Statements in Meeting with the People of Mariwan

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 al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and virtuous family and his chosen companions, especially the Awaited One among the worlds.

The Mariwan region - this city, these people, these landscapes, and these sensitive areas - is one of the most memorable regions of Kurdistan and the west of the country for me. I thank the Almighty God for granting me once again the opportunity to travel to this land, filled with the glory of valor and natural beauty, and overflowing with feelings of love and loyalty, which I have previously experienced in this region.

Dear people of Mariwan, who have created a dense and sincere presence in this field, know that I consider this city, this region, and this great collection of people as among the divine blessings and gifts to our country and our revolution.

From the difficult days of the early years of the revolution, when the malicious hands of the enemies turned this green and beautiful region into a battlefield, and these kind, warm-hearted, sincere, and faithful people were caught up in the daily problems of conflict, battle, shortages, and other issues of the war, the Almighty God destined that we would come and go to this region and become familiar with it up close. Besides what our faithful brothers from other parts of the country expressed about you, dear, kind, loyal, and sincere people, we ourselves also witnessed examples up close.

I will never forget in 1979, in this city of Mariwan, I encountered the sincere people here and we went to an educational unit - I think it was an elementary school - and spoke with the teenagers there. Those teenagers today are certainly middle-aged men. From here, we went with some of the people of Mariwan to the sensitive and important areas of Dezli and Darki - if I remember correctly - areas that are very beautiful in terms of nature and very warm-hearted in terms of people; but unfortunately, due to the injustices of the enemies of the Iranian nation and the enemies of the Islamic revolution, these good people, this good region, these towering and green mountains, these lush plains had turned into a hell of conflicts, and the enemy had managed to exploit some of its mercenaries to use them as a means to strike at the people and, indirectly, to strike at the Islamic system and humiliate the Iranian nation.

I will never forget how the people in Dezli welcomed us with open faces. We left Dezli with our brothers to head towards the heights overlooking the lands of Iraq - the Tete heights - where despicable mercenaries had infiltrated among those people and informed the enemy of our delegation's presence, and the enemy sent its planes. On the way to the heights, we saw the enemy's plane pass by; we understood that an incident would occur in Dezli. We returned to find that, unfortunately, they bombed the civilian population, injuring some and killing others. We collected the bodies of the martyrs and some of the wounded and returned to Mariwan.

These memories are instructive. On that day, the same global systems claiming human rights defended Saddam Hussein; they defended these brutal actions. Today's youth in our country should know that the laboratory of lies and deception, the laboratory of the great and irreparable mistakes of the so-called human rights organizations, has been our dear country and these western borders, including the Kurdistan region.

In Operation Valfajr 4, when the brave young fighters from Kurdistan, Fars, and other regions went to extinguish the enemy's fire and bring Mariwan out from under the enemy's artillery fire, they succeeded in doing so. The Ba'athist enemy constantly shelled the city of Mariwan with its long-range artillery. These fighting youths, the Revolutionary Guards and Basij forces, composed of people from various regions, including the brave Kurdish youths, organized Operation Valfajr 4 and extinguished the enemy's fire and pushed the enemy back; they even managed to liberate the city of Halabja in Iraq from enemy occupation. In retaliation for this, do you know what the enemy did? It could not penetrate here because our brave men had shown it their strength. The ruthless Ba'athist enemy, devoid of humanity, chemically bombed the city of Halabja, killing hundreds and perhaps thousands of people from the Kurdish population of Halabja and those regions, because Saddam Hussein wanted to take revenge on the Kurdish people who had not resisted against the forces of the faithful Islamic Republic and had welcomed them with open arms.

This region has witnessed these great tests. I do not intend to speak of history. You, especially the younger generation, must know these things. You must understand the great tests that the Islamic Republic has undergone, this great movement that the Iranian nation undertook, and with the reliance on all segments of the Iranian nation, this great victory was achieved; these must be understood as great lessons of history, instructive lessons of history, so that you understand the weight and extent of the propaganda that the agents of global arrogance are conducting in the world today. I do not want to speak of history; I want to say this: in Sanandaj on Tuesday, I spoke about national dignity. A nation must consider itself dignified and establish its dignity. A nation must fight against humiliation and degradation by any means from anyone and reach a point of dignity. This dignity, which is a necessity for the Iranian nation, has, by God's grace, been fully established in us through the Islamic revolution; one of its elements is not being attached or dependent on foreigners, on enemies, on those who feel no benefit in the glorious destiny of a nation like ours. Therefore, they seek their own interests and consider these interests to be in humiliating, degrading, and subjugating nations. We must not become attached to them.

You youths are the future administrators of this country. This country belongs to you; the future belongs to you. Our youth must keep this as a general principle in mind: for the administration of the country, for the future of the country, do not choose the foreign-written prescriptions. Choose Islamic, national, and indigenous prescriptions. Today, and for many years, all the efforts of the Western governments and the activists of Western civilization have been focused on imposing their culture, their knowledge, their fabrications, and their findings on nations and minds. A dignity-seeking nation, a nation that wants to be independent, must resist against this movement.

Today, the whole world witnesses how hollow and incapable the Western capitalist system is in facing events and crises. This very system is crisis-generating, and when a crisis arises, it cannot defend itself. This economic system of the West, which has been their pride, has sought to impose this system as the unique prescription of economics on nations in a thousand ways and a thousand languages.

I say that our nation, our youth, our thinkers, our students, our future builders must see the incapacity of the management methods of Western countries and their inability to manage this most important aspect of their management, namely the economy - culture in its place, human ethics in its place, disregard for human dignity in its place, the discriminations they carry out within their own power in their place; in all these matters, Western civilization has failed badly - and then our nation, our officials, especially our youth, should make this the focus of their thoughts and reflect on the fact that for managing the country, for various methods of administering this great nation, they should think of their own indigenous prescriptions. This necessitates paying closer attention to Islam. Islam has a clear and enlightening perspective on humanity and human ways. We do not defend a stagnant Islam; we do not invite to an Islam that looks at all issues with utmost narrow-mindedness, like what some claimants of Islam say; we invite to pure Islam, the Islam that warns humanity and directs humanity towards reasoning, thinking, and contemplation; the Islam of the Quran, the Islam of the tradition, the Islam of the Ahl al-Bayt; the Islam that has shown in our great country, despite the numerous hardships of decades of enemy domination, that it can organize such a movement and demonstrate this freedom and independence; we invite to this Islam.

Our youth, our thinkers, our cultural figures should contemplate; the officials of the country should move towards Islamic policies. It is not an advantage for our officials or our electoral candidates, like the current situation, to repeat the words of the West to attract the attention of others. The advantage is not to say what the West likes. These are people who oppose Iranian thought, Islamic thought, and Islamic and Iranian identity. We thank God that the Iranian nation has gained the necessary growth and awareness to overcome all these obstacles.

Your region - the Kurdistan region - this green, prosperous, and talented province; both human talent and natural talent, is one of the sensitive points of our country. Among the things the enemies have done is to try to separate this region and some similar areas with a deep valley of distrust and misunderstanding from the rest of this great Islamic country or to create distance; but they have not succeeded and could not. With insecurity and malicious propaganda, they could not tear apart this faithful and Muslim nation, and our dear Kurdish brothers and sisters in all regions of Kurdistan have shown their loyalty, steadfastness, growth, and bravery in various arenas over these years; especially the city of Mariwan, which has been known since the early days for its adherence to the principles and foundations of Islam and its faithful and committed people; we have heard this many times. Our Kurdish brothers have said that Mariwan is the Qom of Kurdistan; meaning a center of knowledge and a center of religion. People with religious inclinations and a love for knowledge have gathered in this region. Fortunately, the experiences of many years have also shown and emphasized this.

Today, thanks be to God, the Islamic system is completely in control of its affairs. The Islamic system, the Islamic Republic, has established itself not only within the country but also in the region and at the international level in the eyes of policymakers and politicians of the world. The enemies have been forced to acknowledge the stability of the Islamic Republic and the increasing power of the Islamic Republic and to submit to it.

Today, thanks be to God, the Islamic Republic has found the opportunity to plan for long-term projects to address the shortages and deficiencies and the destructions of past eras. The twenty-year outlook is a very credible and important document that the country's officials - whether in the executive branch or the legislative branch - and in various sectors have been mandated to pursue this outlook step by step and to approach its goals. The intelligent people and talented youth in every part of the country have a great responsibility in this regard. I tell you dear people, especially the youth, that building the country and advancing the country is a shared duty; a shared duty between officials and the people; the people also have responsibilities. We must be very careful that the enemies of the country's progress do not divert our minds and attention to secondary and minor points, so that we can all move towards these goals with complete unity.

Today, I can say with certainty that the officials of the country are putting all their efforts into addressing the deficiencies in all regions. In this trip to Kurdistan, the officials, members of the cabinet gathered in Sanandaj; they examined the issues that should be prioritized; they reported this to us as well. I thank the government officials who have made this effort to come. The issues they are focusing on are relevant to all regions of Kurdistan, including your region of Mariwan - the very region you are in - and the issues they have focused on are precise, fundamental, and real issues. Good decisions have also been made, and we hope that these decisions will be implemented.

What underpins this movement is the steadfastness of the Iranian nation and adherence to the slogans of the revolution. The slogans of the Islamic revolution can be the backbone of the power of the Iranian nation and the greatest support for the government in various fields of progress.

Regarding this region, one of the very important issues is the matter of investment; industrial investments and agricultural investments that create employment. When there is not enough employment, and the proper paths are not open, then our youth, unfortunately, resort to incorrect paths; to smuggling and similar activities. Smuggling is a scourge for the country and a pain for the economy; it is a severely paralyzing virus. Our youth should not find themselves in a situation where they feel compelled to resort to this illogical, illegal, and illegitimate path. This is one of the main efforts of the government, and the government has committed to this effort. You must also help; you must cooperate in this matter. The smuggling that occurs, while it brings profit to the perpetrator, the real profit goes to those who are behind this apparent movement; opportunists and exploiters who, without bearing any burden, without facing any danger, reap the most profit, while our faithful youth put themselves at risk due to desperation or for any other reason. This avenue must be closed, and this is possible with proper investments and job creation in all regions of Kurdistan, in all sectors of the counties of Kurdistan, especially in the counties close to the border like Mariwan, and I have seen that the country's officials, fortunately, are paying attention to this point and have thought about this issue. A foundation must be laid for good investments to take place so that employment is created, so that the youth can secure their livelihood through proper, legal, and legitimate means.

Of course, you should know that since the enemy knows that the condition for investment and wealth creation is security, and they do not want investment and wealth creation to take place in this region, they will try to counter security. They will try to disrupt security. Of course, I can assure you that the faithful and loyal forces of the Islamic Republic will severely confront the factors of insecurity and will, by God's grace, eliminate any opportunity for insecurity.

I thank God for granting me the opportunity to once again visit the dear city of Mariwan and you dear, kind, loyal, and faithful people up close. We do not forget you; the hearts of the officials are filled with love for you people and are overflowing with affection for the people; know this. And the efforts that the country's officials are pursuing are efforts for the advancement of the major issues of the country, including the issue of the country's economy. Fortunately, there have been many successes, much work has been done, and many more works need to be accomplished. One of the goals of this trip is to draw the attention of the people from other parts of the country to this region, so that the emotional connections between hearts become stronger day by day. Both the Kurdish people of this region and the Persian, Turkish, Baluch, and other Iranian ethnicities in other regions should clearly feel that they are all parts of a magnificent and glorious body called the Iranian nation. And this, thanks be to God, is being achieved.

I sincerely thank you for your kindness, for your warm and sincere reception, and for your heartfelt expressions, and I ask God to bestow His blessings and favors upon you dear people and to grant our officials success and help them fulfill their duties towards these dear people in the best and most complete manner. I entrust all of you to the great God.

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