Statements at the Meeting with the Organizers of the Commemoration Congress for the Martyrs of Kerman Province

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 Muhammad and his pure family, and God's curse be upon all their enemies.

First, I sincerely thank you, dear gentlemen and brothers, for this timely and, God willing, effective action, that is, honoring the martyrs and commemorating the esteemed and pure name of the martyrs. To honor an activist, to give importance to a mover, is not only to honor him, nor is it only to honor his work, but it signifies the creation of continuity in his movement; this is important; more importantly, this is it. When someone goes to the battlefield of jihad and you honor him, you have done three things: one is that you have honored this martyr in the way of God; you have respected him; the second is that you have honored jihad; the third is that you have encouraged others to continue this path. This is what happened during our imposed war and our eight-year sacred defense; that is, a young man went to the front and was martyred, his father, his mother, and other people took pride in his name, which led many individuals to move towards the battlefield of jihad and this path continued. During the sacred defense, the combatants were remembered with respect; this caused many people to desire this movement and this battlefield. Well, this is an event that occurred during the sacred defense, and since then, this has continued to some extent until today.

Be aware that for this third characteristic, for this third issue, your opponents, your enemies, want the memory of the martyrs not to be revived and the martyrs not to be honored; so that the path of martyrdom becomes blind, blocked, so that others are not encouraged to engage in a jihadist movement. They have seen and experienced, and we and you have also experienced that when the name of the martyrs, the memory of the martyrs, is mentioned with grandeur, today’s youth, who have neither seen the war nor the era of Imam, nor have any memories from that time, when they understand that somewhere far away, thousands of miles away, they are fighting against the enemies, they become enamored with the movement towards the battlefield of jihad, they rise and go to fight in Aleppo, in Boukamal, in Zainabiyah, and they reach martyrdom. See! This is because you have respected the martyr; because martyrdom has been honored, this naturally strengthens the movement of seeking martyrdom, the jihadist movement in the country.

And the secret of a nation’s power is that its youth, its active individuals, enter the fields bravely, boldly, without fear. Not that our men must necessarily be martyred; no, we are not seeking that; we are seeking that all of us have the power to shield our chests in various and difficult arenas, to have the power to stand firm; this is important; if this happens, this nation is victorious, this nation is powerful, this nation will never be humiliated, no one can place it under their control. See how important the memory of the martyrs is!

Well, the matters that you gentlemen mentioned, the works that have been done, are good and diverse, and you have chosen well; there are various works that have taken into account artistic, scientific, promotional, and service aspects, and good works have been done, and God willing, you will be able to complete this work in the best way. What is important is that we pay attention to what the message of the martyrs to us is; this is important. وَیَستَبشِرونَ بِالَّذینَ لَم یَلحَقوا بِهِم مِن خَلفِهِم اَلّا خَوفٌ عَلَیهِم وَ لا‌ هُم یَحزَنون; this is the message of the martyrs. Today, what is all the effort of the enemies of the Iranian nation in the soft war? It is to make the Iranian nation sorrowful, hopeless, and fearful, and to force the Iranian nation to be afraid of entering the battlefield; the message of the martyrs is the opposite of this: اَلّا خَوفٌ عَلَیهِم وَ لا‌ هُم یَحزَنون; fear and sorrow have been removed in the battlefield of martyrdom.

This message is not just the message of the first day of the martyrs, so that we think, for example, that they were martyred 30 or 35 years ago; no, this message is the eternal message of the martyrs; that is, they are constantly conveying messages to us, giving us glad tidings: وَیَستَبشِرونَ بِالَّذینَ لَم یَلحَقوا بِهِم مِن خَلفِهِم اَلّا خَوفٌ عَلَیهِم وَ لا‌ هُم یَحزَنون; this is the message of the martyrs. If we enter the battlefield of struggle - that is, the very thing that our enemies fear and are apprehensive about - we must know that the Almighty God removes fear and sorrow from us; just as it was during the sacred defense. Those who went to the front and spent some time there, when they wanted to return to their families and cities, the environment of the city was heavy for them, it really put pressure on them; whereas there it was like paradise for them; there was a spirituality, a sanctity, they were happy - happy in the spiritual and divine sense, immersed in divine remembrance - they were like this. The youth there truly enjoyed being under the rain of bullets, under the shells, under the shrapnel, which is also a characteristic of sacrifice, a characteristic of being present in the battlefield for God and jihad in the way of God. When they came back to the city and saw the urban relationships and various arrangements in the environment, they often felt downhearted, they told us, and that was the reality; this is because there is purity there, there is spirituality there, there is paradise there; the complete manifestation of “لا خَوفٌ عَلَیهِم وَ لا‌ هُم یَحزَنون” is there.

Well, thanks be to God, the people of Kerman have also given a good test over time. I have very good memories of Kerman and the people of Kerman and the scholars of Kerman and the youth of Kerman; from before the revolution, from the years 42 and 43 when we connected with Kerman and traveled back and forth, it has always been like this: interested, faithful, noble people who have moved in the right direction; that is, the general public were like this; thanks be to God, prominent figures have also emerged among them; among their scholars, it is truly the same. The scholars we saw in Kerman were very good, faithful, interested, and noble people. The nobility of the Kermani people is well-known. Today, too, thanks be to God, the people of Kerman are in service to Islam and the revolution, and they must strive more and work - especially the youth, especially the youth - so that they can fulfill their share in the advancement of the country, God willing, just as they did in the past.

And we also pray that the Almighty God grants you all success and that you can carry out these great responsibilities, including this great commemoration, in the best way, God willing. May God, God willing, protect you.

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