Meeting with Officials and a Large Group of the Party of God on the Birth Anniversary of Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance)

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

I extend my congratulations on the great festival and the historic and auspicious birth of His Holiness the Awaited Savior (may God hasten his reappearance) to you, brothers and sisters, and to the entire great nation of Iran and the Muslims of the world, indeed to all the oppressed across the globe.

The heartfelt connection of each believer with the position of the supreme authority and the greatest guardian of God is one of the blessings that arises from the belief in the Awaited Savior (may God hasten his reappearance) being specified in our people's creed. Besides believing in the existence of the Savior and that someone will come to fill the world with justice and fairness, we also know the person of the Savior, his name, his lineage, his parents, his birth date, the circumstances of his occultation, his close companions, and even some of the conditions at the time of his appearance. Although we do not see that shining personality and radiant sun in our external environment and life, we have knowledge of his state.

The relationship between the Shia who hold this belief and the position of authority and the Awaited Savior is a permanent relationship, and it is both good and necessary for each of us to maintain this relationship in our hearts with attention, supplication, and conversation with His Holiness. According to the visits that have been narrated and some of which are attributed to the infallible (peace be upon him), this heartfelt and spiritual relationship between the people and the Imam of the Age (may God hasten his reappearance) is commendable, indeed necessary, and has effects; because it keeps hope and expectation alive in the heart of a person.

Expectation is one of the most blessed states of a human being; especially the expectation of a world illuminated by the light of justice and fairness. 'God will fill the earth with equity and justice.' The Almighty God will fill the human land and the entire earth with justice and fairness through him. Such a day should be awaited. The occupation of the devils and the oppression and aggression of the tyrants of the world should not be allowed to extinguish the flame of hope in the heart. Expectation must be maintained. Expectation is a strange thing and has various dimensions. One dimension of expectation is trust and hope in the future and not being despondent. It is this spirit of expectation that teaches a person to struggle for good and righteousness. If there is no expectation and hope, struggle has no meaning, and if there is no confidence in the future, expectation has no meaning. True expectation is accompanied by confidence and trust. You await someone whom you know will come, and the expectation of someone whose coming you do not trust and are not confident in is not a true expectation. Trust is a necessity of expectation, and both are accompanied by hope, and today this hope is necessary for all nations and people of the world.

Throughout the long history of mankind, the world has witnessed dark and gloomy periods; but without a doubt, one of the darkest periods of human life and the bitterest times for the general public is the current era, which should not be doubted, and this is due to the increasing dominance of the satanic and great powers of the world over human lives.

If you look at the state of the world, the matter becomes clear. In the world, powers had divided the world among themselves, and day by day the dominance and control of the great powers over various regions of the world have become more severe and heavier. For example, today the interference of the satanic and tyrannical power of America in the lives of nations is greater than ever. They interfere in all major and essential affairs of nations, and this interference is not limited to the economic issues of nations; rather, they interfere in culture, politics, administration of affairs, and the appointment of managers of countries. If people in various societies do not understand and know the situation, they live comfortably; but thinkers, intelligent and enlightened individuals, and those who understand what the tyrannical powers are doing with their lives and destinies, truly find the world dark and gloomy and nothing more than a prison. 'The earth became narrow for them despite its vastness.' Truly, intelligent people in many parts of the world live in this way. If there is hope for a bright future in hearts, struggle is possible, and if hope dies, struggle and movement towards righteousness will also die.

Another reality is that today we are witnessing the awakening of nations in the world. It is true that with the advancement of new means and television and radio and propaganda and money and industrial facilities and so on, the dominance of the arrogant powers over nations and their affairs has increased day by day; but the divine tradition has been that nations also awaken, and today we see that nations are awakening day by day, and this is due to the hope they have found for the future.

Hope is awakening nations. Without a doubt, the most important means of hope for nations in the last ten years was the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the establishment of a people's government, the establishment of a 'neither East nor West' government, and the advancement of the policy of resistance against the arrogant powers. These events gave hope to the people of the world, especially Muslims, and awakened them. This was the divine creation and the power of God.

How much did global propaganda attack this statement of our dear and late Imam, who had said: 'We will export our revolution to the whole world.' The export of the revolution did not mean that we would rise and with force and power go here and there and start wars and incite people to rebellion and revolution; the Imam's intention was by no means this. This action is not part of our policies and principles; rather, it is rejected. They interpreted this statement in this way and attacked it.

The meaning of exporting the revolution is that the nations of the world see that a nation, with its own power and relying on its own will and determination and trusting in God, can stand firm and not surrender. If nations see this steadfastness, they will believe and be encouraged to free themselves from the yoke of oppression. Today you see the clearest movements of Muslims in places where for many years the Muslims there were under pressure; like Kashmir and other countries where today Muslims have raised their heads. Of course, they will be pressured and have been pressured and oppressed; but pressure does not mean eliminating the result of the work. Pressure cannot stop a continuous movement that relies on God; rather, sometimes pressure will even expand that movement.

If you look at the people of Palestine inside the occupied territories today, you see that the people truly fought under pressure. This struggle is taking place under difficult conditions in Palestine; but the people continued this struggle. The same Afghan nation, which faced many hardships and there was no one in the whole world to help them even for a day, fought alone and oppressed and stood firm and continued. Other nations are the same, and this stems from the example of Islam and the Islamic Republic in Iran. The revolution is exported in this way and creates lessons and models for nations.

What the American colonial apparatus and its followers and other enemies of Islam and the revolution are pursuing today is to tarnish the image of the resistance of the Iranian nation on the global stage. The people of the world became hopeful from your resistance; because they saw you stood firm and did not kneel under pressure. If the enemy wants to take hope away from the people of the world, what should they do? They must make the people of the world believe that the Iranian nation could not stand firm and their resistance ended. If — God forbid — America and Western propaganda and global arrogance can establish this statement in the world that the Iranian nation, with all its claims and clamor, ultimately could not endure and succumbed, then they have achieved their goal, and as a result, the hope that had arisen in the hearts of Muslims and nations and the oppressed will turn into despair.

If you look at the propaganda of arrogance and American and Western and Zionist propaganda, you will see that all their efforts are focused on this one point. In other words, anything that indicates the hope and resistance of the Iranian nation is not reflected. They do not reflect the unity and enthusiasm and epic of the people and the widespread presence of our nation in the great marches of the 22nd of Bahman and other occasions, and they do not publish the news of the activities and progress and efforts of the Islamic Republic government and do not speak of the unparalleled loyalty of our nation to the responsible apparatuses and even the news of Iran's victory against those who had human rights claims and after the visit of the UN representative to Iran, did not confirm the claims of the enemies of the revolution and the hypocrites and exposed them in their report, was not properly reflected in the arrogant media.

They exercise the utmost malice in reflecting the clear truths of the Iranian nation; because if the people of the world understand that on the 22nd of Bahman after the passing of the Imam, such a great movement took place, their hope will increase. They do not reflect the sign of the resistance of the Iranian nation. During the war, they did not reflect our nation's victories either. On the day when our brave warriors recaptured Khorramshahr, they did not reflect the news.

In general, anything that indicates the resistance and hope and steadfastness of the Iranian nation against the powers and gives hope to other nations is kept hidden and not broadcast; but on the contrary, if something causes despair, they publish it! Suppose a speaker says something somewhere and gives statistics, true or false, that indicate a deficiency and disorder, you see all foreign radios broadcast it! If someone claims that there is discord and division, or says something that smells of discord and division, they reflect this statement and claim with hundreds of languages to show that there is discord and division in Iran!

Despite your innovation and progress in your work and your entry into new scientific and practical fields, foreign radios are not in the process of reflecting the progress of the Islamic Republic in various fields to the world; rather, if they find weaknesses, they magnify it tenfold; because your situation will be a headache for the powers and will affect the spirit of other nations, and the arrogant powers do not want your resistance and powerful continuation of life to give hope to others.

Of course, the Almighty God is with us. In all stages of this eleven-year period, God has helped us and His help will continue to include the Iranian nation — there is no doubt about this — the condition is that in our work, we consider God; especially we officials and those who have work in their hands, should try to do the work well for God and the welfare of the nation.

We who are awaiting the Imam of the Age must build and construct today's life in the direction in which the government of the Imam of the Age (peace be upon him and may God hasten his reappearance) will be established. Of course, we are smaller than to be able to build the kind of structure that the divine guardians built or will build; but we must strive and work in that direction.

The manifestation of the justice of the Lord is the Imam of the Age (may God hasten his reappearance) and we know that the greatest characteristic of the Imam of the Age (peace be upon him) — which is mentioned in prayers and visits and narrations — is justice: 'God will fill the earth with equity and justice.' We must make today's society a society of justice. In building a society, justice is more important than anything else. Justice means the absence of discrimination in rights and limits and laws. Justice means helping the deprived and weak people. Justice means that the programs and overall movement of the country are in the direction of securing the lives of the oppressed. Justice means that those who were deprived of their rights under the heavy shadow of the tyrannical system reach their rights. Justice means that a specific group does not consider a special right for themselves. Justice means that human and social and public rights and divine limits are equally applied to the people. If those who, relying on deceit and force or based on incorrect and materialistic and spiritually deviated actions, were able to reach things that were not their right, are prevented from continuing their work, justice has been realized.

Of course, helping the oppressed and deprived also includes individual help, but the issue is higher than these; because the realization of a just life is that the help of the system and its movement is in the direction of helping the oppressed. If we advance and move our lives in this direction, surely the Almighty God will help and the material powers will not be able to divert our nation from its glorious path with these tricks and deceptions and take away its resistance. God willing, the resistance of the people will increase day by day.

We hope that by the blessing of the prayer of the Guardian of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him) and with the grace and attentions of God, the Iranian nation will reach the final steps of this path safely and the hearts of the honorable families of the martyrs and our dear veterans and the rest of those who have suffered damages in the path of this revolution will be gladdened and God willing, the eyes of all will be illuminated by the visit of the Guardian of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him).

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings