Speech at the Grand Gathering of the People of Khorramabad

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

Thanks be to God, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Master and Prophet, Abul-Qasim Muhammad, and his pure, chosen, and righteous family, especially the remainder of God on earth.

God, the Wise, has said in His Book: 'And We have already written in the Psalms after the [previous] mention that the land is inherited by My righteous servants.' (Quran 21:105)

I am grateful and thankful to Almighty God for being present among you, the faithful men and women, and the brave and revolutionary youth of this province, which has nurtured many men and martyrs. The proud memories of the people of various cities in Lorestan province, both during the revolution and the imposed war, will never be forgotten. Your sons in the Revolutionary Guards, the army, and the great popular forces have shown with sincere and devoted faith their loyalty to dear Islam and the Islamic Revolution. I do not forget the years when the Basiji youth of this province demonstrated bravery and sacrifice on the western and northwestern fronts, in Haj Omran, in the difficult heights of the border region, and later in the southern region. On those days, I sent a message to the brave youth of Lorestan, saying that while others may have heard of the bravery and sacrifices of the youth of Lorestan on the battlefield, I have witnessed it.

We thank God for granting the Iranian nation the success to defend their faith, and in every region and province, the educational tests of the youth, the devoted, and the faithful families have remained for the history of our country. I also send greetings to the honorable families of the martyrs, the disabled veterans, and the dear freed captives, and I especially recall your patience, dear people, during the bombings, when even the enemy's executioners attacked your children's school and massacred the students. Thanks be to God, the war period has ended, the successful test of the Iranian nation has resulted in the exaltation of Islam, and the people of this province are renowned for their devotion to religion, Islamic teachings, and the committed and compassionate clergy.

Today, I have come here with the intention of inspecting and learning about the general situation of the province and meeting with you dear ones who live in this faithful and yet deprived province. I take this opportunity to convey a message to you. That message is that today, after enduring the difficult years of war and the resulting problems, the Iranian nation has entered a new era of struggle. In this new era of struggle, your courage, faith, and bravery must, like during the war, demonstrate themselves in the divine test against the malice of the enemies of Islam and the conspiracies of the agents of global arrogance. This new era of struggle is a struggle to build the country. I ask, especially the youth, to pay attention to this point. You, the youth, are the future builders of our country and society; listen well to this message.

For hundreds of years, Islamic nations lived in weakness and subjugation. For hundreds of years, Islam did not rule in Islamic countries; tyrants and despotic kings ruled over the people; and later, during the colonial era, the colonizers and plunderers of the nations' wealth took everything from the Islamic nations, including our nation, and sought to take away the people's Islamic faith as well; they tried very hard in this path.

In our time, a great divine miracle occurred. That is, while the conspirators of the colonial and arrogant apparatus thought that Islam was gone and that Muslim nations would never rise again, suddenly our great, brave, and faithful nation rose behind that divine and exceptional leader and loudly told the world that we want our own Islam and the luminous commandments of the Quran to govern our lives. They said that Muslims can manage their own country; they can live with dignity. They told the world that we do not want to be servants and under the command of the enemies of our religion, nationality, and homeland. This is what our nation declared to the whole world in its great revolution.

The reason why America and America's agents and the eastern and western powers were hostile to our revolution and our nation was precisely this. They were afraid of this call for freedom and independence. For decades, the West has been exploiting the resources of Muslim countries, its oil, its other valuable underground resources, its human resources, everything. They do not want nations to one by one escape from under their tyrannical rule. The West saw that the uprising of our Muslim nation and its great revolution awakens other Muslim nations; as it has awakened them. Today, you see how in the Islamic world, the youth, the masses, the intellectuals, men and women, have raised the cry of Islam. It was your great revolution that opened this path for the nations, and America was afraid of this. America was slapped by the Iranian nation.

America and the West, throughout these twelve years, have always wanted to prove that the Iranian nation cannot manage its own country. They say that Muslim nations are backward; they cannot manage life without our help. Is this statement true? Does such talk befit a great nation like ours, which for centuries held the torch of science, philosophy, insight, civilization, and industry in its hands? Yes, when incompetent and dependent rulers like the Pahlavi and Qajar kings govern the people, it is clear that the nation will fall into weakness.

For decades under the rule of the cursed Pahlavi dynasty, what positive action did they take in this very Lorestan province to lift it out of poverty? This fertile land, these pastures, these forests, this suitable climate, these talented and powerful and hardworking people. They treated other provinces the same way. Wherever their own devilish interests were secured, they did whatever was necessary for themselves. When they do not care about the nation, when they do not care about the country, it is clear that the country and the nation will fall into poverty and weakness.

America and the West have wanted to say that Iran cannot manage itself. The war they imposed on us was one of its main goals to prevent our country from being built; to prevent these working forces from bubbling like a spring; to prevent the public treasury money, which is at the government's disposal, from being spent on alleviating deprivation; they wanted to keep us constantly engaged in war and foreign attacks.

Today, the great jihad of the Iranian nation, wherever they are, is to strive to build this country - as Islam and the Quran have said - with dignity and in the fullest sense of prosperity and development. The Iranian nation can build this country and put its material and spiritual resources at the service of humanity. The nation, wherever they are, must strive behind the serving officials. Of course, the officials are also obliged to serve this sincere, devoted, faithful, and deserving nation as much as they can, and thanks be to God, they do.

The goal of the enemies of Islam is to prevent our great country and our esteemed nation from fulfilling their duties on the international stage and in their own country. If they create discord among the people, it is for this reason. If they continue the economic siege, it is for this reason. If they conduct propaganda against our nation on a global scale, it is for this reason. They do not want this revolution to succeed in the construction phase; but, to their blindness, the Iranian nation will, in this phase as in previous phases, triumph over its enemies.

Of course, in these few years, the enemies have inflicted many blows and damages; they may be able to bring our nation to its knees, but they could not; however, in any case, they inflicted their blow. If you see today in the country, in deprived areas, there is poverty and unemployment, it is because of the blows of the enemies. If you see that there are still deprived areas in our country - despite all the efforts made since the beginning of the revolution - it is because of these malicious blows of the enemies of the Iranian nation. They are the ones who do not want proper work to be done across the country; but they will not succeed.

I see the bright future of this nation. Thank God that their military conspiracy did not bear fruit. Thank God that the Iranian nation has become more honored in the world day by day. Thank God that the Iranian nation has succeeded in moving behind the officials through difficult passages; you must continue this movement with full strength and power.

Today, we have been introduced as the guardians and standard-bearers of Islam in the world. Our nation has been recognized in the world as those who have moved in the name of the Quran and in the name of Islam. The life of this nation, the spiritual and material condition of this nation, must become a source of pride for Islam. The world must look at how Islam manages the life of a nation; it must recognize Islam through this.

In our country, deprivation must not remain; there must be no deprived area; illiteracy must not exist across the country; there must be no uninhabited point that can be inhabited; unemployment must not exist. This is achievable with the effort of the people, the effort of the officials, and reliance on Almighty God. This very province of yours is very talented and has valuable resources. The material and spiritual capabilities of this province are very good. If efforts are made over a few years, this province can be lifted out of deprivation; but today it is one of the deprived provinces of our country.

Unfortunately, in this province, there is unemployment, there is poverty, there are deprived villages. Many of these brave and courageous tribes of Lorestan province - those who showed their growth in war and peace and proved their sincerity and devotion - unfortunately live in deprivation. These can be resolved. Today, the programs that exist are good programs. With divine success and the help and effort and work of all the people and cooperation with government agencies, these problems must be resolved, and the desired face of Islam must reveal itself from under these dusts.

The enemy conspires in various ways; one of the ways is to create discord. Any kind of discord, wherever it may be, is against the view of Islam and the Quran; whether it is political discord or tribal discord. Tribal and clan discord is also wrong. All are Muslims, all are children of this land, all are brothers; what discord? We reject nationalist differences on a global scale. We say that Muslim nations must be together. Among a nation, what discord can there be between Muslim tribes and clans? It is the work of Satan to create discord among us.

Another way the enemy tries to infiltrate among our people today is by spreading rumors. From the time of the revolution's victory until today, wherever they could, they spread rumors. Their goal is to shake people's hearts and destroy their hope. A nation can only move forward with hope. A soldier on the battlefield can only fight with hope. If they take hope from him, they have taken everything from him. If someone listens to the propaganda that the enemies inject in various ways, it seems to him that everything in Iran is on the verge of collapse! They want to portray and depict all hopes as ended. Woe to these malicious enemies! This vibrant and enthusiastic nation, this young and lively nation - which the revolution has rejuvenated - this cultured and faithful nation, this nation that has overcome all these difficulties over twelve years, is there any place for despair? Hope is from God - 'Do not despair of the mercy of God' (Quran 12:87) - despair is from Satan. All people must know that the future awaiting this nation will be much better and sweeter than the past years. By God's grace, with the perseverance of the nation and your people's efforts and abilities, nothing is impossible. They want to make this nation despair, to stop the work.

Another conspiracy of the enemy is the conspiracy of corruption; infiltrating the young generation, creating corruption among the true soldiers of Islam, engaging and occupying the youth with corrupting issues. The youth must know that this is a conspiracy, and I tell you that today there is a conspiratorial hand guided by foreigners in the country to sow the seeds of corruption and futility among the youth; to engage and occupy the youth. A nation whose youth are engaged in debauchery and immorality will not find its way. They want to ensnare and bind that faithful, devoted, and pious Basiji youth who went to the battlefield for jihad in the way of God and did not look back, leaving behind a comfortable life and pleasures. Both the officials and the youth must be aware. Of course, the officials have paid attention, and we hope they can uproot this root of corruption and cut off the conspiratorial hand from the honor and dignity of this nation.

What I present to you as the last word and final advice is that all members of the nation have a duty to increase their awareness and vigilance regarding the country's issues, the revolution's issues, and Islam day by day. Pay close attention to the malice and conspiracies of the enemies. Do not neglect the lurking enemy who is waiting for an opportunity to strike. Know that today, with reliance on God, with unity of word, and with movement behind the officials, the Iranian nation can continue this glorious path and reach the goal. It is our duty to ask Almighty God and also to employ our strength. We hope that divine favors and the attentions of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him and may God hasten his reappearance) will help so that both you dear people and the officials can fulfill their divine duties and successfully pass through these sensitive stages of Islamic history.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings