Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Meeting with Governors from Across the Country

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Dear friends and brothers, welcome!

The main point and essence of the matter is that the governor in each province must correctly recognize his position and genuinely feel the responsibilities of this position on his shoulders. In my opinion, the governor in each province plays the role of the head of the government in that province. The governor cannot say that a certain sector did not fulfill its responsibilities and that this is why the work was delayed; no, the governor must, through his own efforts and by contacting the center and the government, ensure that all various sectors can carry out their work there. The governor needs to follow up on the tasks until they are completed; until now, our criterion for the strengths and weaknesses of governors has been this: if a governor holds a security council meeting every week and does other tasks, but the province's work does not progress - even if the tasks are related to the Ministry of Roads, the Ministry of Energy, or some other ministry - we consider the governor weak; our judgment about the governors stems from this issue. Therefore, the first point is that the governor must understand his position and the heavy responsibility he has accepted.

The second point is that you should note that the country is now ready for work. Thanks be to God, the country is in security and general readiness, and there is a wave of hope in the hearts of the people.

Today, fortunately, the people have placed themselves in a position of readiness, with hope, optimism, and a sense of belonging to the centrality of the country and the government, so that you can work (you meaning the government. When we analyze the government in terms of responsibility and break it down, it reaches the governors at the first levels). The people are ready, and the environment is very good. The current situation of the government and the specific condition of the President, along with the type of interaction that is currently taking place in words and actions with the people, has created a very good environment, and the people have truly become hopeful. If you visit any of the public service sectors - which I am aware of - you will see that at this juncture, the complaints of the people have decreased; not because the problems have disappeared; no, even if the problems have decreased, they have not decreased enough for the complaints of the people to vanish, but because the people have become hopeful. Hope plays a role; the people feel that progress is being made.

Dear brothers! Since the beginning of this revolution and the establishment of this system, we have faced a predictable and expected challenge in our country, and we will continue to do so for a long time. If anyone thinks that we can have the Islamic Republic with these criteria and defined borders while the dominant powers of the world - which are the opposite of our criteria - sit idly by and do not attack us, but even help us, this expectation is completely unreasonable; it should not even be anticipated. We have come to power with the criteria of "international justice," "orientation towards spirituality," "dignity for humanity," and "orientation towards God's religion and spiritual ethics"; we have come to power with the criterion of not yielding to the power-seeking and greed of the world's dominators; these are the criteria of the Islamic Republic. It is evident that when your foundation is to confront tyranny, the tyrants of the world will not be inclined to negotiate with you; and this creates challenges. This challenge has existed since the beginning of the revolution, it exists now, and it will continue to exist as long as they are not disheartened. You must bring yourselves and this country to a point where they become disheartened. Even then, challenges will remain; however, with lesser impacts. Therefore, always consider yourselves in the field of challenge and confrontation with the greedy and pursue your issues with this perspective.

Those with whom the system faces a major challenge, what do they see as their interests? What does America see as its interests in Iran, with the Islamic Republic standing strong? It sees its interests in creating discord and destroying the unity that you observe among the people today and in halting the scientific progress of the country, because science and scientific superiority are the secrets of every country's advancement in economic, political, military, and spiritual power. We have started this movement for years and are progressing well, and the movement is advancing at an acceptable exponential rate; although they wish for this movement to stop, because their interests lie in halting the wave of service provision. The slogan of service provision that has been raised in the country for several years has now turned into a discourse, and the current government has come to the forefront based on this discourse and taken the reins of work. They want the line of service provision to be halted. Their interests lie in creating insecurity, and there are many motivations for creating insecurity. You have reports, and we also have numerous reports indicating that they want to create insecurity through various means. Their interests lie in distracting the government with political conflicts and rhetoric and factional disputes; their interests lie in disheartening the people; in undermining the people's faith in the validity of slogans and the correctness of this path; in demoralizing the people. These are actions that are naturally clear. Even if we do not have a single report, we know that the interests of America and the Zionist powers, and those who form that front against us, lie in creating these actions. In addition to the reports we have that confirm these and show that they are indeed pursuing these issues.

You are the President of the province. What do you want to do in the face of these issues? This is the criterion for work. Choose your priorities and methods based on these matters. The points that you gentlemen mentioned were very good - both what the esteemed governors said and what the esteemed minister expressed - now what will you do? You must demonstrate that in the field of action and specify the work you are doing. You must pursue the work and not abandon it; do not underestimate it and do not become weary of work. Time passes quickly. Look! Six months have passed since your term of responsibility. From eight to six months - which is in a four-year term - one-eighth has passed, and seven remain, which also passes quickly. Strive to accomplish many tasks during this period - which is not a long time - so that if you wish to continue, you will be satisfied and facilitate your future work. If someone else comes after you, they should look at your work and, in their heart - even if they do not want to praise you verbally - they should praise you and say what a good governor has been here and what good works have been done that we can continue today. We must proceed in this manner.

