Statements at the Meeting with the Officials of the System and Ambassadors of Islamic Countries

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

I congratulate you, the esteemed attendees of this magnificent session, especially the guests from other countries and the honorable ambassadors of Islamic countries, on this great holiday. I also congratulate the great nation of Iran, which has made the mission of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) the focus of its work and has strived to achieve the great goals of the mission of the Seal of the Prophets, enduring hardships and, thanks be to God, has received the divine promise; for the Almighty God has promised victory, progress, and happiness to nations that move in this path, and God's promise is unbreakable. I also congratulate this great holiday to the Islamic Ummah; today, after decades of experience, the Islamic Ummah's approach to the Muhammadan religion (peace be upon him and his family) is evident. After intellectuals, elites, and pioneers of Muslim nations have experienced various Eastern and Western doctrines and ideologies over many years and have recognized the failure and fruitlessness of those experiences, today the attention and inclination of the Islamic Ummah is towards the essence and goals of the mission of the Prophet. Today is a blessed day for them, and we hope that all of humanity benefits from the blessings of this mission.

What I want to convey today is that the mission has dimensions and aspects. The rays of light that have emanated from this event for humanity are not few; however, today humanity has a complete need for two currents arising from the mission: one is the awakening of thought and intellect, and the other is the refinement of morals. If these two are secured, the long-standing desires of humanity will be fulfilled; justice will be secured, happiness will be secured, and worldly prosperity will be secured. The fundamental problem lies in these two areas.

It was said: "The mission is to perfect moral virtues." Or in the Quran, it is stated: "He it is who raised among the unlettered a messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His verses and purifying them." After purification, it is said: "And He teaches them the Book and wisdom." This is a lofty goal; the purification of souls, the cleansing of hearts, the elevation of human morals, rescuing humanity from the filth of moral entanglements and weaknesses and carnal desires. This is a destination and a goal.

The issue of thought is also fundamental and important; it is not specific to our Prophet; all prophets were sent to revive the power of reason and thought in humanity. Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) states in the sermon of Nahj al-Balagha: "To remind them of the covenant of their creation and to remind them of the blessings they have forgotten... and to stir up the treasures of their minds"; prophets were sent to awaken the buried treasures of reason in the hearts and souls of humans and to extract them.

All of humanity has a tremendous potential for thinking hidden within us. When we do not think, when we do not study, when we do not reflect on the divine verses, when we do not contemplate our history, our past, the various events that have occurred for humanity, the past hardships, and the factors of great victories for nations, we deprive ourselves of that spiritual treasure that God has placed within us; "and to remind them of the blessings they have forgotten... and to stir up the treasures of their minds." Today, humanity needs these two.

Human societies need to think, to ponder, to see where humanity's misfortune lies? In the existence of oppression, in the existence of discrimination, in the dual logic that governs the dominant powers of the world, is there any doubt? The blatant oppression that is currently being inflicted upon humanity is evident to all. The oppression of the dominant powers over nations whose hands are empty of defensive capabilities is visible to everyone; you can see this. A power comes from thousands of kilometers away to our region, imposing its dominance on a country that is defenseless and lacks resources; then they turn weddings into mourning; their helicopters rain "death" upon the people. They destroy people's homes, and no one can say anything to them; they do not even apologize! This is the state of the world. Even in advanced countries, it is the same. Today, if you look at the economic issues of the world, you will see that the situation is the same. The issue in Europe today is not about alleviating the people's suffering; it is about alleviating the bankers, the capitalists, the owners of vast wealth. This is their issue today. Humanity, the human race, is not a concern for the dominant powers. These are realities that exist in the world; well, humanity should think and see where the source of this is? The source is the system of domination; the source is the existence of two poles: the oppressor and the oppressed. Just as if there is no oppressor, the system of domination will collapse, if the oppressed do not accept the enemy's oppression, this system will also fall apart. Here lies the duty of nations; among nations, the duty lies with the elites; the political elites, the cultural elites.

The devils affiliated with the arrogant powers, when they observe a great and liberating movement by the people in any corner of the world - which is pure and sincere - concentrate all their efforts to turn that movement against itself or to neutralize its effects. You see what is happening today in our region. People in countries are revolting to free themselves from dependence on America, to escape from humiliation in the face of Zionist dominance, to express their hatred for the existence of this cancerous tumor in the heart of Islamic countries; all the political, intelligence, and financial apparatus of arrogance and its affiliates spring into action to neutralize the movement. This is the issue.

Nations must stand on their own feet. Nations must utilize the God-given gift of human thought and intellect. Nations must gain confidence in themselves; they must trust in their own power, in their God; they must show good opinion of God. The Almighty God has promised: "Indeed, Allah will support those who support Him; indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise"; this is divine emphasis. When nations stand firm, resist, and persevere, they will certainly be victorious; a living example of this is our nation. The enemy, with thousands of propaganda tools, tries to obscure the realities from the eyes of the world, but the reality is what we are witnessing. In these thirty-three years, from the very first day, our revolution, our dear nation, and our country have been under constant attack, under conspiracy. Various policies have come to power; they had a hundred issues of disagreement, but in confronting the Islamic revolution, in striking blows against the Islamic Republic, in removing this living model in front of Muslims, they have all been partners in various ways! Today, it is the same; they have united to try to remove the Iranian nation from the scene. I tell you; they will certainly and absolutely fail in these efforts.

Of course, victory cannot be achieved without struggle, without movement, without risk-taking. The Almighty God has not promised victory without effort to anyone. Merely being a believer is not enough; struggle is necessary, patience is necessary; "And we will surely be patient in the face of the harm you have caused us" - this is the words of the prophets to their opponents - we will stand firm. The prophets stood firm. Today, the logic of the prophets, despite all the oppression they faced, is the universal logic of the world. The words of the prophets advanced, the logic of the Pharaohs did not advance. This movement and this orientation will increase day by day. Patience is necessary, steadfastness is necessary. Our nation has shown this steadfastness. Our enemies do not want to understand and learn from past experiences. They must know that in the face of this nation, obstinacy, arrogance, and self-aggrandizement, having unreasonable expectations from this nation will lead nowhere. This nation stands firm, has recognized the path, has recognized the goal, has recognized itself.

The lesson we have learned from the Quran, the lesson we have learned from Islam, is the lesson of steadfastness, struggle, unity, and solidarity; the unity of hearts and hands with one another; it is not specific to our nation; it is unity in the Islamic world. Today, you see one of the points that our enemies completely rely on is igniting sectarian differences; Shia and Sunni. People who neither believe in Shia nor in Sunni, nor accept the essence of Islam, according to the desires of the intelligence services of America and Israel, stand behind microphones and express concern about the spread of Shia! What do you understand about Shia?! What do you understand about Sunni?! You do not believe in the essence of the religion. Today, the policy of arrogance and the policy of intelligence services is to scare us from each other; to scare Shia from Sunni, Sunni from Shia; to create discord. The way to overcome the enemies is to think, to ponder, to unite, to bring hearts closer together, to intertwine hands; and this is how, by the grace of the Lord, "He will make it prevail over all religions"; and the Almighty God, by His grace and kindness, will make the goals and directives of this mission victorious over all the plots of the enemy.

We hope that the Almighty God will continually bestow His blessings upon you, upon the Iranian nation, and upon the Islamic Ummah, and may the pure spirit of our great Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) - who showed us this path, who opened this path before us - be gathered with His saints and with the prophets and the infallible Imams.

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