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 Awaited One on earth.

We have benefited from the report of Mr. Raisi — the esteemed President — and the other gentlemen we listened to. We honor the memory of these two dear martyrs, Martyr Rajai and Martyr Bahonar. Truly, these two were managers of the Islamic Revolution standard — both of them — with whom we worked for years — especially with Mr. Bahonar — we knew them well and saw them closely. And the Almighty God rewarded them with martyrdom; it would have truly been a shame for these two to leave this world by any death other than martyrdom. We honor their memory.

The Government Week has two functions, one of which is often neglected; I will mention both. The first function of Government Week is the issue of "remembrance"; the remembrance of Martyr Rajai, the remembrance of Martyr Bahonar, the remembrance of the events of the Revolution. Remembrance is in opposition to negligence; it is against forgetfulness, which is a great affliction; negligence and forgetfulness are a great affliction. Indeed, you only warn those who follow the reminder; "reminder" means remembrance; or [in another verse]: We have sent down to you a Book in which is your remembrance. One of the most important issues that religions pursue is to make people aware; to bring them out of negligence, to take forgetfulness of their nature away from them.

We have witnessed events before our eyes; now some of you young people may not have seen these events or may not remember them well. Those important and historic events, that public awakening at the beginning of the Revolution, that confusion and astonishment of global arrogance in the face of this unexpected massive movement for them, then the beginning of hostilities, and the various events that repeatedly occurred for the nation, these must be remembered. We must know what situation we are in. The sky of this city of Tehran was under the control of Saddam's planes; we had no means to counter it. The pilot would sit in the fighter jet, come without any concern, pass over Tehran, and we could do nothing; either drop bombs or break the sound barrier and humiliate the Iranian nation; this was our sky; on our land, in our alleys, in our streets, there was terrorism. They would come into homes, carry out assassinations; they would assassinate the guards, the merchants, the grocers; widespread insecurity existed throughout the country. We must not forget these; this has passed; the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic system powerfully and honorably overcame these.

Let us not forget the ups and downs, the beauties, the ugliness, the highs and lows; the performance of governments from the beginning of the Revolution's victory until today, the various performances in governments, in councils, and the like.

Then, the presence of the people; the people have been the main heroes of the story and history of the Revolution throughout all these periods. These massive rallies, this immense popular presence, this presence in the fronts of the Sacred Defense over eight years and in other fronts, these rallies and revolutionary demonstrations, the 22nd of Bahman, the Day of Quds, events like the 23rd of Tir, like the 9th of Dey; these are extraordinary things; in all of these, it is this nation that has been able to create wonder; let us remember these; and today let us rely on this, take lessons, learn how to behave with this nation, how to behave.

Whenever the system needed the presence of the people, without anyone telling them, they showed up themselves. Do you remember the funeral of Martyr Soleimani, or the recent funeral a few days ago in Isfahan; these are very meaningful, they show the orientations, they show us the way. This Ghadir feast in Tehran was an extraordinary event; and actions of this kind that [the people] have always been present. These must not be forgotten. The memory of Martyr Rajai and Martyr Bahonar in Government Week is a sample, a sign that we must honor "remembrance"; we must honor the remembrance itself; remembrance is very important. This is one function.

Another function of Government Week is the opportunity to address the government in power; that is, to address the issues of this government, to think about it, to talk about it, to consider its strengths and weaknesses; those who are thinkers should think and utilize them. This is a very good habit that we have this Government Week every year, and it is an opportunity to think about government issues, to talk, to make decisions. Now regarding this second function, I have two sections of remarks that I will try to present briefly, God willing.

One is a reference to some of your successes, [that is] what I truly consider to be successes that have come to you; apart from this report of practical and operational works that the gentlemen mentioned, some of which are very important, I want to present the perspective we have on your successes. One section also includes several recommendations that I want to present.

However, regarding the successes, in my opinion, the most important success of this government is reviving hope and trust in the people; this is your greatest success. The overall performance of the government — both the esteemed President and the officials in various sectors — has given the people the feeling that the government is in the middle of the field, busy working, striving, and wants to serve them; this [action] has revived the hope and trust of the people to a considerable extent. In some cases, these efforts have had tangible results that the people have seen, such as in the health sector, diplomatic sectors, some cultural sectors, and so on, which have had clear and specific results; some of them have also had results, but these results must be shown to the people; there have been results, but the people must be told that this result was achieved, this event occurred. In some works, the efforts have not yet yielded results, but it is felt that work is being done. This, in my opinion, is your greatest success.

Another success you have achieved is these provincial trips; this is a very brilliant event, an important event. That 31 trips were made in 11 months across the country, to deprived and remote areas, where unique scenes occurred and were seen from sincere solidarity with the people and field oversight of various issues of the people, is very important, which I will mention again in the recommendations.

Another success you have had is your speed of action in response to unforeseen events such as floods, such as incidents that occur. This speed of action is very important. When an earthquake occurs, a flood comes, the officials immediately reach there and stand over the work and organize it, this is very valuable. The esteemed President returned from a foreign trip, immediately went to Kerman to see the flood victims; or the esteemed minister goes for a few days to oversee a task; these are important. This is one of your successes that demonstrates the government's empathy with the people and the government's presence in the field; this is also a success. What I am mentioning as successes is not just to praise you; what is intended is that you should not lose this thread, be careful not to lose this style of work; maintain it.

Another success is the elimination of negative competition from relations between the branches; in my opinion, this is one of the important issues. That the government, the parliament, and the judiciary constantly have disputes and complaints is bad; it confuses the minds of the people. Today, it feels that there is an agreement, a camaraderie. Of course, this part, this work, is among the things that both the government and the parliament must be careful about, they must maintain it; this is fragile. This is one of the things that is not entirely in your control, nor is it solely in the control of the parliament; individuals come in between and create chaos and sedition. You must try to maintain this camaraderie, this mutual understanding; both the government must be careful, and the parliament must be careful, and the judiciary must be careful; you must be vigilant.

Another success of yours is the youthfulness in the executive body of the country; this is very good. This allows the worn-out circle of managers to open up, a fresh breath to be breathed into the executive bodies of the country; this is very good, maintain this. Of course, I know and observe, even when we constantly mentioned the youth, we knew that the youth sometimes make mistakes; the youth, both in the government and in the parliament, have mistakes, there are errors, but it is worth it; that the executive or legislative body of the country is managed with the spirit of youth is worth it, even if a few mistakes occur in some cases. These mistakes will gradually be resolved, God willing; strong and capable managers will be trained. This is another success.

Another success of this government is that it has taken the society out of the state of waiting and looking outward. It has moved away from the state of always waiting to see what others say about us, what decisions they make, what they want to do; the capacities within the country have been emphasized, relied upon, and work is being done. That now we must definitely establish relations with such and such a country to solve our problems or that such and such a knot must be untied from such and such a place to solve our problems, this is very harmful for the country; this conditioning of the country's events and keeping it in waiting for others is bad, which, thanks be to God, has been significantly reduced in your government.

Another success of yours is that this government has refrained from scapegoating and excuse-making and has been responsible. During this period, we have not heard from the esteemed government officials that they say: "They do not let us work, we have no authority, the authority is not in our hands"; we have not heard such words from you. Responsibility is a very good thing; it says, "We are here, we must work, and we are working"; this is a very important positive point.

One more point is that good approaches are seen in foreign policy and also in culture; now these approaches, especially in cultural areas, have a bit of distance to reach operations, but these approaches are good; these must be pursued, which is one of your successes.

The prominence of the slogans of the Revolution, the slogans of Islam, such as justice-seeking, avoidance of elitism, support for the oppressed, and opposition to global arrogance, which are the main slogans of the Revolution; these have become more prominent and clearer in people's discourse, and this is very good; continue these. Try to continue these successes, which I will elaborate on a bit more in the recommendations. Ultimately, continuous work in all sectors is necessary. This relates to the first section, that is, your successes.

However, recommendations; I have several recommendations. My first recommendation, which I have made to most governments that have formed in recent years, is: Thank God for the blessing of serving the people. That you are in a position to serve these good people, these faithful people, this Islamic country is a very great blessing; be grateful for this blessing.

The gratitude for this blessing is primarily to strengthen your connection with God; with prayer, with intercession, with attention; do not become disconnected. Try not to let the busy work and the many responsibilities — which truly exist — harm that connection with God, the issue of good prayer, the issue of supererogatory prayers, the issue of reciting the Quran, and the like; one of the necessary forms of gratitude is this. One is also the jihadist effort for the people, which, thanks be to God, you are engaged in; continue this jihadist effort. Our first recommendation is: Gratitude for the blessing.

My second recommendation is to carry out the work — that is, the very works you are doing — with the intention for God. Showy work — for people to know, for people to see, for people to praise us — makes the work unblessed. When you perform the work with sincerity, then whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him do righteous work and not associate anyone in the worship of his Lord; do not associate anyone with God, perform the work for God. Well, serving the people is a work that is pleasing to God, say, "O Lord! I am doing this work, which is serving the people, to gain Your pleasure." Perform the work with sincerity, this will bless your work.

And of course, this sincerity we mentioned does not contradict informing the people; informing does not contradict sincerity. There is also a narration that if someone wishes for people to know that he is doing good work, there is no problem — we have a valid narration in this regard — you must inform the people. The hope of the people and their trust will increase with this informing. However, let it be for God.

My third recommendation is this issue of going among the people; do not lose this. Some create a fuss and put names on it that I do not want to repeat; do not fall prey to these fussy creations; go face to face with the people, listen to the people's words, be patient. Sometimes a person gets tired — this is part of my own experiences — sometimes a person truly gets tired, but endure, be patient. This direct and abundant presence of the esteemed President among the people has many blessings, has very good effects; likewise for other officials of the government.

Of course, you [call your government] the "people's government"; a people's government is not just about going among the people; this work is necessary but not sufficient; you must be able to engage the participation of the people in various works and sectors. I have previously said this, I apparently said it in your gathering (that you should sit down and plan the quality of engaging the people's participation, define how to engage the people's participation; whether in financial and economic areas, or in political areas, how to utilize the thoughts and opinions of the people in various sectors. This requires planning. In these various letters that reach us through popular communication or otherwise, sometimes there are suggestions that one sees are very good; a person we do not even know who they are has a suggestion in a certain case, this opinion is given, sometimes it is very helpful. [See] how we can utilize these.

Our next recommendation is to act on promises; consider this a duty, like prayer. If there is a task you are unsure can be done or not, do not promise it; only promise what you know you can do, and definitely do it. Just as going among the people and working for the people creates hope, creates trust, failing to fulfill promises is the exact opposite: it discourages the people, even regarding the efforts you make elsewhere; if you promise something that we will do this work in your city, in your locality, and then it does not come to fruition, you cannot do it and do not do it. Some emergency situations may arise, in these cases go explain to the people so that they know, but do not base it on not doing it, explaining to the people; this is not the principle; the principle is fulfilling the promise, the realization of this promise must definitely happen and be fulfilled. Well, we also know, you know that there is a vast front of the enemy in the whole system of global arrogance and its followers and so on against the Islamic Republic and currently against you who are at the head of the executive work; they use the slightest deviation from your promise to launch extensive propaganda. They know how to advertise and harm the trust of the people, harm the cooperation of the people with you. Therefore, do not make impractical promises, and definitely fulfill the promises you make.

Our next recommendation: Be careful that your daily tasks do not drown you in themselves! There must be an overall operational plan for the set of issues facing the government — it must exist — carry out the work based on the plan, based on the overall map, so that your opponents cannot say the government has no overall plan; that is, there must truly be a clear overall plan that can also be explained to the people regarding the major issues of the country, and based on that plan, move forward. If this happens, then the daily tasks that arise will also find their place. When we say "do not drown in daily tasks," it does not mean that if the issue of Abadan (the collapse of the Metropol building) arises, do not address it; no, you must go; you must definitely address the flood and various other issues, you must reach these urgent and unforeseen tasks, but do not let them drown you in themselves. Carry out the work according to the plan, and your main attention should be directed to this comprehensive plan and overall map. This is also an issue.

Our next recommendation is to observe priorities; after all, the capacity of the government is limited, it cannot reach all tasks; we must see which tasks are priorities. Now what does "priority" mean? Find priorities among the essential headings — for example, suppose we have a heading called economy, a heading called science, a heading called security, a heading called social harms, a heading called culture; these are the main headings — find them; now in my opinion, currently, the priority is the economy. It is not that other tasks should not be addressed; yes, all tasks must be addressed, but the main attention must be directed towards economic issues, which I will explain.

Well, after the priorities among the headings are determined, there are also priorities within the subcategories of each heading; for example, what is the priority in the economy? What is the priority in culture? We must observe priorities in all of these. Of course, I mentioned that in my opinion, today the main issue and priority issue is the economy. [Of course] this is for today; until when? We do not know; for a period. The economy must be seriously addressed; of course with a cultural attachment; that is, every economic action you take must have a cultural attachment alongside it, which is one of the necessary things. Now suppose that the issue of diplomacy and culture and other issues also exist that must be addressed.

Now in the economy, there are two or three points within this collection that I will mention: One issue is that the main economic managers of the country must act cohesively. This, of course, was in the statements of the esteemed President that we sit down and if there are differences of opinion, we reach a point, and all pursue that point. I want to emphasize this. Some cases contrary to this are observed; definitely try to reach a unified opinion on various economic issues. If you do not reach a unified opinion, the prevailing opinion should be supported by others; it should not be that one of the economic officials — whether the economic staff officials or the executive economic officials — says one thing, and another says something else; for example, in the case of eliminating the preferential currency, someone says one way, someone says another way; this cannot happen; everyone must say one thing, everyone must pursue one logic.

Secondly, as we said, priorities must be specified in the economy, which I will refer to later.

Thirdly, regarding economic issues, there are several essential points that should be focused on. The esteemed President should focus on these main points — which I will mention — ask questions and request reports, so that progress can be observed. For example, consider essential indicators; such as the size of inflation and the growth of inflation — now instead of the word rate, I use the word size — this must be among the issues that are always in front of the eyes. Or economic growth; now a certain size has been determined in the policies for economic growth; we focus on that number eight. Well, this must be continuously monitored. Or the issue of investment growth; we are truly lagging behind in investment; we are really behind. Many problems have arisen due to lack of attention and concern for investment, mainly in the industrial sector, and the same goes for agriculture. Or employment growth, or per capita income growth, or reduction of class distance. Among the very important things that were in your reports that this distance has decreased — with the indicator of the Gini coefficient — this must be followed, it must be pursued, this must be given daily attention. If these headings, these major indicators are not given precise, continuous, and consistent attention, they will be neglected; at one point, a person looks and sees that in terms of inflation or suppose in terms of investment, etc., we have fallen behind again. This is also a topic.

Another issue is production, which you also mentioned, I have been mentioning for years. The most important economic heading for advancing the economy is the issue of production. That is, truly improving the livelihood of the people, the issue of employment, the issue of purchasing power, various other economic issues, depend on domestic production, which must be given great importance. You must confront anything that weakens production. You must fight decisively against anything that brings domestic production to its knees and defeats it; you must fight decisively; whether in industry or agriculture.

In agriculture, the issue of food security is very important. Now look at today's world; in one corner of the world, a war has occurred, and the issue of food security has been raised for the entire world; that is, the issue of food security is of utmost importance. We have always emphasized self-sufficiency in wheat, self-sufficiency in grains, self-sufficiency in animal feed; some have said as specialists, as experts that we must go after industry; well, yes, we are not against industry, we have been more than some others in favor of advancing the country's industry, but the issue of food security is a number one issue; we must not neglect it. And see today in the world, it is completely clear how important it is.

In industrial production and the industrial sector, a major problem — which I mentioned in that exhibition as well, when I was looking at the reports of the performances — I told the friends who were there — is the lack of "working capital"; [they complain about this]; this is the responsibility of the banks. Banks must not allow production units to suffer from a lack of working capital. Well, now some strict measures that the Central Bank takes are appropriate, timely, and necessary; these restrictions for banks are necessary, but these restrictions should be directed towards non-productive activities of the banks. Well, you see; banks have non-productive activities — buy land, buy coins — they have many such activities; the banks' business. These restrictions should be directed towards that side. Be careful that banking facilities do not harm production units; production units rely on these banking facilities. This is also an issue.

We mentioned that there are priorities in economic programs, some of which we mentioned; for example, the housing sector is one of the priorities. Housing is a very important issue. First, movement in the housing sector creates employment; entering the housing issue creates jobs for a large number of people who are experts in these matters. Secondly, in the housing issue, we are not dependent on abroad; the land is ours, the materials are ours, the designs are ours. Therefore, the housing issue must be addressed. We are very behind in the housing issue, and you see the results: the price of houses and rent is staggering, people are truly in trouble. One of the definite priorities in economic issues is the housing sector.

In the energy sector, these petro-refineries that I have repeatedly emphasized since the previous government are one of the important tasks that, of course, I know you have started working on, but follow up on these issues; it is important.

In the mining sector — where we are also very behind — complete the value-added chain of mining. In some cases, I have received various reports over the years that I referred to the governments, referred to the officials, [but] truly no proper and serious work has been done in the mining sector; work must be done. We have the best and most diverse mines; the mines have either remained untouched or have been exported in raw form; others have taken the stone from here — for example, suppose from the stone mines of Kerman, which are extraordinary — they have taken it, worked on it, processed it, and then we have gone and bought it back at several times the price! The stones used in some buildings are sometimes the same stones that have been taken from here — for example, suppose from the stone mines of Kerman, which are extraordinary — they have taken it, worked on it, processed it, and then we have gone and bought it back at several times the price! The mining issue is also one of the priorities.

Then in the transportation sector, completing vital routes such as transit routes — this whole discussion of north-south and east-west that is raised — is very important. The position of our country has historically and traditionally been said to be an exceptional communication position; both in terms of north-south communication and in terms of east-west communication, it is truly an exceptional position; that is, when one looks at the map of the world, our country is among the rare places in this regard. Therefore, both transit communication routes and internal communication routes for internal transport; this is also one of the important things.

Another important issue of priorities in the economy is the issue of the sea, which he (the Vice President) also mentioned. I have been emphasizing the issue of the sea for several years; well, some small movements have been made, but the work that should be done has not been done. The sea is very important; the sea itself, the water of the sea, marine products, existing ports, residential areas that can be created around the sea, is an extraordinary source of wealth for the country. We have both the sea in the north and the open seas in the south, which is one of the great advantages of our country; we must make maximum use of this.

In summary, if I want to say, my recommendation regarding economic and non-economic issues is not to let the enormous natural and human capacities in the country go to waste; do not let them. Mr. Makbar is right that we have cases that each of them can independently manage the country; these are truly among our great national wealth, do not let them go to waste.

One of the things I always recommend is not to let work remain half-done. Many times when we get excited and enthusiastic and so on, we start a task with enthusiasm and interest, we take a few steps, then gradually we become weak and the work remains on the ground; beware of this and do not let the work remain half-done. Of course, some problems arise from the accumulation of past problems that have accumulated; resolving these problems is hard and time-consuming, be patient; have patience and perseverance. God willing, with a jihadist movement, all of these will be accomplished, and in summary, if these movements that I mentioned are carried out, it will be proven that the thirteenth government is a completely efficient and active government that resolves the problems of the people's lives; you will please God, and you will please the people, God willing.

Now this was a summary of what needed to be said. God willing, may the Almighty God grant you success; I pray for you; I always pray. God willing, may God be pleased with the pure spirit of our great Imam (may his soul be sanctified), the pure souls of our dear martyrs, and may He grant us success to fulfill our duties towards them and towards our dear people in the best way possible.

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