Statements in Meeting with the President and Members of the Cabinet

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

I extend my warm welcome to our dear brothers and respected sister, and I congratulate everyone on the Government Week, which coincides with the formation of the new cabinet. Government Week is an occasion to congratulate and encourage all employees, managers, and officials of the executive branch; I do not miss this opportunity to congratulate all of you and all the managers and officials working in the executive branch at various levels, and I pray for your success in serving the people from the Almighty God. It is noteworthy that in this annual commemoration of the government, the names of two martyrs, who were wise and devoted, adorn all speeches and writings. It is very meaningful and profound that throughout these continuous years, all governments and all statesmen have placed the memory of these two serving martyrs at the forefront of Government Day and Government Week, and have not allowed the passage of time and various events to let the value of martyrdom and the sincere and humble service of these two great men be forgotten.

I must sincerely thank the esteemed President for his prompt action in introducing the ministers to the Islamic Consultative Assembly. I knew and saw his insistence, and I admired this insistence in my heart for the urgency to form the cabinet as soon as possible; fortunately, he was able to present his proposal to the esteemed Assembly without any delay right after the oath-taking. I also thank the esteemed Assembly for approving the ministers with a good vote, and in some cases with a very high and prominent vote, thus effectively starting the work of the government and the Assembly. This is a sign of determination on one hand and coordination between the two branches on the other, both of which are elements that I am sensitive about; both regarding the coordination between the two branches, which fortunately showed itself very well at this initial stage, and also regarding the need for work to begin without interruption in every field.

We hope that your government and your collective can manifest and demonstrate the strengths that exist within it, and that the hope that Mr. President referred to, which has grown in the hearts of the people regarding outstanding and significant work and overcoming obstacles, will continue, God willing, with the manifestation of your strengths. Of course, without a doubt, Mr. Rouhani himself is one of the strengths of this working group. He is an experienced individual in the revolution, with a long history in revolutionary struggles, with good and correct positions over the past thirty-some years, and he has placed himself in the sight and judgment of the people, and thanks be to God, today he stands as a desirable and trusted President at the head of the executive apparatus. One can understand from what he says and from his background that he has a firm resolve, and God willing, so do his colleagues, to advance the work in the best and most correct manner. I pray for both him and all of you that, God willing, you succeed and can provide what is the duty of a good and desirable government.

In this initial session with you dear friends, let us review the indicators of a government that is considered desirable in these times. Of course, we do not claim that our government is an Islamic government in the true and complete sense of the word. I look at myself and see countless deficiencies and weaknesses within me; when I compare this with the small abdal of the holy and pure high-ranking officials who gifted us Islam in its early days, I see that we are much smaller than being able to form that desirable government or even endure it; however, according to what can be called an Islamic government in our time and under our conditions, there are certain indicators that I will refer to some of them. Of course, these are not new words; you all know them; however, reminding ourselves of what we know is always beneficial and does not hurt to review them again.

The first indicator is the ideological and ethical indicator - especially among high-ranking officials - the ideological integrity, ethical integrity, and performance integrity that arises from a correct belief and a proper view of the realities of society. This is the first indicator. Fortunately, we are not confused or lost regarding the correct belief and what should be considered the truth; in addition to Islamic sources - from which various individuals may have different interpretations - we have the comprehensive guidelines of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified); the Imam is acknowledged and accepted by all of us. Well, the collection of the Imam's statements, the collection of his positions, and the collection of his guidelines are at our disposal. This became the indicator; we must believe in this; we must act according to this; in cases of error, we must refer to this main indicator; this is what constitutes ideological integrity. The principles and values of the revolution are also contained in these statements. These are things that if we adhere to them and are attached to them and carry out the program based on these attachments, it seems that the work will be successful and promising, and we will progress.

One of the things I emphasize in this area of belief and heartfelt perspective is the issue of trust in God Almighty, trust in divine promises; this is one of the matters I insist we should not neglect. When God Almighty explicitly promises us that "If you support God, He will support you," and "Indeed, God will support those who support Him," when God Almighty clearly and emphatically promises us that if you support His religion, follow the path of God, and assist it, He will support you, we must trust this promise and act accordingly. Now, for someone who has not experienced it, this may seem distant and improbable; however, you and I, who have experienced it, have seen how something that seemed impossible became possible; there was nothing more impossible than thinking that with empty hands, by being present in the streets, one could overthrow a tyrannical regime backed by all the global powers and replace it with an Islamic system; not just any system, but an Islamic system, a juristic system. Who would have believed that such a thing could be realized? But it happened; that impossible thing occurred.

The issue of the uprisings at the beginning of the revolution, before the start of the Sacred Defense, is another matter; uprisings that were also supported from abroad - you remember - in the east of the country, in the west of the country, in the north of the country, in the south of the country; where were there not ethnic and sectarian uprisings? Which new country and which new government, lacking an army, a proper armed force, or a reliable security force, could confront such a situation and prevail? The Islamic Republic prevailed.

The imposed war and the issue of the Sacred Defense is another example; well, these are words that have been said a thousand times or thousands of times; however, we must remember them. The imposed war was not just a war with a neighboring government; it was an international war against us with all its tools. They made every effort, yet after eight years, they could not seize even an inch of our land; is this not a small matter? And so on with various other issues. Well, these are promises that have been fulfilled. "If you support God, He will support you" is something that others may have only read in the Quran, but we have experienced it in our lives. Therefore, you must have trust in God, work for God, gentlemen, set your goals as divine goals, and be assured that God Almighty will open the way. This equation with multiple unknowns that Mr. Dr. Rouhani expressed - when one looks at it from all sides, it has contradictions and conflicts - sometimes you see that God Almighty resolves it with a small movement. It has happened; you want to place one object on another, there are ten obstacles, one does not know how; a skilled person comes, gives a slight push, and it fits. This means that all these issues can be assumed to be resolved with a correct, wise, scholarly perspective - which, of course, must be based on reliance on the Lord and divine grace and hope and trust in God Almighty - and I believe this. In any case, this is one of the indicators: trust [in God] and connection with spirituality. I kindly ask you - of course, it may not be necessary for me to ask this of you, and it may be redundant - do not sever your relationship with the Quran, make sure to read some Quran every day, strengthen your relationship with prayer and supplication; this alleviates the pressure of work, removes the hardships of work, energizes you, prepares you to face great obstacles, meaning it revitalizes the spirit of the believer; this is a very important matter; and the supererogatory prayers and such things have their own place.

The second indicator is the issue of serving the people; the spirit of service, which is the main discourse of the Islamic government, is this service; our existence is nothing but this; we have come to serve the people, and nothing should distract us from this duty. Of course, each of us has our attachments, our preferences; in political matters, in social issues, we have friendships, we have enmities, all of these are peripheral; the essence is service; we must not allow these peripheries to affect this essence. And one point regarding this service is that time is limited: four years or, from another perspective, eight years; time is limited, it passes like lightning. I have repeatedly emphasized this in this room or that room with some of the previous governments, some of you were part of them: from the first day of the government, think that this passes like lightning. When one looks back at four years, it seems as if it passed in a day - "It passes like a cloud" - but within this limited time, opportunities are unlimited; every hour is an opportunity for you. Every incident that arises is an opportunity for you. Every thought that comes to your mind, every initiative that comes to your mind is an opportunity for you. Do not miss these opportunities.

Secondly, in the area of service, work must be done with a jihadist spirit; jihadist does not mean lawlessness. Friends with whom we have worked for many years - with many of you brothers in various fields - know my spirit; I am not one who invites lawlessness; I am vehemently against this lawlessness, but I believe that within the framework of the law, work can be done in two ways: one is the conventional administrative work, and the other is jihadist work. Jihadist work means overcoming obstacles, not seeing small obstacles as large, not forgetting ideals, not forgetting direction, enthusiasm for work; this is jihadist work. Work must be done jihadistically so that, God willing, service can be performed well.

The third indicator is the issue of justice. I have repeatedly stated - in private sessions with some of you over the years - that I do not believe in progress without justice. We have named this decade the "Decade of Progress and Justice." Progress without justice will yield the same results that you observe today from the ostentatious civilization of the West. Wealth, power, knowledge, and technology, more than what they have, were not imagined for this era; they have the maximum, but at the same time, you observe that there is no justice there. Now, in the area of judicial justice, in cinematic and narrative advertisements, they talk a lot - which often, I mean eighty percent, is false; the information one has in the area of judicial matters also [shows that] this news does not exist in the West - but in the economic area, it is completely clear. There are those who die of hunger, there are those who die in the cold, say ten degrees below zero in some country, or die from forty-degree heat! Why should a person perish in forty-degree heat? Is it not because they have no shelter, no home, are on the street, in forty-degree heat, without water, and perish? These exist; and [on the other hand] there are vast, legendary wealth in the West today. This is injustice; we do not want this; Islam has not asked us for this. We need progress; progress in the sense that today is referred to as development in Western literature; we call it progress; this progress must certainly be accompanied by justice. Well, in the Quran, you also observe; all the sending of messengers and the revelation of books and such things are "so that people may live with justice"; this is so that society may live with justice. Therefore, this is the next indicator that must always be kept in mind.

The next indicator, which is the fourth, is economic integrity and the fight against corruption. You see, governmental positions are places of power and financial resources; temptations here do not leave a person at ease. Now, do not look at yourselves that you are religious and high-level and resist these temptations; at lower levels, they may not be able to resist these temptations. You must be vigilant; you must extend your insightful vision over the entirety of this apparatus that is under your supervision and management, so that no economic corruption arises in any corner and these temptations take effect. Even before the supervisory bodies come in; well, we have supervisory bodies in the country, they have their duties; whether it pertains to the Assembly or the Judiciary or the executive branch itself - like the inspections of the executive branch - but before it comes to them, the manager of the apparatus must monitor its integrity, and this requires constant vigilance; one must not be negligent. I sometimes give examples to these friends and managers with whom we sit and talk, I say it is like these searchlights that you have seen in some castles and such, a searchlight that constantly rotates; your watchful eye must constantly rotate; that is, there should be no way for infiltration; you must always look, monitor. Truly, corruption is like a termite; do not allow corruption, bribery, favoritism, extravagance, and excessive expenditures to infiltrate your apparatus. Part of the remedy that Mr. Dr. Rouhani referred to in the economic issues is achievable through these savings and the fight against corruption; sometimes excessive, unnecessary expenditures - now where it is not forbidden, but excessive; perhaps excessive in a sense is forbidden, but ultimately, it is not explicitly forbidden, but it is an unnecessary expenditure - must be curtailed. And it is possible; through this, many large and significant works can be accomplished. Truly, in the executive apparatus, the majority of the employees are hardworking, pure, and sound; [however] when one, two, ten corrupt and unsound individuals appear in an apparatus, like a germ, like a termite, they operate there, the efforts of this group of servants and hardworking individuals are truly wasted, and they become discredited, and their efforts are lost; [corruption] destroys the environment of trust.

The next indicator is the issue of lawfulness. Well, lawfulness is very important. The law is the rail; if we deviate from this rail, there will certainly be damage and harm. Sometimes the law is incomplete, sometimes the law is defective; however, even that defective law, if it is not acted upon - [a law that leads to chaos and everyone does as they please] - the harm of not acting upon it is greater than the harm of acting upon the law. This must be institutionalized; in the entirety of the apparatus, this must be institutionalized. And among the observance of the law is the observance of the higher documents that fortunately exist in the country today; like the general policies, the vision document, the resolutions of the high councils such as the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, the Supreme Cyberspace Council; I was with Mr. Dr. Rouhani a couple of days ago discussing this briefly, we will discuss more about it; the Supreme Cyberspace Council - we have perhaps held four sessions of three to four hours with the presence of the heads of the three branches, and a collection of the powers, and this council has been formed and is a very important matter - has resolutions, these resolutions must be considered valid and must be acted upon according to these resolutions. This lawfulness and adherence to the law, if it becomes established, certainly many harms will be eliminated.

Among the things I should remind here in the general policies is one of the policies for transforming the administrative system, which has been approved and communicated. We are truly facing long-standing and chronic problems and harms in the area of administrative matters and the administrative system. These policies have been proposed, reviewed in the Expediency Council, and communicated; in my opinion, they are very good policies, and an executive program must be put in place for them, and operations must be carried out, which is one of the very important things that unfortunately has been delayed and has not been set in motion.

Another indicator is the issue of wisdom and rationality in work; expert work, proper study, consideration of the aspects and consequences of an action, and even sometimes considering the consequences of a statement. Sometimes a statement from a responsible person who has a position and, so to speak, has a podium, has adverse effects that if one wants to rectify, it requires considerable effort; it is like the stone in the well; it truly creates problems. One must express opinions judiciously; it should not be that we are now a manager, a responsible person, regarding a certain issue, something comes to our mind, without expert analysis, without investigation, without considering the aspects, this should not be thrown into the public opinion space; sometimes gathering it back is a difficult and challenging task. This rationality and wisdom in management and in work is essential. And among the branches of this wisdom is the use of the high expert capacity in the country's issues, which fortunately we have a very good expert capacity in the country today; honestly, one looks, in various sectors, the expert capacity of the country is high; if we utilize this capacity and [these] numerous forces that have been nurtured after the revolution and have entered the realm of service and work, we will certainly benefit.

Let me mention one more indicator, I will not continue this section any longer; reliance on the endogenous capacity of the country; let us not look outside. This is our recommendation; this does not mean that we should not use the resources available outside; these two statements should not be confused. Do not place your hope in external capacities; outside the country and the Islamic Republic system, there exists a large front that has been striving with all its might for over thirty years to prevent this rooted revolution from taking root, to prevent this Islamic Republic system from remaining stable, to prevent it from progressing, to prevent it from becoming a model in various fields. One cannot expect friendship and affection from the enemy and the hostile methods they have employed. We do not say do not use these resources, but we say do not trust, do not rely, do not fix your gaze there, fix your gaze inward. There are many resources within the country that if our perspective - whether in economic fields, cultural fields, or various other fields - is directed towards them, and if we can utilize these internal forces, the key to solving problems lies here; that is, within the country and the internal resources of the country, from which wise utilization can be made. These must be identified. And this is what will elevate our rank in the world. In international relations, each country's share is proportional to its internal power; the more truly powerful it is internally, the higher its share in the international relations will be; this must be secured, and fortunately, over these continuous years, it has gradually been secured; that is, the strength and stability of the Islamic Republic system has increased over these years; thus, you see the dignity and position of the Islamic Republic has also risen, and now its evidence is abundant and plentiful. And these were six or seven indicators that we wanted to present; of course, we have stated that these are not new matters for you, but reminders and reiterations of what is known are necessary.

I would like to mention two or three more points: we must observe priorities. You are fresh and have entered work, yet your resources are not unlimited, your determination is not unlimited, your time is not unlimited; you must look and see what the priorities are. All matters must be addressed; one cannot leave some matters pending until another is completed, but what draws the main attention must be identified. In my opinion, there are two issues that necessitate our focus: one is the issue of the economy, and the other is the issue of science; economy and science, these two, in my opinion, are what should be placed at the forefront of our priorities today; both for you as the executive branch and subsequently for the other branches.

Fortunately, there are many infrastructures today in the economy that did not exist several years ago. In the past ten to twelve years, many infrastructures have been established in the country that can be utilized. Well, what is primarily needed in the economy is stability and calmness and quelling the turbulence in the economic arena; that is, this turbulence that exists, whether it is the mental turbulence of the people or what exists in the market, must be resolved with prudence - which, of course, is more dependent on your policies and your statements and some of your swift actions - [to be resolved]. One issue is controlling inflation, and another is securing the basic needs of the people; these are priority matters that must be addressed first; and stimulating national production. These are the fundamental issues of our economy; you must pay attention to these. Of course, there are problems; many of these problems - or most of them - were mentioned by Mr. Dr. Rouhani; we are also somewhat familiar with these problems; we know they exist; you must see how these problems can be resolved, and if you can, God willing, create this calm in the economic arena and control inflation and stimulate production, this will be the beginning of the economic epic that we proposed at the beginning of the year and requested from the entire nation and the officials. Of course, the economic epic is not a task of six months, a year, or two years; it requires a long-term movement. Neither the current government, nor the people, nor any fair-minded person expects that now, in the short term, all these problems will be solved; no, they expect that a movement towards resolution will begin and that they will feel that there is a movement towards solving the problems and that there is a wise and prudent perspective behind the issues, which now in the economic matters, there are many points to discuss, but there is no time for that.

I would like to refer to the issue of resistant economy. The foundations of resistant economy and the collection of resistant economy policies have been formulated and sent for consultation to the Expediency Council, where they are being reviewed. Resistant economy does not mean economic austerity; it does not mean retreating into a shell; it has a much more reasonable and profound meaning that is understandable and defensible; and the remedy lies here; we must be able to create an economy in the country that is resilient against international crises and fluctuations, that does not suffer damage; this is necessary. Of course, it has conditions; now, God willing, it will come from the Expediency Council, and it is very good that Mr. Dr. Rouhani, who is also present in the Expediency Council, emphasizes that this work should be done as soon as possible.

Regarding science; you see, we have had a rapid movement in the field of science for about ten or eleven years; a good movement has started, and as I see and review the reports, this movement is increasing day by day; that is, the first day we proposed the idea of scientific independence and breaking the boundaries of science and the software movement, I myself did not believe that there would be this much capacity for progress and rapid advancement; then suddenly we saw that it truly surged from all sides, like a spring. Now, look at our research centers, our science and technology parks, our universities in various fields; they are bubbling with activity; this must not stop. In the economy, this is what will provide us with fundamental assistance; that is, if we can advance scientific work and make science economic - which I will refer to shortly - it will certainly be much more profitable for us in the economy than selling oil and the raw exports we have and such things.

This year, in the Ramadan meeting - now I do not remember whether it was university professors or students; in one of these two meetings - one of the attendees gave a speech, introduced an element, a product, whose income for the country is several times - now I cannot say because I do not remember; of course, I have noted it - more than the income of, for example, our oil or gas, that if we work on that product, which has a market in the world, is also of interest, and does not have production problems for us, we can have such incomes; that is, truly one of the keys to solving our economic problems and challenges lies in relying on science.

We must be able to ensure that in the field of science, first, we do not allow the rapid movement that exists today to slow down at all, especially the government must pay attention to it. I mentioned that this is among the top two priorities of the country's programs; that is, special attention must be paid to the issue of scientific advancement. Of course, the primary responsibility for scientific advancement lies with the Ministries of Science and Health; however, the industrial ministries, the Ministry of Agriculture, even the service ministries, all of them can assist in this area and must assist; that is, truly cooperation between universities and between our scientific and research centers and our service agencies - like the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Roads, the Ministry of Oil, the Ministry of Agriculture, these various ministries that deal with technical issues - [is necessary]; they can truly act like a vacuum and extract the essence of science from the research centers and compel the apparatus to work and move. Of course, as I mentioned, there are two points regarding these scientific issues: one is completing the science and technology chain; that is, we must complete this chain from idea and thought to science, then technology, then production, and then market; otherwise, if we conduct research and reach technology, but for example, mass production does not occur, or a market is not anticipated for it, it will suffer a blow; all of these must be taken into account, and this scientific work chain must be pursued until production and market; that is, the perspectives must focus on this entire chain; this is one point. The next point is the knowledge-based companies; fortunately, today, a good number of knowledge-based companies have been formed and exist, and you must pursue knowledge-based companies as much as you can.

Well, our discussions have become lengthy. We have many points to discuss regarding culture and foreign policy, which, God willing, we must share with its stakeholders. And in the area of foreign policy, Mr. Dr. Rouhani has expressed good points. I also heard a good interview from Mr. Zarif, which was very good. Understanding dignity, wisdom, and expediency is necessary; we must correctly understand these three slogans of dignity, wisdom, and expediency; if we can operationalize them, our foreign policy will be exactly what the country needs and is worthy of the stature of the Islamic Republic system. Regarding culture, there are many discussions.

Regarding regional issues, I should also mention, just as Mr. Dr. Rouhani said, the region is sensitive, and these days are indeed going through crisis days. In the matters of Egypt, we have no desire to interfere in Egypt's internal affairs, but we cannot turn a blind eye to the massacre that has occurred against the people of Egypt; we condemn this massacre, whoever is responsible for this massacre; to shoot at such people - people who have no weapons; now sometimes there are people who are armed and fighting against a regime, there the regime has some justification - to shoot them down and to bring down hundreds or, according to some accounts, thousands, is absolutely condemned. We believe that in the matter of Egypt, we must strongly avoid internal war. I said on Eid al-Fitr that one of our concerns, one of our sorrows is that God forbid, a real war breaks out among the groups of people in Egypt, which would be a catastrophe for the Islamic world and for the region. The goal must also be a return to democracy and the will of the people. There, after years of domination by global arrogance and despotism over Egypt, the people, thanks to the Islamic awakening, were able to hold a proper election; this process cannot be halted and reversed.

In the matter of Syria, where the Americans have threatened and said they want to intervene, this will certainly be a catastrophe for the region, and the Americans will certainly suffer from this issue; they must know this; they will certainly suffer; just as they suffered in Iraq, just as they suffered in Afghanistan; this will be another loss. The intervention of trans-regional and foreign powers in a country - whether in Syria or elsewhere - has no meaning other than igniting fires and seeking war; it increases the hatred of nations towards them, makes them even more discredited in the region, and besides, there is no bright future; that is, truly, the region is like a powder keg; if a spark occurs there, one does not know what the dimensions of this spark will be. We hope that God Almighty protects this region from the evil of America and Zionism and other malevolent forces and protects our country, our nation, our people, our government, and our President under His support and care so that you can, God willing, fulfill your duties.

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