Statements in a Meeting with Senior Officials of the Three Branches

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 Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the remainder of God on the earth.

Happy Eid! God willing, may you and your families make the best use of these good intentions, and may you bring to fruition what Dr. Aref — who is a truly experienced individual — has said and expressed.

I must once again emphasize that I congratulate your families and your spouses on the occasion of Eid and thank them. I am certain that if spouses are supportive, share thoughts, and are empathetic in the tasks you officials undertake — whether ministers, members of parliament, deputies, advisors, or heads of various sectors — the work will progress better. This also depends somewhat on your approach and behavior. Some officials, when they enter the field of responsibility and work, become so engrossed in their enthusiasm and interest that they forget they have children, a wife, responsibilities, and a home where they should have lunch and dinner together; they completely forget. Do not forget!

Regarding the remarks of Dr. Aref, I would like to say one thing. What you have decided and are pursuing in meetings and work gatherings is very good — what has been said is very good — but we have a deficiency in the country that is important. We do not lack laws, we do not lack regulations, we do not lack good plans — many good plans have come, gone, been said, and approved — what we lack is "follow-up"; follow-up. Follow up on this. Some of the statistics he provided are thought-provoking; for instance, consider the gasoline consumption statistics he mentioned. The figure may be said to be double what should be consumed in the country. This must be resolved; it is solvable. At one time, daily gasoline consumption in the country reached, for example, 80 million or 75 million, and it has even gone lower; now he mentioned over 160 million! This must be pursued, it must be followed up. Issues related to schools, educational justice, and matters concerning the underprivileged and the oppressed must be followed up; my request is that you pursue these. Meetings are good, decision-making is good, and the enthusiasm and motivation of leaders and managers are very good and necessary, but it is not enough. You who are in management, who have enthusiasm, who have interest, give orders to your second-in-command, and he may give orders to the next person, but along this process, this order gradually weakens, weakens, and sometimes reaches a point where nothing happens.

One of the very necessary tasks is saving. I have noted some points regarding the issue of the slogan of the year and similar matters that I will present, but saving is important; in electricity consumption, in the consumption of energy carriers. Government agencies must save more than anyone else; because the largest consumer is the government itself, the government agencies; the government consumes the most gasoline, the most electricity, and so on. Get used to saving. As Saadi says: When your income is not enough, spend less For they say the sailors sing If rain does not fall on the mountains The Tigris will become a dry river in a year. This is how it is. Now, for the sake of some Azerbaijani-speaking members of parliament: "If there is no river, there is no Baghdad"; this is another part of this. Ultimately, this follow-up must be taken seriously. This is the first issue.

I have noted here that we should place the joint priority agenda of the agencies in the area of economic issues, helping to realize the slogan of the year. That is, "investment for production" should become a slogan, and everyone should consider themselves obligated to this work; it will save the country from many problems.

We have an investment problem. Money is somewhat available with the people; the art is that you — whether the Central Bank, the Ministry of Economy, or some other agencies — can guide this money towards investment and productive investments. Follow this up; it is very important. Of course, for the people too, meaning for those who want to invest, it is an honor to have money and be able to allocate it for the advancement of the country, the improvement of the country's situation; remind the people of this honor so they know they should be proud in this sense. However, the main work is in the hands of the government; that is, the government in the general sense, [meaning] the authority; the judiciary has a role, the parliament has a role, various ministerial sectors have roles in making this happen and be accomplished.

Ensure the security of investment. Some years ago, we had a meeting here in the Hosseiniyeh, where I spoke about attracting foreign investment; one of my experienced and seasoned friends — may God have mercy on him; he has passed away — stood up and said that foreign investment is a branch of domestic investment; here you must create this showcase, it will become clear that domestic investors are willing, eager, and enthusiastic to invest, and are ready to invest, so that the foreigner also sees this, is encouraged, and says, well, investment can be made. Remove the obstacles to domestic investment. This is one of the best ways to neutralize sanctions.

I have repeatedly said that the issue of sanctions has two remedies: one is the removal of sanctions, which is not in our hands, it is in the hands of the other side; the other is neutralizing sanctions, which is in our hands. Find ways to neutralize sanctions; there are many ways, and it is truly possible to neutralize the sanctions, and if we make good use of domestic capacities, we can make it so that the country becomes resilient against sanctions; that is, even if they impose sanctions, the country can completely pull itself out of the mire; that is, the domestic capacities of the country have this ability.

The issue of expanding trade relations that was mentioned is among my emphatic points. With neighboring countries as a priority, with countries that are economic poles in Asia — like China, like Russia, like India, which are economic poles — facilitate economic relations. Of course, some of this is very difficult; we know this, but any difficult task can be accomplished with great effort and good planning. Therefore, the issue of relations with neighbors is important. In these matters, intermediary hands are very effective; that is, these middle managers who have sometimes become accustomed to bringing a product from a certain place. A few days ago, I told someone that during my presidency, the president of an African country, where we had gone and which had a very good livestock and agricultural center, told me: the meat we produce is luxury meat; that is, Europeans come to buy meat from us — at that time, everything was imported through the government; in the 60s, the government imported meat too — you import meat from Europe, and Europe sells the same meat that it bought from us to you at double the price! I came here and told the officials to pursue this; they did not; it was a verbal welcome, but no practical reception. The issue of trade with neighbors, with economic poles, with diverse countries, with Africa itself, which I mentioned, is very good. The contacts that the esteemed president has with the leaders of these countries on the occasion of Eid and similar matters are very good; these are facilitators; the activities of the Foreign Ministry [as well] — these trips and exchanges — are very good activities.

One sentence regarding these Oman talks. I want to say that these talks are one of the dozens of tasks of the Foreign Ministry; that is, the Foreign Ministry has dozens of tasks, one of which is these Oman talks and the issues that have recently been raised. Try not to tie the country's issues to these talks; this is my emphasis. The mistake we made in the JCPOA should not be repeated here. There, we conditioned everything on the progress of negotiations; that is, we made the country conditional. Well, when the investor sees that the country's work is contingent upon negotiations, he will not invest; it is obvious; he will say let’s see where the negotiations lead. These negotiations are also a task, a discussion, one of the many tasks that the Foreign Ministry is undertaking. The country must also do its work in various sectors: the industrial sector, the agricultural sector, various service sectors, the cultural sector, specific topics that have been defined specifically, like these issues in the southeast of the country; pursue these with seriousness; these have no connection to the ongoing talks that have started in Oman. This is another issue.

Furthermore, let us not be excessively optimistic or excessively pessimistic about these talks; this is, after all, a task, a movement, a decision has been made, it is being implemented, and in these initial steps, it has been well executed; after this, it must be followed up with complete precision — the red lines are clear; they are clear for the other side, and they are clear for us — and the negotiations must be pursued well. It may reach a conclusion, it may not; we are neither overly optimistic nor overly pessimistic. Of course, we are very pessimistic about the other side; we do not trust the other side, we know the other side, but we are optimistic about our own capabilities; we know that we can accomplish many tasks, we know good methods.

The issue of the seventh program is also an important matter that, after a delay, is finally starting this year. Efforts should be made to ensure that from the very beginning of this program, it does not go off track like the sixth program. Some parts of the sixth program went off track from the very beginning; try to ensure that the various sections of the seventh program do not go off track. This is the parliament's resolution and a task that is necessary for the country, based on the general policies of the system, and overall it is a good program. After all, it is law, it must be implemented, but care must be taken that it is executed according to its principles and correctly, and that no deviation occurs.

One sentence about the issue of Gaza. In the Gaza affairs, this criminal gang that governs Palestine has truly exceeded the limits of criminality; they have really gone beyond limits! I do not recall, I have no record of such actions that deliberately and with specific targeting strike the oppressed, children, the sick, journalists, hospitals, ambulances; this is truly something strange, this requires an extraordinary cruelty that this gang and this wicked group possess!

In my opinion, the Islamic world must take action, must do something. There must be good coordination — whether economically, politically, or operationally if necessary — the Islamic world must collectively think and work on this issue. Of course, they must also await the scourge of God; that is, such oppression will have a severe divine response — there is no doubt about this — but this [divine response] does not lessen the duty of the people, our duty, the duty of governments. The Almighty God will do His work, and we must also fulfill our duty.

We hope that, God willing, the Almighty God will bring goodness to all Muslim nations, the Islamic Ummah, the dear nation of Iran, and you officials, and make the tasks easier, and may God be pleased with us and our work, God willing. Always keep God in mind in all your affairs.

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