Statements at the Graduation Ceremony of Army University Students

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.

I congratulate all of you dear youth and the hopes of the future of the country; both the graduates who have officially entered the armed forces and the new entrants and those receiving their epaulettes this year who are celebrating the beginning of their blessed journey today. As you stated in the oath, this is a path with a good outcome. Truly, one of the best examples of a good outcome is the path you have chosen.

I must express my gratitude to the commanders of the Army universities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which, thanks be to God, have developed. At the beginning of the revolution, we had only one officer training college, but today several universities are actively working in various sectors to train youth. I thank the commanders of these universities, the commanders of the three branches of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran; the professors, especially the esteemed professors who are teaching in these courses; the honorable clerics who are sincerely participating in the religious education of these dear youth, in their camps, in their classes, and in their gatherings. I thank all of you and congratulate you.

The path you dear youth have chosen today is a blessed path, and by choosing this path, you have produced wealth for your country. You young people are, in the truest sense of the word, the great wealth of the country. For any country, no wealth, no source of power is more valuable than efficient, faithful, free, and proud human resources; and today you are the embodiment of this great blessing and this great wealth; appreciate it.

Dear youth today have not experienced the imposed war. Most of you dear young people who are in this field were born after the end of the war. The Sacred Defense era was a strange period, an important period, a period of difficult tests. It is in tests that great and hardworking individuals reveal their true selves; that is where essences become apparent. In the Sacred Defense, the essence of the Islamic Republic of Iran's army became evident. The army, in various sectors, with its diverse elements, was able to accomplish brilliant and great works. You have heard the name of the Sacred Defense. One of the very necessary tasks in these universities and in the general environment of the Islamic Republic of Iran's army, especially the armed forces, is the increasing familiarity with the Sacred Defense era. The Sacred Defense era was not an ordinary period; it was not a normal period.

The armed forces have long been in a state of calm and waiting for the day of need. The day of need is the day when their country, their nation, their borders, their identity are attacked; that is when the armed forces are positioned at the forefront for defense and prove their worth there. During the Sacred Defense, everything in the country was attacked; not only the borders of the country, but also the national identity of the country, the Islamic system of the country, the great revolution of the Iranian nation, the numerous values that this great nation had placed before its eyes, all were attacked. It was not just Saddam's Ba'ath regime that stood against us; in truth, it was a general war, an international war against the Iranian nation; NATO was helping Iraq; America was helping; the Soviet Union of that day was helping; Arab reactionaries were pouring their financial and material assistance and oil dollars towards them like a flood; their propaganda - which was in the hands of the Zionists - was working day and night around the world in favor of them and against the Islamic Republic of Iran. In this great battle, in this great resurrection, the immense force of the Iranian nation, the force of faith, the force of resistance, the force of trust in God, the force relying on Ruhollah, and at the forefront of all of them, the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran rose up. To rise for God means this. To stand for God in pairs and individually; they rose for God, entered the field, and utilized their lives, their strength, and their capabilities.

My dear ones, my dear youth! These are the previous generation of you. They are the ones you have followed, and you are the heirs of their honors. At that time, the army was not as esteemed in the eyes of the dear people; the Seyyeds and Babais and the great military figures with their sacrifices, the commanders and admirals who used all their strength to confront the enemy in the battlefields, they were the ones who created this honor; they were the ones who brought this popularity to the Islamic Republic of Iran's army. I witnessed their struggles up close and saw what they did and how they sacrificed their lives and their strength.

My dear ones! Equip yourselves, prepare yourselves; both in terms of scientific and technical readiness, and in terms of organizational and disciplinary readiness, and also in terms of faith, ideological, and spiritual readiness, which is the foundation of all of them. Keep your hearts aligned with God on this path. Your country is a great country, a country of significance, a country of greatness; your nation is an intelligent, brave, and powerful nation - this is not something we say; today, all over the world, those who are familiar and willing to speak openly say this, and even the enemies who are not willing to admit it openly, in their hearts, accept this, and their opinions in many cases become apparent and reach our ears - this country, because of its independence, because of its faith, because of its belief in Islam, because of its belief in the sovereignty of God's religion on earth and in society, because of the lofty values it holds, has a large front of enemies who are constantly engaged. Of course, they have been attacking for nearly forty years and have certainly failed; they have failed until today, and with God's grace, they will continue to fail. You must play a truly significant role in this thwarting of the enemy; therefore, you must build yourselves. I earnestly ask the esteemed professors, the honorable clerics who deal with these pure hearts and these dear youth, to devote all their efforts to transferring their experiences, spiritual, scientific, and moral readiness to these dear youth. With God's grace and divine favor, great men will be made from you in the future, who, God willing, the country will take pride in; if you strive.

We hope that the Almighty God grants you all success, and God willing, your tomorrow will be much better than your today, and it will be so with God's grace, and the tomorrow of this country will be much better and more advanced than today. The blessed name of the Awaited Savior (may our souls be sacrificed for him) is a source of blessing for our words and our gathering; we hope that the prayers of that great one will include us and that our dear martyrs and our esteemed Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) will be pleased with us and our actions.

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