Statements in Meeting with Commanders of the Islamic Republic Law Enforcement Force

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

First of all, I welcome all dear brothers, dear sisters, officials, and dignitaries of the Law Enforcement Force - who fulfill one of the most prominent and important national needs and have taken on this great responsibility - and I also extend my welcome to the esteemed Minister of Interior who is present. God willing, may you all be successful and supported.

We should all congratulate each other on this divine blessing that we have been able to enter the month of Rajab once again. The month of Rajab is an opportunity for closeness to divine values and proximity to the sacred essence of the Lord, and an opportunity for self-building. These days, which are introduced in our narrations as distinguished days, are all opportunities; every opportunity is a blessing, and every blessing requires gratitude and appreciation. The gratitude and appreciation for a blessing is that a person recognizes the blessing, behaves according to the demands of this blessing, benefits from it, acknowledges it as a gift from God, and uses it in the way of God; the month of Rajab is one of these blessings. Then comes the month of Sha'ban, which is another blessing, and these two months, according to the perfect ones and the people of monotheism and meaning, are the precursors to the month of Ramadan; and the month of Ramadan is the month of ascension, the month of going to the divine presence, the month of purification, the month of refinement, which we all need. Appreciate the month of Rajab; during this month, increase your supplications to the Lord of the worlds as much as you can; remember God and perform your work for God; this effort you make, this hardship you endure, should be for God.

Your work is among those tasks that can easily find divine intention and purpose. All actions can be performed for God; even the effort for livelihood can be done for God and with divine intention; however, in some tasks, it is much easier to have divine intention, including your work. Because your work is service to society, service to the people, service to the Islamic Republic, service to Islam, support for Islam. This verse that this dear young man just recited here, "O you who have believed, be supporters of God" - support God; be among those who support and assist God - well, one of the manifestations of this is your work; your work is truly among those actions that can support Islam, support the religion, and help the people. Therefore, the intention of closeness, that you say, "O God! This service I am doing, this hour I am in the office, this hour I am on duty, this effort I am making for improving work, this five minutes I stay beyond the scheduled time in the office and do work, I do this for You," is an opportunity for your work to be done for God. Utilize the blessings of this month, which is among what I have mentioned.

First, I must express my gratitude to the Law Enforcement Force. Well, good work is being done; one may have some criticisms in one case, two cases, or five cases, but the truth is that the effort the Law Enforcement Force is making across the country is truly commendable. One example is your efforts during the holidays; during the holidays, all people are at home, with their relatives, alongside their children, but your youth, your children, your officers are in the streets, in the cities - here and there - concerned and worried about the situation and comfort of others; in the streets in one way, in the cities in another way, in the police stations in one way, in the streets in one way; this is very valuable and deserves appreciation; and I thank you.

The importance of the Law Enforcement Force, which we emphasize so much, stems from the importance of the mission of the Law Enforcement Force. The importance of any individual is proportional to the responsibility they take on, and this individual or this group or this organization gains importance accordingly. The mission you have undertaken is the establishment of security in the country. Security is very important; where there is no security, people understand the value of security; where a man leaves his house, a woman leaves her house, a young person and a child leave their house without being assured that they will return home; the street is unsafe, the alley is unsafe, the desert is unsafe, incidents await citizens; where individuals feel unsafe even in their own homes, that is when one understands how important security is. Creating this security, establishing this security, and generalizing this security is your task. The most important organization and group that has taken on this important duty is the Law Enforcement Force, and this is a very important task. Therefore, the organization gains importance in light of this mission.

Well, security is not merely a matter of propaganda and rhetoric, where one says, "Sir, we have established security." If you say a hundred times in announcements, declarations, and speeches that yes, we have secured this street, but at night when people walk in this street, they face insecurity, then those statements have no effect: "Two hundred statements are of no value without action"; people must feel secure. Feeling secure is contingent upon the existence of real security; security must truly exist. Well, of course, good work has been done; the statistics that the esteemed commander mentioned, I have also seen these statistics in reports, and they are valuable, but you should not be satisfied with this; your intention and effort should be to raise this level of security and safety as much as possible. That we, for example, reduce the percentage of road incidents by a certain amount is not enough; your effort should be that road incidents do not occur; theft does not occur; insecurity within cities and such incidents do not occur; the effort should be this. When you place your effort on this, naturally, work will be done continuously, meaning the work you do will not fall behind.

One important issue is that social security and individual security, which we speak of, is not merely that when you leave home to go to the office or shop or school, no one stabs you in the street. Yes, this is one aspect of security, that there is no physical assault on a person - undoubtedly this exists - but alongside this, there are subtler forms of insecurity that are often much more dangerous. Consider the insecurity that arises from the promotion of drugs; if our recreational areas, our parks, our streets, our schools are such that those who enter there - especially the youth; mainly the youth - do not have security against the promotion of drugs, this insecurity is very dangerous. If, for example, our youth do not have security against being drawn towards immorality and vices, this is a great insecurity. You must be aware; we also have reports that individuals, with financial backing and inspired by directive centers, try to draw our youth into immoral gatherings in various places! This is different from a young person committing a wrongful act; no, this drawing of youth towards vices is insecurity; you must not allow it; you must prevent it. That, for example, our street is safe from various physical incidents, but our youth are not safe from being tempted from within schools, universities, parks, shops, and street friendships into a nighttime gathering and being acquainted with immorality and vices or being immersed in these things; or sexual assaults; these are issues that are among the important matters of security. I mean, if we have security that does not take these matters into account, this is not security at all. After all, drug trafficking, sexual assault, drawing towards immorality, and such matters are very important issues.

Another issue is that I have heard that sometimes in some streets, these youths who are intoxicated by wealth - intoxicated by the arrogance of wealth - get into such cars and start driving around and making the street unsafe; these are also insecurities. There must be a program and action against every type of insecurity. These are matters that encompass various aspects of security.

Another important issue that exists - which I have repeated many times - is the issue of the power of the Law Enforcement Force. The Law Enforcement Force, in its responsibility to create security, is a manifestation of the authority of the Islamic Republic. I mean, it is among the duties of the Islamic Republic to create security in society. Moral security, social security - as you explained - is among our duties; it is among the duties of the Islamic Republic; we cannot abandon these. The manifestation of this security and the central agent of this security is the Law Enforcement Force; therefore, you must have authority; you must be able to act decisively; you must be able to act firmly. However, the point of the work is that authority should not be confused with oppression; authority should not be confused with not recognizing limits and acting without restraint. For example, consider in some countries - say in America - the police are very powerful; they show muscular individuals behind cameras and so on, claiming that they have come to the field and are enforcing the law; well, yes; but they kill the innocent; they shoot someone fifteen or sixteen times under the pretext that they were about to draw a weapon, and they destroy their life - this authority is not desirable authority; authority accompanied by oppression; this authority ultimately does not create security, it creates insecurity; this itself becomes a factor of insecurity - and then when they go to court, the courts acquit them, as you hear. Unfortunately, these issues are very prevalent in the world that is indifferent to moral values. Now, amusingly, in America, where supposedly the president is also a black person, at the same time, these situations and actions are being carried out against black people. On the occasion that one day a slave owner was removed by a certain president, they celebrate - which is also a point of contention; that is also fundamentally problematic; I mean, Abraham Lincoln, who they say removed this, according to historical details that some have provided, the reality of the matter is not this; the issue is not the removal of slavery; the issue was the North and South and the long-standing and deep-rooted wars between the North and South of America and the dispute between landowners and agriculture on one side and industry on the other; the dispute was over these matters; it was not genuinely due to humanitarian feelings - but at the same time, black people are oppressed, neglected, and humiliated; and then their lives are in danger. This kind of authority regarding the police is not desirable for Islam and for us; no, we do not want to give a Hollywood-style appearance to our police work in the streets. We want work to be done in the true sense of the word; that is, decisiveness, authority, while at the same time with justice, with kindness, with compassion; in some places, it should be accompanied by compassion; this is the manifestation of Islam. The sacred essence of the Lord is, on one side, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, and on the other side, the Lord of painful punishment; I mean, these two should be considered together. This should come down through this pyramid and spread in our lives and our behaviors and our actions, including regarding the police, this meaning should exist.

Another issue that I find very important is lawfulness. This lawfulness has two aspects; one aspect is in dealing with the people; that is, you should see where the law is being violated, and there stand against it; another aspect is within the organization; meaning that a member of the Law Enforcement Force within the organization should be truly law-abiding and observe the laws; there, lawfulness should be more present than anywhere else; and naturally, the integrity of the force; integrity. I have always advised previous esteemed commanders over the years, and now I emphatically advise the esteemed commander and officials of the Law Enforcement Force not to underestimate the issue of the integrity of the force; the integrity of the force. You are different from other military forces; you are among the people, and the people are close to you; God forbid, any violation, issue, error, or misconduct will immediately be reflected among the people; more than other organizations. Perhaps there are few organizations in the country that are as mixed with the people as you are; therefore, if God forbid, there are any issues, errors, betrayals, or problems, they will be immediately reflected in society; when it is reflected, then it is not just the reputation of the Law Enforcement Force that is at stake - as we mentioned, the Law Enforcement Force represents the Islamic authority, it represents the Islamic Republic system among the people - the reputation of everyone will be at stake. This is why you must pay great attention to the issue of the integrity of the force. Inside police stations, in the streets, on the roads, everywhere else, real attention should be paid to the fact that the integrity of the Law Enforcement Force and its elements is preserved. Truly, the Law Enforcement Force can give honor to the Islamic Republic. I mean, if we assume that five or ten other agencies do not fulfill their duties, but the Law Enforcement Force is a properly functioning, honest, strong, decisive force with the necessary conditions, it will honor the Islamic Republic in the eyes of the people; you can be a source of honor. The opposite can also happen, God forbid; therefore, these matters should be considered, that the main thing is organizational preservation; within the organization, this necessary preservation should be carried out, which will naturally be reflected outside.

Well, in the report of the esteemed commander, it was mentioned that attention to spiritual, moral, religious, and belief aspects is being considered and planned; this is very good. The advancements in scientific work and reliance on scientific innovations that are emerging day by day in the world is a very necessary task that creates organizational advancement. Trust in God Almighty; perform your work for God; do it correctly; God willing, God Almighty will bless it; He will bless your work, and God willing, your existence will be a source of blessing for the Islamic Republic system. We pray for you; may God Almighty grant you all success; may you be supported and able to carry out the necessary tasks. In various sectors, there are tasks that are common; officials must cooperate, and God willing, with cooperation, you can accomplish great tasks.

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