Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Meeting with Government Officials

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

The basis of this meeting is to sincerely thank my dear brothers and sisters for your services, efforts, and the hard work you have done, both from Mr. Khatami and from you friends. Certainly, every action you have taken in service to this good people and this nation during your difficult mission is preserved before God the Almighty. Not a moment of your work, the suffering you endured, the effort you exerted, and the actions you took is outside the keen gaze of the noble scribes and the knowledge of the Lord. You yourselves certainly do not remember the efforts you made; many of the hardships and efforts are such that no one can understand them except the person themselves. The anxiety one feels for their work, the effort one puts into doing a job well, the determination one has, and the intention one makes are understood by no one but the individual. When people do not understand, and no one but the individual understands, there is no gratitude that follows; however, God the Almighty knows all of this; He understands all these moments of work, the difficult moments, those intentions, and those efforts, and each of these has a reward before God; pay attention to this point and keep it in mind. A person’s eyes are opened to divine reward when they feel the need.

We must wholeheartedly thank God the Almighty for providing us with a new field for worship. Serving the people, especially in the dimensions of a government, with its vast scope, is significant; when done with pure intention and for God, it is truly incomparable to any worship. God the Almighty has placed this in our hands, has engaged us, and has granted us the success to strive and work as much as we can in executing His commands and in serving His creation. You have spent years in this field, and thank God.

Of course, the period of responsibility has its bitterness and sweetness. A person performs a task and succeeds in carrying out the service they desire, being the executor and the one who carries it out. The pleasure one derives from accomplishing this task is incomparable to any other pleasure; because they see the progress of the work with their own eyes. There is no sweetness greater than seeing that they have completed this task and brought it to fruition. They witness the gratitude and appreciation of the people; they feel the divine successes in their own right; these are the sweetness of work and service. However, there are also bitter moments; sometimes a person wants to accomplish something, but they cannot; an obstacle arises; they face ingratitude. One must attribute these bitter moments to God and await divine reward for enduring these hardships and bitterness.

Of course, we must always address ourselves first in failures. The Quran states: "Whatever good befalls you is from God, and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself." We must first address ourselves in all things that seem to us to be failures and lack of success; but in any case, let us accompany our gratitude to God with this and consider divine reward for the work done for His sake as certain. Therefore, on my part - as much as I have witnessed your efforts - I thank you. In the past years, I have witnessed the serious and substantial efforts of Mr. Khatami and you brothers and sisters in all areas; this is something we must consider a great blessing from God. You have done hard work and concentrated efforts during this time, and thanks be to God, you have achieved many successes. Today, in the fields of industry, agriculture, science and technology, and various services, we have very significant and numerous advancements; these will remain for this country and this nation and will not be erased from the memory of this nation. All of you brothers and sisters who participated, were effective, or were founders in these works are certainly partakers in the reward and recompense of these efforts.

What is important is that you friends, at the end of the government, your mission will come to an end; but your responsibilities do not end. In an Islamic environment, a person is never free and empty of responsibility; they are always responsible; however, responsibilities differ. Sometimes a person is a minister - which has one responsibility - and sometimes they are not a minister; but there is a collection of numerous experiences. The valuable experiences that have accumulated in each of you over the years are not a small achievement; these belong to this country, this nation, and this system; these experiences must be utilized.

As Mr. Khatami pointed out, one of our honors is that the transfer of executive power occurs in the best form and in the sweetest manner in our country; this was granted to us by the revolution; this was given to us by Islam; this was bestowed upon us by the sense of responsibility that arises from Islamic thought and the Islamic view of humanity and the commitment and responsibility of humanity.

In this field of work and effort, a group comes and exerts their efforts in a specific opportunity, sweating and working day and night; then they exit the scene, and others come in their place; they take over the work from them and continue based on their advancements and successes. Work and responsibility must be based on this; that is, the subsequent ones must benefit from the successes, experiences, and advancements of every group that performs work and service, and continue their service on that foundation. We have no limit; it is not the case that if we assume we can completely solve the issue of employment, the movement of our nation and our country has reached its peak; no, it is just beginning. We have no limit or endpoint in our progress. Our nation is a great nation. Our country is a wealthy country. Our history is a proud history. The expectations from this nation, from this history, and from this country are high. Due to the pressures of despotism and foreign interference and the incompetence and ineffectiveness of many of the governments before the revolution in this country, we have several centuries of backwardness; we must quickly compensate for these backwardnesses. We were never that nation, and we should not be that nation, which political powers in the world can impose their will on us based on their knowledge and technological advancements in areas that do not concern them, and we must accept their force. We must be a nation standing on our own feet and relying on our own power; in a position that is truly worthy of the Iranian nation. This requires work and effort; this is not something that will stop one day. Each of us who comes to the stage of this great task of serving the nation works and strives for a portion of our lives; we serve as much as we can and provide assistance, and we advance this wheel; then another comes and continues this path, and others will come. The young generation that is being raised in our country today is not comparable to our youth; their intelligence, abilities, hope, and determination are very high; they will be very good managers for the future. We must bring the country to the hands of young managers who will come generation after generation so that this path, God willing, continues. And this in our country relies on a smooth and gentle transition accompanied by love and brotherhood in responsibilities and missions and in those who take on these missions. This spirit of brotherhood must also be preserved.

The foundation of Islamic democracy and the presence of the people was granted to us by the revolution. We must rely on this foundation. Of course, there have been attempts by some to create a competition between the republicanism of the system and its Islamism. At one point, some say that emphasis on Islamism has weakened republicanism; while others say that emphasis on republicanism has weakened Islamism. This is not the case. In our country, republicanism is not separate from Islamism. These people are believers and deeply committed to religious principles. This has always been demonstrated in our elections. In 1997, it was the same; in 2001, it was the same; and this year, which is 1384, it is the same. In elections, people essentially vote based on their own beliefs and on what is based on those beliefs. People love their beliefs and are committed to these beliefs and principles; and these principles also advance us. Therefore, republicanism - that is, democracy in the true sense of the word - in this country is always accompanied by belief in Islam and movement towards Islam, and God willing, the foundation for the flow of democracy and the progress and growth of this state and the institutionalization of the spirit arising from Islamic democracy will expand day by day in the country.

I would also like to emphasize this point. As mentioned, fortunately, your government did not fall into stagnation in the last months - we witness this - you worked until the last days; and this deserves thanks and appreciation. In addition to the need to express gratitude and appreciation for your efforts over the years, it is particularly necessary to say and mention that you continued and advanced the work. In the last days and weeks, good work was done in various sectors, which indicates the vitality of the government. We hope it will always be this way. If we use the power granted to a responsible person for God and in service to the people, this power becomes a blessing; but if we use it for personal goals, this power becomes a curse and a source of decline and the fall of human values within the individual; its reflection will also appear in society and among the people. Power is not the goal; it is a means for a person to reach lofty goals. Every step taken in the path of service brings us closer to these goals.

It is necessary to sincerely thank Mr. Khatami as well. I tell you friends, I may have said this to him many times; throughout the eight years that we have been in continuous and constant contact with him, our friendship and intimacy with him have increased; thank God. Now the emotional and affectionate bond between me and Mr. Khatami is much stronger than it was eight years ago; and this stems from the qualities I have sensed in him during this time. His piety, commitment, nobility, and inherent noble spirit are truly among his outstanding traits. He has made concentrated efforts during this time; we have witnessed and seen it. At various times, the country, the government, and the officials faced events, and he was in one of the most sensitive centers of this confrontation and endured with patience; God willing, God the Almighty will reward this patience and endurance.

Among his qualities, if I were to emphasize one, it is that throughout this time, he has discouraged the enemies who were lurking and preparing to strike. Many from 1997 - from the very beginning of this government - wanted to place Mr. Khatami in a position of confrontation with the system; they made many efforts; we witnessed it. Of course, the root and basis of this effort is outside these borders; however, some unfortunately reflected the same corrupt and vile motivations within. They made many efforts, but Mr. Khatami truly resisted. The day he announced that when he says "civil society," he means Medinat al-Nabi - which, by the way, I read in one of his recent speeches yesterday or the day before - it was very contrary to the expectations of some; thus, they attacked him and pressured him.

These are very valuable positions. We, who are deficient and have such limited vision, understand and see; the scribes of our deeds - who are divine agents - see it all the more; and God the Almighty, who is "encompassing over them," sees everything. These have rewards before God the Almighty. God willing, it must remain this way in the future.

The experience and capabilities of you must be utilized. Officials and those who take on missions must benefit from the product of work and from your opinions and insights. You must truly consider yourselves, in the truest sense of the word, at the service of the system and belonging to the system. One day a person performs a mission at this point; another day they are not at this point and are somewhere else. As we mentioned, our religious and revolutionary responsibilities do not end. Wherever we are, we are ultimately a revolutionary Muslim element and have responsibilities. We hope, God willing, that you can fulfill this responsibility in the best way possible.

I have always prayed for you during this time. I have prayed for Mr. Khatami at least once every day; that is, throughout this time, there has hardly been a night or day that I have not prayed for him personally. I have always prayed for the other officials and others, and I will continue to pray. Let us pray that God the Almighty brings this country, this nation, and this system closer to its goals day by day and grants it the authority that is worthy of this country and this nation; and it will happen; I have no doubt about this.

If we compare this country with ten years ago and twenty years ago, we will see that we have made very significant advancements; and this is something that the enemies of this country, this system, and this revolution neither expected nor approved of; whatever they could do, they have done. Now they threaten us a lot. The frowning and scowling towards us from the global power-seekers and monopolists is constant, and we will continue our path with all our power, relying on God and with hope in the inherent strength of this country, God willing; I have no doubt about this.

The outlooks for us are clear. Throughout this time, the enemies' plots have been thwarted one after another. The enemies had political and cultural plots and various political and economic pressures; these have been thwarted thanks to the efforts and endeavors of you and your peers; after this, with God's grace, it will continue to be so.

We hope that God the Almighty grants all of you, all of us, and this country good fortune and success so that we can, God willing, perform our duties better than before.