What seems to me is that you must take the issue of security very seriously. Service provision, which is important, and gaining the satisfaction of the people must also be taken very seriously. The provincial trips of the President and the government delegation are among the very good works. Going among the people and hearing the words directly from them has a significant impact on shaping the motivations of the one to whom the work pertains. Of course, alongside this work, you must certainly observe two things: one is that with an unmeasured statement, do not awaken an expectation that cannot be fulfilled or cannot be fulfilled soon in the people, so that the clash between word and action does not appear impossible in the eyes of the people. The second is that these service provisions - which are immediate and similar to pain relief - should not prevent you from engaging in fundamental and essential work; we need both types of work; we should not only cling to fundamental work and neglect the daily needs of the people - which is very dangerous - nor is it correct to become engrossed in emergency and immediate tasks and neglect those things that require our long-term perspective. Both of these points must be given attention.

Your behavior must be popular, just, and humble. Gentlemen! Engage warmly with the people; show humility before the people; go among the people; when appropriate, visit the homes of the people. Do not let the grandeur of the governorship overwhelm you; do not let it dominate you; this is very, very important. The people should see someone from among themselves; in this case, the dignity of the governor will also be preserved more. Do not think that if someone becomes disconnected from the people, they will gain more dignity; no, dignity is good for officials when the people have a sense of awe towards them; but this dignity is achieved through your spiritual behavior. When you are righteous, when you do not think of personal interests, when you sacrifice your comfort for the comfort of the people, and when you work for God and work sincerely, the Almighty God will instill both love and dignity for you in the hearts of the people. I have seen officials who separated themselves from the people, thinking that this would give them a status and identity! The people paid the least attention to them; they had no dignity in the eyes of the people. Therefore, be with the people and alongside the people.

Do not neglect the sincere and capable forces. Throughout the country, there are forces that may not be known to the central authorities - who are us - but have the necessary capability and sincerity; place them in the cycle of work and utilize their strengths. Be sure to consider the fundamental goals of the system and the government, namely the vision document and the five-year plan that has been approved, in your programs, and these must be reflected in your plans; move within their framework.

I see the fundamental point in all these works as "sincerity," "working for God," "being mindful of oneself in relation to God," and "strengthening the spiritual aspect within oneself," and I believe that whoever is diligent in work and service, if they can strengthen this relationship with God, the Almighty God will assist them and open paths before them. And God willing, the Almighty God will grant you success in carrying out the tasks you have undertaken. May it be such that when we visit you again, what you will say is that: we specifically did this work, we accomplished this great initiative, and we made this much progress.

The ground for service is very ready, and you are the men of service; you must tighten your belts in this field and fear no enemy; have no fear of the enemy. The enemy - meaning the same united front and, in fact, disunited in essence; "the souls of wolves and dogs are separate"; these are wolves and dogs that have formed a pack against the body of the Islamic community; but in reality, their souls and hearts are as separate from each other as their bodies; yet they appear as a united front against Islam and the raised flag of Islam in our country. - Do not be afraid; do not be intimidated by them; they cannot do anything. If we maintain ourselves on this straight path and show perseverance, they will not be able to do anything. Their plans are the same ones you observe in the world today. These plans have failed. Today, look and see that the Americans see their interests in Iraq in creating discord and in showing the government that has emerged from the people as ineffective, and therefore they strive to create discord and tribal wars, which the recent tragic events in Samarra are an example of. Before that, to provoke the feelings of Muslims and for various political objectives, they raised the issue of insulting the noble Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his family) - by drawing cartoons - which both types of actions are of the same nature; that is, stepping into the field of insulting the sanctities of the people, so that in the ensuing agitation, they can achieve their goals through planning. What was the result? They could not succeed. Today, the issue of the cartoons has led to a general movement in the Islamic world and a feeling of hatred in the Islamic world towards the grip of global arrogance, and the events in Samarra have led to the unity of Shia and Sunni in many parts of the world, where Shia and Sunni scholars sit together, issue statements, and condemn together. Therefore, the enemy cannot succeed; the enemy's plans are well-known and repetitive; they have worked on these plans for years; but today the Islamic world is awake, and with the awakening of the Islamic world, they cannot do anything. Of course, this awakening must be maintained; Shia and Sunni brothers must be brought closer together; the hearts of the Islamic community must be united. The enemy's goal of creating sectarian strife and religious disputes - whether in Iraq or in other parts of the world - must be articulated and exposed to the public opinion of Muslims. The fact that today they do not want to allow the Iraqi government - which symbolizes the defeat of America - to establish a popular democracy from the people who are interested in Islam, symbolizes America's defeat in Iraq; because the Americans did not come to Iraq for this purpose; they came to bring a government that supports them and guarantees their interests there; not for a collection of Islamists to come and act under the guidance of religious authorities. They did not want such a government to come to power; but the people of Iraq wanted this, and it happened. Now they want to disrupt Iraq, which symbolizes the defeat of American policies in the Middle East, in such a way as to create discord and not allow this government - which has come to power with the thoughts and votes of the people - to fulfill its duties. God willing, they will fail, and the vigilance of the people of Iraq, like the vigilance of the people of Iran, will respond to them.

We ask the Almighty God to assist you and hold your hands; God willing, may He guide you so that you can create joy and hope in the people with a good spirit and enthusiasm, and God willing, may you carry out the tasks in the best way and feel that progress is being made; that is, when you look on the ground, in the field of action, you should feel that progress is being made. God willing, may you be successful.

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