Statements in Meeting with the President and Representatives of the Assembly of Experts

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad and his pure family.

And may God's curse be upon all their enemies.

God, the Wise, says in His Book:

"He it is Who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the believers that they might add faith to their faith. And to God belong the soldiers of the heavens and the earth, and God is Knowing and Wise. That He may admit the believing men and women to gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever, and He may remove from them their misdeeds. And that, for God, is the great success. And He will punish the hypocrite men and hypocrite women and the polytheist men and polytheist women who think evil thoughts about God. Upon them is a misfortune, and the wrath of God is upon them and He has cursed them and prepared for them Hell, and wretched is the destination. And to God belong the soldiers of the heavens and the earth, and God is Exalted in Might and Wise."

God, the Most High, has spoken the truth.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the esteemed gentlemen, the honorable brothers, and the members of this session and the distinguished council in the Islamic Republic who have convened this meeting and raised these noteworthy topics. I also thank the esteemed President and the esteemed Vice President for keeping us informed about the general issues of this meeting.

The characteristic of this session of yours is its proximity to the blessed month of Ramadan; the month of servitude, the month of sincerity, the month of connection to the source of greatness and power, and the month of tranquility and peace that arises from remembrance, as He said: "Indeed, by the remembrance of God do hearts find tranquility." One of the important benefits of this blessed month for us should be that the turbulence, anxieties, and unrest that arise in our hearts, pulling us this way and that, should calm down, and divine tranquility should descend upon our hearts; for if God the Exalted bestows and grants this tranquility, the depth of faith, love, and affection for God the Exalted will also increase; "that they might add faith to their faith."

Fortunately, people have benefited greatly during this month of Ramadan, during this Eid al-Fitr; one can see it. Numerous reports have come from all over the country - documented, visual reports - about the states of the people, their attentiveness, the nights of revival, aside from the nights of revival, and the Day of Quds; thanks be to God, people have benefited well, especially the youth. The spirituality of this month, like a shining ray, illuminated hearts with a glance; and with a glance like a rain-bearing cloud, it poured down upon the hearts and souls of the people; it was good. God willing, may we not lag behind this caravan; may we also benefit from this blessed month.

Of course, these general attentions, these divine favors that one observes in various forms, when one engages in conversation with people, in social interactions, in the statements that are made, should not make us heedless; these are pleasing, the general situation is, thanks be to God, pleasing; however, we must not be heedless of God's cunning. Being heedless of what may arise and the mistakes that may occur and the punishments that God the Exalted may direct towards the ingratitude of a nation and a community is a great danger.

Fortunately, there have also been awakening events. These various events, the different assaults, the disgraceful incident of the insult to the Holy Quran in the United States, are awakening events; these are the alarms that ring to prevent one from falling into the sleep of heedlessness, to prevent one from becoming heavy in sleep, to prevent one from being oblivious to their surroundings; this is a great blessing. Throughout history and during the revolution, we have had such events, and the faithful, insightful, and vigilant individuals have utilized these; they have taken advantage of the enmity of the enemies.

It was well-known, we had heard - now I do not remember where I read this or not, but it has been in people's mouths for a long time - that this book "Fajr al-Islam" written by Ahmad Amin, which contains many accusations and insults against Shia - and later he wrote "Duha al-Islam," "Zuhur al-Islam," and "Asr al-Islam," and in all of these, the same insults were repeated - when it was published, it caused a number of prominent scholars and intellectuals in the seminary of Najaf to think and respond practically. Thus, the late Sheikh Agha Bozorg Tehrani wrote the book "Al-Dhari'a"; the late Sayyid Mohsen Ameli wrote his famous book "Rijal" and "A'yan al-Shi'a"; the late Sadr wrote the book "Ta'sis al-Shi'a li Funun al-Islam"; they defended, they defended practically. That is, a three or four hundred or two or three hundred-page book of Fajr al-Islam caused several great encyclopedias in Shia to come into existence. This was a wake-up call; it rang, and this side woke up and did what it had to do.

It has been the same in the past. Look at the beginning of Sheikh's (may God be pleased with him) book "Mabsut" - which he wrote in the latter part of his blessed life - he says that we often hear that our opponents belittle our jurisprudence; "yastahqirunah wa yastanzirunah" - meaning they belittle it - and they say your jurisprudence has no branches, what does it not have; thus I wrote this book. The Mabsut book of such greatness, with all these branches, which he himself says that he has not seen in any of the Islamic sects a book written in all the chapters of jurisprudence with this many branches; he states this at the beginning of the book. That is, an insult, a jab, causes such a sweet event to occur.

Or Sheikh Najashi (may God be pleased with him) at the beginning of his book "Rijal," which is one of the best and most fundamental sources of our narrations preserved for us for a thousand years, says that I heard that Sayyid Sharif said - apparently referring to Sayyid Murtadha - that our opponents say: "In la salaf lakum"; you have no predecessors; "wa la musannaf" or "musannif"; you have no authors, no predecessors, no past. I wrote this book to show them why we have these.

See, the great ones have utilized such events. In my opinion, we should look at these bitter events with this perspective. It is not that the insult to the Quran is a small matter; it is very great, very ugly, very disgraceful; but for us, it should be a wake-up call, we should gather our senses, understand that: "man naam lam yanam anhu"; if we fall asleep here, the enemy's front, behind its trench, is not necessarily asleep; it is awake, it will conspire against us.

In my opinion, the sedition of 2009 was the same; it was a bell for us, a wake-up call. After the time when in an election, forty million participate, and all of us until late at night, happy, pleased that people gathered at the ballot boxes and voted until late at night - and of course, the numbers had not yet been announced, everyone was enjoying - suddenly from one corner, a sedition begins; it wakes us up; it says: do not fall asleep, do not be heedless, there are dangers in front of you, and those dangers are these. In my opinion, all events should be viewed in this way.

In this esteemed and honorable session, let us take a look at the global issues related to us, let us also look at the issues of the country and see what points can be learned from these, what lessons can be learned from what is happening today in the world or in our country.

In global issues, what is most obvious and prominent is the hyperactivity of the opposing front against us. Hyperactivity is one of the diseases of children and adolescents. Hyperactivity means excessive movement; they perform various actions, but there is no focus, no goal; they hit this door and that door. A lot of movement, but without a goal and often accompanied by failure. This hyperactive state is what one observes today in the opposing front of the enemy. They are engaged in various movements: sanctions, resolutions, accusations, propaganda against the Islamic system, strengthening internal opponents, so-called doping the internal opponents, injecting them with performance-enhancing drugs that have no real effect and only superficially make them active.

Last year, during the turmoil of the sedition of 2009, you heard that one of the social media networks that was active in connection with the opponents: they should take news from here, convey orders from there, just keep stirring the atmosphere, wanted to temporarily suspend its operations for repairs, the U.S. government prevented it, saying if you temporarily suspend now, even for repairs, it will harm the internal opponents in Iran; they prevented it. That is, they did not allow a temporary suspension for this social media. That is, these kinds of aids were provided. And various types of assistance and support are given to them.

Today, they have employed all means of communication; they have employed political means; they have employed cultural means; they have employed economic means, to ensure that the sanctions against Iran do not become outdated and do not stop halfway. The U.S. government has specifically assigned one of its high-ranking economic and monetary officials to this task, whose job is to lead committees, travel to various parts of the world, contact leaders and heads of countries, and constantly incite other countries against Iran. This hyperactivity of the system of domination and the opposing front against the Islamic system is, in my opinion, the most prominent event today.

Well, one can derive several points from this event. The first point is that this is due to the increasing power of Islamic awakening. The fact that one sees the opponent - the rival - is flustered, trying, agitated, hitting this door, hitting that door, doing this activity, seeing that; this indicates that this side has gained a power that has intimidated them, frightened them, and made them agitated. If we were weak, if we were vulnerable, if they could bring us to our knees with one blow, this much effort would not be necessary. This effort is a sign of the power of this side; and the reality is just that, which I will refer to.

This side has become stronger than three decades ago, more experienced, more aware, has gained broader hands, and conversely, the enemy has become weaker. Once upon a time, all the arrogant powers of the world were united against Iran. That is, there was truly no resting place. It was like that in the first decade of the revolution. The Soviet Union was a power that was not just one country, but a vast collection of countries centered here in present-day Russia; Eastern Europe belonged to them, most African countries and Latin America were with them, and in Asia, many of them were counted. They were against the Islamic Republic. At that time, we could not refer to any country for a conventional weapon; that is, there was no country in the world that would sell us twenty or thirty conventional weapons - for example, tanks. At that time, during my presidency, I made a trip to Yugoslavia, which apparently treated us very well and respected us, and praised us; but no matter how much we insisted, they did not agree to sell us even these conventional weapons. Although Yugoslavia was an independent country, neither part of the West nor part of the Eastern bloc; however, they did not agree. Others are another matter.

On the other side was the Western bloc; there was America, there was Europe, and the same France that today propagandizes against us and speaks against us, at that time sent "Mirage" against us, provided "Super Etendard" for us; that is, the attacks of these countries against us at that time were much more than now. Today, the Germans, for example, say something in their propaganda - their Chancellor or another - at that time, they were providing chemical weapons to Saddam, building chemical weapon factories for him; that is, the enmities at that time were more practical and active.

Today, these words do not exist, these news do not exist; that is, they cannot, there is no ground for them, not that they have become more noble today, better; no, they see that nothing can be done; that is, this vast volume has become more substantial day by day, stronger day by day. And the West today - this is an important point - feels that its old dominance over the Islamic world has become shaky; that is, those who used to gallop through Islamic and Arab countries without any obstacle or restraint, today see that it cannot be done; they cannot. This Islamic wave has forced them to even reconsider, which has become difficult for them. In some countries where their dependency on the West is clear and obvious - their people know this and are dissatisfied - they want to make some revisions, perhaps to set things right, but they cannot; for them, it is a dead end. Today, the West is in such a position. Well, this weakness, of course, results in them coming after these things and issuing resolutions. Resolutions, one or two, five, ten. A resolution that even the hearts of nations, even the hearts of governments do not accompany. Even those governments that some of them are members of the Security Council and sign these resolutions, we know that even some of these governments are not satisfied with these sanctions; for them, it is a forced act and a coercive act; it is a political embarrassment. This is the situation.

Therefore, events such as what has happened to us during this time - whether it is Resolution 1929, whether it is the issue of the insult to the Holy Quran, whether it is the openly hostile statements made against the Islamic Republic, whether it is what happened in 2009, which was undoubtedly and clearly the hand of the arrogant enemies in this process - all of these are because the other side feels that this side has become strong. This power and strength and stability that has arisen on this side frightens the other side. This is also evident in their statements; they say: if we do not do this, Iran will become the first power in the Middle East; if we do not do this, Iran's influence in the Middle East will increase; they make such statements. This is the first point.

The second point is that these events should keep us awake. We should not doze off, we should not sleep; we should not let our sleep take us. If these events that I am outlining, this increasing strength and stability that is observed in the Islamic front and the sacred Islamic Republic, make us complacent, make us untroubled, make us drowsy, it will pose a danger; this is a danger. This wake-up call should always be in our sight. What should we do? We must reform ourselves. Permanent reform is one of our permanent duties. How should we reform ourselves? We should start with ourselves. I, the humble, sinful, disobedient person, should start with myself. Others should do the same. First, we should correct our relationship with God the Exalted, reform it, and think about what God the Exalted will question us about: "And make me act according to what You will question me about tomorrow." This is one of the things that should always be in our minds. I do not say that we should completely reform ourselves, and then turn to reforming others - which may not be so easily achieved - when we start to reform ourselves, then reforming society will also become easier for us. And that - reforming society - is easier than reforming the self. One sees the receptive hearts, the prepared hearts, the receptive and logical hearts in this great Iranian society; these believers, men and women, in all corners of the country, from the wisest and most educated to the lower classes in various parts of the country, one sees that they are receptive; if we speak, they will listen. If they listen, they will likely be affected, and that effect will manifest in their actions. This is one issue; the issue of inner reform.

Strengthening internal morale. One of the important issues is the issue of strengthening internal morale - which if the discussion does not become lengthy; if it does not become too much of a nuisance, I will address this later - this is one of our duties. Strengthening morale is one of the things that is among our main duties; whether in terms of officials, or in terms of clergy and scholars; this is one of the things that we should never forget.

True unity. Everyone talks about unity and we say it; we all say unity, but unity must be realized in action. Unity is to strengthen our commonalities, which are more than the causes of division, and keep them in front of our eyes. It should not be that dissatisfaction with one person causes us to take action, say something, or do something that is contrary to the interests of the country; which sometimes one observes! Because of one person due to something, due to their personality, due to a statement, we develop a dissatisfaction, and then this dissatisfaction casts a shadow over all our behavior; this is not right. We should look at the commonalities, we should identify the main points. Some of the issues that we raise and emphasize are not truly and justly the main issues; there are more fundamental issues that should be emphasized. You see what the enemy targets, which I will also mention.

The third point that can be derived from this existing situation is the identification of the enemy and their methods and the actions they are taking; what is the enemy doing now? One of the most important, or perhaps I can say the most important actions the enemy is taking is twofold: one is separating the people from the system, and the other is separating the people from the clear principles of religion and the fundamentals of religion and the obvious rulings of Islam and Islamic law. These two actions are what they are doing. They have understood it well; because the backbone of the system is the people. They know that if they separate the people from the system, the system will be without support; thus they try to separate the people from the system. How? By creating distrust. A clear action; creating distrust: making the people distrustful of the officials. No matter how much the officials work, no matter how much effort they put in, no matter how much good work they do, there is a bad interpretation in foreign radios and in foreign propaganda that if one listens to these radios, this is clearly observable. Of course, this has always been the case. Always and in all periods, one of the enemy's actions has been to separate and create distrust among the people towards the managers and officials. In all these twenty-one or twenty-two years after the passing of Imam and during the blessed life of Imam (may God be pleased with him), this has been one of the actions. Thus, it was that at that time, the great Imam, despite the objections he had to some of the actions of the officials and managers of the country, always defended them. This does not mean that Imam defends the details of their actions; no. But Imam would shield himself. If someone threw stones at the officials and managers of the system, causing distrust among the people towards them, Imam would stand up. I also do the same. I also defend all governments in this regard, and I will continue to defend them. One should not discredit the officials of the system, whether from the executive, legislative, or judicial branches, in the eyes of the people because of one action in one corner. Because if the people feel that these great institutions cannot be trusted, the hope of the people will be lost. This should be thought about. It is truly contrary to justice; that is, what is sometimes said is contrary to justice. Well, we see the conditions and are familiar with the depths of the work; a lot of effort is being made; sincere and devoted efforts; one observes this. The advancements that are observed - it is always said: the advancements of the country, the advancements of the country - these do not come from sitting in the corner of the house and the idleness of the officials; these come from the efforts of the officials. Efforts are being made; truly efforts are being made. The enemy wants to eliminate this state. The enemy wants to weaken this state of trust of the people in the officials of the system so that the people feel they cannot trust their government; they cannot trust their judiciary, their parliament; they want to discredit these in the eyes of the people. This is a mistake. This is one of the enemy's actions that must be understood. One should not echo the enemy, one should not fill in the enemy's table, one should not complete the enemy's puzzle, one should not echo the enemy's voice inside; these must be monitored.

One is also the issue of religion and the clear principles of Islam and the Islamic revolution. From monotheism and prophecy and leadership and guardianship and from these to rulings and hijab and the limits of Sharia and the rest of the things; there is constant sowing of doubts. We must be aware that these are the enemy's methods. We must have plans against these, we must work. Of course, here and in these doubts that are raised in various ways, everyone has a duty to stand against these religious violations that are observed in these websites and in these statements and these sectarian divisions that exist, and these moral and sexual violations that one observes and things of this nature. These are actions that not all of these actions are done by the enemy from outside; no, there are also internal motivations, but the enemy strengthens, directs, assists, and pushes these forward, and the enemy is pleased with these things. We must be careful about this. We must be vigilant. Who is responsible? Is it the government's responsibility? Alone, no. The government certainly has responsibilities. I have repeatedly told the Cultural Revolution Council in various periods that you cannot exempt yourselves from the duty of making the people religious and the duty you have in this regard. They opposed this. The immoral currents opposed this, saying no, this will make it a government religion. I believe the government has a duty in this regard, but what is the duty of the government? Is the duty of the government to create the beliefs of the people? No, the duty of the government is to create the groundwork; the operational and field duty is on the clergy, on the elites, on the scholars of the seminary and university. This is a field duty. Today, I see the place of this esteemed religious and scientific assembly empty in many places.

If we protest to our propaganda apparatus, we see that sometimes due to the protests and reprimands we give, they do a religious action, but it turns out poorly; they do something, but its content turns out to be flawed, this is because the scientific oversight that is exclusively the domain of the clergy does not exist in this regard.

The seminaries' role in radio and television is not just that a good-speaking preacher comes there, advises the people; no, the seminary must form committees, form assemblies, form religious think tanks, write about various issues, discuss, analyze, research, and provide the products of these outside. When the atmosphere is corrected, it will naturally have an effect. It will also affect the work of artists.

Two or three hundred prominent artists from various sectors came here - it was last year or when - and met with me. They spoke a little, we spoke a little. Then I noticed a point in that same assembly and I said right there, if you who are filmmakers or artists or actors or directors ask me what we want to make a religious film about, what should the content of this be, where should we start, what should we convey to the people? If we want to strengthen people's beliefs about the issue of monotheism or the issue of prophecy or the issue of leadership or the issue of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist or the issue of Imam (may God be pleased with him), what should the topic and content be? This person who has been raised in a non-religious environment, has never studied religious knowledge, many of them are not familiar with the Quran, with Nahj al-Balagha and Hadith, what do they know about what should come in the content of these films? We know, we must prepare and assist. When we can organize these thoughts, arrange them, make them logical, make them understandable, make them believable, and provide them in collections, when this artist reads, they will be influenced. Thus, an artist who has a religious background and roots, one sees that they make a good film; which, of course, rarely happens. So it is our job, it is the clergy's job to address these shortcomings.

These points regarding external issues, where the main issue is the hyperactive opposition front against us, and there are points in it and actions they are taking. Of course, there is much to say in this regard, which if one wants to speak and say, there is much to say.

Let us also look at the internal situation of our own, that is, the situation of the Islamic Republic; both inside and outside. In my opinion, in these three decades of pride that have passed for the Islamic Republic, there have been many attacks against us; structural attacks, serious opposition to our Islamic identity, the Islamic spirit, the revolutionary spirit. There have been many attacks against us in these thirty years. They have interfered with our slogans; they have distorted our slogans, many times they have misinterpreted our slogans. Many times, organized efforts - not individual efforts - have been made to create doubts among the people regarding the essence of the revolution. In the past, which is not so far from us, they have repeatedly broken the law, they have repeatedly created titles and appearances and justifications for breaking the law, they have fabricated; various actions have been taken. But the people and the revolution stood firm; the revolution stood firm, the people stood firm, the faithful officials who had an active presence in this vast assembly stood firm, they clarified, and thanks be to God, the revolution progressed and they could not do anything. Thus, you observed that in the recent elections, the people did not heed the words that had non-Islamic and non-religious overtones. This is very important. The people went for the one who gave revolutionary slogans, Islamic slogans, anti-materialism slogans, and social justice slogans. This indicates the awakening of the people. The people love these. The people respect us because they love Islam; they see us as the embodiment of Islam and the expounders of Islam.

This is the characteristic of our people. This is very important. For thirty-one or thirty-two years, there has been constant work against the revolution, yet the people have stood firm, and the revolutionary slogans are alive today. The words of Imam are the prevailing words today; they are the prevailing currency. Those who want to raise their heads among the people repeat the words of Imam; they present themselves as being connected to Imam. Once it was not like this; once, not so long ago, there were those who pretended to oppose Imam; they went and said the revolution is buried! They openly declared it. Some said that we must separate the people from God! These were openly said on the loudspeaker at that time. Today, they do not dare to say these things. Today, those who can speak to the people, have a platform - or use any means - they talk about Imam and the revolution and the slogans of Imam; now in special ways. This is very important. This indicates that the prevailing currency in the country and the acceptable method is the method of Imam and the path of the revolution. This is a very great thing.

Well, of course, we said the people stood firm, the latest example of which was the sedition of 2009; the people stood firm. Those who had voted for others besides the elected one, those same people stood against them. Thus, you saw in the 9th of Dey, in the 22nd of Bahman, everyone participated; everyone came. This indicates that the seditionists and instigators are a small minority; however, they lied, they wanted to lead the people after them. At the beginning, they succeeded; later, when their faces were revealed, their masks fell during their words and various actions, the people turned away from them. Therefore, the people have stood firm. Well, this is one point regarding the situation of the country.

Another point is the progress of the country. Now, the scientific advancements that have been repeatedly mentioned and we have said and others have said and you all know. Truly, there have been astonishing scientific advancements. Some of these things that are easily passed over on television, that this work was done and this thing was inaugurated, when one looks behind the scenes of this, there are many important works; a lot of effort, a lot of scientific depth, a lot of capability lies behind this phenomenon that has now reached the point where, for example, this thing has come into existence or this object has been invented or produced; in various industrial, technological, and scientific fields. That is certain; however, what I consider to be above these scientific and technological advancements is the spirit of stability and the feeling of capability that has awakened in the nation; in those who must do this work, this spirit has awakened.

These Ramadan sessions of ours, one of their blessings for me was just this; there were students, professors, sages and elites, officials and workers, industrialists, various activists of the country, and no one told them what to say; they said come and speak your mind. The things they said indicated a spirit of self-belief, self-reliance, confidence that they can do what they have done so far many times over. This is very important. This is the same spirit that Imam (may God be pleased with him) wanted to awaken in us. This spirit has awakened in the people. Young people come and speak. One young man came and spoke, saying I have written a comprehensive scientific plan that I will give to you; that comprehensive scientific plan prepared in the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council has flaws. This is a very great spirit of self-belief. I enjoyed it a lot. What he prepared may not be accepted as he thinks, but this spirit that a student with two or three fellow students sits down to organize the comprehensive scientific plan of the country, and then not just puts it in a corner, but comes to me in public and says I give this to you, is very important. Such spirits exist; both in our students, in our young people, and in our good, faithful professors, these things exist. These are important.

If we see the bitterness, we see the failures, we see the weaknesses, we must also see these; these are very important; they guide these. Otherwise, when has it been that we have not had bad people in our assembly, we have not had wrongdoers, we have not had weak people, we have not had grumblers, we have not had opponents? There have always been; but what drives the country forward is that motor; that driving motor. Now, within this train, there may be four people arguing with each other, fighting with each other, or throwing orange peels at each other and making the atmosphere dirty; but the train is moving and going forward. These disagreements also exist, well let them exist. There are wrongdoings, one person is praying the night prayer, praying the prayer of Ja'far al-Tayyar. All kinds of things exist; but the movement, the movement forward, the hopeful movement, the movement with direction, the movement with a goal, these are; these must be seen. There is work, there is construction, there is innovation; one observes this today. Well, many important works are being done, which in my opinion are very valuable works; as far as I know, very good works are being done in the country.

Now, based on this image that I have regarding the situation of the country and have conveyed to the brothers and esteemed gentlemen, and what I understand from the conditions of the country - I am not uninformed; I am aware of all these various issues that are being said. I know many of the details - several points follow:

One is that the pressures of the enemy and the difficult conditions have not weakened us. The hardships and constraints that have existed in these thirty years have not weakened us; rather, they have made us stronger and more resilient. Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him and all the angels) said: "Beware that the wild tree is harder in its trunk... and stronger in its fuel"; it is both stronger and when you set it on fire, its fire lasts longer. This is the nature of difficult conditions. Difficult conditions, challenging conditions, make nations resilient; they strengthen the leaders and managers and officials of countries; like a sport, they strengthen them, multiply their power, and they go after bigger tasks. And this has, thanks be to God, happened. This is the first point.

The second point is that these pressures that are exerted in the world are doomed to failure; they will fail. This is something that experience has shown us, apart from the divine promise that: "And indeed, Allah will help those who help Him" and many verses in this regard. Pressures are generally doomed to failure. For a while, they exert pressure, when steadfastness is observed from this side, that pressure ends. War is a war of wills; it is a war of resolute determinations; whoever has more determination wins. Therefore, they will fail. If the Islamic system were to fail under these pressures, it should have failed in the first decade. At that time - I said - the enemy was stronger, we were weaker, our capabilities were fewer, our resources were fewer, our understanding of the world was less, our experience was less; today, thanks be to God, these shortcomings and deficiencies of those times have been compensated for, and many of the problems that existed at that time do not exist today. The people's spirits are also good. Today, the motivations are very high. If God forbid, at some point a war occurs that requires the presence of the people and the youth in the front, then you will see that our young people today, who are the third generation of the revolution, their determination and sacrifice will not be less than that of the youth of that day; perhaps even more. Such a state exists. Therefore, these pressures are doomed to failure; but the important thing is that we must be awake. Provided that we remain awake; provided that our sleep does not take us, that we do not become heedless. These warning bells and wake-up calls should keep us awake; this is the condition.

The third point; there is a main key, and that is giving hope and reassurance to the people. This is a task that is incumbent upon me and you: we, the clergy, we, the officials, the esteemed Friday prayer leaders; the work must be to give hope to the people and reassure them. If the people become hopeless, lose their confidence, become unsettled, defeat is certain. What keeps the fighter, the warrior in the front is hope. They must have hope, they must know that they can achieve victory. This hope must be kept alive. The main factor for victory is the presence of the people in the scene; the factor for the presence of the people in the scene is their hope and confidence. This hope must be strengthened in the people; the people should not be frightened; the people should not be made pessimistic, distrustful. In the Holy Quran, see: "Those to whom the people said, 'Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.'" This is from the enemy; be afraid - "Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them" attributed to the enemy - another verse: "Indeed, this is only the devil who frightens his allies"; he frightens. "If the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is disease and those who spread rumors in the city do not cease, We will surely incite you against them". See, these are. That is, frightening the people is condemned; making the people hopeless, making the people distrustful is condemned. Conversely, the opposite: "By time. Indeed, mankind is in loss. Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised one another to truth and advised one another to patience"; we must advise each other, recommend each other to patience, to steadfastness, to following the truth; we must keep each other. "And the believers, men and women, are allies of one another"; allies mean those who are connected; they are connected to each other. This is our duty. Therefore, we must pay attention to this point of hope and reassurance.

We must recognize the main issues and not make the secondary issues primary; not that they should not be raised; no, secondary issues should also be raised; all details should be raised; but they should not become primary and the criterion for opposition and agreement should not be established. The criterion for agreement and opposition should be the straight path of truth, Islam, religiosity, adherence to the principles of the revolution, adherence to the aspirations of Imam and the goals that Imam has outlined; opposing the arrogant powers, being distrustful of the arrogant powers. That is, we should know who our enemy is. It should not be that we begin to oppose our friend and brother who is sitting here, while our hearts are aligned with that arrogant, shameless opponent, seeking help from them, trusting them; it should not be like this.

An important issue that is always on my mind - as they said, it has been raised in the session - and is a concern for people is the issue of culture; it is important. The issue of culture is more important than economic issues, more important than political issues. What is culture? Culture is the understanding, perception, belief, and spirit of people in life; those are what compel people to act. If the prevailing culture in a country, for example, is a culture of responsibility, this guides the actions of the people. The opposite is the state of irresponsibility, where one does not feel responsible for events, for issues, for the future, for the enemy, for the friend. Injecting responsibility, gifting it to the souls of the people, to the thoughts of the people and the spirits of the people, this strengthens culture. Selflessness, a sense of duty, discipline, social cooperation, social compatibility, avoiding waste, reforming consumption patterns, a spirit of contentment, strength in what we produce; these are culture. These must be strengthened in the people. Honesty, keeping the thoughts of Imam and the revolution alive, the spirit of unity and Islamic solidarity - that which the Quran commands us to do, that which our thoughts also command us to do, that which the revolution also carries us towards and commands us to do - with our Muslim brothers, with our compatriots, having a state of unity and solidarity, having a positive mutual affection towards each other, which is also the case across the breadth of the Islamic Ummah. These are culture. One of them, of course, is the culture of chastity and the culture of simplicity.

Whose responsibility are these tasks? The media has a significant role; however, the media are forms; the content and substance are in our hands, which now has a lengthy discussion that is not suitable for this place. God willing, I will speak about this in its place. Important tasks are upon us, upon the seminaries, that we must, God willing, carry out these tasks. Our discussion has become lengthy.

May God, God willing, keep us all on the path of the revolution, on the path of Islam; may He dedicate our lives to Islam; may He make our deaths in the way of Islam and for Islam and for Himself; may what we have said, what we say, what we hear, and what we do be for Him and in His way.

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