Statements at the Meeting with Commanders and Personnel of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy and Their Families

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.

Welcome, my dear ones, dear brothers, dear sisters, and esteemed families! The determined faces reflecting resolve, will, and faith are all great national treasures; both these faithful individuals and their strong motivations and hearts. No wealth in any country can be imagined to be as great as the immense wealth of capable and efficient human resources. These days are also significant; they commemorate the remarkable event of Mubahala (the event of mutual cursing), the revelation of Surah Hal Ata, the approach of the days of Muharram, and in terms of the regional situation and the sensitivity of the events unfolding in the region, these are important days; a crucial period.

Regarding the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, what is important is the presence of the children of the revolution and the revolutionary forces at sea; this is a very fundamental and important point. Security is the foundation of all a nation's progress. Without security, there is no economy, no culture, no personal happiness, and no public happiness for the society. Maritime security is even more important for countries with coastlines; because the sea is a means of international communication. The presence of powers and nations at sea is not considered an exceptional event; it is a common and ongoing matter. If a country that is a neighbor to the sea and has a coastline cannot ensure security at sea, it has, in fact, failed to establish the pillars of its internal security. Therefore, maritime security is very important. Well, our youth, thanks be to God, have worked in this area within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; they have accomplished outstanding and valuable work. These should not be overlooked in the sensitive history following the revolution.

The presence of esteemed families in the southern region right now is one of those great and martyrdom-worthy efforts. I must express this in the presence of the esteemed families. That the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps establishes its presence in Bandar Abbas and in the coasts and in difficult areas, and that families go there and endure these hardships, is very valuable. This is not something that one can easily overlook.

The southern region itself, Bushehr Province, Bandar Abbas, these areas that are exposed to maritime events, have passed good tests over the years of the revolution. In the early days, the presence of the revolution at sea was not very noticeable, but later the feet of the children of the revolution and the nurtured ones of the revolution and the youth of the revolution entered this region and the situation changed. When the ground was prepared, the people of the region, the youth of the region, the bubbling motivations that existed in the region, all fell into the correct line. Then you see, for example, in the region of Bushehr, a prominent and great martyr like Martyr Nader Mahdavi emerges, who, in the eyes of those who are devoted to matters related to martyrdom and jihad and such, these kinds of figures, like Nader Mahdavi and those who were with him, who accomplished those great works, dazzled the enemy; they brought honor to the Iranian nation and showcased the power of the Islamic system and the Islamic Republic to the enemy; their memory must be kept alive. They must be highlighted in written history and oral history; just as the enmities of the enemies must also be recognized.

The efforts of all those who supported and defended that accursed and vile being, namely Saddam, in the Persian Gulf, those who claim to advocate human rights, those who later lined up against Saddam - who helped him for many years against the Islamic Republic - aimed to make the Persian Gulf insecure for the Islamic Republic. This shows the importance of security in the Persian Gulf. It shows how crucial this security is, as their enmity was aimed at making this region insecure for Iran, which has the longest coastline in this blue region - the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

The presence of revolutionary youth and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Navy and the formation of this force and their entry into the arena made the sea insecure for them. Their warships were damaged, their helicopters were damaged, their oil tankers were damaged; they realized that the Islamic Republic is not a being with which they can play with its fate as they wish; this is the spiritual power of the Islamic Republic system. The Quran commands us: "And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of God and your enemy." Your presence, your situation, your movement must be such that it instills fear in the enemy. The enemy is naturally aggressive; the nature of world oppressors is aggression, advancing, seizing, and clawing; that is their nature; if your trench is penetrable, they will penetrate; you must move in such a way that they feel they cannot penetrate. The formation of a revolutionary front in the southern country and the presence of revolutionary forces in the form of the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the brave youth of the coastal provinces - these youth who have not sold their hearts to the world - has made this Quranic goal achievable: "And you may terrify the enemy of God and your enemy"; this must always continue. We have repeatedly said that we will not be the initiators of war; we have our reasons for this; we do not start any war, but we must take away the courage to start a war from the enemy, the enemy must be recognized, the nature of the enemy must be understood.

Today, the arrogant powers in this region have defined dangerous objectives for themselves; these are objectives that concern the fate of nations. The tools they employ are very dangerous, inhumane, and savage; they have no qualms about using methods that lead to the killing of innocent people. You observe what they do in our western region, in Iraq, in Syria, or in our eastern region, in Afghanistan, in Pakistan? They have no qualms; human lives have no value for them. Their claims of human rights and human dignity and citizenship rights and such empty and meaningless claims are all false; the evidence is what you observe; they attack hospitals, killing dozens of patients with bombardments, and then say, "Sorry, it was a mistake!" Sometimes they do not even say that. In Gaza, in Yemen, in Bahrain, in Syria, in Iraq, and in other regions, atrocities occur that astonish one with the ruthlessness and heartlessness of those who commit these atrocities; how can they? To put a person in a cage, burn them alive, and set them on fire! Human rights organizations sit and watch. Meanwhile, when a dog or a cat falls into a well, they employ all means to rescue it safely from the well, meaning we are advocates for living beings; the great danger of the world is this hypocrisy, this lying, this duplicity; the enemy is like this. Their intention is to implement their objectives in the region; however, the Islamic Republic, with divine grace and by the power of God, not only prevents the enemy's infiltration within itself, but also has largely prevented the enemy's plans from being implemented in the region; this is the grace of the Lord, this is divine power that is due to the very determination and will that you youth possess. Many of their plans have failed and been neutralized due to the power and presence and entry of the Islamic Republic in those places where it needed to enter; therefore, their greatest focus for enmity is the Islamic Republic, and they do whatever they can, and the fact that they talk about negotiation and dialogue is for infiltration.

Some people are careless about the issue of negotiation and the matter of negotiation; they are simplistic in their thinking and do not understand the matter correctly. Now some are indifferent - the indifferent ones in society, who do not care what happens, whether the country's interests are destroyed, whether national interests are annihilated - we do not deal with them, but some are not indifferent, yet they are simplistic, they do not grasp the depth of the issues. When the subject of negotiation comes up, they say, "Why do you oppose negotiating with America?" Well, Amir al-Mu'minin also negotiated with such-and-such, Imam Hussein also negotiated. Well, these show a lack of depth in thinking, indicating a failure to reach the depth of the issue. One cannot analyze the country's issues in this way; with this naive and simplistic view, one cannot reach the interests of the country. Firstly, Amir al-Mu'minin, when he spoke with Zubair or Imam Hussein when he spoke with Ibn Sa'ad, he advised him; this is not negotiation in the modern sense; modern negotiation means a deal, that you give something, you take something. Did Amir al-Mu'minin negotiate with Zubair to give something and take something? Did Imam Hussein negotiate with Ibn Sa'ad to give something or take something? Was that the goal? Do you understand history this way? Do you analyze the lives of the Imams this way? Imam Hussein went to admonish, advised, said fear God; Amir al-Mu'minin advised Zubair, reminded him of the time of the Prophet, and said fear God; it actually had an effect, Zubair withdrew from the war. Today, negotiation does not mean this; because with America, the Great Satan, we must negotiate, some people truly bring examples with a simplistic and naive view and without understanding the reality of the situation, and they write in newspapers, they post on websites, and they say in speeches, "Why did Amir al-Mu'minin negotiate with Zubair, but you do not negotiate with America?" This shows how much misunderstanding exists regarding the issue. This negotiation was not in that sense.

Secondly, we have no objection to negotiation in the same modern sense; we are negotiating with the whole world now. We negotiate with European governments, we negotiate with Latin American governments; all of these are negotiations; we have no issue with negotiation. The meaning of saying we do not negotiate with America is not that we oppose negotiation in principle; no, we oppose negotiation with America. This has a reason, and a wise person must understand why; otherwise, we negotiate with others, and they are not such friends of ours - some of them are enemies, some are indifferent, we negotiate with them and have no problem - but negotiation with America with the Islamic Republic of Iran means infiltration; the definition they have for negotiation is this, and they want to open the way for imposition. Today, the great propaganda giant of the world is in the hands of America; today, the Zionist movement, which is fiercely against humanity and against virtue, is with America; both are in the same garment, their hands come out of the same sleeve and they are together. Negotiating with them means opening the way for them to infiltrate, both in economic, cultural, political, and security matters of the country.

In these negotiations related to nuclear energy issues, wherever they found an opportunity and were given a field - which, of course, the Iranian side, thanks be to God, was vigilant, but in some places they eventually found opportunities - they made an infiltration, a harmful move for national interests; that which is prohibited is this. Negotiating with America is prohibited due to the countless harms it has and the lack of any benefit; this is different from negotiating with such-and-such government that has neither such capabilities nor such motivation; these are different from each other, and they do not understand this.

The current problem of the country is unfortunately due to the presence of some people who are sometimes indifferent and sometimes simplistic [in their thinking], who are, of course, few, a minority; against the vast majority of the revolutionary, aware, and insightful population of the country, they are nothing, but they are active: they write, they speak, they repeat; they repeat! The enemy also helps them. Today, an important chapter of the activities of the enemies of the Islamic Republic - which, of course, we are aware of and we are attentive to what they are doing - is precisely that they want to change the calculations of the officials and manipulate the thoughts of the people and implant these in the minds of our youth; whether revolutionary thoughts, whether religious thoughts, whether ideas related to the interests of the country. The main target is also the youth; in such a situation, the youth of the country must be very vigilant. Thanks be to God, they are awake; both our universities are awake, and our armed forces are awake, and our military organizations - both the army, the IRGC, the Basij, and the police - thanks be to God, are on the front lines; I have no concern in this regard. My address to you, the children of the revolution, the youth of the revolution who, thanks be to God, are involved and active in one of the important issues of the country, namely maritime security, is that you must understand the importance of your work today. Just as in Mubahala, all faith stood against disbelief, today, all faith in the Islamic Republic stands against disbelief; and just as the spirituality and purity and spiritual power of the Prophet Muhammad and his family were able to drive the enemy from the field, by divine grace and by the power of God, the Iranian nation will drive the enemy from the field with its power and spirituality.

The role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the sea is significant, the role of the activities of the youth in the southern region - Bushehr Province or the other coastal provinces - is prominent. The youth of the south have truly proven themselves and have shown that they can defend their country's dignity, their revolution, and their system in the true sense of the word. The role of the esteemed families who have accepted to be present in that region and have settled there is very important; if families do not accompany and empathize with the men of the family, the work does not progress. Today, fortunately, the women of our country, the ladies of our country have very clear, sincere, and aware motivations; it was the same throughout the war. I sometimes have the opportunity to sit with the families of martyrs, to talk; often the mothers of martyrs, if they are not more motivated and passionate than the fathers of martyrs, they are not less so, and in many of these cases, their motivations and insights are even greater. These are the women of our society; this is very valuable for the country.

What I am saying is that you should increase your preparedness; both scientific preparedness [meaning] in knowledge and research, and material preparedness [meaning] military tools. Just as the commander (2) pointed out, the enemies, in the face of the tools brought to the field by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have thought to change their military strategies; that is, the presence of the IRGC with innovation at sea has forced them to change their strategies. Therefore, your innovations, your inventions, your creativity in the matter of tools and innovation in tools must increase in parallel with the enemy's movements in scientific work and tool-making and military presence; and it can be done; the innovation of the human mind has no end. Just as, for example, one day the IRGC concluded that it should pursue fast boats, it can think of new issues that are beyond this, better than this, stronger than this, and bring them to the field. Always be thinking, have the upper hand; the criterion is "And you may terrify the enemy of God" (3). If the enemy is not afraid, it will attack; if it is not afraid, it gives itself the courage to invade. This is also my second recommendation.

My third recommendation is cooperation. Today, thanks be to God, the Navy of the Army has changed from the Navy of the early years of the revolution from land to sky; it has changed. I knew both that Navy in detail, and I know this Navy; the faithful youth are ready to work. Cooperate, have solidarity, help each other, use each other's experiences; this synergy will help increase this national wealth. These are our remarks to you.

Know that God Almighty is your supporter; do not doubt this that "If you help God, He will help you". (4) Our endeavor must be to fulfill the command of "If you help God"; we must support God. If our intention, our action, our movement aligns with "If you help God", then certainly "He will help you" exists; the promise of God is unbreakable. Follow this movement, pursue this work; follow these seriousness; the future belongs to you. The enemies of Islam and Muslims will be defeated both in the region of West Asia and in other areas; both in security and military matters they will be defeated, and by divine grace in economic and cultural matters; provided that we work. If we are steadfast, if we are truly and genuinely present, if we are on the front lines, the enemy will certainly be defeated; there is no doubt about this.

We ask God Almighty for your success, and we ask God Almighty to increase, day by day, God willing, the happiness of you dear youth and the progress and elevation of the Iranian nation; and may the pure soul of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) and the dear martyrs of the revolution and the martyrs of the IRGC and the Navy of the IRGC be elevated in their ranks, God willing.

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