Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Meeting with Officials and Managers of the System

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

Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim Muhammad, and upon his pure and virtuous family and his chosen companions, especially the Awaited One of God on earth. God, the Wise, has said in His Book: "In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O you who have believed, remember God with much remembrance and exalt Him morning and afternoon. It is He who sends blessings upon you and His angels to bring you out from darkness into light, and He is Merciful to the believers. Their greeting on the Day they meet Him will be, 'Peace.' And He has prepared for them a noble reward."

This is a valuable opportunity, and almost all those who bear the heavy burdens of managing the country at the main and fundamental levels are present in this important and significant session. The matters of politics and reports on various affairs of the country have been presented by the esteemed President, and there is always much to discuss in this regard, which is necessary. However, I thought we should take a moment to utilize this opportunity for something that precedes our political conclusions, explanations, and decisions; and that is the heartfelt words and sincere faith that can create a role in all stages of this movement, like a soul in a body, like light in darkness, like life-giving energy among lifeless bodies. Therefore, I have chosen these verses for us to reflect upon together. I find myself in need of repeating the noble verse "Remember God with much remembrance and exalt Him morning and afternoon" and to contemplate it and act upon it. I have compared myself to you, and it seems to me that all of us are in need of this. He says: "O you who have believed." This is after the faithful community has formed and has undergone great trials. These verses are from Surah Al-Ahzab and were revealed after the sixth year of Hijrah; that is, after the battles of Badr and Uhud and several other battles, and finally the Battle of Al-Ahzab. In such circumstances, the Quran addresses the Muslims: "Remember God with much remembrance"; remember God abundantly. Remembrance means to remember. Remembrance and memory are in contrast to negligence and forgetfulness. Becoming immersed in various events and incidents and neglecting the main issue is a great affliction for us, the children of Adam. God does not want this to happen. Moreover, this remembrance is not merely about remembering; we have been asked for abundant remembrance.

Here, I have mentioned a narration: "From Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), he said: There is nothing that does not have a limit to which it ends"; all these divine obligations and laws have limits; they have measures, and when they reach that limit, they are completed; the obligation is fulfilled; "except for remembrance"; except for remembrance. "For it has no limit to which it ends"; remembrance has no limit; there is no measure that when this measure of remembrance is achieved, we can say it is enough; it is no longer necessary. Then the Imam explains and says: "God, the Exalted, has made obligations, so whoever fulfills them has reached their limit"; whoever has fulfilled the obligations has brought them to their limit. "And Ramadan, whoever fasts it has reached its limit"; for example, when the month of Ramadan is over, you have fulfilled this obligation to its limit; it is complete, and nothing more is required of you. "And Hajj, whoever performs Hajj has reached its limit"; whoever performs Hajj - when they reach the acts of Hajj - has brought it to its limit. This is provided that in both cases we read "he has reached its limit". Of course, it can also be read as "he has reached its limit" with another expression; but "except for remembrance"; remembrance is not like the other obligations. The other obligations were not mentioned; when you give Zakat, it is no longer obligatory, to the extent that it has been prescribed. The same goes for Khums, and for maintaining family ties. The rest of the obligations and duties are all of this kind, except for remembrance; "except for remembrance, for God, the Exalted, is not satisfied with little and has not set a limit for it"; God is not satisfied with little remembrance; He has not set a limit that can be reached. "Then he recited"; then the Imam recited this verse: "O you who have believed, remember God with much remembrance." The importance of remembrance is this.

In the continuation of the verse, He says: "It is He who sends blessings upon you and His angels." The late Allameh Tabatabai (may God have mercy on him) in Al-Mizan says: This noble verse "It is He who sends blessings" is in the context of explaining the command "Remember God with much remembrance"; that is, the abundant remembrance that has been asked of you is because you remember a God who is the one who "sends blessings upon you"; He sends blessings upon you. The Almighty God sends blessings to you. "It is He who sends blessings upon you and His angels"; not only does the Almighty God send blessings, but the divine angels also send blessings and salutations upon you believers; for the blessings from the Lord are His mercy; the blessings from the angels are the intercessions they make for the believers; "and they ask forgiveness for those who believe," as mentioned in the verses of the Quran.

Why does this mercy and these blessings and this intercession come from the Almighty and the divine angels for you from the unseen world, from the highest realm? "To bring you out from darkness into light"; to save you from darkness and lead you to light, which is a broad and detailed story. Darkness in our thoughts, darkness in our hearts, in our character; and light is in contrast to these.

Actions can also be dark or light; a person's mind and beliefs can be light or dark; a person's character and attributes can be dark or light; the social movement of a nation can be towards darkness and obscurity, or it can be towards light.

If a nation, a country, a ruling body, or an individual is dominated by desires, violence stemming from animality prevails, greed prevails, and worldly desires dominate, this is darkness; it is a dark movement, a dark direction, and the goal is also darkness. If, on the other hand, spirituality prevails, religion prevails, humanity prevails, moral virtues prevail, goodwill prevails, and truthfulness prevails, this becomes light. Islam and the Quran invite us to this. The Almighty God and His angels equip us for this, to save us from those darknesses and lead us into this valley of light. Remember God; this is the reason and evidence.

Now, this divine remembrance has stages. We, as human beings, are not all at the same level and stage; our ranks are different. Some are spiritually at high levels; like the saints, prophets, the righteous, and those of the heart and meaning. Others, like myself and many of us, do not have access to those levels; some of us are even unaware of what exists at those levels. For all of us, there is remembrance - for them and for us - remembrance for them is what is narrated from Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) who said: "Remembrance is the companionship of the beloved"; remembrance is being in the company of the beloved. This is for the saints. The pleasure of remembrance for them is the pleasure of companionship. Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) in another narration says: "Remembrance is the pleasure of lovers"; remembrance is the pleasure of those who love. Well, this is for them.

How fortunate you are if, in some moments of the day and night - especially in these days and nights - a spark, a ray of this state shines in your life; it may sometimes happen. Of course, for them, it is permanent. "Blessed are those who are always in prayer"; this is for them, but those who are at lower ranks may sometimes have a spark; these should be appreciated. This is now one stage of remembrance that belongs to the lovers; it belongs to the people of the heart, but for us who are not at that stage, remembrance has amazing benefits that I will now present what I have noted here: "It repels materialistic motivations and misleading desires".

Remembrance acts as a defense against the onslaught of these desires, protecting us and our hearts. The heart is very vulnerable. Our heart, our spirit is very vulnerable. We are influenced by various things; the heart becomes attracted to various attractions. If we want the heart - which is the place of God, the abode of God. The highest rank in human existence is the human heart; that is, the innermost and true essence of human existence - to remain healthy and pure, a defense is necessary; this defense is remembrance. Remembrance does not allow the heart to be overwhelmed by the relentless onslaught of various desires and to be lost. In this regard, I saw a narration that is very meaningful; it says: "The one who remembers among the heedless is like the fighter among those who flee." In the battlefield, you see a warrior who defends, stands firm, and uses all his resources to strike the enemy and to prevent the enemy's attack; however, there may also be another warrior who flees; he loses the will to endure and runs away from the enemy. It says: The one who remembers among the heedless is like that standing warrior among those who are fleeing. See, this analogy and comparison is for this reason; because he is defending against the foreign attack, your remembrance is also standing firm; it is defending the borders; it is defending the borders of your heart. Therefore, you see in the noble verse of the Quran that is part of the verses of jihad, it says: "When you meet a force, stand firm and remember God abundantly"; in the battlefield, when you face the enemy's attack, stand firm and remember God abundantly. "Stand firm and remember God abundantly"; show steadfastness and remember God. This remembrance of God is useful there too. "So that you may succeed"; this is a means for you to achieve success and prosperity. Remember God; why? Because this remembrance strengthens the heart. When the heart is strengthened, when the heart gains stability, the step also gains stability. In the battlefield, this is how it is. In the battlefield, before our weak feet start running backward, it is our heart that flees. It is our heart that causes our body to flee; otherwise, if the heart stands firm, the body stands firm.

In all battlefields - both military, political, economic, and propaganda - remember God, for this remembrance of God is the means of your success and prosperity. The remembrance of God is the support for steadfastness.

Therefore, remembrance enables us to walk on the straight path; to move forward. The goal we have outlined for ourselves as believers, as Muslims, as followers of a progressive school, as those who have the motivation to establish this lofty edifice that heralds the flourishing of Islamic civilization in the future and in future centuries, we need the remembrance of God to be able to move along this path.

You and I need remembrance more than others. The reason I said I considered this assembly valuable is that you have a significant difference from ordinary individuals in that you have taken hold of a thread of this collection that is effective in protecting this collection. If you keep this thread strong or weaken it or lose it altogether, the situation will differ from those who do not hold the main and fundamental threads. Thus, you need remembrance more than others. And this remembrance - the remembrance of God - that has taken hold of our hearts will undoubtedly affect our behavior; in fulfilling what is our duty and obligations, in avoiding and refraining from what is forbidden and sinful and causes burden and wrath from God, it will help us to stay away from these.

Well, now what is remembrance? There is a narration from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him). And there is another narration that I was more focused on; however, I will read both narrations. The first narration is from Abu Ja'far (peace be upon him); Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "Three are among the hardest of what the servants do"; there are three things that are among the very important and difficult duties of the believers; hard tasks.

One is "the fairness of the believer to himself"; that a person shows fairness towards others. That is, when the matter revolves around whether to trample on the right for oneself or to trample on oneself for the right, he should do the latter. Where the right belongs to the opposite party and you have no right, you should fairly give the right to him. If it causes you to be diminished or trampled upon, you should trample upon yourself. This is a hard task; but it is an important one. Imam Baqir says this is among the most important tasks; of course, it is hard. And no good and great deed is without difficulty.

Second, "and the mutual support of a believer with his brother"; mutual support with a believing brother. Mutual support is different from equality; it is not about equality. Mutual support means accompanying and helping a believing brother in all matters. A person should consider it his duty; to provide intellectual, financial, physical, and reputational assistance. This is mutual support.

Third, "and the remembrance of God in every situation"; to be a rememberer of God, the Exalted, in every situation. This is remembrance.

Then Imam Baqir in this narration has defined "the remembrance of God in every situation": "And that is to remember God, the Exalted, at the time of sin when one is inclined towards it"; when one is going towards sin, the remembrance of God should prevent him. Remembrance; he should remember God and not commit that sin; various sins; telling falsehood, lying, backbiting, concealing the truth, being unjust, insulting, taking the property of others, the property of the public treasury, the property of the weak, or being indifferent towards them. These are various sins. In all of these, a person should pay attention to God; the remembrance of God should prevent a person from going towards this sin.

"So that the remembrance of God becomes a barrier between him and that sin, and it is the saying of God, the Exalted, that 'Indeed, those who are God-conscious, when a visitation from Satan touches them, they remember'". Then the Imam says that this is the interpretation of that verse which says: "Indeed, those who are God-conscious, when a visitation from Satan touches them"; when Satan touches them, the passerby of Satan touches them; that is, it has not yet fully affected their soul, "they remember"; they immediately remember. "And when they do, they see clearly"; this remembrance causes their vision to open. The meaning of "the remembrance of God in every situation" is this.

In the beginning of the next narration, which I am focused on, the phrases are almost similar to this narration I read, and it mentions the same three things. In that narration, "and the remembrance of God in every situation" was mentioned, and here in the narration that Abu Abdullah says, it has come: "And the remembrance of God in every place"; a person should remember God in every place. But the point of attention is that he says: "But I do not say 'Subhan Allah' (Glory be to God), 'Alhamdulillah' (Praise be to God), 'La ilaha illallah' (There is no god but God), and 'Allahu Akbar' (God is the Greatest)"; what I mean by saying to remember God in every situation is not to say 'Subhan Allah', 'Alhamdulillah', 'La ilaha illallah', and 'Allahu Akbar'. This is verbal remembrance. "And although this is also among that"; although this is also remembrance, this is also desirable, this is also valuable; but my intention is not only this, but "rather to remember Him in every situation when you are inclined towards obedience or sin" - when you are inclined towards obedience to God or towards sin, you should remember God. This "being mindful of God" is what is meant; this is the remembrance of God. Of course, these remembrances that are in our narrations, in these supplications, in these various invocations, the praises of Fatimah al-Zahra and the other remembrances that exist - these are all means of remembrance; these are capsules of remembrance - a person should recite these with attention to their meanings and truths; they should become aware. Of course, these are very valuable.

Of course, one cannot be free from these topics. Truly, if we spend hours on these spiritual matters and what is beneficial for our hearts, it is not too much. The truth is; I tell you that we are behind. We have not progressed to the extent required by the Islamic system in Islamic education. Now some say that we could have progressed more in the area of, for example, construction, technology, and so on, but we have not progressed. However, what we should have advanced the most in all areas and all fields is precisely this area of spirituality and self-building and adorning the heart with ethics. We are indeed behind in these areas.

If you want to find an example of what is worthy of us, look at the period of the Sacred Defense. See the youth who were in the front lines, those parents who sent their children like that, those families who supported the front lines with such enthusiasm and excitement, what state they were in, what feelings they had. They are good examples. Of course, we do not say they are the best examples, but they were very good examples. We should have progressed in the same manner, with the same rhythm and melody; we did not progress. Of course, we sometimes forget them. Some of us forget them, and unfortunately, some even deny them! And worse, some criticize those beautiful and sacred states of our warriors and youth during the Sacred Defense.

Of course, we often do not even know the details of that; even I, who am saying this, and even those who were in the war - the commanders - do not know everything that happened. The extent of the transformation and progress towards noble qualities and human virtues there was so great - almost equal to the number of individuals who were there - that it is truly impossible to enumerate them.

I recently read a book that describes a few days around one of our attacks; from the perspective of individuals remaining from a group, not from a division or a brigade or even a battalion. A number of these individuals remained and reported. This writer and researcher, who is truly and justly doing such valuable work, has taken the details from the mouths of those individuals, and it has become a six or seven hundred-page book. We only hear about the Fao operation. Many important things that happened in this operation, we know them in general: they crossed the Arvand, captured Fao, took the salt factory, and did this and that. We know the generalities; but what happened step by step, we do not know.

A magnificent page of miniatures has been presented to us with utmost skill and beauty, and we stand from afar looking at it and saying: 'Wow!' We do not go closer to see how much art has been employed in every corner of this miniature to create it. Some do this; they have done it. Now, this example that I have seen is one of those works. We hope that such works continue.

That was the advancement of ethics. There, one understands how the moral virtues that Islam and God and belief in the unseen and faith in the unseen give to a person affect human life; one sees it there. This should have grown. Well, it has not grown to that extent. We need to pay much more attention to ourselves.

What I want to convey to you after this is: Dear officials! O you who today have filled the assembly, the government, the judiciary, the armed forces, or the other institutions with your responsibilities; and those who have held these responsibilities before you and have done things - you all are the audience of this message - you have done a great job. You, the officials of the system and the leaders of the Islamic Republic, have depicted and shaped a significant period of history from the beginning until now. You have done a great job.

If you look at the history of our country from thousands of years ago until today - from the time we have documented history - you will see that we have had an absolute dictatorial government, a government of a few individuals with the leadership of one person over the general public, without the general public having any say in the administration of this country. This is our history. Our monarchies have all been of this kind. Those kings whom we respect; the powerful kings of Ghaznavid, Seljuk, then come to the Safavid era; Shah Abbas, Shah Ismail, Shah Tahmasb, they were the same. These good kings, how did they govern this country? What is the record and identity of this country in terms of governance? This is it: one person at the top, all obey him. And this collection governs the entire fate of this country, and the individuals have no influence, and the country belongs to them.

The king would say to his ministers: 'My servants!' They were indeed his servants. The reality was the same. Naser al-Din Shah, Mohammad Shah, and Fath Ali Shah and the others, even to their ministers, to their prime ministers, would say: 'You are my good servant!' The political culture in the country was this. When the prime minister and the minister are the king's servants, the head of a certain department would say:

'Where there was a camel, a goose has no real value!'

And the people were like 'dust scattered'; nothing. The country belonged to a few individuals and, in reality, belonged to one person. This is our history.

You, the officials of this country, have taken over a system from this nation and this revolution, a system where all its pillars are in the hands of the people and elected by the people; its leadership is elected by the people, its president is elected by the people, its parliamentary representatives are elected by the people. These institutions that can be elected by the people are logically and reasonably in the hands of the people. Of course, the armed forces and the judiciary are not elected by the people anywhere in the world. That has a separate account, has its own criteria; it is in the hands of the representatives of the people. You have established such a system here. For twenty-eight years, elections have been held in this country. Of course, there are absurd claims regarding our elections. What truth in the world is not subject to absurd claims? There are absurd claims against the Almighty God, against the essence of religion. What could be clearer and more evident than this? Well, this is a fundamental period in relation to our past history.

Look at the state of the world. You are introducing a new reality to the world. The world system, especially after the emergence of the phenomenon of colonialism and particularly in the last two centuries, and especially during the period of colonial dominance that culminated in the great wars of this century, was based on subjugation and domination. A few countries, a few governments, for a specific reason, dominate, and in their view, they must do so! The rest of the governments and the rest of the nations must be subjugated; they must be under domination and must accept this domination. According to this well-known Western sociologist who criticizes Western and American policies, in reality, the wealthy of the dominating countries are the rich of the dominating countries. The domination belongs to them; it does not belong to all those countries. And the wealthy of the subjugated countries must serve them; and they do serve them. This is correct; it is a correct analysis.

You have denied this established and accepted oppressive global system and stood firm against it; this is important. "Indeed, those who say, 'Our Lord is God,' and then remain steadfast"; this is important. A good word, a good slogan, the phenomenon of popular governance, the phenomenon of a popular revolution, has repeatedly and in many places in the world existed; but for this phenomenon to sustain itself, for this sapling to take root, for this body to withstand various attacks and to remain unscathed for twenty-eight years and to accomplish great things and challenge its opponents; even those arrogant opponents who have never been willing to confront a so-called third-world country, this indicates that you have begun a new chapter. Appreciate this. Recognize the importance of this great responsibility.

Well, what is the result of recognizing your position and responsibility? It is that you must continue the work; you must bring it to completion. You have no right to leave this work half-finished; you must not become weary. You must not allow your efforts to be interrupted at all. You must identify the factors of defeat and submission and distance them from yourselves.

There are things that defeat nations. Everyone knows this; it is not new; we know it too. Disunity is like this, allowing and accommodating the infiltrators of the enemies is like this, belittling and weakening the mission is like this, losing hope in achieving the goal is like this, ignoring the enemy and belittling the enemy and closing one’s eyes to the enemy are among the factors of weakness and defeat; all of these are bad. You must distance these factors of weakness from yourselves. Being captivated by petty personal desires is among the factors of defeat; that is, suddenly a responsible person, a high-ranking manager, encounters a great task, and sees a bait that could be personally beneficial for him. Now, the clear example is the obvious bribery; but there are other examples that are subtler than this, not as clear and obvious; but the essence is the same. A person reaches a point where he sees that if he continues on this path, this desire will be lost to him; but if he becomes weak, stops, and lightens his load here, he will catch something substantial. This is among those factors of weakness. Here, one must completely disregard these petty desires in light of the greatness of what is at stake and the greatness of the work being done. There are many issues that can be raised in this regard.

Know that your system is an efficient and outstanding system. Your enemies strive to forcefully make you believe, to convince you, to make you think that this system of yours is inefficient. No, in fact, this system is very efficient. This system has demonstrated its efficiency in various fields. In terms of services and the expansion of public services to the people, compare today’s Iran with Iran during the Shah's regime; it is not even comparable. This is a realm of efficiency, and you know its many examples and statistics well. Of course, it is very good for these to be communicated to the people, and you should reiterate them.

Another realm is the issue of national self-confidence, which has manifested itself in scientific, political, and technological fields and continues to do so. In this country, our engineers did not dare to mention the construction of a power plant; they did not dare to mention the construction of a dam; they did not dare to mention the construction of an airport. All these tasks had to be done by foreigners. An Iranian engineer was at most a member of a project that a foreign engineer or a foreign company had accepted; if they accepted; in some cases, they did not accept. I interviewed at the Karun 3 dam three or four years ago and explained in detail; I compared the Karun 3 dam - not the Karun dam - with the Dez dam. The Dez dam was built during the Shah's regime, and the Karun 3 dam was built during the Islamic Republic; they are similar. In the construction of the Dez dam, how much the Iranians were insulted; how much they were humiliated and disrespected for Iranian engineers and investors; but in the construction of this dam, the Iranian youth, the Iranian engineer, accomplished this complex and enormous task, which was much more sensitive and important than the construction of the Dez dam in terms of the technical work of making concrete and connecting concrete to the body of the mountain - which they explained to us - he did it himself, built its power plant, built the dam itself, built the road that had been submerged and the long aerial suspension bridge; proudly. His sweat poured, but his head was held high in pride. This is not a small matter. Generalize this to everything.

Today, the Iranian engineer, the educated Iranian, the Iranian doctor, the Iranian military, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, sees himself as capable of building, producing, creating, employing, and showcasing a hand superior to others. Back then, they did not even dare to think about it; now there are countless examples. This is the efficiency of this system; this system did this.

The devastated agriculture of the country was revived by this system; the simple and primitive industry of the country was brought to the complex and sensitive industry of nuclear energy by this system. This system is now moving shoulder to shoulder with the first ranks in the fields of new industries - like the nanotechnology that the President mentioned; and industries like this, which are among the new industries of the world - it is almost moving shoulder to shoulder with the first ranks and is working. These are the efficiencies of the system.

Perhaps it can be said that more important and higher than all of these is the efficiency of this system in consolidating popular governance. With the infamous and ugly history that existed in this country, this system was able to establish popular governance. Today, we have elections almost every year - now with the recent decisions, it may decrease a bit; but until now, it has been this way - and in twenty-eight years, we have had almost twenty-eight elections. All these elections have been held calmly, healthily, without major troubles. This indicates that popular governance has taken root in this country. Who has done this? This system has done it. This is a very important efficiency.

The political position and international dignity; who can deny this? Who can deny the influence of the Islamic Republic today in regional policies, even in trans-regional policies? Who can deny the dignity of the Islamic Republic among the Muslim nations? Which country can claim that the president of that country, the high-ranking officials of that country go to another Muslim country, and the people of that other Muslim country, even if their government does not want it, gather and shout in favor of him; except for the Islamic Republic? Only the Islamic Republic has its leaders among other nations, extending their spiritual, true, and political influence. Are these not efficiencies? What realm of efficiency is more important and higher than these?

Creating a new discourse at the international Islamic level. This very discourse of Islamic identity and independence and non-subjugation was created and expanded by this system. And communications and neighbors and so on; there is much to say.

We must increase this efficiency, with knowledge, with wisdom, with determination; three 'Ayns'. It must be knowledgeable; it must be wise; it must be determined. It must be accompanied by determination; one cannot progress with weakness and lack of commitment. Use knowledge and wisdom and place national determination as a motor behind these. We can increase this efficiency.

Of course, Iran and the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic are oppressed. We have been wronged. We are oppressed, but we are not weak. Like Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him); he was oppressed, but he was stronger than all the men of his time. Like all the people of truth; they were oppressed, denied, wronged, but they were not weak. We are not weak; we are oppressed. We will not allow this oppression to last until the end; we will not tolerate it. Not tolerating it also means: we must strengthen our intellect, our knowledge, and our determination, which will all be achieved through the remembrance of God that I spoke about earlier. Of course, they threaten. The threat is not important. I want to tell you:

First, the threat is not new; we have been continuously threatened with military attack since the war - from 1987 until now. If you refer to your memory, those who are involved know. I know almost all the threats; because sometimes certain things were conveyed to us that were not conveyed to others. We have been threatened constantly. We do not say that these threats will not necessarily materialize; it is possible that they may materialize; let them do so; the effect of these threats is that they prepare us.

Secondly, those who threaten must understand this, and they should understand it now; military threats against Iran and military aggression against Iran in a hit-and-run manner are no longer possible. Anyone who attacks will face severe consequences.

Thirdly, those who threaten aim to instill fear in the hearts of the officials; to instill fear in the hearts of the people. I say: No one’s heart will be filled with fear by these words; neither the officials nor the masses. However, this has the effect of directing the officials towards strengthening their preparedness; because officials must consider even weak possibilities. I look back at the past years - for example, 1996 was one of the years when military threats intensified during Clinton's time - and we see that the threats led our officials to undertake new and innovative tasks in various military technical fields; they became more prepared. Every time there is a threat, it creates more preparedness. Its effect is not to instill fear in the hearts of the people and officials; but its effect is to prepare the country more. Therefore, it does not turn out to be to our detriment.

Fourthly, these threats show that liberal democracy is completely empty in terms of logic. Now, when they faced Saddam, they said he had launched a military attack, and they were right; he had attacked Iran, he had attacked Kuwait. But everyone knows that the Islamic Republic has not attacked anyone, nor does it have the motivation to attack anyone; it is not inclined to aggression. The presence of the Islamic Republic is the presence of logic, the presence of thought, the presence of spiritual motivation. Their hands are completely empty in this arena; they cannot confront. This issue indicates that the government and political system established and arranged based on liberal democracy is so empty-handed that it is like an illiterate person who, when faced with a knowledgeable person, is compelled to use his fists and clench his fists! Well, it is evident that he has nothing; he has no knowledge. This indicates their poverty.

Of course, the Iranian nation, by God's grace, is very well prepared. You must also increase this preparedness; especially now that the issue of elections is also on the table. I urge you always, in all periods, to use elections as a means for national strength, for increasing national power; not for weakening the system and undermining the dignity of the nation. The uproars that sometimes arise from certain parties and groups and political factions and unethical factions around elections are weakening the country, the nation, and the system. Different factions, various currents, different tendencies should mobilize all their resources with enthusiasm and interest and consider elections as a high, good, and sweet goal, and not drag it into disputes and uproars and insults and clawing at each other. Make elections a means to discourage the enemies, and God willing, this election will be like the others, a source of ever-increasing dignity for Islam. Time has passed, and I apologize to you.

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, make what we have said and heard for ourselves and in Your way; accept it from us; make us more and more mindful of the truth of ourselves and the truth of religion; make us more determined and resolute in the path of lofty goals.

O Lord! Gather the pure souls of our dear martyrs and the pure soul of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) with their saints; make us followers and progressors in their path; make the sacred heart of the Awaited One pleased and satisfied with us.

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