Statements in Meeting with Hundreds of People from Isfahan

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, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure, virtuous, and infallible family, especially the remainder of God on earth.

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters; you are a sample of the dear people of Isfahan who truly deserve commendation, as Mr. Tabatabai-Nejad rightly stated. I am very pleased that once again we have been able to visit you in this Hosseiniyeh; especially the esteemed families of martyrs and veterans who are present. From here, I send greetings and blessings to all the people of Isfahan and express my gratitude for their efforts, faith, jihad, and the special characteristics of the people of Isfahan.

Today, on the occasion of the anniversary of the twenty-fifth of Aban, this gathering has been formed here; therefore, I will say a few words regarding this very important issue and the overall movement of the people of Isfahan concerning jihad and martyrdom; I will present a point and a statement regarding our overarching view of the confrontation between Iran and global arrogance, and about the nature and manner of this confrontation; then I will also refer to the recent events and disturbances in the country.

As for Isfahan, its virtues are not limited to one or two; Isfahan is a city of knowledge, a city of art, a city of jihad, a vibrant city. Regarding knowledge, perhaps in the last four hundred years, the number of great scholars from Isfahan in jurisprudence, philosophy, hadith, exegesis, and similar fields — whose significance, value, and fame are not limited to Isfahan alone; some have encompassed the entire Islamic world, and some all of Iran — if we were to name them, just writing their names would fill a thick book. Our great scholars, even up to our recent times, such as the late Mr. Naini, the late Sayyid Abul Hasan Isfahani, the late Hajj Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Isfahani, all the great scholars from various eras before them for about four hundred years, are from Isfahan. Well, it is a city of knowledge; it is a nurturer; not only in jurisprudence, but also in philosophy, it is the same. Some are not from Isfahan, but they grew and flourished in Isfahan; Isfahan brought them forth. This is a characteristic of Isfahan.

It is a city of faith and love for the Ahl al-Bayt; this is one of the characteristics that has received less attention. I have, for a long time, since the late 30s and 40s, frequently traveled to Isfahan; this fact has drawn my attention that the people of Isfahan are devoted, they are sincere, they are attentive; this stems from their faith. For instance, in our Mashhad during those years, a Kumayl prayer gathering was held, which was incidentally organized by a scholar from Isfahan; the late Kalbasi was in Mashhad and recited the Kumayl prayer. Perhaps the number of those who gathered at his sermon for the Kumayl prayer did not reach twenty. Now, I cautiously say twenty; perhaps it was eight or nine or ten who recited the Kumayl prayer. At that same time in Isfahan, the Kumayl prayer gathering of the late Hajj Agha Mahdi Mazaheri at Seyyed Mosque was filled with people; this is a comparison between Mashhad and Isfahan. Regarding mourning assemblies, concerning the Imams (peace be upon them) and similar matters, whatever one says is truly insufficient; it is a city of faith.

Thus, it is both a city of knowledge and a city of faith, as well as a city of art; various desirable Iranian arts exist in Isfahan. It is a city of precious and valuable artistic heritage. I do not recall any similar artistic heritage that we have in Isfahan existing anywhere else. All these are the distinctions of the people of Isfahan; a city with a complete Iranian and Islamic identity. In my opinion, our good documentarians, who thankfully are numerous, can create multiple documentaries from these — with the piece I will mention later — that will all be visually and emotionally appealing.

And now, the revolutionary identity; having discussed the scientific, faithful, and artistic identity, we arrive at the revolutionary identity. Of course, in many cities of our country before the revolution, there were revolutionary efforts, which were good and strong, but Isfahan had superiority; at least it was one of the most prominent revolutionary cities; if we do not say it was the most prominent city, at least it was one of the best. The first city that was placed under martial law during the tyrannical regime was Isfahan; nowhere else had martial law been declared before Isfahan. This indicates that the people were more active than others. In the Sacred Defense, it had two renowned and breakthrough divisions: the Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) Division, whose famous commander was martyr Khorramzadeh, and the Najaf Division, whose famous commander was martyr Ahmad Kazemi. After the martyrdom of Khorramzadeh and some time after martyr Kazemi left the Najaf Division, other distinguished commanders managed these two divisions; truly outstanding heroes whom we got to know and saw closely. Well, the province of Isfahan, due to these struggles, has about 24,000 martyrs, of which about 7,500 martyrs are buried in the Golestan-e Shohada of Isfahan. These are remarkable figures, these are great signs. Tens of thousands of disabled veterans, several thousand freed prisoners; these are the pride of Isfahan. These create a duty for you; we do not want to merely praise; preserving these great legacies and achievements is the duty of every conscientious individual.

As for the occasion of the twenty-fifth of Aban; on the twenty-fifth of Aban, about 360 martyrs were buried in Isfahan. How could a city endure this? 360 martyrs! The commanders who witnessed these martyrs being martyred were left wondering how to bring these martyrs to Isfahan for burial; this incident was so significant and extraordinary! I believe that if anywhere in the world, on a single day, 360 blood-soaked youths were brought among the people and buried, that city would be paralyzed, it would collapse; Isfahan did not collapse. In our confirmed reports, it is stated that on that very afternoon, many youths and in the following days, even more, moved towards the front lines; that very night, a massive caravan of support for the martyrs set out from Isfahan. Now, if today 360 martyrs were brought, the people should sit and mourn; their attention would not be on the front lines; no, on that day and the following days, crowds set out. See this spirit! See this motivation! Families of two martyrs, families of three martyrs, families of four martyrs, several families of five martyrs, several families of six martyrs, one family with seven martyrs! These belong to Isfahan; these illustrate the revolutionary and jihadist identity of Isfahan for us. Part of the virtues of Isfahan is these; Isfahan has more to say. In these four decades, whenever it has been necessary, Isfahan has stood firm; the people of Isfahan have never retreated in any issue. I particularly remember some of the events; now I do not want to recall and name them. They have repeatedly entered the field with a single gesture and attention, extinguished a sedition.

Of course, these characteristics of the people of Isfahan have nothing to do with the grievances of the Isfahani people. What Mr. Tabatabai said is correct; the issue of water in Isfahan is an important matter. I have also been following this issue; many friends have written letters, we have referred it, we have pursued it, and recently I have followed up, thanks be to God, they are working on it; that is, good work is being done; five or six actions that may be said to be long-term; well, it is being done, it is progressing, and God willing, it will be resolved. I now advise the esteemed government officials who are truly striving and working to exert more effort in this area, to work as quickly as possible; that is, the people of Isfahan deserve that we do not recognize day and night in serving them.

Well, this was about the people of Isfahan. Other cities in the country have also created values in their own way; we do not want to focus only on Isfahan. Of course, they were not all the same, they were not on the same level; some were ahead, Isfahan is among the forefront. Other places have also made good efforts. These comprehensive efforts of the people across the country led us to victory in one of the rare tests. The eight-year defense was not a small test; it was a very important incident; many of our youths do not know what happened. For eight years, all the powers of the world were on one side, and Iran was on the other! Well, for instance, in some places, there are incidents, and attacks are made on a country that, firstly, are not as extensive as what happened in Iran, and secondly, there are those who assist them; no one helped us. NATO was with Saddam, especially the United States was with Saddam, the former Soviet Union was with Saddam, some European countries that had little dependence on the Soviet Union, had dependence on the United States, were also with Saddam, like Yugoslavia; I went and saw it up close; these were also on his side; that is, the whole world was on one side and the Islamic Republic was on the other. Well, in this war, with this movement of the people, with this motivation of the people, and with empty hands, Iran was able to achieve victory. We achieved a complete and brilliant victory in the eight-year war. We achieved victory, but the issue did not end. Now I want to enter this second discussion: the issue of the overarching view of the challenges facing Islamic Iran and the arrogant powers, the system of domination, the world of arrogance.

I ask you to pay attention to this: from the perspective of the arrogant powers, the problem lies here; the problem of arrogance with the Islamic Republic is that if the Islamic Republic, this system, progresses, flourishes, and shines in the world, the logic of liberal democracy of the West will be invalidated. I happened to discuss this issue in Isfahan once; among the vast crowd in the large square of Isfahan, I made a reference to this [discussion]. With the logic of liberal democracy, the Westerners were able to plunder the entire world for about three centuries; they said here there is no freedom, they entered; they said there is no democracy, they entered; under the pretext of creating democracy and similar excuses, they plundered the wealth of that country, the treasures of that country, its resources; impoverished Europe became wealthy at the cost of many wealthy countries like India. They ruined India; if you read Nehru's book — A Glimpse of World History — you will understand what happened; and many other countries; they ruined China and other places. Now, Iran did not experience direct colonization in that manner, but here too, they did everything they could, with the logic of liberal democracy; that is, they said freedom and democracy, freedom and being popular; under this title, they conquered countries; both against freedom and against the popularity of countries, they did everything they could.

One example right before your eyes is Afghanistan. Twenty-one years ago, they came to Afghanistan to defeat a government that they claimed was not popular and had no freedom; the Americans committed crimes in Afghanistan for twenty years, committed all kinds of crimes, stole everything they could, took it away, ate it, killed, destroyed families, ruined morals, and after twenty years, the same government they had invaded against came to power, and they left in disgrace! This is one example that is now before you young people.

For three hundred years, first the Europeans, then the Americans, moved with the logic of liberal democracy. Now, if a government and a system arise in the world that rejects the logic of liberal democracy and gives a real identity to its people, awakens them, strengthens them, and stands against liberal democracy, this invalidates the logic of liberal democracy; and this is the Islamic Republic. Liberal democracy was built on the negation of religion, and the Islamic Republic was built on the basis of religion; they claimed to be popular, and the Islamic Republic is a truly popular system.

Of course, it is evident that in their propaganda and on their televisions, they deny it, but they accept it; they know it themselves. This is why you see some people here saying there is no freedom, it is not popular, and similar statements; they look at their mouths; otherwise, the evidence of freedom is that these people are making these statements against the system, and no one is bothering them. The evidence of being popular is that since the passing of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) until today, none of the governments that have come to power have been ideologically similar. One government comes, the next government comes with a different ideology; well, it is evident that there is ideological freedom. The people are free to choose; at one time they choose this, at another time they choose that.

Thus, the problem of the West and the arrogant powers with the Islamic Republic is that the Islamic Republic is progressing, it is flourishing, and the world is witnessing and acknowledging this progress, which is intolerable for the West; it cannot tolerate this; the problem lies here. The problem lies here that Iran is progressing. If we were not progressing, if we did not show a powerful presence in the region, if our voice trembled in the face of America and arrogance, if we were willing to accept their bullying and tyranny, these pressures would lessen. Of course, they would come and gain control, but the sanctions and these pressures and challenges would decrease. Whenever the voice of the Islamic Republic has been louder — since the conditions have varied over the years; you know this yourself — the enemy's efforts to claw at the Islamic Republic have increased.

Thus, the fundamental challenge for us today in the country is the challenge of progress and stagnation; or we can say the challenge of progress and regression; because stagnation is retreating, and anyone who stagnates is actually going backward; because the world is moving forward, if you stand still, you fall behind. The issue is this: we are progressing, we are pursuing progress, they want it not to be so. All the arrogant powers of the world, which are mainly the United States and Europe, are envious, anxious, and upset about this movement of progress of the Islamic Republic, and they enter the field and do everything they can; of course, they cannot do anything; they have not been able to until now, and they will not be able to in the future.

In this battle, the United States is at the forefront of the enemy; the reason we emphasize and insist on the United States is that it is at the forefront; there are others, but they are behind the United States. All the presidents of the United States over these decades of the revolution have fought at the forefront against the Islamic Republic; now where are they? Some have been destroyed, perished, and disappeared, some have fallen into the dustbin of history, even if they are still alive; from Carter and Clinton and Obama of the Democrats to Reagan and Bush of the Republicans to that previous simple-minded one and to this current clueless servant who wants to save Iran, to save the people of Iran, all of them have stood against the Islamic Republic, and they have used every friend they could; especially they provoked and assisted the Zionist regime. Now it is said that the Zionist regime, the usurping regime, provokes them; yes, it may be so in some cases, but the Zionist regime is their chained dog, their rabid dog in the region, its duty is to cause corruption in the region, and unfortunately, some other governments in the region have cooperated with it. Of course, they have also inflicted some blows — not that they have done nothing — but overall, they have failed; they have not been able to stop the Islamic Republic. None of their plans have progressed, meaning they did not achieve their intended results; yes, they created some problems, but their goals were not achieved; neither sanctions, nor the assassination of scholars, nor bribing some to speak against the Islamic Republic from within, nor their various political and security tricks have been able to derail the movement and progress and steadfastness of the Iranian nation.

Well, now we are facing such a situation. I say that the duty of all of us — both the officials of the country, and all the people, and the intellectuals of society, and the active youth and elites of society, and the scientific communities; both the seminaries and the universities — is to understand that we must progress. Today, progress is our duty; in all areas. We must progress; we must achieve scientific progress, artistic progress, economic progress, and political progress; these advancements strengthen the system, give power to the system. When you gain power, the enemy cannot look at you with a crooked eye. The enemy's goal is to destabilize the pillars of power; you see it; they do not want the system to be powerful. We all must pursue progress because progress empowers us, makes us self-sufficient, and strengthens us. If these advancements — both scientific progress, moral and spiritual progress, economic progress, and political progress — continue, which thanks be to God has been the case so far, the enemy becomes anxious; the enemy is very fearful of this, and well, it uses all its efforts to prevent it.

Now, how do we progress? Well, there are many tools for progress, various tools; I want to point out just one important point, and that is hope. Hope is the most important tool for progress, and the enemy has focused on this; the enemy is using all its power to instill despair, to instill a dead end. A young person who is not familiar with the issues of the world sometimes gets influenced, and he too becomes hopeless; when he becomes hopeless, he does not work. Progress requires hope. The enemy is focused on the hope of the Iranian nation. This extensive apparatus that the enemy has employed, these media, these satellites, this strange virtual space, these mercenary televisions, all of these are to kill this hope in the people. Fortunately, hope is alive — now I will make a reference — but they want to prevent our youth from remaining hopeful, they want to take hope away from our officials; they even covet our officials to take hope away from them. Well, now there is unfortunately an extension of this inside; I have to say this. One does not want such a reality to exist, but it does; they have an extension inside. Their extension is the same instillation of despair, instillation of hopelessness that "there is no benefit," "we will not get anywhere," "what can we do"; you hear such statements. In the inside, some newspaper, some active figure in the virtual space, unfortunately, have these things; these are also their extensions.

Well, now in contrast to their instillation, there is a reality. That reality is that we are moving forward, we are advancing. [Of course] we have economic problems — I do not want to deny or ignore the economic problems; that too, God willing, will be resolved — but in various other sectors, we are thankfully constantly progressing, we are moving forward. They do not want to allow especially the younger generation to become aware of these advancements, so they conceal them. In the same internal extension [of theirs] that I mentioned, it is the same; many of our advancements are concealed or minimized.

Now, what I have noted to tell you is this: in these few weeks, when a few wicked or deceived individuals entered some streets and created disturbances, in these disturbances, great works have been accomplished that if we compare them with other weeks and months, a significant result emerges; now I will count those that have occurred in these few weeks: The achievement of Iranian scientists in a new method for treating blood cancer; this is progress, after all, it is an important progress, it is not a small matter. The localization of a key device for oil and gas wells. One of our important natural resources is oil and gas; we need innovation in oil and gas extraction, and this innovation is taking place; just a few weeks ago, one of the important steps for this was taken; well, this is a big deal. A railway section in a significant part of Sistan and Baluchestan was inaugurated; this railway, from ancient times, that is, from the early revolution — now before the revolution, it was not discussed — was one of the important aspirations that we could establish a north-south railway, and the railway of Sistan and Baluchestan is part of this; that is, we connect the north of the country to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, which passes through Sistan and Baluchestan. Just a few days ago, a significant part of this railway was inaugurated. A great work has been done; this is progress. Several factories have been launched; a transnational refinery has been established in one of the countries; the operation of six power plants has occurred in these few weeks, and their cities have been specified and reported to me; I do not want to name them one by one now. One of the largest telescopes in the world was unveiled in these days; one of the largest telescopes in the world was completed and inaugurated during this time. A satellite launcher was unveiled, a new missile was unveiled, and so on [and other cases]. These are from these few weeks that have occurred even amid disturbances; if one were to count these one by one, it would be a lot. They do not allow; they do not want the younger generation to become familiar with these; they minimize these, belittle them, deny them. Well, we had made significant progress in defense capabilities, they denied it; they showed a photo and said this is Photoshop, this is not real; later they had to admit it, they were forced to admit it.

Well, now these works I have pointed out are significant both in terms of the work itself and in terms of indicating movement in society; thus, society is not stagnant, it is in motion, it is progressing; it is very important that society is in a state of progress and movement. The Iranian youth are alive, full of motivation, even in the days of the enemy's malice. Well, if you are a friend of Iran, one of the signs and indicators of your love for Iran is that you create hope; if you create despair, you cannot claim to be a friend of Iran. The main indicator of Iran's enmity is the creation of despair, the extinguishing of hope, the instillation of incapacity, the instillation of dead ends; these are indicators of enmity towards Iran. Those who love Iran move in the opposite direction of this. Do not let those who are enemies of Iran, under the guise of defending national interests, wear false clothing, change their faces, and do such things; that is, take the indicators into your hands. You, writers, you poets, you scholars, you clerics, if you love Iran, if you love Islamic Iran, very well, you must create hope. If anything contrary to this occurs, the claim cannot be accepted.

Well, therefore, the issue is the issue of progress. Let me summarize. Our problem with the world of arrogance is that we are progressing and have the will to progress, and they see our progress as detrimental to themselves; this is the main challenge we face. Islamic Iran must progress for the exaltation of the word of Islam.

And as for the third point I mentioned regarding the disturbances, I will say a few sentences. The main orchestrators who are behind the scenes — besides those who come into the streets; those who are behind the scenes, they are the ones who are manipulating the issues — wanted to bring the people into the scene, and now that they could not, they want to create malice so that they can tire the officials and the system. They are mistaken; this malice will cause the people to become tired of them, to become more disgusted with them, to become more averse to them. Now that the people are disgusted with these — with the wicked — continuing this work will increase the people's disgust.

The first point is that incidents like this create problems for the people; in the streets, you have to close your shop, you have to keep your car, and do things like this, and it creates problems; they commit crimes, they destroy, they do things like this, but those who are in the scene and those who are behind the scenes are much more insignificant than to be able to harm the system. Without a doubt, this chaos will be gathered; then the Iranian nation will continue to progress with greater strength and a fresher spirit. This is the nature of the work; the nature of a faithful nation is just this. Yes, incidents occur, but from incidents that may be threats, they create opportunities for themselves; they create opportunities from incidents, from threats. Until now, it has been this way; it has always been this way since the dawn of Islam.

This noble verse that our brother recited: "And when the believers saw the confederates, they said: This is what Allah and His Messenger promised us, and Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth." The Battle of the Confederates was not a small battle; all the tribes of the Arabs from Quraysh and Ta'if and Mecca and everywhere gathered to fight a city, Medina, with a population of a few thousand. It was the Battle of the Confederates; this should shake hearts; when the believers saw this, they said: This is what Allah and His Messenger promised; [they said] this is nothing new, God said that enemies will come to you, enemies will come to you; they came; "And Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth, and it only increased them in faith and submission." This "and it only increased them in faith and submission" is the opportunity; it was a threat, they used this threat, their faith increased; that is, they found an opportunity to increase their faith. This has been the case in the early days of Islam and always.

In the case of the Sacred Defense, it was the same; the Sacred Defense was a battle of confederates; in that too, they attacked from all sides. The Iranian nation created an opportunity from this threat; what was that opportunity? That opportunity was to show the whole world that the Iranian nation does not succumb to defeat. Everyone came; America supported, Europe supported, NATO supported, the Warsaw Pact of that day — which belonged to the communists — supported Saddam, everyone supported him, but Iran did not succumb; the Iranian nation did not succumb; this became a precedent; this is an opportunity. Whenever the powers of the world think that they have everything on the table, all the new cards on the table — well, one of the cards is military — whenever they think this, they remember the eight-year imposed war; they know the Iranian nation does not succumb. The Iranian nation has repeatedly told its opponents, to America and others, that your coming is with you, but your leaving is not with you! You may come forward, but you will be bound, you will suffer! The Iranian nation used this from the imposed war. From this twenty-fifth of Aban, the people of Isfahan used it; their use was that their motivation increased, just as I said, the movement of the brave youths of Isfahan towards the front lines increased.

In the recent disturbances, it is the same; in these disturbances, the Iranian nation used this so-called threat — which they considered a threat to the Iranian nation — what did the Iranian nation do? It showed its truth and its direction; where? On the thirteenth of Aban. This year's thirteenth of Aban was different from all previous years. A few individuals came into the streets at the behest of America, but the great Iranian nation came out on the thirteenth of Aban against America; this is one example of the thirteenth of Aban. Another example is the burial of these martyrs. A dear martyr and a young man is martyred these days — from among these dear martyrs who are martyrs of security, martyrs of the Basij, martyrs of the police, the masses of people who are martyred — for instance, suppose martyr Rouhollah Ajamian, who is an unknown young man, [but] at his martyrdom, a huge crowd comes out for his funeral! This is the reaction of the people. They show that they are like this. You martyr our young man, we are all behind this young man! This is exactly the opposite of what the enemy wants to instill that the Iranian nation came into the streets, the Iranian nation acted against such and such, [but] the nation showed itself. They used this threat, created an opportunity.

Another opportunity that was created was that the faces of the orchestrators became clear. The orchestrators pretend to be supporters of the Iranian nation, but they have opposed all the demands, beliefs, and sanctities of the Iranian nation; they have opposed Islam, burned mosques, burned the Quran; they have opposed Iran, burned the flag of Iran, disrespected the national anthem of Iran; the faces of these have become clear. They claim to be supporters of the Iranian nation; well, the Iranian nation is a Muslim nation, a nation of the Quran, a nation of Imam Hussein. You insult Imam Hussein, you speak ill, you act shamelessly, are you a supporter of the Iranian nation? You insult Arbaeen, you insult the million-strong march of Arbaeen, are you a supporter of the Iranian nation? Well, the true faces of the orchestrators of this disturbance have become clear. Therefore, one of the points that can be said in this issue of these disturbances is that the Iranian nation created multiple opportunities for itself from this threat.

Another point is regarding the type of dealing with the elements of the orchestrators. There are some orchestrators, there are some deceived individuals, there are some who are paid; some have committed crimes; all of these are not the same. The one who is merely deceived and has not committed a crime should be admonished, should be advised, should be guided — whether he is a student or not, whether he is in the street or in the university — he should be asked: Does this movement of yours help the progress of Iran or is it against the progress of Iran? He should think. This is for the deceived. He should be made to think. The one who accompanies without paying attention to the enemy's demands should be awakened, should be told: "The enemy is over there; be careful not to harmonize with the enemy." In the words of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), "Whatever you have to shout, shout at America."

But the one who is the perpetrator of a crime or murder or destruction or threats — who threatens a shopkeeper that you must close, otherwise we will burn your shop; who threatens a car driver that you must stop or honk or do things like this, otherwise we will do this to your car; the perpetrator of threats — these must be punished; they must be punished according to their sins. The perpetrator of murder in one way, the perpetrator of destruction in another way, the one who incites them to do these things in one way; each must be punished according to their actions. Of course, here I should mention that punishment is by the judiciary. No one has the right to take it upon themselves to punish someone; no; the judiciary is there, and thankfully it is alive and motivated; they must be punished. So we have both advice and punishment; like the Prophet, and the method of the Messenger of God. Amir al-Mu'minin says about the Prophet: "A physician who circulates with his medicine, has prepared his remedies and has heated his cauteries." He has prepared both the remedy for healing the wound and the cautery. In the past, they would cauterize wounds that would not heal; they would heat a piece of iron in the fire, and when it became red, they would place it on the wound to heal it. [Amir al-Mu'minin] says the Prophet has prepared the remedy, and he has also heated it; both are ready. In the words of Saadi: Roughness and softness are both in harmony Like a surgeon who is both a cutter and a healer.

Both surgery and healing must be done. Well, this is another point.

Another point is that until now, thanks be to God, the enemy has been defeated. The enemy's intention was to bring the people into the field, and the people showed that they are not with the enemy. Of course, the enemy creates an army in the media; a false army, a fabricated multitude. You see in the various media of the enemy, they portray it in such a way that an unaware and uninformed person might think that there is really news; while the reality is not like that. What is abundant, what is great, is the presence of the people in service to the revolution and in the fields of the revolution; this is indeed very great; but the other side is not. They wanted to bring the people in, but the people hit them in the face. Of course, I should say: the enemy has a new trick every day, a new scheme; here they failed, it is not clear that they will give up, they will go after other places; they will go after classes, they will go after workers, they will go after women. Of course, our honorable women, our honorable workers are far above surrendering to the enemy and falling for the enemy's tricks; this is certain.

So, the enemy's goal was something that was not achieved; however, the reality of society is that we have problems; we have problems. The most important problem we have today, for the time being, is the economic problem. You see, I have been making the slogan of the year an economic point for years and requesting the officials to address this problem and pursue this point. The 90s decade was not a good decade for us economically. Problems arose for us. If the same advice, the same actions that are now intended to be done, God willing, and are being done, had been done back then, our situation today would have been better. After all, sanctions are effective, some measures are effective, management is effective; all of these are effective. I see — now what one observes — that the officials are truly striving, they are seriously working, they are doing work, and their efforts are effective in many cases, and they are effective even in this economic situation, but the economic problem exists. Today, of course, various countries in the world also have economic problems, and we have them. We must strive, God willing, to resolve this problem. This will come with the cooperation of the people with the officials, the cooperation of the nation with the government, mutual understanding, solidarity, and synergy, God willing, and in the economic field, the Iranian nation will, with divine success, strike a blow to the enemy.

We hope that the Almighty God will bestow His mercy and blessings upon you dear people. We hope that, God willing, the people of Isfahan will be happier, more vibrant, more prepared, and more present in the forefront of the revolution day by day. We hope that the pure spirit of the Imam will be pleased with us and you; we too can fulfill our duties towards these dear people, God willing.

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