Statements in Meeting with the President and Members of the Cabinet

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 Muhammad and his pure family, especially the Remaining One of God on earth.

First, I extend my strength to all the gentlemen and friends in the fourteenth government; both the active managers and the active staff, especially those agencies that played a role in this twelve-day test, as Mr. Dr. Beheshtian mentioned, such as the Ministry of Health and some other points. We are also aware that they have played a role in these twelve days with true self-sacrifice. We thank all of them.

I express special gratitude to the esteemed President for the concentrated and useful work he is doing. Working in this way, with such motivations and spirit, is exactly what the country needs. Among these, his recent trip to China was a very good trip and potentially lays the groundwork — I do not say it is actual — for the significant events needed by our country, both economically and politically; fortunately, he created such a groundwork with this trip that has had achievements and must be followed up, God willing.

Before I begin my discussion, I have noted something at the end of my notes that I find appropriate to mention right at the beginning; and that is that friends among the country's officials who speak with the people should narrate the power, strength, and capabilities of the country — like this speech that he (the President) gave today — and not narrate weaknesses. Yes, we have weaknesses, we have deficiencies, we have shortages; which country does not? However, we have strengths, we have capabilities, work has been done, efforts have been made; we should narrate these and tell the people. Both the press and the media are responsible in this regard, and most of all, the government officials themselves are responsible that when they stand before the people behind that loudspeaker, they should not narrate weakness, incapacity, and hopelessness, and the like. Mr. President spoke for about half an hour; all the points [in his speech] were points of strength. I, of course, have familiarity with executive issues, I have been in execution for years, I know that the distance between wanting and making decisions and achieving is not a small distance — we all know this — but the fact that a person wants, that they have motivation, that they have determination, that they are hopeful that they will be able to, is a significant part of the factor for realizing desires. This was the necessary point that I truly thank Mr. Dr. Beheshtian for these remarks.

I tell our dear friends to appreciate the opportunity to serve the people. This opportunity is firstly not given to everyone, and secondly, it is not always given. You and I have a responsibility for a few years, we have a job, we have a field in which we can move, work, serve the people, and we can make God pleased with us during this time; let us not lose this. Let us utilize every hour of this service life of ours. If we act on this recommendation and it is realized, and we do not engage in overlapping work, idleness, and distraction with other issues, in my opinion, as they said, problems will be solved and will be resolved in the short or medium term; it is not the case that we should now say we will wait for years. Especially regarding economic issues and issues related to the livelihood of the people, we must act much more seriously.

Let us not wait for external transformations. In the world, in the realm of politics, in the realm of diplomacy, events occur; let us not wait for them, let us do our own work. Those whose duty is to do those works will do them. We must do our own assigned work. Let us overcome the spirit of work and effort over the state of "neither war nor peace" that the enemy wants to impose on us. One of the harms and dangers to the country is precisely this state of "neither war nor peace" which is not good, it is not a good atmosphere. Let us overcome this state with the spirit of work, the spirit of effort, determination, and motivation, by speaking, by acting, and by showing results.

The important duty of governments is to strengthen the components of national power and national dignity. It is the case everywhere in the world that the duty of all governments is to strengthen the components of national power, the most important of which is the spirit, motivation, and unity of the nation; that is, among the components of power — if we want to enumerate — the most important is that the nation is united, has spirit, is hopeful, and is motivated. In our actions, in our speech, in our adherence to our duties, we must create this spirit in the nation and if it exists, we must strengthen it and prevent its decline.

In our work, we must pay attention to priorities. There is much work to be done. The capacity — both financial and human — is generally less than the need for the work that must be done. We must identify the priorities, and the criteria for priority are both urgency and being foundational; these are priorities. Some works are urgent, some works have foundational aspects; these are priorities. We must pay attention to these priorities. One of the main lines of management is that a person should be able to identify and find the priorities.

I also wanted to thank Mr. Dr. Aref who I know is persistently holding sessions for the decisions being made; especially, this should not be forgotten and should not be overlooked. He truly works hard, he is active, and we are aware of the wide movement he has in this regard.

Governments are responsible for meeting the common and public needs of the people. [Meeting] these common needs that governments are obliged to fulfill includes livelihood, security, health, culture and lifestyle, environment, and the like. We must find the priorities among these; in these essential headings, we must see which have priority and among them which branch has priority. You know that the Islamic system was fundamentally established to realize the teachings and laws of Islam; anyone who says otherwise is speaking contrary to reality. From the very beginning, the slogan of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) was that we must work for God, to realize divine goals and divine teachings and laws, and then he told the people, and the people rose and acted, mainly with religious motivations. [Therefore,] in the Islamic system, work is for God, for the realization of these.

One of the most important headings that I want to emphasize is the issue of follow-up; follow-up. Now this follow-up sometimes is at the level of the President, which thank God exists; he truly follows up with these provincial trips and contacts with the people and going among the ministries and close contact with high-ranking staff and managers; these follow-ups are very valuable, and they are very useful. However, it is not only this; follow-up must be established in the body, it must be established among middle managers. Sometimes you, as a minister, make a decision, you accept it, you want this work to be done, you give an order, your deputy gives it to the manager, [but] after passing through two or three intermediaries, the matter gradually weakens until it completely disappears, and when it reaches the fingertips, there is nothing left! While the work must be done by the fingertips, the work must be done by the hands; the brains only give commands. This follow-up is important; follow-up to the fingertips, follow-up to the conclusion, to the end; [because] there are preferences.

Well, today fortunately there is the possibility of consensus in the country; today it is like this. The heads of the three branches are in agreement, they are like-minded, they are ready; many decision-making and decision-influencing sectors are aligned; [therefore] consensus today is easier than in the past, in my opinion. We must take advantage of this opportunity, advance the works that are agreed upon, and move forward. The works are indeed important works. The few points that he mentioned, one was the issue of lightening the government body; that is, reducing some agencies whose existence and non-existence are similar or nearly similar, or reducing the number of employees in a department, a ministry, an institution. These are important works, they are difficult works, they are not easy works, but today there is harmony, and these works can be done; these works must be done, they must be accomplished. This is a great opportunity. There are various preferences among them, there are obstacles; these must be removed.

Regarding the economy, which is an important issue for the country, I have several recommendations that I will present. Of course, there is much to say; as mentioned, there are many words and matters to discuss, but we must suffice to the minimum.

The first issue is the revival of production units; those who have expertise in the field and understand real, practical economics all agree that production is the key to the advancement of the country's economy. Reach production, revive the production units. Now, of course, it was mentioned that the electricity of some factories is cut off; there are places where there is an emergency, but where there is no emergency, the issue of production must be taken seriously. This is my first recommendation.

My second recommendation is to timely provide essential goods; this is one of the issues of the country. In some cases, it has happened that the relevant official has reported to us — now why they reported to us, I do not know! — that a certain item that is among the important essential goods must be, for example, for this duration, is only one-third of this duration. I do not want to mention the durations, [but] this is a danger. We must timely provide essential goods, and the amount of reserves of goods must always be considered against the required standard. There are potential risks; we cannot always predict all risks; sometimes a problem arises, an item that can be imported now may not be able to be imported at another time; we must think about these, we must consider these risks. Therefore, the existence of essential goods in the country must be completely reassuring. If essential goods exist in the country on time, this has a direct effect on the people's table; that is, arbitrary and discretionary price increases in the market will no longer exist, and food security will not be threatened. This is one issue.

Regarding essential goods, one of the issues that has been raised for several years is the issue of making the import of essential goods competitive. The import of some essential goods is monopolistic; monopoly is bad, monopoly causes the devices to remain tied. Efforts must be made to give a competitive nature to both the countries of origin of imports and those who are the direct importers; this will help the issue of importing goods into the country. It is said that if we make it competitive, both the foreign purchase prices in currency will decrease, and the rial prices inside will decrease, which is a great promise, a very important issue.

Ultimately, the issue of the people's livelihood is one of the most important issues of the country; as Mr. President also pointed out, arrangements must be made so that people can obtain a number of — now perhaps about ten items or a little less — essential goods without the worry of price increases; that is, it should not be the case that today there is one price and tomorrow, due to inflation, the price doubles or becomes like double. Now friends mention the issue of food stamps, and those who are experts, those who are knowledgeable, confirm; I also, since I do not have expertise in this matter, think that this work should be pursued. It is said that the groundwork for the use of electronic food stamps also exists; that is, the infrastructure is now available and can be used so that arrangements can be made for people to obtain about ten items without worry at a fixed price. This is also a recommendation in this regard.

Regarding other goods, we must think about market discipline; that is, people should not feel that the market is unregulated; today there is one price, tomorrow it has risen with a strange gap; here is one price, there is another price! Such a state of market unregulation harms the spirit of the people; this state should not be felt.

Regarding the reserve of goods that we mentioned, it is not inappropriate to also say that the gas reserve for winter is among the important issues. From now on, with gas imports and actions like this, it should be acted in such a way that there is no gas problem in the country during winter. Now, there is Turkmenistan, and there are other places where these actions can be taken.

The issue of housing is also one of the important issues; the issue of housing is truly one of the fundamental problems. Suggestions are made to us that now since we are not the executors and the work is not in our hands, we refer them to the responsible parties. Regarding solving the housing problem or relatively solving the housing problem — even if it is not a complete solution — suggestions are made to us; well, these suggestions should be heard by the esteemed officials, followed up, and God willing, brought to fruition.

One issue is the issue of oil. Now it has been pointed out that both the production and export of oil have increased; however, at the same time, oil production, given its importance in the country's economy — which is evident — is low. Our methods of oil production are old; the tools are old, the methods are old, and we are behind many oil-rich places in the world, while today, undoubtedly, through our young students and educated youth who have worked in the field of oil, significant work can be done; help should be sought from them. In this regard, we experienced a problem in previous governments; it was a problematic issue, two or three students came to us and said we will solve this, I sent them to the Minister of Oil, then the Minister of Oil said this issue was resolved; that is, a few young students, a few educated youths, might be able to create a transformation in the methods of oil production, oil extraction, and the like. Regarding oil exports, of course, we need more movement; that is, the issue of multiple customers and diversity of customers regarding oil is an important issue that must be pursued, God willing.

I also want to make a recommendation regarding waste. We truly waste! A few years ago, I set the slogan of the year to the theme of not wasting — now I do not remember the exact slogan — that people should not waste. They came to us and said the one who wastes the most is you, the government wastes the most, we saw they were right; both in terms of electricity, gas, water, and also in terms of construction and buildings, and also in terms of travel, etc., waste occurs. What necessity is there for unnecessary travels? Many travels are not necessary at all. Then, traveling with two or three times the number of companions that are necessary! What necessity is there? If a person is to travel somewhere, let it be with a limited number [of people] who are, for example, necessary and required to be present. Or, for example, consider staying in expensive hotels in the place they have traveled to! These are wastes; these wastes should not be committed. After all, when income is low, expenses must also be reduced: When your income is not, spend more slowly As the sailors say in a song If rain does not fall on the mountains In a year, the Tigris will become a dry river. We must secure resources, then think about spending.

Our final point relates to Gaza and the unprecedented crimes that this accursed Zionism is committing. One truly marvels at all this crime, all this catastrophe! And they do not even feel shame; they openly declare, they say we will do it, we want to do it, and we will do it. This must be addressed. Yes, it is true, America supports it, America is also a great power, there is no doubt about that, but the way to confront this situation is not closed. The protesting countries — which today include both Islamic and non-Islamic countries — especially Islamic countries must completely cut their trade relations with the Zionist regime and even cut political relations as well, [to] isolate it. Today, of course, the wicked Zionist regime is the most isolated government in the world, the most hated government in the world; there is no doubt about that, but even more than this is possible; the ways must be closed. This is a duty that falls upon all governments. I believe one of the main lines of our diplomacy should be this: we should advise and emphasize to governments to cut their relations; first and foremost, trade relations, and then political relations.

Here, I have also written a word addressed to the writers and journalists, and that is that those who write newspapers, write articles, have statements in the media, have statements in cyberspace, should try not to speak against their country, should not narrate the weaknesses of their country, should express the strengths of their country; the strengths that truly exist, the capacities that truly exist; they should tell these to the people.

God willing, may the Almighty God grant you all success, assist you, and enable you to carry out this heavy and important duty in the best possible way. We pray for you.

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