Important Statements of the Supreme Leader at the Gathering of Forces Participating in the Great Tariq al-Quds Maneuver

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 and Prophet, Abul Qasim Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen family, especially the remaining proof of God on earth.

We are deeply grateful to God for once again making Islamic Iran a grand scene of vibrant faith and the endless motivations of the devoted and sincere forces of the revolution. Each of these great maneuvers—where the best and dearest children of this nation and country gather—is, in truth, a magnificent scene and an unforgettable example of the great truth present today in this country, this divine land, and this sensitive historical juncture, which these dear ones present before the eyes of the world and those who wish to see and understand the truths.

The gathering that has God's hand with it is this very gathering. The gathering of faithful hearts, pure souls, and luminous spirits, the gathering of the pure youth of this nation who, in an era dominated by materialism over the lives of young people worldwide, have managed to save themselves from the grip of materialism and keep the flame of spirituality—kindled by God in all hearts and souls—burning and alive within themselves.

In a time when long-term Zionist conspiracies had decided to entangle the youth of nations in trivial matters, desires, and impurities, and unfortunately succeeded in many countries, the youth of this nation, these sincere, devoted, and pure children, those who have demonstrated their diverse human talents everywhere, have managed to protect themselves from this great Zionist conspiracy of contemporary history and even before our contemporary era. This is a very astonishing, magnificent, and proud phenomenon.

The gathering of such youth and such hearts is the very gathering where the divine light is visible to those with insight. In such great assemblies, one sees God, feels God's power, and perceives the eternal divine will for the reform of humanity and history with all one's being. In such a situation, the heart of every skeptical person is filled with hope. Our great Tariq al-Quds maneuver reflects these meanings. The maneuvers of our youth and warriors across the country—wherever they are held—carry this prominent content and meaning.

The Iranian nation, during the eighteen-year revolution, has continuously presented a great political, military, and human maneuver before the eyes of humanity. All these maneuvers, which during the war manifested themselves in the battlefronts and today appear as exercises and preparations here and there, are part of that great maneuver of the Iranian nation. This means displaying the power of a nation determined to use its God-given forces to build its honorable life. This means a nation, with its national pride and the sense of honor embedded in its existence, history, and beliefs, wants to say: the hands of the enemies are cut off, the hands of the aggressors are cut off, the arrogant powers of the world and those opposed to virtues and human values should step aside.

This nation is not one to retreat in the face of threats, intimidation, and the menacing presence of material powers accustomed to imposing their words on nations and societies. This nation knows it is strong and has realized it possesses power. This is the meaning of these maneuvers and these blessed and luminous gatherings. Our maneuver is not a threat to any neighbor, nation, or state. Despite American and Zionist propaganda and the horns that have always tried to portray Islamic Iran as a threat to the Gulf countries over these eighteen years, the Iranian nation does not pose a threat to the Gulf countries, neighboring nations, or any other country that does not aggress against it.

We do not threaten anyone; however, against those powers accustomed to threatening all nations unwilling to kneel before them and imposing their will on them, this nation, with its power and reliance on God and the holy Quran's instructions, which tell it to rely on God and fear no one, is determined to stand firm, not be threatened, not take their threats seriously, and not retreat even a step from its rightful positions and rightful claims. This is the true meaning of these maneuvers.

We do not threaten anyone. If some, governments, politicians, or journalists wish to pretend for their entertainment or their people's entertainment that Islamic Iran, as a neighbor, threatens them, that is up to them. Our forces in the Persian Gulf and within the country's borders are for defending the borders of this proud Islamic homeland, for defending this nation's independence, and for standing against oppressive powers.

Unfortunately, today the world is mostly divided into the camp of global arrogance and oppression on one side and the camp of those willing to hear the oppressors' oppression on the other. You see that the arrogant apparatus, using all means, seeks to expand its unjust and usurping power wherever it can in the world. Today, the American government is not content with controlling its country and interests and managing itself as a nation according to its will and desire. They want to be present wherever there is a sensitive geographical position in the world; wherever there is an important waterway, they want to control it; wherever there are vital underground resources, they want them under their control; wherever there is money, power, and capability, they want to dominate it; and wherever there is a group of people living, they want to impose their will on that human group as much as they can. This is global arrogance.

We oppose and stand against these actions. We cannot accept and tolerate this. No nation wants this. No nation or human group wants to be under the command of others. Unfortunately, many human groups either have not discovered their power and think they cannot, or perhaps they really cannot. The Iranian nation, unfortunately, during the long years of the rule of tyrants and the corrupt Pahlavi regime and before that, the corrupt Qajar regime, was in this situation. This great nation, this deep culture, these amazing capabilities, and this rare and brilliant talent were exploited by enemies in this way. It is clear what an enemy does with a nation.

My dear ones! This nation was not backward and underdeveloped in terms of science, culture, intellectual, scientific, and social progress. This was imposed on it by these aggressive powers over various times with the help of corrupt rulers, and they forcibly and unjustly kept the Iranian nation behind the caravan of civilization, human knowledge, and scientific progress. Islam came, revived this nation, and acquainted it with its capabilities. God Almighty sent a teacher to this nation who spoke to it with the language of prophets, awakened it, and made it aware of its rights and power. It made it understand that if a nation wants to decide, what great miracles can emerge from it and by its hands. This nation awakened. For eighteen years, this nation, by utilizing these heavenly and divine lessons, has managed to break one by one the magical chains that enemies had tied around its hands, feet, and neck. It has set in motion scientifically and in the construction of the country and has traveled a long way in terms of ethics and religious values.

Today, this nation is a nation that is not intimidated by any power in the world. This is no small thing. This nation feels powerful. Once in this world, two superpowers joined hands, and despite being against each other in all or many matters, they united in this matter to turn this nation away from Islam, make it regret, and turn the wheel back to its previous state; but they could not. By God, no power in the world today can turn the Iranian nation away from the glorious path of Islam and the Quran. Those who think otherwise, what do they think?

Those who are accustomed to criticizing the Iranian nation at every opportunity or without reason, to speak nonsense and write nonsense, suffer from a wrong analysis and understanding of this country's issues because they do not understand this nation and its language. I say this to all those who, at the level of world governments, think and decide about the Iranian nation and country: try to understand this nation correctly. Wrong analyses lead to wrong solutions for people. When they misunderstand this nation, they make wrong decisions. Like the Americans, who never tried to know this nation as it is and understand its language. Their culture, with its rigid frameworks and terms that are valid for them, may not be valid for most nations in the world. Every nation has a culture. Why should a nation abandon its culture, faith, and understanding of issues and submit to someone else's culture and understanding of issues? Why are some so demanding, narrow-minded, and trapped in rigid thinking?! Anyone who speaks and judges about the Iranian nation in this way today will be mistaken. The Iranian nation's policy is a clear policy in global issues.

The Iranian nation, because it looks at its past with insight, does not close its eyes to the past. It carefully examines its historical issues, its recent history, from a hundred years ago, from fifty years ago, from thirty years ago. The Iranian nation has concluded that the regime of arrogance—and currently, the regime of the United States of America—during the nearly thirty-five years of political dominance over this country during the cursed Pahlavi regime, has done much harm to it. The Iranian nation has understood, known, and seen this. Their hands are stained with the blood of the people. They insulted this nation, took its wealth, and supported an anti-human corrupt regime like the regime of Mohammad Reza.

After those thirty-five years, from the beginning of the revolution's victory until today, the Americans have done everything they could to be hostile to this country and this nation. The Iranian nation, observing this situation, is not willing to easily forgive the Americans' sins; it's over and done. The Iranian nation is not willing to overlook the sins of the United States regime. Those who, at the global level, align themselves with America; place themselves in America's camp, to the extent that they align themselves with America, are partners in the crimes of the American government in the eyes of the Iranian nation.

The Americans have tried to make it seem and establish that the West means America and that the Western bloc without America is meaningless. Of course, this is not the reality. A few years ago—in the blessed life of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified)—I told one of these European politicians: we are never willing to sell and trade our independence in political, economic, and cultural fields for anything; but the West as a party is considered for the Islamic Republic; provided that the West does not mean America. The Iranian nation does not forgive America and does not reconcile with it. I told him: America tries to make it seem that the West equals America. We say it is not so; but if European countries want to confirm that the West without America is meaningless, the Iranian nation does not care at all not to have the West as a trading and political party. It is not that the Iranian nation or the Islamic Republic of Iran government is forced to have relations with a certain group of countries. Of course, all countries in the world, in some way, benefit from relations with each other. In a sense, everyone needs each other—this is not our discussion—but for someone to think that the Iranian nation or the Islamic Republic of Iran government is forced to have relations with a certain group of countries, this is a gross and big mistake. Today we repeat the same words. We do not look at the world with one eye. We do not look at different countries with one eye. Those governments that have wronged the Iranian nation are not the same as those governments that have been presented as a healthy party in various fields.

A world adorned and illuminated by the valuable teachings of divine prophets and the luminous verses of God Almighty is a world worthy of humanity. A world where there is both prosperity, comfort, scientific progress, and industrial progress, and there is political power and spiritual elevation. A world where people feel peace, security, and confidence alongside each other, and humanity flourishes in it; something that does not exist in the world built by material civilization; because in the world of materialism, people must fear each other like wolves. The Iranian nation is determined to create and build such a world for itself both materially and spiritually. This is a long and long-term struggle.

Those who try to make it seem that the nation or the Islamic Republic of Iran government is seeking to invade that country, that government, that geographical border, should not be mistaken. The nation and government of the Islamic Republic of Iran have thousands of great and brilliant tasks ahead of them for building this country and advancing this society, which prevents them from engaging in such actions. Today, thanks be to God, the caravan of Islamic science and civilization—a civilization that can serve the world—has set off in this country.

My dear young ones; dear Basijis, faithful youth, luminous hearts who have heard, accepted, understood, and applied God's verses! The future belongs to you. The field is open before you; so prepare yourselves in all fronts and various arenas. Of course, everyone should know that this path is a path that if a nation like you successfully traverses it and, by God's grace, reaches its results, other nations will learn from it and find the way. This is what compels global arrogance to want to take harsh and hostile actions against the Iranian nation with all its might. One must be prepared to face an enemy ready for any harsh action against the Iranian nation if it can.

The arrogant governments, both in the past and present, have always equipped themselves with weapons wherever they could. Where necessary, they have no problem allowing their friends to create criminal weapons for themselves! This is something evident in the world. Those who today in Germany accuse the Islamic Republic of indifference to human lives and make this very unjust, biased, and unfair accusation against Iran are the same ones who, if not themselves, at least we can say under their watch, German companies equipped the Ba'athist regime with the most dangerous and criminal chemical weapons.

War is a harsh and undesirable event; but after all, it must have rules and laws. In war, we have chivalry and cowardice. The aggressive Ba'athist regime used the most cowardly methods against the Iranian nation and our youth. They bombarded Tehran and dozens of cities repeatedly and for long periods with long-range missiles. On the fronts, they used chemical weapons; not once, not twice, not for a month, two months; for many years, perhaps five years, six years, in these Iran-Iraq fronts, chemical weapons were used by the Ba'athist regime. Who gave them these weapons? Other than the countries that claim human rights?! Did anyone other than them provide these weapons to the Ba'athist regime?

Today, many things have become clear. God Almighty struck the back of the Westerners—those who are very hostile and enemies with the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic—so that for some reasons they were forced to confess and write. They themselves wrote in their books and articles: German companies—many of which certainly would not sell without the German government's permission—sold these chemical weapons and deadly materials to the Iraqis! Why did they sell them? Did they not know that these were to be used in the battlefield? Where is mustard gas used? Someone who buys deadly chemical weapons, where does he want to use them? Does he want to take them home and inhale them?! It is clear that he wants to use them in the battlefield.

Those who accuse the Islamic Republic government of indifference to human lives did not feel ashamed or afraid of the God they do not believe in; they did not consider human conscience and sold these in large quantities to the Ba'athist regime. He also used those deadly weapons in front of their eyes, on the borders and in the battlefields. Then we sent many chemical casualties for treatment to the same Germans from whom the chemical weapons had come out! Do they have a conscience?! Do they respect human values and lives? Are they not ashamed to make false claims?!

My dear ones! These hostilities with the Islamic Republic system—these injustices, these biases—all because the Iranian nation has chosen the path of independence under the shadow of divine law and is not willing to kneel before them and show weakness. In the face of such hostilities, one must be equipped and ready. You have created this readiness in this way. I thank all our proud armed forces across the country—from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, from the Islamic Republic Army, and from the Law Enforcement Force—for their readiness. Today, the armed forces of the Islamic Republic, in the true sense of the word, are in the service of truth and Islamic values. I offer my abundant thanks, praise, and admiration to the faithful Basiji youth across the country; these pure hearts, these hearts beating with love for God, with faith in truth, with sincerity and purity. Preserve this sincerity and purity within yourselves.

Thanks be to God, this orderly and organized field we observed today is a source of satisfaction and pride; an order and organization indicative of intellectual growth and complete readiness in related fields. God willing, tomorrow the ground maneuvers of these faithful forces will be carried out both here and in other areas mentioned and planned by the dear responsible brothers in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. I thank all of you and those dear brothers who are not in this field—who are in a wide circle included in the great Tariq al-Quds maneuver—and I pray for all of you. I humbly and submissively ask God Almighty to bestow His grace, mercy, kindness, guidance, success, and assistance upon all of you.

O Lord! By the Quran, by the luminous verses revealed to the blessed heart of the Prophet of Islam, keep us alive on the path of the Quran and Islam and let us die on the same path. O Lord! Do not let our death be anything but martyrdom in Your path. O Lord! Please the sacred heart of the Guardian of the Age with us. O Lord! Make us among the soldiers of that great one. O Lord! Make the pure soul of the martyrs and the exalted and sacred soul of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) pleased and satisfied with us.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings