Statements of the Supreme Leader in Tehran Friday Prayers Sermons

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds. I praise Him, seek His help, and rely on Him. I send blessings and peace upon His beloved, His chosen one, the best of His creation, the keeper of His secrets, and the conveyor of His messages; our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure, chosen, and infallible family, especially the remaining proof of God on earth. I also send blessings upon the leaders of the Muslims, the protectors of the oppressed, and the guides of the believers. God, the Wise, says in His Book: In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 'And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but then seeks forgiveness of God will find God Forgiving and Merciful.'

The blessed month of Ramadan, the month of God, the month of repentance, supplication, and seeking forgiveness, is blessed for all of you dear ones and for all Muslims worldwide. At the beginning of the first sermon, where I will discuss some aspects of this month, I invite all you dear worshippers to observe God-consciousness, as this month is the month of piety, fasting is a means to piety, and piety is a treasure for the believer—both the individual believer and the believing community—for this world and the hereafter. We hope that God will grant each of us and the great Islamic society of Iran from this valuable treasure in this month.

In a prayer that is recited during the days of the blessed month of Ramadan, we read: 'This is the month of repentance, this is the month of forgiveness, and this is the month of liberation from the fire.' The month is the month of repentance and seeking forgiveness and returning to God. Today, on this occasion, in the first sermon, I will discuss seeking forgiveness.

Seeking forgiveness means asking for God's forgiveness and pardon for sins. If this seeking forgiveness is done correctly, it opens the doors of divine blessings to a person. All that an individual and a human society need from divine favors—divine grace, divine mercy, divine enlightenment, divine guidance, success from the Lord, help in tasks, victories in various fields—are blocked by the sins we commit. Sin becomes a veil between us and divine mercy and favors. Seeking forgiveness removes this veil and opens the way for God's mercy and grace to reach us. This is the benefit of seeking forgiveness. Therefore, you will notice in several places in the Quranic verses that worldly benefits and sometimes otherworldly benefits are attributed to seeking forgiveness. For example: 'Seek forgiveness from your Lord, then turn to Him... He will send the sky upon you in abundance,' and so on. All these can be understood and justified in this way: the path of these divine favors is opened to the heart and body of a person and human society through the blessing of seeking forgiveness. Therefore, seeking forgiveness is important.

Seeking forgiveness is actually a part of repentance. Repentance means returning to God. Therefore, one of the pillars of repentance is seeking forgiveness, which means asking for pardon from the Almighty God. This is one of the great divine blessings. It means that the Almighty God has opened the door of repentance to His servants so that they can progress on the path of perfection and not be hindered by sin; because sin causes a person to fall from the heights of human exaltation. Each sin inflicts a blow to the human soul, human purity, spirituality, and spiritual dignity, and it destroys the transparency of the human soul and makes it dull. Sin removes the spiritual aspect that is in a person and distinguishes him from other beings in this material world, and it brings him closer to animals and inanimate objects.

Sins in a person's life, in addition to this spiritual aspect, also bring about failures. There are many fields of human activity where a person fails because of the sins he has committed. These, of course, have scientific, philosophical, and psychological justifications; it is not just a matter of devotion or verbal expression. How does sin cause a person to be grounded? For example, in the Battle of Uhud, due to the negligence and fault of some Muslims, the initial victory turned into defeat. That is, the Muslims were initially victorious, but then the archers who were supposed to sit in the gap of the mountain and make the rear of the front impenetrable, left their positions out of greed for spoils and came to the field, and the enemy surrounded them from behind and launched a surprise attack and scattered the Muslims. The defeat of Uhud originated from this point.

In Surah Al-Imran, perhaps ten, twelve verses or more, are about this issue of defeat. Because the Muslims were severely agitated and restless in spirit, and this defeat was very heavy for them, the Quranic verses both calmed them, guided them, and made them understand what caused them to suffer this defeat and where this incident came from. Then it reaches this noble verse which says: 'Indeed, those of you who turned back on the day the two armies met, it was Satan who caused them to slip because of some of what they had earned.' That is, those of you who turned your backs on the enemy in the Battle of Uhud and surrendered to defeat, their issue had been prepared beforehand. They had internal problems. Satan caused them to slip with the help of the deeds they had previously committed. That is, previous sins manifest their effects on the battlefield; in the military front, in the political front, in confronting the enemy, in construction work, in education and training, where perseverance is needed, where precise understanding is needed, where a person must be able to cut like steel and move forward and not be stopped by obstacles. Of course, sins that have not been sincerely repented and truly sought forgiveness for.

In the same Surah, there is another verse that also expresses this meaning in a different way. The Quran wants to say, it is not surprising that you were defeated and encountered a problem on the battlefield. Such issues arise and have arisen before. It says: 'And how many a prophet fought with whom were many religious scholars, but they never lost assurance due to what afflicted them in the cause of God, nor did they weaken or submit.' That is, what is the matter? You have become agitated and upset because a defeat has occurred for you in the Battle of Uhud and some have been killed, and some feel weak and despair. No; for previous prophets, incidents occurred in the battlefield that did not cause them to feel weak and feeble due to what happened. Then it says: 'And their words were not but that they said, Our Lord, forgive us our sins and our excesses in our affairs.' That is, in the past, when the companions and disciples of the prophets suffered a calamity in wars and various incidents, they would turn to the Lord in prayer and say: 'Our Lord, forgive us our sins and our excesses in our affairs.' This actually shows that the incident and calamity arise from what you yourselves have prepared with your sins. This is the issue of sins.

So see! The sins that a person commits, these various transgressions, these actions that stem from lust and worldly desires and greed for worldly wealth and clinging to worldly positions and stinginess towards the existing possessions in one's hands, as well as envy and greed and anger, definitely have two effects on a person's existence: one effect is spiritual, which removes the soul from spirituality, takes it out of enlightenment; weakens spirituality in a person and closes the path of divine mercy to a person. The other effect is that in the arena of social struggles, where the movement of life requires perseverance and showing the power of human will, these sins seize a person and if there is no other factor to compensate for this weakness, it will bring a person down. Of course, sometimes there may be other factors like a good trait or good deed in a person that compensates. The discussion is not about those cases; but sin, in itself, has this effect.

Then, the Almighty God has given a great blessing to a person, which is the blessing of forgiveness, and has said that if you regret what you did - which should have left its effect - the door of repentance and seeking forgiveness is open. With the sin you commit, it is as if you have wounded your body and introduced a germ into your body; the disease is inevitable. If you want the effect of this wound and this disease and this blow to disappear from your existence, the Almighty God has opened a door, and that is the door of repentance and seeking forgiveness and turning to God. If you return, the Almighty God will compensate. This is a great blessing that the Almighty God has given us.

In the farewell prayer of the blessed month of Ramadan - which is the forty-fifth prayer of Sahifa Sajjadiya - Imam Sajjad, peace be upon him, says to the holy divine essence: 'You are the one who opened a door to your forgiveness for your servants.' You are the one who opened a door to your forgiveness for your servants. 'And you named it repentance.' And you named that door the door of repentance. 'And you placed a guide from your revelation on that door so that they would not go astray from it.' And you placed a guide from your revelation on that door so that they would not go astray from it. After some sentences, he says: 'So what excuse does one have who neglects entering that abode after the door has been opened and the guide has been established?' What excuse does a person have who neglects entering that abode after the door has been opened and the guide has been established! The path to divine forgiveness is also seeking forgiveness - that is, asking for forgiveness. You must ask God for forgiveness.

I saw a hadith from the Noble Prophet of Islam where he said: 'Indeed, God Almighty forgives the sinners except for the one who does not want to be forgiven.' One day, the Prophet said to his companions that the Almighty God forgives sinners except for the one whom He does not want to forgive. Then the companions asked: 'They said, O Messenger of God, who is the one who does not want to be forgiven?' He said, 'The one who does not seek forgiveness.' So, seeking forgiveness is the key to the door of repentance and forgiveness. With seeking forgiveness, one can obtain divine forgiveness. Seeking forgiveness is of such importance. Seeking forgiveness means asking for forgiveness from God.

Let me mention two or three short points about this, perhaps, God willing, it will be a means for us to use this month of Ramadan and return to the Almighty God and benefit from this open door of divine mercy, which is very necessary and beneficial for the worldly and otherworldly progress of our nation and society in these various fields that lie before us.

One point is that if we want to obtain seeking forgiveness - this divine blessing - we must remove two traits from ourselves: one is heedlessness and the other is arrogance. Heedlessness means that a person is completely unaware and unmindful that a sin is being committed by him; like some people. Now, I am not saying many - I am not concerned with the quantity - it may be less in some societies. In any case, these types of people exist in the world and among human beings who are heedless and commit sins without realizing that they are doing something wrong. He lies, plots, backbites, causes harm, causes evil, creates destruction, commits murder, frames innocent people, in broader horizons and on a larger scale, dreams terrifying dreams for nations, misleads people, and is not even aware that he is committing these wrong actions. If someone tells him that he is sinning, he may laugh carelessly and mock: Sin? What sin!

Some of these heedless individuals do not even believe in reward and punishment. Some believe in reward and punishment, but they are so immersed in heedlessness that they are not even aware of what they are doing. If we break this down into our daily lives, we will see that some aspects of our lives resemble the states of the heedless. Heedlessness is a very strange enemy and a great danger. Perhaps, truly, for a person, there is no greater danger and no bigger enemy than heedlessness. Some people are like this.

A heedless person never thinks of seeking forgiveness. It never occurs to him that he is sinning. He is immersed in sin; drunk and asleep, and truly like a person who moves in his sleep. Therefore, those who pursue ethical conduct, in describing the stages of travelers on the path of ethics and self-purification, call this stage where a person wants to come out of heedlessness, the stage of 'awakening,' meaning waking up.

In Quranic terminology, what is the opposite of this heedlessness is piety. Piety means being alert and constantly watching over oneself. If dozens of sins are committed by a heedless person and he does not even feel that he has sinned; a pious person is exactly the opposite. Even the slightest sin he commits, he immediately realizes that he has sinned and thinks of making amends. 'Indeed, those who fear God, when an impulse touches them from Satan, they remember.' As soon as Satan passes by him and the wind of Satan touches him, he immediately feels that he has been touched by Satan and has fallen into error and heedlessness; 'they remember': he remembers. 'Then they see clearly'; such a person has open eyes.

My dear ones; brothers and sisters! Whoever you are, be aware. This address is not just for a specific group of people, to say, for example, that people with little knowledge, little education, or young and inexperienced people should pay attention to it. No; everyone should be aware. Scholars, scientists, prominent figures, personalities, great ones, small ones, the wealthy, the poor, everyone should be aware that at least sometimes heedlessness seizes them and they become heedless. They commit sins and do not even realize that they are committing sins. It is a very great danger.

This sin that you and I commit, we do not realize, and because we do not know that we have sinned, we do not repent and seek forgiveness for that sin. Then, on the Day of Judgment, when our eyes are opened, we will see what strange things are in our book of deeds! A person is surprised, when did I do these things; he does not even remember. This is the sin of heedlessness and its problem. So, one obstacle to seeking forgiveness is heedlessness.

The second obstacle is arrogance. With the slightest small action that a person does, he becomes arrogant. In the expressions of prayer and narration, we have 'deception by God.' In the forty-sixth prayer of Sahifa Sajjadiya, which is recited on Fridays, there is a phrase that is very moving. It says: 'And the greatest misfortune is for the one who is deceived by you.' The greatest misfortune belongs to the one who is deceived by you. 'How much he moves in your punishment and how long he wanders in your punishment and how far his goal is from relief and how hopeless he is from the ease of escape.' The one who becomes arrogant - according to this narration - falls into the state of 'deception by God.' Arrogance is like this. The arrogant person is very far from prosperity, his hand is very short from salvation and safety. Why? Because with the slightest small action he did, the two units of prayer he performed, for example, the service he did for the people, the money he put in a certain fund, or the work he did in the way of God, he immediately becomes arrogant that we have now fixed our work with the Almighty God and have settled and paid our account and we do not need anything! He does not say this with his tongue, but in his heart, it passes like this.

Be careful, the fact that the Almighty God has opened the door of repentance and said that I forgive sins does not mean that sins are small and insignificant things; no. Sometimes sins destroy all the true existence of a human being, destroy it, and turn a human being in the highest rank of human life into a filthy, vile, worthless predatory animal. Sin is like this. Do not think that sin is a small thing. This lying, this backbiting, this disregard for the dignity of human beings, this oppression - even with a word - are not small and insignificant sins.

It is not necessary that if a person wants to feel guilty, he must have been immersed in sin for many years. No; one sin is also a sin; one should not consider sin small. In the narrations, we have the chapter of 'underestimating sins' where they have condemned considering sins insignificant. The reason why the Almighty God says: 'I forgive,' is that returning to God is very important; not that sin is small and insignificant. Sin is a very dangerous act; however, returning and paying attention to God and remembering Him is so important that if someone does this sincerely and correctly and truly, then that difficult disease will disappear. Therefore, deception and being deceived by good deeds - the good deed that we think is a good deed; but it may not be so good, or it may not be so important - causes you not to seek forgiveness.

Imam Sajjad, in another prayer, says to God: 'As for you, my God, you are worthy that even the truthful ones are not deceived by you.' See what a statement and what knowledge is in this prayer! The way is this. He says, even the truthful ones, who have a high rank of servitude among human beings, should not be deceived by the fact that we have gone the right way of God and no longer need work and effort. No; 'that even the truthful ones are not deceived by you.' This is also an obstacle to seeking forgiveness. If there was no heedlessness, and there was no 'deception by God,' no self-deception and self-admiration, then a person would seek forgiveness.

The next point is that the seeking forgiveness that is effective is the true and serious seeking forgiveness and truly asking. Suppose you have a great difficulty and you want to ask the Almighty God to remove this difficulty. For example, God forbid, a dear one of your dear ones is in trouble; you have gone through the usual ways, but you have not been able to solve that problem; now you have turned to the Lord of the worlds and are praying and supplicating. See! In that state, when, for example, a child or a dear one of your dear ones is ill and you have gone to God's house and have found the state of prayer, how do you ask God? Ask for the forgiveness of sins in this way from God. Truly ask for forgiveness and decide not to commit that sin again.

Of course, a person may also decide not to commit a sin, but still slip and commit it; then he repents again. If a person breaks his repentance a hundred times, the door of repentance is still open for the hundred and first time. However, when you repent and seek forgiveness, you should not initially decide that now we seek forgiveness, we will go and do the same wrong and sinful act again! This is not acceptable.

I saw a narration that one of the Imams said: 'Whoever seeks forgiveness with his tongue and does not regret in his heart has mocked himself.' Someone who seeks forgiveness with his tongue but is not regretful in his heart and is very happy that he has committed this sin - he says with his tongue: 'I seek forgiveness from God' - this person is mocking himself. What kind of seeking forgiveness is this?! This is not seeking forgiveness. Seeking forgiveness means that a person returns, truly and seriously asks the Almighty God to forgive him for this wrong act. How can a person decide to do the same wrong act again? Can he have the face to ask the Almighty God for forgiveness?

A rosary in hand, repentance on the lips, the heart full of longing for sin, sin laughs at our seeking forgiveness!

What kind of seeking forgiveness is this?! This seeking forgiveness is not enough. Seeking forgiveness must be serious and true. Seeking forgiveness is not specific to a certain group of people, to say that those who have sinned a lot should seek forgiveness; no. All human beings - even at the level of the Prophet - must seek forgiveness. 'That God may forgive you what preceded of your sin and what will follow.' The Prophet must also seek forgiveness.

Seeking forgiveness is either for a sin that we have committed, or for moral sins. If we assume that a person has not committed any sin; no lying, no backbiting, no oppression, no wrongdoing, no lust, no insult to anyone, no transgression against people's property - of course, such people are very few - but many of these people who do not have such sins of the limbs, are afflicted with sins of the heart - moral sins. If this person who does not commit any sin, when he walks among people, looks and says: these poor people, all are busy with sin; but we, thanks be to God, have kept ourselves and do not sin - considers himself higher than them - this itself becomes a sin and a decline and a fall and requires seeking forgiveness. Belittling people, considering oneself higher than others, giving one's own work more value than the work of people, or some other ugly moral traits that exist in people - like envy and greed and self-aggrandizement - these require seeking forgiveness.

If we assume that a person does not have these sins either; but, for example, in the field of the science of monotheism, he did not progress. In this case, it is a shortcoming and he must seek forgiveness. The field of the science of monotheism and knowledge of the Lord is not a limited and dead-end path; it is an infinite path where all the prophets and saints are busy progressing and perfecting the soul and providing more knowledge about the holy essence of the Lord and the attributes of perfection of the Lord. To the extent that these kinds of people have not progressed in this path, it is a shortcoming and a backwardness and a spiritual inability that requires seeking forgiveness.

Seeking forgiveness is for everyone. Therefore, you will notice that the Imams, peace be upon them, have such burning and yearning in these prayers. Some people think that Imam Sajjad made this burning and yearning to teach others. Yes; teaching others is there - both in the form and in the substance of the work - but the main issue is not this. The main issue is the state of request of this righteous servant and noble and great human being. This burning and yearning belong to him. This expression of supplication before the Lord belongs to him. This fear of God's punishment and desire for closeness to God and divine pleasure belongs to him. This seeking forgiveness and request from God truly belongs to him.

It is possible that, for example, attention to permissible things in life - permissible pleasures, permissible actions - in the view of a person who is at that level of high rank, is considered a kind of fall and degradation. He wished that he was not confined within the framework of material and physical necessities and did not even have this half-look at permissible things and ordinary life issues and progressed more in the path of knowledge and in that infinite valley towards divine pleasure and the paradise of divine knowledge. When such a thing has not happened, then he seeks forgiveness. Therefore, seeking forgiveness is for everyone.

My dear ones! Consider the month of Ramadan as an opportunity for seeking forgiveness and ask the Almighty God for forgiveness. Our nation, with this spirit of sacrifice, with this perseverance it has shown, with this great work it has done, with the luminous and good youth it has (these youth in this number certainly do not exist anywhere else in the world except in our society) with these women and men and mothers and various sacrifices that have come from these people, has a great potential for progress in material and spiritual, worldly and otherworldly fields. This nation, with seeking forgiveness, should attract divine mercy to itself.

Everyone should seek forgiveness. Those who are devoted to worship, those who are moderate in worship, those who are even negligent in worship and only suffice with the minimum obligations, those who even sometimes, God forbid, neglect some obligatory worship, all and all should pay attention that this relationship between them and God advances the work. Ask the Almighty God for forgiveness and pardon. Ask God to remove the obstacle of sin; to remove this cloud from in front of the sun of His grace and favor and benevolence, so that His grace shines on these hearts and souls. Then see what elevation and dignity will come about.

At the end of the first sermon and at noon on Friday, let me also say a few sentences of prayer:

'We ask you, O God, and we call upon you, by your great, greatest, most honored, most glorious, and most noble name, and by the sanctity of your names and by the sanctity of your saints, O God.'

O Lord! Make us your righteous servants. O Lord! Grant us the success of repentance, turning to you, returning to you, and seeking forgiveness in the true sense of the word. O Lord! Shine your lights of grace and favor, which you have always shone upon this nation from various directions, more than ever upon this nation. O Lord! Forgive and pardon our shortcomings and deficiencies and excesses. O Lord! Include our mistakes and ignorance and lack of knowledge and shortcomings in your pardon and mercy and forgiveness. O Lord! By the sanctity of the pure and good, by the sanctity of the luminous hearts that are among our society and people and among this gathering today, remove the dust of ignorance and the veil of darkness from our hearts. O Lord! Grant us your knowledge. O Lord! Grant us the path of conduct in your way and in the way of human perfection. O Lord! Forgive our sins. O Lord! Increase your goodness and favor upon this nation. O Lord! Remove and shorten the evil of the enemies of this nation and this country and this revolution - those who are estranged from you, are angry with you, are distant from you, and are enemies with this nation because of its connection with you - from this nation. Return their evil to themselves. Make this nation victorious in all fields. O Lord! Grant us the success of intimacy with the Quran and closeness to Quranic knowledge in this month. Include our deceased, especially our great Imam and the pure souls of our dear martyrs, in your mercy and forgiveness.

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

By time. Indeed, mankind is in loss. Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds. And blessings and peace upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim Muhammad, and upon his pure, chosen family. Especially upon Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, and the truthful, pure lady, the mistress of the women of the worlds, and Hasan and Husayn, the masters of the youth of paradise, and Ali ibn Husayn, and Muhammad ibn Ali, and Ja'far ibn Muhammad, and Musa ibn Ja'far, and Ali ibn Musa, and Muhammad ibn Ali, and Ali ibn Muhammad, and Hasan ibn Ali, and the remaining, guiding, rightly-guided one. Your proofs over your servants and your trustees in your lands. And send blessings upon the leaders of the Muslims, the protectors of the oppressed, and the guides of the believers. I advise you, servants of God, to observe God-consciousness.

I invite all you brothers and sisters who are worshippers to observe piety and righteousness. This blessed month of Ramadan in its third decade coincides with the blessed decade of Fajr - which is truly the dawn of happiness for this great nation and indeed the dawn of happiness for Islamic nations. At the end of the month, which falls in the middle of the Fajr decade, is 'Quds Day,' which is one of the important days and one of the valuable and lasting legacies of our great Imam, which our dear nation should prepare for from now and feel obligated to and present this great national slogan with all its grandeur before the eyes of the world.

These days also remind us of one of the bitter days of this nation in the years of the thirties, which is the martyrdom of the Fadaiyan-e Islam, and I will only honor the memory of these dear ones in a few words. I do not forget the time when the news of the martyrdom of these sincere, faithful, and selfless young men reached Mashhad. Among the young students of the Mashhad seminary, in that school where we were, a strange excitement arose. The reason was that a year or two before, the late Navab Safavi, this faithful religious young man, had come to this school - which incidentally is named Navab School - and had given a speech and led congregational prayers and had created a tumult of excitement and enthusiasm whose effects on the spirit of the students were felt at the time of his martyrdom. One of the great teachers also made a reference in his lesson and remembered them.

At that time, society was unaware of the importance of this uprising. They were introduced as a few people who only knew how to fire a bullet from the mouth of a gun and hit someone's chest. Even the great ones of that cursed tyrannical regime, who themselves were the epitome of hooliganism and thuggery and were among the individuals who were not worthy of being remembered, called these faithful, selfless, sincere, and disinterested young men who were indifferent to the world and its trappings, thugs! Some people also knew them this way and believed it, and some did not believe it, and some were unaware.

The issue of the Fadaiyan-e Islam was neglected. Although perhaps at that time, there was no readiness to want to establish what they were saying - which was the Islamic government. For this work, a general movement in the long term was necessary; but their words were lost among the drunken shouts and cries of their enemies. These were people who 'Indeed, they were youths who believed in their Lord' truly young men who believed in God and sincerely strove for the rule of the luminous teachings and laws of Islam and stood against oppression and corruption.

The oppression and corruption of the Pahlavi dynasty and their dependence on foreigners brought about this movement and uprising. The issue was that they started their anti-dictatorial and anti-monarchical struggle in the direction of Islamizing society, and unfortunately, in the middle of the work, they were all eliminated. Of course, it was good for themselves; because they were martyred and attained the high rank of martyrdom; but it was a loss for society. In any case, forty years have passed since that date. Now forty years have passed since this incident; but after forty years, you see that the name of these dear ones is brought up in public and in front of everyone; because their wish was fulfilled and this nation moved in this path and showed sacrifice and steadfastness and destroyed the face of disbelief and global arrogance.

And another issue that I want to mention today - which is my main point - and of course I will try to present it briefly, God willing, is that today a psychological war against the Islamic Republic is observed, whose manifestation is these Zionist media. These news agencies and these televisions are mostly in the hands of Zionists, and since I do not want to name a specific news agency, I do not mention their names; otherwise, I would say which news agency is in the hands of Zionists and international Jewish capitalists. Most of these noises and uproars are the work of these Zionists who have even infiltrated the policies of the ruling government of the United States. Of course, the Americans themselves have motives. This is their work.

The reason why the Americans are hostile to this revolution and this nation is clear. Once upon a time, this country from top to bottom was in the grip of America, and it secured its interests from this country. In this country, there was a king who considered himself committed to America. In common parlance, he was America's obedient servant. In political terms, he was a supporter and committed to the interests of America in this country. This country had at its head someone for whom America's interests were more important than the interests of the Iranian nation and country itself. For the entire governmental apparatus at that time, which included the entourage, the government, ministers, and government officials, in addition to the person of the Shah, their own great material gains were far more important than national interests. Naturally, such people easily come to terms with the enemy. A person who is thinking about his own material benefit and filling his own pocket easily comes to terms with the enemy and easily commits treason. These were at the head of the government.

American weapons were sold in this country at whatever price they wanted. Important works that were done in this country were either by American capitalists or by a collection of capitalists who were present around this axis of arrogance. Of course, sometimes, to close the mouths of their political rivals, they would also open the door for the Russians and Soviets and the like in some matters and allow them to be present. But the reins of affairs in this country were in the hands of the United States regime. How much they ate and took from this country in these few years and used the money of this country to suppress the nations of this region; used the ruling apparatus of this country to trap the ruling apparatus of neighboring countries, is another story. That is, truly, the country of Iran during the second Pahlavi government - that is, after the 28th of Mordad onwards - was practically belonging to the United States government.

Suddenly, a revolution came and awakened the people. The people brought this revolution to victory. The people themselves established a government that its first word is that it says, I respect the interests of this nation; not the interests of other countries and governments; whoever they may be. In terms of foreign policy and relations with the world, the fundamental statement of the Islamic Republic system is this. They are angry from this position. In the past, if it was said to sell oil at such a price, they would say yes. Sell it to such countries, they would say yes. Do not sell it to such countries, they would say yes. As we see examples of it in OPEC today. Today, there are some countries that, for the sake of America, for the sake of international capitalists, for the sake of Western companies, sell their oil for less than zero! That is, truly, the money they receive today for oil is something close to zero! If they consider a little and give time and respite, it will go below zero! For the sake of ensuring their interests, the order of foreign companies and large corporations is that this vital material - which today human civilization is dependent on this oil that belongs to us and if our oil is not there, all the great wheels of the world's industry will stop and all cities will go dark - should be offered at a low price. Most of the oil is in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East region. Whatever they want, some of these gentlemen in OPEC do the same; they do not consider themselves.

I once said that if one day the oil of the Middle East region runs out - which may happen - governments should think. The reason we emphasize so much on a non-oil economy and insist that as much as possible, the country's income should be moved from oil to other incomes is for this reason. Today, some countries - including America itself - do not extract their own oil; they import oil because at the price they buy oil, it is practically free! The oil of the exporters of this region, with more extraction and selling more at this low price, will run out after a few years; but their wells will still have oil. Of course, the oil wells of America are not blessed with the abundance of our oil wells - they are medium wells - but in any case, there is oil.

The day they have oil and a country like us, God forbid, does not have oil and wants to buy oil from them - which I hope such a day does not come - they will charge ten times the price of a barrel of oil for every bottle of oil they give us! Will they give us oil? Those who, in front of their eyes, nations die of hunger, but they throw their wheat into the sea and do not give it to hungry nations, so that the price of wheat does not fall, will they give oil to anyone?!

This vital material with this importance and value was under the control of the great powers. Since Islamic Iran raised its head, the price of oil went up and reached close to forty dollars, which was almost four times the price it had risen before the revolution. Of course, later some governments conspired and betrayed and colluded with the enemy and again the price of oil fell. Now a country in all fields - in the economic field, in the field of exports, in the field of imports, in the field of cultural policies, and in the field of relations with the countries of the world - does not take into account the words and orders and commands of America, for arrogance and a superpower, it is very difficult and unbearable. Their problem is this. Their enmity with Iran is over this issue. All other words are excuses. The essence of the matter is this.

Why do we not submit to America and any other power? Because we are Muslims; because Islam does not allow it; because human dignity from the perspective of Islam does not allow any power, any head of state, any government, any nation to accept the imposition of foreigners and others. If a country wants to impose something on a nation, it must stand against it and defend itself and its dignity and its independence and bring it to its knees. The Islamic way is this.

The Iranian nation, from the first day, has shown; today it also stands by this word that if America and the global powers unite and want to pressure and force this nation and this system to retreat from its correct and wise and human and chosen positions - which we have chosen these positions and no one has dictated them to us; we have chosen them ourselves, this nation has chosen them - this nation prefers to fight until it brings that united front to its knees. This nation will not surrender to anyone; everyone should know this.

This is related to the Americans. The Zionists also know well. The Zionists came and usurped an Islamic country and expelled an Islamic nation. Then, with bullying and stubbornness and with the political work that the Zionist merchants did, they justified their work and expanded their usurped territory. The Zionists understood a hundred or a hundred and fifty years ago that they should go after making money and if they want to get out of this humiliation they have in European countries, they should go and make money themselves; take sensitive centers and have news agencies and newspapers and radios in their possession. They went after this work. There are big capitalists in the world who are Zionists. All of them, with their pressure, with their political work, with their propaganda work, thought that with the passage of forty or fifty years, the issue would be forgotten; otherwise, who would believe that they would come and expel a nation from this country and gather a number from around the world and bring them here and supposedly form a country? It is a very strange and unbelievable matter. They said that we should not pay attention to the words of these Arabs and these beliefs and these United Nations resolutions and these noises; let them do whatever they want. We just stand firm and gradually bring international pressure; they forget! Unfortunately, it happened this way. First, the ugliness of negotiating with Israel was removed, may God not forgive that Egyptian politician whose name I do not want to mention. Of course, over the years, he has been cursed a lot from this platform, and I do not want to mention his name again. First, this individual negotiated with the usurping government and removed its ugliness. At first, they brought their flags, then gradually they brought one by one the Arab countries and neighbors - the same ones who had given so many young people, suffered so many calamities, shouted so many slogans, made so many claims - to the negotiating table!

We said that day too that these negotiations of the Zionists with the Arabs are based on deceit. The Zionists do not want to solve their problem with the Arabs; they want to, in their imagination, remove the evil from themselves and continue their aggression again; because the Zionist aggression is not over and they still have aggressions after this. After they are geographically stabilized, then it is time to encroach on the vital and financial and economic resources of these Arab countries! Will they let them breathe? The day they gain power, they will destroy them. Unfortunately, the leaders of the Arab countries did not pay attention to these issues and did not think about the interests of the countries and nations and their future. Of course, the pressure of America had the greatest impact in this regard.

The Zionists, in their imagination, breathed a sigh of relief; but then they saw that there is a point in the world where, thanks to the flag and sovereignty of Islam and thanks to the people's faith in the Quran and its laws and verses and thanks to their fearlessness and courage and their disregard for superpowers and arrogance, the people and the government stand and unanimously shout that the usurping Zionist government must leave Palestine. This steadfastness of the Iranian nation and government and the Islamic Republic system has caused blood to flow into the dried veins of the Palestinian movement and the Palestinian youth - that is, the third generation of Palestinians - to find true awakening and continue the movement in its Islamic form. They know that if the movement of the Palestinian youth continues inside and around the borders of occupied Palestine, all this peace that they made with the Arabs and sat around the table will be null and meaningless and their work will not reach anywhere.

So, on one side is America; on the other side are the Zionists. The main enemy with the Iranian nation is these. Now, if they can bring others - that is, some because of their weakness, some because of embarrassment, and some because of give and take - into their front, it is a secondary matter. The main issue is these. They want to fight the Islamic Republic at any cost.

Of course, 'He who tries the tried will be afflicted with regret'; if you try something you have already tried, you will regret it. They have tried this nation not once, but ten times from the beginning of the revolution until now; but they have seen that the more political, economic, and especially military pressure is put on this nation, the more the determination and will of this nation to stand in this path and fight the enemies will increase. The issue of the psychological war of radios and news agencies and newspapers and magazines and mercenary writers and some politicians who make guesses goes back to this point that was mentioned and this is not new.

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

When the victory of God has come and the conquest, and you see the people entering into the religion of God in multitudes, then exalt with praise of your Lord and ask forgiveness of Him. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance.