Statements at the Commemoration of the 23rd Anniversary of the Passing of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified)

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, our prophet, and the beloved of our hearts, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and virtuous family and his chosen companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment. And may blessings be upon the remainder of God on the earth, who fills the earth with justice and fairness as it has been filled with oppression and tyranny.

God, the Wise, says in His Book: In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. And rely upon the Mighty, the Merciful. He sees you when you stand and your movements among those who prostrate. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

We thank God for granting us another opportunity to gather once again at the shrine of the Imam, the leader and guide of this nation, to renew our covenant and allegiance with this great Imam, and to revisit his teachings and lessons - which are the lessons of the Revolution - to illuminate our future path and correct our course.

These days coincide with the blessed occasion of the birth of Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), who was the father of the nation. Our people have named the thirteenth of Rajab as "Father's Day." Our great Imam acted as a father to this nation and this country. The father of the nation embodies kindness and mercy, as well as strength and firmness of character; the strength of a fatherly character alongside the love and kindness of a father. In addition to these qualities, the Imam is the father of the Islamic movement today in the Islamic world. One of the main themes in the conduct and character of the Imam that we will discuss today is instilling the spirit of national dignity in the body of the country. Discussing this great movement of the Imam, which revived national dignity in our country and our nation, is a discussion grounded in the realities of society; it is not merely a theoretical discussion. What does dignity mean? Dignity means the solid inner structure of an individual or a community that empowers them to confront the enemy and overcome obstacles.

First, let me present a brief Quranic discussion. According to the logic of the Quran, true and complete dignity belongs to God and to anyone who stands in the divine front. In the struggle between truth and falsehood, between the front of God and the front of Satan, dignity belongs to those who stand in the divine front. This is the logic of the Quran. In Surah Fatir, it says: "Whoever desires honor, then to God belongs all honor." In Surah al-Munafiqun, it states: "And to God belongs honor and to His Messenger and to the believers, but the hypocrites do not know"; dignity belongs to God, dignity belongs to the Prophet and to the believers; although the hypocrites and the disbelievers do not understand this; they do not realize where dignity lies, where the center of true dignity is. In Surah an-Nisa, regarding those who connect themselves to the centers of satanic powers to gain prestige and power, it says: "Do they seek honor from them? But indeed, honor belongs to God entirely"; are those who seek dignity from rivals of God, from the enemies of God, from material powers? Dignity is with God. In Surah al-Shu'ara, it presents a report of the challenges faced by the great prophets - regarding Prophet Noah, Prophet Abraham, Prophet Hud, Prophet Salih, Prophet Shu'ayb, and Prophet Moses - it discusses in detail the challenges faced by these great prophets and conveys the divine report and revelation to the people. In every instance where it wants to express the victory of the front of prophethood over the front of disbelief, it says: "Indeed, in that is a sign, and most of them were not believers. And indeed, your Lord is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful"; meaning that although the opposing side had the majority, power, money, and weapons, the front of monotheism triumphed over them; this is one of the verses of God, and your Lord is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful. After the Quran repeats this report throughout Surah al-Shu'ara, it concludes by addressing the Prophet: "And rely upon the Mighty, the Merciful"; rely on this Mighty and Merciful God who guarantees the victory of truth over falsehood. "He sees you when you stand and your movements among those who prostrate"; He is aware of your state; in your standing, in your prostration, in your worship, in your movement, in your effort; He is present and observing, He sees you; "Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing." Thus, according to the logic of the Quran, dignity must be sought from God.

When dignity encompasses a person, an individual, or a community, it acts like a fortress, like a strong wall; it becomes difficult for enemies to penetrate, besiege, or destroy them; it protects a person from the infiltration and dominance of the enemy. The deeper we observe this dignity within the layers of an individual and community, the more its invulnerability increases; it reaches a point where, just as a person is protected from the infiltration and dominance of political and economic enemies, they are also protected from the dominance and infiltration of the great and primary enemy, namely Satan. Those who have only superficial dignity do not possess this dignity in their hearts, in their inner selves, in the deeper layers of their existence; therefore, they are defenseless against Satan, they are vulnerable.

It is well-known that Alexander the Great, while passing through a path, was bowed to by the people. A pious believer sat in a corner and did not bow, did not show respect, did not stand up. Alexander was astonished and said: Bring him to me. They brought him. He said: Why did you not bow before me? He replied: Because you are the slave of my slaves; why should I bow before you? He asked: How so? He said: Because you are the slave of your lust and anger, and lust and anger are my slaves, they are under my control, I dominate them.

Therefore, if self-dignity penetrates the deeper layers of a person's existence, then Satan will not have an effect on that person; the desires of the self will not affect them; lust and anger will not make a person a plaything.

This is how we recognized the Imam. Throughout his life, whether in the field of knowledge and teaching, during the difficult struggle, or in the realm of management and governance - when he took the helm of the country and seized the management of society - in all these instances, he was the embodiment of "And rely upon the Mighty, the Merciful." That is why the great tasks that everyone said were impossible became possible with the emergence of the Imam; all the barriers that were said to be insurmountable were broken with the presence of the Imam. He not only embodied self-dignity and spiritual authority, but also revived the spirit of dignity in the nation. This was the great work of the great Imam; I will return to this point and elaborate on it. Our nation, with the sense of dignity it learned from the lessons of the Revolution and the Imam, was able to discover itself. The nation discovered itself, discovered its capabilities; and thus, in these few decades, we witnessed many of the divine promises being fulfilled; things we read about in history, we observed with our own eyes; the triumph of the oppressed over the arrogant powers, the fragility of the seemingly magnificent palaces of the arrogant, and many other events in these years.

I want to emphasize this issue of "national dignity" to reach a specific point. Today is a great day; the anniversary of the passing of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Today, the memory of our great Imam is more alive than ever. His blessed legacy is evident today in this country and in the Islamic world. Let us focus on some aspects of this movement.

National dignity. We Iranians have gone through different periods in our long history; we have had dignity and we have had humiliation; but in this long two-hundred-year period leading up to the Revolution, we experienced a dark and difficult period of humiliation. Many are unaware of history, and many look at history superficially. We must delve into history and learn from it. In these two hundred years, we have gone through a dark period of humiliation. The signs of this humiliation are numerous. Throughout this period, in the realm of politics, we were an isolated nation; in the regional dynamics - let alone global dynamics - we had no influence. During this two-hundred-year period, colonialism emerged. Colonial powers came from the farthest corners of the world to our region; they seized countries, enslaved nations, and plundered the wealth of nations. During these two hundred years, the government of Iran and the people of Iran were oblivious and unaware of events; they may not even have been informed of events, let alone intervene in those events or influence them. In the realm of economics, our situation deteriorated day by day. In the realm of science and technology, we were completely backward; we had no scientific achievements that were noteworthy or presentable in the face of the great scientific movement in the world. In our domestic politics, we were subject to the policies of foreigners. The colonizers, the dominant powers of the world, influenced our governments; they pulled them this way and that, imposed their will on them, and our governments, our kings, our dominant powers showed no worthy human response. Even in preserving the territorial integrity of the country, in maintaining the sovereignty of governments, we experienced a shameful weakness during this two-hundred-year period. It was during this two-hundred-year period that the humiliating Treaty of Turkmenchay and before that, the Treaty of Golestan occurred; seventeen cities of the Caucasus were separated from Iran. It was during this two-hundred-year period that they came and occupied our Bushehr, without the slightest resistance from the government or officials. It was during this period that a foreign government set up a military camp in Qazvin and threatened the central government in Tehran, saying that they must do such and such, or else they would attack Tehran. They advanced to Qazvin, threatening Tehran, and the central government in Tehran trembled. If it were not for some rare personalities among them, they would certainly have succumbed to the ultimatum of that foreign government. It was during this period that the British established the Pahlavi regime in Iran; they selected Reza Khan, elevated him from a lowly position to the throne of the country, and established his rule in the country as a law, placing all affairs in his hands, and he was under their control. It was during this period that the infamous 1919 Treaty occurred; according to this treaty, the economy of the country would fall into the hands of foreigners, and the politics and economy of the country would suddenly be under the control of the enemies of Iran. It was during this period that the leaders of three countries - the allies of the war - came to Tehran and held a meeting here without seeking permission from the government, without paying any attention to the central government. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin came to Tehran at their own will and held a meeting; they neither sought permission from anyone nor showed a passport. Mohammad Reza, who was the king of Iran at that time, was not acknowledged by them; they did not go to see him, he went to see them; he entered the room, they did not stand up for him, they did not pay attention! See how the humiliation of a central government spills over to the people, to what extent it leads? This is the nadir of humiliation for a government and a nation. This is from our two-hundred-year period.

Of course, there were exceptions in this period: for example, an Amir Kabir ruled for three years. Or the fatwa of Mirza Shirazi resolved the tobacco issue. Or the scholars intervened in the constitutional movement. Or the nationalization of oil movement emerged during a certain period. All of these were short-term, temporary actions, and some were completely unsuccessful; but the overall trend, the general movement, was one of humiliation that was imposed on this great nation, this nation that has a rich historical legacy.

The great Islamic Revolution completely changed the direction and turned the page. The efforts of the Imam - who was the leader of this revolution and the ruler of this revolution and the guide of this revolution - were dedicated to reviving the spirit of national dignity in this people; restoring their dignity to them. The great Imam instilled the culture of "We can" into the mouths of the people and replaced it in their hearts; this is the same Quranic culture that says: "And do not weaken and do not grieve, for you are the highest if you are believers." Faith itself means elevation. Faith is a means of material elevation, but it is not only that; the essence of faith is elevating, it brings dignity, it nurtures a nation. The Imam himself led the way, and then the motivations in the people awakened, the aspirations in the people were ignited, and the people's actions, their presence in the scene, became the ground for attracting divine mercy. This is a very significant point. Divine mercy is vast; but until a person prepares their vessel, this rain of mercy does not reach them. Our nation came to the scene, placed itself in the middle of the field, and this became the ground for divine guidance and mercy; divine guidance encompassed them, divine mercy encompassed them, and the unceasing movement began; a movement towards dignity, a forward movement, a dignity-creating movement; of course sometimes slow, sometimes fast, but without pause or interruption.

When you observe the revolutionary literature of the Imam, you see that the main emphasis is on the inner construction of the nation; reviving the spirit of dignity, not through arrogance, not through pride, not through self-importance, but through strengthening the inner structure. What we must pay attention to is that this is not a temporary task; it is a continuous task, an ongoing task. The nation must confront the factors of stagnation and inertia. There are factors that can stop a progressive individual, a progressive nation. Some of these factors are within ourselves; some of these factors are the machinations of the enemy. If we do not want to fall into stagnation, into humiliation, into regression, into the same hellish situation before the revolution, our movement must not stop. Here we encounter a concept called "progress." We must always progress. This national dignity, this inner strength, this solid structure must always be moving forward and lead us to progress. This decade has been named the "Decade of Progress and Justice." Justice is also at the heart of progress. Progress is not just material advancement; it encompasses all dimensions of human existence; within it, there is freedom, there is justice, there is moral and spiritual elevation; all of these are encompassed in the concept of progress. Of course, within it, there is material progress, progress in the manifestations of life, and scientific progress as well. With his movement, the Imam placed us on a path that we must continue to advance on. Any halt on this path will lead us to regression. A nation that has attained the truth of dignity and is on the path of progress, if it is ungrateful for this blessing, will then become a manifestation of this noble verse: "Have you not seen those who exchanged the favor of God for disbelief and caused their people to enter the abode of ruin? Hell, they will enter it, and wretched is the resting place"; the world will again become hell, life will again become bitter. If nations do not stand firm and do not advance, the same hardships and darkness of the period of humiliation will overshadow them again.

Today, we are faced with a living model in the matter of national dignity and the progress that arises from it. I mentioned; our discussion is not merely theoretical. A living model is before us, and that is this nation and this society; a tested and proven model. The Iranian nation has entered the field with this model, with this example. I will mention some examples of the progress of the Iranian nation; each of these has a detailed explanation and multiple instances.

One example of the progress of the Iranian nation is overcoming all political, military, security, and economic challenges over the past thirty-three years. Their goal with these challenges was to eliminate the existence of the system; they targeted the existence of the system. The nation triumphed over all these challenges. In this arena, on a day when the world was under the control of East and West, the Iranian nation triumphed over East and West; today, when the world is seemingly in the hands of the misguided West, the Iranian nation has been able to triumph over this misguided West.

Another example of the progress of the Iranian nation is that we, the Iranian nation, today, in terms of political power, in terms of influence on global developments and presence in the dynamics of our region, and even other regions of the world, are much stronger than at the beginning of the revolution. This issue has examples, evidence; our enemies acknowledge this. One of the leaders of the fabricated Zionist regime, who is the number one enemy of the Iranian nation and the Iranian revolution, admits and says - these are his exact words - today there is a powerful force that is moving against our goals, and Iran is leading this power. This desperate and bewildered politician admits and says today, "Khomeini has pitched his tent behind our borders!" A well-known American politician, with whom we are completely familiar, compares America in 2001 with America in 2011, saying - these remarks are all from the last two or three months - "What kind of madman has turned the first superpower of the millennium into the miserable condition of America in 2011 - last year?" Then he says: "The changes that have occurred and led to this situation, the instigator of this change is Iran." The meaning of these statements is that today the Iranian nation has been able, with its presence, its steadfastness, its dignity, and its strength, to leave profound impacts on significant global and regional events. This is also one indicator of progress, which I mentioned is tangible and before our eyes.

Another indicator is the volume of developmental and construction services in this vast country. Today, you can observe developmental services, construction services, and construction in every corner of this country; which is increasing year by year. This is one of the important indicators of a nation's progress. Another indicator of progress is that the most complex projects, the most intricate industrial devices, engineering structures, steel factories, power plants, and large-scale works being carried out in this country are all done by Iranian specialists and the youth nurtured by the revolution. Today, in many important tasks being carried out in this country, we have no need for foreign specialists. This country, which once needed to bring in people from abroad to lay asphalt or build a bridge in the street, today carries out large projects, massive engineering structures, and complex tasks. The executors are the same youths who have been nurtured, flourished, and matured in the environment of the revolution.

Another indicator is the scientific acceleration of the country - which has been announced and repeated many times - the indexed productions, the scientific ranking of the country in 2011; all of these are sources of pride. This is not just our judgment; it is the judgment of official scientific centers in the world that are saying this. They say the scientific growth of the country is eleven times the average growth of the world; and in 2011 compared to the previous year, it increased by twenty percent; they are saying this. In some areas, such as nuclear, nanotechnology, stem cells, aerospace, and biotechnology, our situation is brilliant. The work being done is remarkable and exists in very few places in the world. Among all the countries in the world - both so-called advanced and non-advanced countries - some of this work exists in only five, ten, or fifteen countries. They have not provided us with any scientific assistance. The doors of advanced scientific centers in the world are closed to our students; these achievements have emerged from within. And of course, let me mention in passing; these sanctions that have been imposed have provided the greatest assistance to us in this regard.

One of the manifestations and examples and indicators of progress is Islamic democracy, which must be paid attention to; it is very important. We have had enthusiastic elections in this country: presidential elections in various periods; the most enthusiastic was the tenth period in the past three years. Also, the parliamentary elections. We have had nine legislative periods in the country; all of these nine periods have opened on the seventh of Khordad, without a single day of delay; is this a small matter? Over the past thirty-three years, nine parliamentary elections have been held, nine Islamic Consultative Assemblies have been formed, without a single day of delay. No political incident, security incident, economic incident, or threats from the enemy have been able to postpone the elections by even one day. In all periods, the seventh of Khordad is the day of the formation of the new parliament.

Another matter is the motivations and revolutionary slogans of the people. Look at how the anniversaries of revolutions in other countries are celebrated. They create a formal ceremony, a number of dignitaries gather somewhere, and occasionally armed forces parade. In Iran, the anniversary of the victory of the revolution - that is, the twenty-second of Bahman - is celebrated by millions of people across the country with great enthusiasm and joy; each year it is more enthusiastic, more significant, and larger than the previous year; this indicates the vitality of this nation and the progress of this nation in revolutionary goals.

In the purification and refinement of spirit, it is the same. Some look at certain manifestations, see a few young people, a few men or women, committing a wrongful act, and immediately make a general judgment; this is wrong. The people pay attention to spirituality. Just these days, go to the university mosques and see what is happening during these days of I'tikaf. Starting tomorrow, our youth will go to the mosques for I'tikaf. One of the busiest, warmest, and most enthusiastic centers of I'tikaf is the mosques of our universities; besides the public mosques and large mosques, where everyone participates. This indicates the movement of the people towards spirituality. With these, we can discern, judge, and conclude that our country, our nation, is progressing. In all dimensions, the country is advancing; and all under the banner of Islam and in the shadow of the divine invitation of this great man, this noble human being, this rightful successor of the prophets and divine saints. This great man opened the way for our nation.

Political and media circles in the world speak of the danger of a nuclear Iran; that a nuclear Iran is a threat! I say they are lying, they are deceiving. What they fear and should fear is not a nuclear Iran; it is an Islamic Iran. It is the Islamic Iran that has shaken the foundations of the arrogant powers. The Iranian nation has proven that without relying on America, without relying on the claiming powers, but rather with the enmity of America and the claiming powers of the world, a nation can achieve real progress. This is a lesson; they fear this lesson. They want to convince nations, to convince political elites and elites that without the help of America and outside the sphere of American influence, progress cannot be achieved. The Iranian nation has proven that without America, but with the enmity of America, it can achieve progress. This is a great lesson; they fear this.

Well, now let me conclude my remarks in this regard. My dear ones, dear youth, faithful people! Yes, we have set records, we have progressed; but if we become complacent with what we have achieved so far, we will fail; if we stop, we will be thrown back; if we become arrogant, if we fall into self-importance, we will fall to the ground; if we, the officials of the country - especially this pertains to us officials - become self-centered, become arrogant, become self-important, we will be slapped in the face. The world is like this, this is the divine tradition. Do not seek popularity, do not pursue worldly pleasures, do not engage in elitism and extravagance. We officials must preserve ourselves; just as this great man preserved himself. If we make mistakes here, we will become a manifestation of that noble verse: "And caused their people to enter the abode of ruin. Hell, they will enter it, and wretched is the resting place."

In the path of progress, stopping is prohibited; self-importance is prohibited; negligence is prohibited; elitism is prohibited; pleasure-seeking is prohibited; thinking of accumulating worldly adornments is prohibited for officials. With these prohibitions, we can reach the summit. We are moving on the slope. We have not yet reached the summit; we are far from it. The day the Iranian nation reaches the summit, the enmities will all end. The day the Iranian nation reaches the summit, the vile opposition will come to an end. We are still far from that day. We must continue our movement without interruption. I tell the youth, the officials, the students, the esteemed scholars, those who have the ability to speak to the people, those who can influence the minds of the people: we must continue this movement towards progress without interruption; both in the realm of politics, in the realm of science and technology, and especially in the realm of ethics and spirituality. We must purify ourselves, we must reform ourselves, we must recognize our flaws and strive to rectify those flaws. If we do this, the obstacles that our enemies create in our path will have no effect. Sanctions have no effect. Sanctions cannot prevent the Iranian nation from moving forward. The only effect that these unilateral and multilateral sanctions have on the Iranian nation is that the hatred and enmity towards the West deepens in the hearts of our people.

Well, the discussion is about national dignity. If you look at the movements and revolutions in the region, you will see they are all related to the dignity of the nation. These revolutions, from Yemen and Bahrain to Egypt and Libya and Tunisia, and also countries that are still smoldering and will one day ignite, all of these have the motivation of returning to national dignity, social justice, and freedom, all under the shade of Islam. When we say Islamic awakening, this is a foundational and rooted statement. Muslim nations seek justice, they seek freedom, they seek democracy, they seek respect for human identity; they see these in Islam, not in other schools; because other schools have been tested and have failed. Without a foundational thought, one cannot achieve these lofty goals. That foundational thought, according to the faith and belief of the nations of the region, is Islam and Islamic awakening. This is the essence of the movements.

The Westerners and the Western-dependent governments in this region want to change the narrative; they want to convey a different message to public opinion; but it is of no use. Influential figures must be careful not to be misled. Nations must be vigilant not to be misled. Nations have done a great job. The political and social atmosphere of the region has fundamentally changed; this is happening right now, "Wait until the dawn of his government, for this is still a result of the magic." In this first step, the political atmosphere of the region has changed; an example is that when the people's uprising in Egypt reached its boiling point, many Westerners and many of the despotic governments in the region tried to support Mubarak, to save him, to suppress the people; but now that the people have triumphed and succeeded, those same powers, the most dictatorial, the most tyrannical, the most humiliating in front of the West, are now talking about the rights of the people, they are talking about democracy! This means that today democracy has become such a common currency in this region that even those who were not willing to let the name of the people and their rights be heard are now forced and have no choice but to talk about democracy and the rights of the people to attract public opinion!

The issue of these revolutions is very important. I want to emphasize Egypt. Egypt is a great country, Egypt is an ancient nation, Egypt has been a fundamental region in the Islamic world; however, corrupt, mercenary, and despicable rulers have humiliated the Egyptian nation; they turned Egypt into a strategic treasure for the Zionist regime; this is a statement from one of the leaders of the Zionists. They had turned the country of Egypt, the nation of Egypt, a great nation, into a treasure for the usurping Zionist regime. What greater humiliation is there? Now this treasure has fallen. Now this treasure is out of reach of the usurpers of Palestine. The Mubarak regime guaranteed the security of Israel for thirty years. They even agreed to keep one and a half million people of Gaza in a large prison. One and a half million people in Gaza were under the bombardment of the wicked Zionists; on the other hand, the regime of Hosni Mubarak had closed every possible route for the survival of the people to Egypt; history will not forget these.

During the twenty-two-day war, a Palestinian fighter said in an interview that today - the day he was speaking - it has been nineteen days since the war began, but during this time we could not bring nineteen kilograms of wheat and flour from Egypt! They had closed the routes for transferring food, medicine, and other necessities to the people in Rafah, to keep one and a half million people starving and under pressure for the benefit of the Zionist regime! Now this regime has fallen. The Zionist regime feels sluggish; they are panicked, bewildered. The cries you see quoted from the Zionist leaders, talking about military action and military attacks, indicate their emptiness and their fear and confusion; they know that in this situation, they are more vulnerable than ever; any misstep they take, any inappropriate action they undertake, will strike them like lightning.

The Westerners and Americans, who have always been unconditional supporters of the usurping regime, are today more trapped than ever. Today, the West has kept its face red with a slap. They have financial problems, monetary problems, economic problems, social problems, and they are helpless in the face of their own people. Several pro-American governments in Europe have fallen. If the people find the opportunity, they will erase any sign of American arrogance that is evident in Europe with their presence, with their power. Today, this is their situation. America itself is worse than all. Nations are disgusted with America. America is in crisis. Of course, they want to transfer this crisis to Asia, to Africa, to the Middle East; by creating incidents in other countries and regions, they want to cover up their weaknesses. Among the things they want to do is to turn these great popular revolutions into something against themselves; to distract the people with ethnic conflicts, sectarian conflicts, and factional conflicts. We must be vigilant.

Today, the Americans are engaging in mad actions. They exaggerate the nuclear issue to distract attention from their own problems. They place the nuclear issue of Iran at the forefront of global issues, while the reality is not like that. They falsely mention nuclear weapons, they falsely highlight issues in their propaganda; their goal is to divert public opinion from the events occurring in America, from the events occurring in Europe. Of course, they will not succeed.

Our outlook towards the region is hopeful. The country of Egypt is currently preoccupied with its internal issues, which is the nature of revolutions. Events arise, and they must resolve these events; the nation is occupied with them. These events have created a vacuum; they have created an opportunity for some countries to intervene in regional matters, to engage in Western-friendly and American-friendly interventions, to spend money on behalf of America, to act on behalf of America, to travel here and there. However, God willing, the revolutionary countries, especially the great country of Egypt, will return to calm and stability and will overcome the problems and tricks. The dictatorial regime has been dismantled, and its remnants will, God willing, also be dismantled, and nations will be able to play their roles.

Of course, here I must say clearly that in the events of the region, the people of Bahrain are suffering from double oppression; they are truly oppressed. The people of Bahrain are being suppressed unjustly and without reason by the tyrannical and dictatorial regime; their protests are met with the harshest responses; while what do they want? They are demanding the most basic human needs of a democratic country; they do not want much. There, they raise the issue of Shia and Sunni, saying that these are Shia. The issue is not Shia and Sunni; it is the issue of a nation. Now, coincidentally, this nation has a seventy percent Shia majority. If seventy percent of them had another religion, had another rulers, the issue would still be the same; it would not make a difference. Bahrain is a nation with a religion - the religion of Shi'ism and following the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) - that is facing a tyrannical government. The issue is not that this government has a religion, and the people have another religion. The Iranian nation stood against the Shah regime, which was ostensibly Muslim, Shia, and even visited the shrine of Imam Reza. Therefore, the issue is not Shia and Sunni. They take the issue into sectarian disputes to conceal the rights of the people. However, God willing, all the struggles will bear fruit. We must be vigilant that ethnic, sectarian, and factional fires are not stoked; this is our demand, this is our advice to all parties involved.

We hope, God willing, that the Almighty God will assist, and He will certainly assist. Without a doubt, the future for the Muslim nations, for Islam and Muslims, and for the Iranian nation is better than the past.

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