Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a Meeting with the President and Members of the Cabinet

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

I welcome my dear brothers and sisters; Mr. President, esteemed ministers, deputies, officials, and high-ranking managers.

Our custom is that during the Government Week, we both honor the dear martyrs of this week - in fact, by repeating the names of Martyr Rajai and Martyr Bahonar, we make clearer and more evident the flags that determine the policies of the government and the Islamic Republic system, so that we do not forget the path we are traversing and where we want to reach - and we also congratulate the esteemed and service-oriented government on the end of one year and the beginning of a new year.

This year, the events occurring in Najaf and in our neighboring country - Iraq - truly impose such a sorrow upon our hearts that it deprives us of the joy of congratulating and receiving congratulations. Truly and justly, what the occupying forces are doing in Iraq, especially in Najaf, is one of the enduring and unforgettable dark points. Najaf is a university; it is not just an ordinary city. For a thousand years, this city has been the center of knowledge, the center of nurturing great scholars, and sending prominent and pious scholars to all parts of the Islamic world, and above this, it is the shrine of Amir al-Mu'minin and the focus of the hearts of Muslims, especially Shiites. These occupying forces, disregarding all these issues, easily attack these dear historical legacies of our nation and want to pursue a policy that is condemned one hundred percent from the perspective of world public opinion and all human criteria. The Americans' policy in Iraq, especially in these events in Najaf, is a policy of advancing work through force and repression, and it is evident that a work that seeks to advance through force and repression will certainly not be a lasting and successful endeavor; they will undoubtedly fail. And it is astonishing that these incompetent and intoxicated policymakers of today's America and their supporters do not understand the great mistake they are committing and continue to pursue their erroneous policy. Undoubtedly, this policy, in addition to inflicting unbearable blows on the American system, will create decades of deep hatred between Americans and the occupiers with the Islamic community and the Islamic world. We sympathize and empathize with the people and the oppressed of Iraq, condemn the actions of the occupiers, and hope that God Almighty will once again show His eternal tradition in support of the truth.

These days, you are about to begin the last year of the government. Of course, the last year of this government is no different from the first year of this government. All years, all months, and all days are days of work and service. This is why when you look back at the end of a four-year or eight-year term at the collection of sincere work and effort you have expended, you feel satisfaction, and you are assured that God Almighty is pleased with the product of your work, and the nation also feels the results of this in their lives. If, God forbid, there is a deficiency or shortcoming, one does not have this satisfaction in their heart, nor this assurance of divine satisfaction and popular approval.

We have responsibilities. We come and go; various officials come and engage in work and play their roles in the Islamic Republic system and then leave, but the active and efficient system should not change in any way except for strengthening itself with our coming and going; like players on a team; one goes out, one comes in; but the team continues its work and makes its efforts, and for the benefit, one comes and one goes. The course of work must be a continuation and persistence of the general policies that the system has envisioned for the future of the country. Of course, the working period of each of us has, in fact, allocated a part of the life of this system; for instance, when a government continues for two terms - eight years - this, in the current situation, occupies and works for almost one-third of the entire system's life; these are the criteria for evaluating our work.

The first point I want to convey to you, the senior managers of this collection, is that the "motivation" for work at the beginning and at the end of the work should not differ in any way. An author, when writing a book, writes the last page with the same determination and motivation with which they started the first page; because if you do not write the last page, or do not pay attention, or do not write neatly, the book will be incomplete. In my opinion, the most important issue in the last year of responsibility and service of this government is that friends, brothers, and managers should work with the same motivation and effort they had at the beginning of their service; do not let your determination diminish, God forbid.

Another point is that all of us are responsible for what we do; however, responsibilities often do not end with the end of the term of responsibility; because our actions have impacts on the work of those who come after us. Just as we began our work on the foundation laid by previous individuals, others will also begin their work on our foundation. Therefore, the foundations must be laid firmly, and the building must be constructed solidly, so that whatever they wish to build upon it, they can. And this will be your honor. If you lay down and implement good policies today - which will be ongoing and current in the future - anyone who works based on these policies will earn the reward and honor for you; but if, God forbid, you also fall short, it will be the same; that is, "Whoever establishes a good tradition will have its reward and the reward of those who act upon it until the Day of Resurrection, and whoever establishes a bad tradition will have its burden and the burden of those who act upon it until the Day of Resurrection." Our actions have impacts on the future. With this view, with this perspective, we must look at all our works.

The reports that were given today were very good; however, it is regrettable that they were both brief and not all friends had the opportunity to report, and there was not enough time for all that exists in each department to be reported. This session is not sufficient for reporting; you should dedicate part of this year's time to reporting to the people. The fact that we said this year is the year of accountability is manifested in these reports that you will give to the people. Many of the works that have been done in your sectors - I am aware of them, but you did not mention them in these brief reports. These good and important works have been done, and you did not have the opportunity to mention them - many do not know. Plan and depict and express what has been done; I have previously mentioned this to Mr. President as well. Create two columns: the works and services you have done, and the works you have not done, or where you have failed to accomplish; share these with the people and know that the people appreciate service and effort. We must share both our completed works and our unfinished works, or those we have not done, with honesty. Certainly, the effort and determination that has been made for the positive column will excuse us regarding the column of unfinished works; because the unfinished works have not remained undone out of intention, but rather due to lack of resources, lack of means, and sometimes due to the late arrival of ideas in the human mind and issues of this nature, they have remained undone. Present these matters to the people; I insist on this meaning. Your performance is not separate from the performance of the system; it cannot be said that we have a good system, but a bad government; after all, the government arises from this very system. Whatever you have done and done well belongs to the system, and if you have not done anything, or have done poorly, it still belongs to the system. We insist that what has been done and the effort put forth be presented to the people sincerely, correctly, and clearly; specify what you have received and what you will deliver; like the status reports that engineers prepare when handing over a project, you should also truly specify and determine the status of your work and strive to apply maximum accuracy in its validity. Truly, when we face the people, we can gain their trust with the sincerity of our tone and the expression of realities. One should not think that honesty and dishonesty will remain hidden from the people; they will ultimately pay attention.

Another point is that priorities must be considered in the remaining time. When a person has a long-term perspective of their field of work, they can have multiple choices; but when the perspectives shorten, the time for continuing work also shortens, and the choices become fewer; priorities must be considered. In my opinion, one of the priorities in this remaining year of this government is to focus on completing the works that you have started. This report on unfinished works - which Mr. President mentioned - is very important. We should see how many unfinished works we had two or three years ago and how many we have today. When a person looks and sees that these works have been completed, they feel a sense of success. In my opinion, one of the important tasks that must be done during this time is to try to complete the unfinished works. The second subject in priorities is that this work does not mean forgetting the newly sprouted saplings; no. For example, consider the research work, the production of knowledge, the connection between industry and science, and these parks or research centers that are new works and are not meant to be completed; you must ensure that they continue, so that this tree can grow strong; attend to these as much as you can, as these will be among the best things that will remain from you.

Another point is to purify the scene from corruption as much as you can. I have emphasized the issue of corruption a lot, and some may think it is repetitive, and why? No, I firmly believe that as long as we do not rid our executive apparatus - including the executive and judicial branches - of financial corruption and deviation from legal and correct methods, all our works will be like that water - it has been reported that we do not use the country's water consumption properly; like these flood irrigation systems, or like these subsidies that the government provides, a large part of which is wasted and part of it reaches where it should - which has been reported, will be wasted. I have said this many times, given examples, and repeated that corruption in the executive apparatus is like this: we are introducing several large pipes of water into a pool; however, the pool does not fill up; all this effort is made, yet one observes empty corners, a large part of which relates to financial corruption and the moral breaches that exist in the apparatus at various levels. You must fight and confront these. Until there is a serious and resolute determination to confront these - which, thanks be to God, this determination exists and one can see it - and following that determination, action, movement, pursuit, and lack of negligence, the roots of corruption will not be eradicated, and it will also affect the collection of sincere activities that are carried out in the apparatus.

Friends have pointed to the issue of downsizing, privatization, and the large and bloated size of the government, which are all approved. I would like to mention this point: we must pay attention in all economic and productive activities of the country and its margins that we are both development-oriented and justice-oriented. We are not among those who, according to some policies that are currently prevalent in the world and have many supporters, think only of the growth of production and the growth of wealth in the country and do not think of justice alongside it; no, this is not our logic. The innovation of our system is that we want to have justice alongside development and economic growth, and these are not contradictory. We do not accept a viewpoint that imagines these cannot coexist or that one must choose one or the other. This point must be observed in all matters; both in reducing the size of the government, in the issue of privatization, in the overall view of economic issues, and in the distribution of resources among the private sector, cooperative sector, and public sector.

Where do we consume the country's financial resources more? Of course, this is one of the correct points; that friends emphasized that we injected this amount to the private sector from the foreign exchange reserve account or from government resources; this is a correct philosophy and policy; however, alongside this, pay attention that we compensate for our backwardness with this and should not go towards excess in this area. We should strengthen the cooperative sector, preserve the public interest in government assets and properties, and ensure that government assets and properties do not get lost or destroyed under this framework and structure.

The next point is that our work activities may change with innovations and new perspectives and energetic and fresh forces; however, our general policies should not be subject to turbulence and chaos; that is, the political line that is seen in the "Vision Document" must continue. Of course, when we have a goal, new employees and players enter the scene, apply their innovations, carry out new tasks, express their opinions, and may step aside and someone else may come and take their place in some sectors - this is not a problem - and apply new innovations and have a new perspective on issues and implementations; however, we should strive to ensure that political stability in the country and in the general policies of the country does not experience turbulence. One of the things that guarantees confidence and trust in long-term economic and social work in the country is the stability of policies; we must pay attention to this issue in our statements, in our actions, and in the reflection of our works and give it importance.

The policy of the Islamic system has been to rely on the people. Truly, the people's democracy in the true sense of the word is the Islamic Republic. We rely on the people within the framework of Islam and with the guidance of Islam and an Islamic perspective, and we move with the people and for the people. Relying on the people, relying on the youth, defending the rights of the oppressed - in our country, the motivation for defending the general oppressed is; although we hope that the circle of the oppressed becomes smaller and smaller - utilizing the capital and innovations of the owners of capital - one of the aspects of relying on the people is precisely utilizing their capital - is the overall policy of the Islamic system. We utilize the financial and intellectual resources of the people for the advancement of the country, and God willing, we will extend the pillars of successes for this government as long as possible.

Another point that I need to mention here is this: all those who speak - whether in the press, on platforms, or other pulpits - should be careful not to question the honest services and efforts of the government due to shortcomings. We do not deny the shortcomings and failures in various sectors; however, the existence of deficiencies and shortcomings should in no way lead to the questioning and denial of sincere efforts and valuable services and works done; this is unfair, and we hope no one commits this injustice.

I want to request that this last year of service of this government not pass in futile disputes; whether within the executive apparatus, between the executive and legislative branches, or within the system. Speaking, reminding, asking, and supervising - which is among the duties of the Islamic Consultative Assembly - is a legitimate right; we have no doubt about this and believe that fair criticism and fair responses to criticism help strengthen the apparatus and the system, but this should not be confused with disputes and verbal arguments.

You have started new works this year that I believe are good works: combating smuggling in an efficient and fundamental manner, the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security, the Organization of Tourism and Cultural Heritage; these are your works this year and the beginning of new work in the last year of a government, in my opinion, is a good sign that government officials do not feel that the history of the revolution and the country will end with changes; no, just as others planted and we harvested, we plant so that others can harvest; we lay the foundation so that others can complete it; so that others can benefit and take advantage of it.

These three works that you have started this year, in my opinion, have one of the very good and positive messages that the government does not feel that since it is the last year of the government, it is the end of the Islamic Republic; no, the government is laying the groundwork for others to come and, God willing, follow it. In fact, these works that have started are very good works. The issue of smuggling is truly a danger for the country, and effective combat against smuggling is one of the very significant services. Welfare and social security are also entirely aimed at the deprived classes, and the Organization of Tourism and Cultural Heritage, which we have previously praised a lot; if we say more, we fear it may become excessive! We hope that, God willing, they will all be successful and supported.

I ask God Almighty to grant you success and assist you. God willing, may you have the opportunity to serve this system and country and the esteemed government of the Islamic Republic until the end of your lives and always be in the service of this system and work for this system, and until the last day - that is, consider the last day of this last year like the last day of the first year - may no change occur in your motivation and determination, God willing, and may God Almighty be pleased with you and the people be pleased as well.

I emphasize that you must definitely outline those two columns. I have discussed this matter with Mr. Khatami several times in this year of accountability - of course, both before and after Farvardin this year. It is not a problem for the government to specify that this part of its overall performance is positive; this part is negative; because the part that has an overall negative performance does not mean it has done poorly, but it may be that its lack of resources, lack of facilities, and absence of infrastructure have affected its performance, which is entirely practical and possible. The least that can be done is to place the column of successes alongside the column of failures in each of the sectors and show it to the people, so that the people can summarize. Of course, my belief is that this balance will be a positive balance; that is, the summary will be a positive summary. The people should not think that we only mention the positive aspects and do not mention the negatives.

I was reminded that the consolidation of the works related to the martyrs in the Foundation of Martyrs has also been a good work. Yes, I also confirm this; I forgot to mention it. This was also one of those very good works that were done; we hope, God willing, this work will also be successful and progress, and God willing, it will progress and benefit the martyrs.

May God grant you success and support.