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

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 and infallible progeny, especially the Awaited One among the earth's inhabitants, and upon his chosen companions.

I congratulate you, dear brothers and sisters present here, especially the esteemed officials and also the guests, namely the honorable ambassadors of Islamic countries, on the occasion of the blessed Eid al-Fitr. I also extend my congratulations to the entire nation of Iran and to all Muslims around the world, and I hope that the Almighty God - as we recited in this prayer that "You have made it a feast for the Muslims" - will make this day a feast for all Muslims. Unfortunately, today this is not the case.

Today, in the Islamic world, there are numerous hardships. Islam has emphasized unity and solidarity among Muslims and the brotherhood of Muslims; even in holding onto the rope of God, one can hold onto it individually, but Islam does not recommend this; "And hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of God"; all together, cling to the divine rope, be united. Despite all these recommendations and emphases, today we Muslims, unfortunately, do not act according to this Islamic directive; the result is what you observe. I want to request from all Muslims, especially from scholars, intellectuals, government officials, politicians, elites, and the distinguished in all countries to recognize the treacherous hand of the enemies of the Islamic Ummah in this division and observe it. This division is not natural; it is imposed, it is instilled. Muslims can naturally live alongside each other, and experiences have shown that when the enemy's temptation, the enemy's whispers, the enemy's malice have not entered the field, they have lived together. We have seen this in our own country, in Iraq, and in other Islamic countries as well.

This division is injected into the Islamic world; why? Because the interests of the great powers lie in this division. They do not want the Islamic Ummah to be united; they do not want this great power to rise in the horizon of global powers and show itself; they do not want this. If the Islamic Ummah were united, if it relied on its commonalities, it would undoubtedly become a unique power in the global political sphere with this vast population, with these countries in sensitive regions of the world, with these underground resources, with this natural wealth, and with this human resource; if we were united, such a phenomenon would captivate the world. They do not want this to happen. They planted the Zionist regime in this region to create discord; to keep the countries of the region preoccupied with their internal issues.

The nations resisted against the Zionist regime, meaning they did not submit; pay attention to this point! Throughout the decades that the Zionist regime, with the support and assistance of England and later the United States, has continuously increased its material power in this region, during this time, some weak governments and some unworthy individuals in Muslim governments have leaned towards the Zionists. Many Muslim governments and some politicians in the Islamic world - including the previous accursed regime of our own country and some others - established relations with the Zionists, who were usurpers, aggressors, and murderers, who had expansionist ambitions, saying "from the Nile to the Euphrates," and completely ignored their enmities; however, the nations did not, the nations continued to feel hatred for the occupying Zionism and the Zionist state in their hearts. The nations did not follow their governments in this regard. And this was a heavy burden for the governments dependent on America and those who were in league with the Zionist regime.

They thought they had to destroy this and divert the nations from Zionism. What did they do? They instigated these internal wars; these Sunni and Shia wars, these criminal organizations like al-Qaeda and ISIS and others were created to pit us against each other and to set the nations against one another. This is also the hand of their aggressors and traitors.

Some Americans have confessed in their memoirs that they played a role in creating ISIS, in developing ISIS, in establishing ISIS, and they are still supporting it today. Now, an anti-ISIS coalition has been formed. [Of course] I do not really believe that there is a coalition against ISIS; [but] now, assuming there is something against this group; is ISIS the only one? Various groups with windfall wealth under different names are working around Islamic countries, promoting terrorism, creating explosions, killing people, and innocent ones in the streets, markets, and mosques. They have kept the nations busy, occupied; they have turned Shia against Sunni, Sunni against Shia; they train a group on this side to be extremists and abusive, they compel them [to do these things] with money, and they create a counter group from the other side that is also extremist and abusive so that they fall upon each other, and each has a huge following of people. What could be better for the Zionists? What could be better for the Zionist regime? Let us wake up! Let us understand what is happening in the region!

The policies of the arrogant powers in this region are treacherous policies; they are openly treacherous. In Iraq, the policy of the arrogant powers is to overthrow the system that has emerged from elections and majority and democracy; they are pursuing this; they want to weaken it, disrupt it, and not let it function; and to pit Shia and Sunni against each other in Iraq. We have seen Iraq before these events; Shia and Sunni lived together, they lived alongside each other, they married each other, and today they must stand against each other, draw weapons against each other! Ultimately, they are pursuing the disintegration of Iraq. Our policy is exactly the opposite of this; we believe that the government that has emerged from elections in Iraq should be strengthened; we believe that we must stand against those who create internal divisions, resist, and preserve Iraq's territorial integrity. This policy is exactly the opposite of the policy of arrogance in Iraq.

In Syria, the policy of arrogance is to overthrow a government that is known for its resistance against Zionism at any cost; our policy is against this. Of course, regarding Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Lebanon, and all countries, we believe that the decision-makers are the nations of those countries; from the outside, neither we nor anyone else has the right to decide about the fate of the nations; they themselves must decide. This is our belief. The policy of arrogance regarding Syria is to sit outside the will of the nation and say that this government and this nation, which is known for standing firmly against the Zionists - both the current president and the previous president have explicitly stood against the illegitimate Zionist regime - should not exist. We say no, a government whose slogan, goal, and intention is to stand against the Zionists is valuable for the Islamic world. We have no specific personal interests in Syria or Iraq; we are thinking of the Islamic world, we are thinking of the Islamic Ummah; our positions are thus opposed to arrogance.

In Lebanon; for many years, the Zionist regime occupied a significant part of Lebanon, and the arrogance, led by America, remained silent; a silence accompanied by satisfaction. Then a group of faithful and self-sacrificing resistance emerged, which is among the noblest national defense groups, this resistance group in Lebanon and Hezbollah is among the noblest national resistance and defense groups in the world; we have had few resistance groups in countries that have acted so pure, faithfully, self-sacrificingly, and successfully - and they have set out to kill them and accuse them of terrorism. Is Hezbollah a terrorist? Is the great national defense force of Lebanon a terrorist? Is this called terrorism? Then the resistance forces that you Europeans and others take pride in throughout history - in France and other countries - who stood for the defense of their homeland, were they also terrorists? A force that stands against the aggressor, stands against the agents of arrogance, and sacrifices is a terrorist? Meanwhile, they shake hands with the child-killing, tyrannical, criminal Zionist regime as a brother, as a lifelong friend; this is their policy.

The reason we defend the resistance of Lebanon is: because they are a truly resistant group against the enemy, a defense group, a brave group, self-sacrificing, and standing against [them]. If they had not been there, Israel, which once came to Sidon and beyond Sidon and even to Beirut itself, would have occupied Beirut today, and there would be no Lebanese left; it is the resistance group that has stopped them. Then the Americans, the so-called honest and truthful politicians of America(!) call them terrorists and accuse Iran of supporting them as a defender of terrorism! You are the defenders of terrorism. You are the ones who create ISIS, you are the ones who train terrorists, you are the ones who keep the wicked and terrorist Zionists under your wing; you are the defenders of terrorism; you should be tried for supporting and aiding terrorism. The same issue applies to Yemen, to Bahrain, and to other countries as well.

In Yemen; that president who resigns at the most sensitive moment to create a political vacuum, then escapes from his country in women's clothing, does he have legitimacy? Does this president have the right to ask another country to attack his country, to kill people? It has been nearly four months - or three months and a bit - that they have been pounding Yemen. Who are they hitting? They are hitting mosques, they are hitting hospitals, they are hitting cities, they are hitting houses, they are killing innocent people, they are killing children; what is their crime?

America supports these actions. I said in the prayer that you are making mistakes now. They talk about past mistakes; they mention the 28th of Mordad; they say we made a mistake. Yes, you made a very big mistake, but you are still making mistakes; you are shaking hands with the most tyrannical regimes, your hands are in the same bowl, and then you call the Islamic Republic, which is formed entirely through elections, a tyrannical regime! Are you fair? You Americans, you American politicians speak and judge with utmost unfairness; [even regarding] clear realities. One is astonished; what audacity they have! With governments that do not allow their nations to hear the name of elections - in some of these countries, if someone mentions the name of elections in the street, they are arrested and their fate is uncertain - they are friends, partners, brothers, and have a brotherhood contract, while they call the Islamic Republic, which has had over thirty elections in 36 years, a tyranny! Can these be trusted? This is why we say that we cannot trust them.

We cannot trust them; they are not people from whom the truth comes out of their mouths; there is no honesty in them. In this difficult test that the President referred to - who really worked hard, both he and other officials - their multiple and repeated dishonesty has been demonstrated over this time. Well, [of course] our officials have fortunately responded; in some cases, they have taken truly revolutionary actions, they have worked, and have achieved some results so far; let us see what happens.

The Islamic world has one prescription today, and that is unity. This prescription also exists within countries; nations must be united. The Iranian nation must be united. There should not be divisions over these nuclear and non-nuclear issues and similar matters, where each group says something different - after all, there is work being done, there are officials, they are pursuing it; God willing, they should identify what is in the national interest and pursue that - there should not be divisions among the people. The enemy wants this. Even now, if someone follows the foreign propaganda, the radio and television stations, and the websites that are continuously expanding from their side and are constantly providing content, they are seeking to create divisions among the people; do not let divisions occur; maintain unity, be together.

And from within, power must arise. Public and social piety is like individual piety; in individual piety - which fasting is for piety; the month of fasting is the month of acquiring piety - when you are pious, you gain immunity from within; like someone who has been vaccinated and has created immunity in themselves, so that even if they go into an environment contaminated with germs, the germs do not affect them; this is piety; piety does not allow the external environment to affect you; at least it does not allow it to easily affect you; individual piety is like this. National piety is the same; if a nation strengthens itself from within, strengthens its knowledge, its industry, its faith, its culture, external forces cannot influence it. This is the prescription that today all of us must act upon; the Islamic world must also act upon this prescription.

O Lord! Grant us the success to recognize what is the path of guidance and to follow that path.

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