Speech on the Occasion of the Birth Anniversary of Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance)

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

At the outset, I extend my congratulations on this great birth and blessed festival to all the oppressed and the downtrodden nations of the world, and to all those who, under the pressure of the tyranny and oppression of the world's bullies, are awaiting relief, especially to the brave and dear nation of Iran and to you, brothers and sisters.

Regarding the blessings of this great birth and the truths concerning the existence of the revered Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for the dust of his feet), I am unable to say anything new. Understanding the spiritual ranks and divine truths concerning this greatest pole of the world of possibility, the vicegerent of God, and the manifestation of divine attributes and names, is beyond the capacity of a tongue, expression, heart, and understanding like mine. They themselves must speak about the Imam of the Age, just as they themselves must speak about Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) and the rest of the saints and chosen ones of religion. We know only that the sacred existence of the Imam of the Age is the embodiment of God's promise. We know only that this remnant of the family of revelation and prophethood is God's proud banner on earth. "Peace be upon you, O established and poured-out banner, the succor and the vast mercy, and the promise that is not false."

He is God's promise and the embodiment of God's grace upon humanity and mankind. He is a hidden and exemplary figure among the saints, chosen ones, prophets, and the most distinguished servants of God. He is the demonstrator of God's bounty upon the children of Adam. These are things that they themselves have stated. If we can comprehend and understand even a fraction of these statements within the limits of our deficient and incomplete understanding, we have achieved much.

I will only say one sentence about expectation. What does it mean when it is stated in our narrations that the best of the deeds of the nation is the expectation of relief? What is expectation? What is the essence and meaning within the expectation of the appearance of the revered Guardian of God (may our souls be sacrificed for him) that makes it so virtuous? There was a deviant meaning regarding expectation that fortunately today, there is little trace of that misunderstanding and incorrect interpretation. Those who were malicious or ignorant taught people that expectation meant refraining from any positive action, any initiative, any struggle, and any reform, and waiting for the Master of the Age to come and rectify the situation and remove the corruptions!

The revolution either diminished or eliminated this incorrect logic and false interpretation. So, thanks be to God, this meaning is not present in our society's mind today. However, the correct meaning of expectation has dimensions that are very interesting for someone who knows how much importance is given to expectation in the culture of Islam and Shiism.

One dimension is that expectation means not being satisfied with the current situation. "We expect," meaning whatever good and righteous deeds we have done and have come into existence are insufficient and inadequate, and we are waiting for the capacity of goodness in the world to be filled. Another dimension of expectation is the encouragement of believers regarding the future. The expectation of a believer means that the divine thought—this bright idea that revelation has offered to people—will one day encompass the entire life of mankind. One dimension of expectation is that the expectant moves with enthusiasm and hope. Expectation means hope. Expectation has various other dimensions as well.

We are a nation that expects; a nation that, with the hope of progress and success, took action, struggled, and revolted, and succeeded. Today, we must open a special chapter in our lives for expectation. Truly, our nation must revive the spirit of expectation in its entirety. "We are waiting," meaning we have this hope that with effort, struggle, and perseverance, this world, which has been filled by the enemies of God and the devils with the darkness of oppression, rebellion, the weak being crushed, and the misery of the rule of oppressors, bullies, and tyrants, will one day, through our relentless efforts and activities, become a world where humanity and human values are respected, and the oppressor, bully, tyrant, and violator of human rights will find no opportunity or place to fulfill their desires and whims. This brightness exists in our view of the future.

We, the Iranian nation, must emphasize this meaning of expectation more than before; because the human world is in need of the expectation we have. This hope that existed in the heart of the Iranian nation and under its shadow was able to accomplish these great tasks, today the weak and oppressed nations of the world need this hope; they too must find this hope. If they find it and the light of hope shines in the hearts of nations, the world's affairs will be reformed, and the problems of oppressed nations, if not completely, will be significantly solved—even if over several years. But if this hope does not shine in hearts and as the devils wanted, people remain hopeless, the situation will worsen day by day.

Now let us refer to reality and see what is happening in the world today; let us see what is happening in the Middle East; let us see how a bullying power like America, using science and technology, arrogantly and shamelessly insults a nation—the Islamic nation. Today, the world's situation is like this.

The Americans and their allies, especially in recent weeks, have done to the Islamic nation what Genghis and Hulagu did not do! That is, Mr. Bush, with a civilized appearance and an ironed look and face, if his inner face is not uglier and darker than Genghis, Hulagu, Timur, and other famous aggressors of the world, it is not brighter and more beautiful. He did the same thing they did, but on a larger scale. He destroyed crops and offspring, humiliated and insulted a nation, turned a country into ruins; now he stands there foolishly—not intelligently; we will prove this—feeling victorious! Unless he truly does not feel victorious and pretends to do so; in which case, it would be a hypocritical and deceitful face.

The reality is that the Americans were defeated here and did not win; but you see that they stand with complete shamelessness and speak of victory, and a number of sycophantic, lowly, and base individuals at the heads of countries—truly the greatest insult to human rights is that these gentlemen are at the heads of countries—congratulate them and welcome what they call victory, which is not really a victory! What victory?!

A superpower, with the help of several other countries from the far east of Asia—namely Japan—to all of Europe and NATO and to the countries of the region and to the rest of the weak and insignificant governments of the world, put all their money and hands and resources together to attack a government and put pressure on it. Now that they have destroyed its tanks, broken its spirit—which was already broken—and entered that country, they call this victory! Is this victory?! Is it victory for the whole world to gather and the powerful and boastful armies of the world to spend six months of their time, prepare themselves, spend billions of dollars, and use all their resources to defeat an army?! If they look correctly, this action is a defeat in terms of military credibility as well.

Victory was when America, as a country, came and faced another country and defeated it; not this uproar of the whole world's military mobilization. They used grand plans like the Star Wars—plans that the world thought were related to a time when the whole world would want to fall apart—in the war against the tired and demoralized Iraqi army! Is this called victory?! This is not even a victory in terms of reputation, credibility, and military prestige; rather, it is a defeat.

And politically, it is also a great defeat. Today, all Muslim masses are entirely filled with hatred and anger towards America. The President of America should know that today among Islamic countries, especially in the Muslim countries of the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, no human being is more hated than the President of America. Today, all nations are filled with hatred towards them. Is this victory?! These fools, with thousands of false advertisements, spent billions of dollars to place themselves in the hearts of nations; but they have fallen from the eyes of nations—not just the Iraqi nation; but the nations of the Middle East, Muslim nations, and Arab nations. Today, everyone is intensely filled with hatred towards them and angry with them.

Do you think America will be able to erase its satanic role from these minds anytime soon? The same feeling of hatred that you, the Iranian nation, rightfully had towards America and the slogan "Death to America" has not fallen from your lips in these twelve years, the same feeling of hatred is now held by Arab and Muslim nations towards America. They thought they wanted to confront nations with a difficult experience; but they could not, and the opposite happened. This is where hope will revive nations.

Regarding the issue of Iraq, the Westerners, especially at their head the Great Satan, committed the worst and most detestable actions; but it cannot be expressed in words. Just know that in history, they will be remembered as the most ruthless, executioner-like, merciless, and aggressive figures of this time. But this statement should not be interpreted as support for Saddam—whose rule over Iraq brought so much misery and misfortune to the people of that country. He is no better than them; if he is not uglier than them.

He is someone who, from the beginning of his rule, created so much misery for the Iraqi nation. He involved the Iraqi nation in an eight-year war with Iran. He involved the Iraqi nation in the savage and brutal bombings and missile attacks by America, Britain, France, and others. He caused the wealth of the Iraqi nation to be wasted and destroyed; which unfortunately has happened today. It may take decades for the Iraqi nation to work hard to bring itself back to the initial day. He caused so many Iraqis—military and civilian—to be killed. He was and is a calamity for the Iraqi people.

Cursed be the face of a ruler and leader who considers his own desires and ambitions but does not consider the people and his nation and their will and desire. Unfortunately, in our region, there are not few such faces and such devils. They are not worthy of leading even a group of people; let alone a nation. They commit such injustice and oppression against a nation.

We support the Iraqi nation. When we speak, we express sympathy for the Iraqi nation. When we consider the actions of America and its allies as ugly, we speak about the aggression against a country; not about these individuals whose presence and existence among any nation was and is a source of misery. They entertained their people with lies and deceit and took such tolls from this poor and oppressed Iraqi nation.

Today, an oppressive government like America, despite its wealth, modern equipment, and abundant technology and science and resources; yet this same oppressive and satanic aggressor that arrogantly humiliates the nations of the world, can easily be subdued in our Islamic region; provided that Muslim nations have hope for their future and take action and rise and move with encouragement and hope. Fortunately, nations have become very aware; but just being aware is not enough. After awakening, they must move, and this movement requires hope.

Of course, all the efforts of the dominant powers of the world are to pretend they are invincible; and America has made a lot of effort to show it is invincible. Now that the issue of Iraq has arisen, out of foolish arrogance and self-conceit resulting from stupidity, it will make this claim even more. Some simple-minded individuals will believe it; but the truth is not this. If the Iraqi regime was reliant on its people and if the Iraqi soldier in Kuwait did not feel like an aggressor and unjust, America would not have been able to defeat the Iraqi nation, or even push back the Iraqi soldier.

Yes, when an army is not reliant on its people and is reliant on an oppressive regime like Saddam's regime, the people are not on the side of the war and do not support the warriors and fighters. People pray in their homes for the conflict to end sooner; either in favor of this side or in favor of that side. It is clear that such an army will be defeated by America or anyone else. If nations stand against America, America will not be able to do anything wrong. Until today, America has committed oppression, usurpation, and murder in this region, has caused destruction, and has wounded nations, which it will certainly pay for. These murmurs that the leaders of the American regime are making today about the security of the region, they should know that the nations of the region will not take these words seriously at all and will not pay attention to them.

Who are you to come from the other side of the world and dictate terms for the Persian Gulf region?! The Persian Gulf region belongs to the nations of this region. America has no right to interfere in the security of this region and its security system. If anyone wants to bring America into this region for the long term and leave its hand open for interference and occupation, they should know that nations will confront them and will strike at the mouths of such rulers. Governments in this region should not make this big mistake of agreeing with these American words and requests about staying for a while in Iraq or in the region. Nations will stand against such a person and will consider fighting against him obligatory and necessary.

America has no right to remain in the region or interfere in the affairs of the region. America is an aggressor; it must leave the region as soon as possible and know that it will pay for what it has done and is hated and despised by the nations of this region and will become even more so. The main thing is that nations strengthen their faith and connect their hearts with God.

You, the great, brave, and fighting nation—thanks be to God, the superpowers and your enemies fear you and still fear you and should fear you—have gained such power and firmness through faith in God. Strengthen this faith, strengthen your unity, and do not submit to the enemy of God at any price. Islam is dear and honor-giving. Whoever becomes acquainted with Islam, honor belongs to them. Those who became humiliated did so because they broke away from Islam. Preserve Islam yourselves, strengthen your faith, uphold Islamic values, and make other nations reconcile with Islam and return to Islam. In this case, the hands of all satanic powers will be cut off from them.

We hope that God, by the blessing of this blessed and sacred day, will grant a festival to all Muslims and the oppressed and to you, dear nation. May He include us in the pure prayers of the Guardian of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him). May He make the sacred heart of that noble one happy with us and make us among the helpers and supporters of that great one.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings