difficult because some of the elites and some of those who claim to know the country's issues or political matters sometimes make mistakes, misunderstand, misjudge, and act poorly. Those who claimed to be aware of Iran's political issues, for example, from forty years ago, sometimes get stuck in today's obvious issues. What the people understand clearly, some of these so-called experts and knowledgeable individuals do not discern! It becomes clear that such understanding has problems and is not very easy.

For example, in the matter of war, the people understood well what they were doing. Anyone who looked at the scene would understand the issues. The enemies of Islam imposed a war on our revolution, attacked our borders, set fires, captured civilians from the deserts, destroyed some of our cities and villages, and committed many atrocities. Anyone with a healthy mind looking at these events would understand that the duty here is to defend and put the enemy in its place. Who was it that, with a sound and healthy mind and without bias and malice, looked at the issue and did not understand this truth? It is clear that if a nation does not defend itself, it is not worthy of living and remaining independent and even not worthy of compassion. The people understood well that they must roll up their sleeves without relying on the so-called political efforts being made internationally, none of which were in favor of the Iranian nation, and forgo the small pleasures of life to be able to take their destiny out of the hands of the enemies.

You, dear nation, young and middle-aged and old men and women and even teenagers, went to the battlefield, supported, gave money, prayed, chanted slogans, organized political demonstrations in favor of the warriors, supported the great and esteemed leader, and did something that not only forced the enemy to retreat and stop aggression but also taught the enemy a hard lesson so that the whole world would understand that Islamic Iran is not a morsel that can be easily swallowed and acted upon according to the whims of the world's tyrants.

At the same time that the people understood this issue well, some protested against the war and defense and going to the front, shouted, and distributed leaflets! Foreign radios also amplified their words and broadcast them worldwide, hoping our nation would hear them and weaken its resolve. Thanks to the nation's vigilance, they could not do this.

Another example in this regard is the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic and the firm and anti-arrogance stance of the system and foreign policy officials against America's bullying. The people have never stopped chanting 'Death to America'; however, over the past few years, a group of so-called wise and prudent individuals have always prudently and supposedly wisely advised the people, the system's officials, and our late great leader, saying why do you unnecessarily fight and struggle with America, which is a power in the world?! Why do you throw yourself into a fight with a terrifying giant?! This is one of those areas where the people understood its nature, but some of the elites did not! They thought that the Islamic Republic, without any reason, had initiated hostility with a powerful giant on the world stage; whereas, this was not the case.

We, the Iranian nation, have not initially been hostile to anyone. There are many countries in the world that do not share borders, ideology, thoughts, or geographical region with us; yet, we have bilateral and international relations and transactions with them. So, the issue is not this.

In our relationship with America, there are two fundamental points that, without paying attention to them, anyone will make a mistake: The first point is that the Iranian nation has expelled the American government and policy as an usurper, oppressor, exploiter, and aggressor from its country. This is the story of a homeowner whose house and properties were usurped during the ignorance and naivety of childhood, and now that he has reached the age of maturity and youth, by virtue of reason and strength, he discerns his interests and expels the usurper from his property.

No usurper leaves willingly, and they must be expelled. Otherwise, they would not have usurped in the first place. The usurper must be thrown out. The Iranian nation expelled the usurper—meaning the policy and path of America and American advisors and mercenaries—by force and power from inside its home. It is clear that this usurper will always hold a grudge against this nation, revolution, and government. If they come again and say: let us reconcile and be friends, know that their intention is still enmity, exploitation, and oppression.

America used to benefit politically, economically, and militarily from its presence in Iran. It was present at our borders to monitor its global rival. It used our resources to further fatten its financial capabilities and massive companies. It used the Iranian government as a puppet and tool in all global issues and enmity with Arabs in OPEC and creating a security ring around Israel. This is the meaning of a puppet that America no longer has at its disposal, and for this reason, it is wounded.

The other point is that the Islamic Republic did not suffice with expelling America from the country and has done something greater than the initial action, which is to create a ray of hope in the hearts of one billion Muslims worldwide and has threatened America at this level. Today, America cannot easily exert influence in Muslim countries as it did in the past because Muslims in other countries have also awakened.

You have heard about the demonstrations of Muslims in one of the countries a few years ago when an American fleet docked at that country's port. Although such visits are apparently portrayed as ordinary tourism and travel, God knows what their reality is. Nevertheless, the Muslims of that country shouted that the American ship should not dock at their country's port.

This is America's problem today in the entire Islamic world. This is the impact of Islam; although America's tactic is to accuse Iran wherever a Muslim raises their head, to say they are receiving salaries from Iran and that Iran is the instigator! We are indifferent to these accusations and live our lives according to the way of Islam. Today, Muslims have awakened and become alive and hopeful with the life of Islam and are gradually finding their Islamic identity, and this is a great headache for America. Therefore, America's revenge is due to this bitter incident, and this bitterness stems from the aggressive and expansionist nature of an aggressive and bullying government like America. Of course, know that if the American government were not aggressive and expansionist, these two points would not be bitter for it.

You, who are a wealthy and advanced country and government, sit in your place and live within the framework of your country. What do you have to do with Africa? What do you have to do with Asia? What do you have to do with the Middle East and the Indian Ocean? What do you have to do with Latin America? What do you have to do with progressive governments? If you are content with your rights, like other countries, with all the natural resources, oil, agriculture, mining, factories, science, progress, and industry you have, you will be busy with your work; but America, due to its expansionism, desires to have a presence and interfere and exploit the interests of nations everywhere in the world; even though it is a large country itself.

Americans are expansionists and want to have a hand everywhere in the world and have a presence and exploit. Whatever the interests of nations may be, it is not important for them! Their interests should not be endangered; even if it means the destruction of the interests of other nations! When it is like this, it becomes clear that the Islamic movement is harmful to them, and they seek revenge.

America's revenge is these political and military pressures and economic blockade that it has in its arsenal. America's revenge is to find a foolish and inexperienced government and incite it to war with us. Of course, due to your sacrifices, this will no longer be repeated, and no one is so foolish as to throw themselves into such a pit; although one must always be vigilant and never completely rule out danger. The vigilance and readiness of the nation is an Islamic command. The enemy is awake against us, and if we are asleep, we will suffer.

Today, Iraq is one of the most indebted countries in the world and ranks among the top. A country that had abundant foreign reserves today has about eighty billion dollars in debt! And this is a great blow and a huge loss that has been inflicted on it. The country of Iran, which was engaged in an imposed war for eight years and did not benefit from the aid given to Iraq, was not indebted at all. Such an advantage is because our nation is alive, awake, Muslim, self-sacrificing, devoted, present, united, aware of its rights, and interested in them.

Our only way to defend Islam and the revolution is to stand firm and resist. Standing firm has many blessings for the present and future of the nation. This resistance and steadfastness of yours, God willing, will solve the problems one by one. The effect of your steadfastness, thanks be to God, is the stabilization of the pillars of the Islamic Republic after the great loss of the passing of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified). The government, the president, the parliament, the judiciary, and various institutions are today, due to your steadfastness and awareness, in their place and are pursuing solving problems, and of course, this effort must be doubled by the officials.

I see and know that the officials are truly seeking to solve the problems, and there is no problem that cannot be solved with efficient, caring, and active collective effort. Some will be solved sooner and some later. Ultimately, by God's grace and the Lord's approval and with the special attention and favor of His Holiness the Master of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him and may God hasten his reappearance) and with the support of the people, God willing, all problems will be solved.

These efforts are good efforts. Of course, the direction of efforts must be in the service of the deprived segments of the nation who both deserve more and have shown major loyalty over the past few years. The weak segments, remote cities, rural people, tribes, the middle urban segments, these have been the true loyal soldiers of the revolution over the past few years, whom the Imam referred to as 'the barefooted'; those who do not enjoy luxury and high living and constitute the majority of our people. The orientation of the programs must be in their service, which I feel and see is the case.

We hope that Almighty God will grant you all success and keep you safe and remove the evil of the enemy from Islam and Muslims and especially the Islamic Republic. You must seek help from Almighty God to always keep this awareness, unity of word, self-sacrifice, and discernment of the interests of the revolution and the way to defend it—which, thanks be to God, is in you people—for yourselves. Almighty God, with His grace and mercy, has spread His shadow of kindness over you until now and will continue to spread it, God willing.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings