Statements in Meeting with Senior Military and Law Enforcement Commanders

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

I congratulate you on the occasion of Nowruz and the arrival of spring — the season of freshness, vitality, and renewal — to all of you dear brothers, who bear heavy burdens, and we witness your extensive efforts and hard work in various sectors related to your duties. God willing, may God accept these efforts from all of you and grant you success so that you can — as we have conveyed to the Iranian nation this year — with multiplied determination and effort, advance and conquer vast new fields, and truly bring the armed forces of the Islamic Republic to the point that is worthy of this system and worthy of devoted, sincere, and service-oriented elements like yourselves.

Truly, one of God's great blessings in this era for the armed forces is the presence of sincere and devoted officials; this should be regarded as a great blessing and should be thanked. This phenomenon that manifested itself in the Islamic Republic and was reflected and crystallized during the Sacred Defense — that is, the phenomenon of “considering oneself secondary to the goal, rather than making the goal dependent on oneself” — is a very important phenomenon; it truly deserves gratitude. It is not that we have not had and do not have insincere and dubious individuals throughout these times; indeed, all kinds of spirits and temperaments exist among all strata and individuals; however, the prevailing outlook is this. When I look at our dear commanders — who are you — I truly thank the Almighty God for favoring this nation with such faithful and sincere elements assigned to these great tasks.

Well, you gentlemen, who are worthy of gratitude, are a blessing from God for us; you should thank God for granting you this opportunity to carry out these important tasks. All of us — both I and each of you individually — could have been active individuals in our personal lives; a good merchant, a good cleric, a good academic; we could have made efforts for ourselves, for our own personal benefit, without any burden before the Almighty God; because the work we do carries a great risk of burden and accountability; the shoulders are under a heavy weight; we could have chosen not to be this way, to have a normal life; but naturally, we would not have had this role that you have today in your country and system. Therefore, it is worthy of gratitude that you are in a position where you can play a role. Your presence, your will, your knowledge, and your level of sincerity can affect the destiny of the country, the history of the country, the future of this nation — not just the future of ten or twenty years, but the future of a hundred or two hundred years for this country; that if this effect is a positive one, then this ongoing charity is superior to everything and nothing can be compared to it. If you can draw a line, accomplish a task that for many years to come, a nation can enjoy happiness, benefiting from both religion and the world, this is something that no act of worship, no night prayer, no average and ordinary service to God's creatures can equate with; it is a very high matter. God has granted this opportunity to you and me; therefore, we must be grateful. However, like all great tasks, just as the bounty is great, the cost is also heavy and dangerous; “whoever has the bounty, must bear the cost”; they are mutually exchanged; it is like the high altitude in mountain climbing. If a person is thrown from there, the danger is much greater than being thrown from one or two meters above the ground. But well, that is the high point; it is the elevated point. The higher the position, the greater the dangers.

The way to close these dangers is to observe duty and to struggle against the desires of the self. It is not that a person has been placed in a state of ambiguity where we do not know what to do; no, it is about fighting and opposing the desires that are contrary to the Sharia and religion and constantly considering duty and obligation. If you follow this line — which is certainly not an easy one, it is difficult — it is clear what must be done. Therefore, in my opinion, one of the tasks that we and you must have is to ask the Almighty God and say: O Lord! Do not turn this blessing that You have given us — that is, the opportunity to be in an effective position in the destiny of the country and nation — into a curse; do not let it become a source of burden. Well, this depends on our own efforts. We must seek God's help, strive, and work hard; it will happen.

The armed forces — as stated by Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) — are a fortress; they are the elevated fortress surrounding a nation and a country. The fortress must always remain steadfast; the fortress must not develop cracks; therefore, the armed forces must always maintain their steadfastness. Within the fortress, various events and conditions arise; some are asleep, some are awake, some are fighting, some are busy with weddings, some are in mourning; but this fortress must remain strong in all these conditions. Look at the armed forces with this perspective. This steadfastness must always remain. If this steadfastness exists, if the guardians on the fortress are vigilant, alert, monitoring the enemy's movements, and are not oblivious to any point, the security within the fortress will be preserved; in the shadow of that security, people can attain both religion and the world; if there is no security, they cannot. Therefore, focusing on the steadfastness of the armed forces is a non-negotiable religious principle. Everyone must be vigilant; the armed forces themselves must be vigilant, governments must be attentive, and the people must support; this fortress must remain strong. In all circumstances, whatever happens inside, the fortress of the armed forces must be preserved.

Well, this analogy is reasonable and tangible. A fortress has a meaning everywhere. You are the fortress; the army is one kind of fortress, the IRGC is another kind of fortress, the Basij is another kind of fortress, the law enforcement force is another kind of fortress, and the Information Protection is another kind of fortress; each must observe and maintain its own aspect of being a fortress and the necessity of strengthening this fortress in its defined and designated duties.

The world is a world of bullying; it is a world of oppression; it is not a good world; it is a bad world; it is a world of ignorance; it is a world dominated by the lustful and the bullies over most of the people of the world. In such a world, one must be very cautious, one must act very wisely, and act bravely. You see the behavior of these world leaders; for their own greed, for their own avarice, to support and back the companies they favor, to fill the pockets of the big capitalists, you see what atrocities are happening in the world; of course, under the name of good, hollow, and false slogans. They are war-mongers, they bring up the name of peace and stand under the banner of peace; they do not recognize any rights or dignity for humans and humanity, they fall under the banner of human rights; they are aggressors, aggression is part of their main policies, they claim to oppose aggression; in their policies, in their behaviors, they use and exploit all dirty methods; they use terrorism, create terrorist organizations, hire terrorist companies — these are clear things in today’s world — in Iraq you see an example of it, in Afghanistan you see an example of it; in those places where they have instigated coups, you see it; the aggression that has been committed against countries, you see it; meanwhile, they appear with a calm, ironed appearance, wearing cologne, with appropriate words, they come before the eyes of the people, as the president of such and such country; they play with public opinion, they deceive; the basis of their work is deception. The world is such a world; a world based on lies, on deception, on masked oppression and bullying; although sometimes the masks are removed. Sometimes, arrogance and confidence in the flimsy foundations of power they possess make them lose control. You saw it; just a few days ago, the President of the United States implicitly threatened to use nuclear weapons! This is a very strange statement; the world should not overlook this statement. In the twenty-first century, the century of all these claims of peace and human rights and international organizations and the fight against terrorism, the president of a country stands there and threatens a nuclear attack! This is a very strange statement in the world.

This is also detrimental to themselves, they do not understand. Its clear meaning is that the American government is a wicked and untrustworthy government. For years, they have been trying to prove that the Islamic Republic is untrustworthy in the nuclear issue; while the Islamic Republic has not attacked any country in these thirty years, nor has it initiated any aggression, nor has it fostered terrorism. They want to say that the Islamic Republic is untrustworthy. Well, who is untrustworthy in the world? Those who have nuclear bombs and do not hesitate to say that we might use this nuclear bomb or we will use it. This is a very strange statement, this exposes them.

In this world, one must be very vigilant. Of course, opposing this oppression and bullying, whether masked or unmasked, is not solely limited to military readiness; more important than military readiness is spiritual readiness; it is the moral readiness; it is the strength of a nation’s resolve; it is the ability of a nation to stand against these tempests. The tempest comes and passes; no matter how powerful it is, it comes and passes; the important thing is whether one can stand against this tempest or not. The problem with structures that collapse is that they cannot hold themselves up; otherwise, the tempest is not permanent. If a nation strengthens its knees, gives itself the power to stand, and reinforces its steadfastness, these tempests and storms will not affect them; they come and go; they leave, and this nation remains.

The strength of a system lies in these things: in faith, in the power and ability to stand firm, in resolute determination, in not being deceived by the smooth and flattering words that are often easily exchanged in many political transactions; while behind these soft words lies the harsh and wrathful face of those who have malicious intentions. There are countless examples of this in our time, in these few decades, regarding others, regarding various countries, regarding ourselves; we have seen many instances. Being wise, not being deceived, having self-confidence, having trust in the Almighty God, strengthening the power to stand; these are what keep a nation alive.

Fortunately, the ground for all of this is prepared for us. For thirty years, various storms have come and gone, this nation has stood firm, this revolution has become more stable. Today we are much stronger than ten years ago, twenty years ago, and thirty years ago. Our capabilities in all areas today are much greater; we have demonstrated this in confronting various hostilities, our nation shows this by God's grace and divine favor. Therefore, the main capability is this.

However, as we mentioned, this fortress must not be allowed to see any cracks. Yes, within this fortress, the people are standing firm, but the fortress — that is, the armed forces — must be kept strong. First, the armed forces must take threats seriously; I have said this many times. You cannot operate in your calculations like political calculations. A political calculator might say the possibility of enemy attack is low; twenty percent, thirty percent; you must say the possibility of enemy attack is one hundred percent. You must prepare your readiness based on this premise in all sectors. You must always be alert.

In my opinion, the issue of innovative plans must also be taken very seriously. Fortunately, this exists in the armed forces. Like a mass of talent, where a part of this talent, a superficial layer of this talent has been utilized; the depths of this mass of talent are still unopened; our nation is like this. One truly feels and sees that at the beginning of the revolution, in various sectors, a small amount of this mass of intellectual capacity and talent and skill acquisition was utilized. The revolution caused a movement to emerge; in scientific fields, in technology, in construction, in cultural, political, and other sectors; talents blossomed, flourished. That is, from this compressed and dense mass, other layers have also opened up. This experience shows us that our capacities are very high.

Go pursue innovative work, go after things that the world has not experienced and tested; in operational designs, in intelligence designs, in the way of dealing with the enemy; deception in one way, strategy in another; these are important tasks. I particularly emphasize the organization of the armed forces. Fortunately, both the IRGC and the army have taken steps in this direction, they are thinking and working. Innovation in traditional organization has existed so far — in the IRGC in one way, in the army in another way — go pursue innovative work. Of course, not every new work is desirable. A new work that is accompanied by complete consideration, precision, and testing is desirable. Pursue innovative work; just as it has been so far in various sectors of the armed forces; the self-sufficiency jihad of the army is one example, which has accomplished great tasks over the past thirty years. In the IRGC, there have been numerous and varied activities in these areas. Thanks be to God, we are not devoid of hopeful and encouraging experiences. One sees that great tasks can be accomplished.

These are our remarks. God willing, all these things we have said and those we have not said, which are part of our aspirations, will be realized and manifested in your programs and your work. Well, all of this has a spirit, and that spirit is the spirituality and religious insight and deepening of religious beliefs and convictions that manifests itself in the work of our good, active, and hardworking brothers in the ideological-political sectors in a certain way, in the representatives of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist in the IRGC and other places in a certain way. These brothers must also employ this issue of priorities and these innovations and these new paths and this multiplied effort so that, God willing, day by day we are more aligned with the religious appearances and the practical and belief-based depth in the armed forces.

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