Statements at the Meeting with the Personnel and Families of Naval Group 86 of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy

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 infallible family, especially the Awaited One on earth.

I extend my warm welcome to each and every one of you dear ones; beloved brothers, beloved sisters, children who are the pride of the Iranian nation; God willing, may you all be successful and supported.

The purpose of this meeting is to express gratitude and appreciation; I sincerely thank each one of you; both the members of Naval Group 86 who accomplished a great mission and successfully circumnavigated the globe, a feat that has not occurred in the history of our country's maritime navigation; I also thank your families, about whom I will say a word later; I also express my gratitude to the esteemed commander of the Navy; and to the strategic headquarters that was established in the army, namely the Zulfiqar Strategic Headquarters, which was continuously in contact with the naval group, and I have inquired several times and found them fully informed about the characteristics of the naval group. I also thank the agencies that supported this effort — both technical agencies and the meteorological headquarters and others — so that this great work could be accomplished with the collaboration of a group of individuals, allowing you, the personnel and members of Naval Group 86, to carry out this success, this great operation, with pride, God willing.

On this occasion, I find it necessary to remember the martyrs of the Navy, the martyrs of the Peykan destroyer, who were also young and self-sacrificing men, as well as the martyrs of the proud army of the Islamic Republic; we are all indebted to them and their families. My dear ones, the actions of your predecessors during the important events of the revolution until today have laid the groundwork for your success today; you must appreciate them. The army and the IRGC have made many sacrifices at sea, and these sacrifices have borne fruit; you are the flower that has blossomed from the verdant plant they created, the sweet fruit of the tree they planted. Today, we stand at a point of great pride, and although the esteemed commander of the forces and the esteemed commander of the naval group have made good statements, and some matters have been mentioned on television, no, your movement does not end here; it has a more detailed account and a more elaborate story that must be elucidated, that must be expressed. This point is a point of great pride; we have this point thanks to the efforts and struggles of the past.

Well, the great work that Naval Group 86 accomplished is an honor that has occurred for the first time in the history of our country's maritime navigation. Now, if we set aside the years of calamity under the rule of the Pahlavis and Qajars, we had maritime navigation before, it was not bad, but the distance between what we had before and what you accomplished is very great; this was a great honor that your naval group created; a group of three hundred and fifty individuals, with an experienced and skilled commander, managed to cover 65,000 kilometers — a full circumnavigation of the globe — spending nearly eight months at sea, precisely 232 days; these are great accomplishments. The renowned naval forces of the world, and those who can and do perform such tasks, are few; you accomplished it; you traversed three oceans and returned home with pride. What you did is a deeply meaningful act; it cannot easily be viewed as just a maritime or military incident; your work has depth. I want to make a reference to this depth.

First of all, this great movement indicates that among our military forces, there is both high ambition, strong will, and self-confidence; these are very important. Three important factors: placing ambition and resolute will behind work, and then self-confidence, meaning the same "we can"; this is one side of the matter; the other side of the matter is military knowledge, design capability. Such operations, a very important part of it is design; that a group can undertake such a design is very important. And then military knowledge; then another aspect: courage, perseverance, the ability to endure hardships.

Now we say easily eight months at sea; those who have spent two or three days at sea understand what eight months at sea means! Enduring these hardships is very important. You see, your work reflects these truths; each of these truths deserves attention; that is, the very fact that, for example, a military group can acquire the design capability for such an operation is something significant. Self-belief and self-confidence are important, and so on.

Efficient management, which is accompanied by skill, is another important point. Capable, efficient, and skilled management is very important. This is in the front line of operations. Behind the scenes, the establishment of the strategic headquarters that I mentioned and the continuous communication of the commander of the forces and the army officials with the group that is moving in the seas is also a very important part of the matter. As per the reports — I did not take notes now — it seems that about eighty meetings have been held in that headquarters over these months; all of these are commendable and significant works. This is one aspect of the importance of your work [and as I will say later, this work must be elucidated; there is a way to elucidate it that I will refer to].

Another issue is the role of families. Now this esteemed lady said a few words, [but] it is more than this. These worries [are not trivial]; your dear one is at sea, for eight months! Worry, anxiety, longing, answering the children; fathers and mothers feel one way, spouses feel another; they endured, they persevered, they felt pride. When the naval group arrived, reached our shore, and entered, I saw the footage of the families. One feels that the ladies, the spouses, the fathers, and the mothers feel proud that their young one accomplished this great task; this feeling of pride is very important. This feeling of pride motivates both you and others to undertake great works. If families had complained, expressed dissatisfaction, expressed discontent, even the one who had gone would have regretted it. Thanks be to God, your families passed the test well, they endured well, they felt pride, and they showed this pride.

I find it necessary to remember and pay respect to the families of the dear martyrs here. Thanks be to God, your dear ones returned, you embraced them, you saw them; the families of the martyrs have not filled the void of their loved ones; everything we have is from these sacrifices; everything we have is from these great acts of nobility; we are all indebted. Every time I meet the families of martyrs, I say may God not lessen your shadow over the Iranian nation.

I will mention a few points regarding this great action of the Navy. The first point is that your work was an example of the noble verse "And prepare for them whatever you are able of power and of tethered horses". The Quran explicitly, that is without interpretation, has commanded that "prepare for them", prepare against the enemies; "whatever you are able", increase your readiness as much as you can. You see, this is the Quran. This is no weak religious narration; it is a clear command of the Quran. "And prepare for them whatever you are able"; you increased your readiness, you showcased your capabilities. Your action, although it was the product of efforts made before you, nonetheless became a rule, a foundation for greater works that will be accomplished after this; this is how it is. You accomplished this preparation. Therefore, the first point is that the movement of Naval Group 86 was an example of the verse "And prepare for them whatever you are able".

Your work elevated the self-confidence of our forces, raised the level of our military capabilities, and strengthened the belief of "we can", which is the foundation of progress — progress based on the belief in "we can" — in minds. The enemy, when they see this, is forced to gather their wits; this is naturally the case. In this verse, it also states: "You frighten the enemy of God with it"; you must increase your preparations so that the enemy feels that you are ready. One of the things that encourages enemies to attack is that they feel the other side is passive, weak, and doubtful; this encourages the enemy to act; [but] when they see no, you are awake, you are ready, you are capable, you are knowledgeable, they will naturally reconsider their calculations.

The next point is that your work provided valuable experiences in the field of maritime navigation to the Navy and military forces; that is, new experiences were created: crossing the width of the Pacific Ocean; this had not happened in our maritime navigation before. Passing through difficult straits and waterways; which was mentioned. Passing through some of these straits is a difficult and technical task requiring skill; you accomplished this work; you managed to pass through these straits and difficult paths without incident. Encountering maritime challenges on distant routes; where you are thousands of kilometers away from your home, various issues arose for you, you encountered them and coped. The experience of self-sufficiency in fuel, in electricity, in health and medical facilities; that is, during this adventurous journey, you managed to be self-sufficient in fuel, self-sufficient in electricity and energy, and self-sufficient in health — both in hygiene and treatment — you performed surgeries; these are very valuable experiences. In connection with the center, you were also able to gain new experiences. What happened, this connection itself is a very important point; the ability to communicate. These were your experiences; these are scientific reserves; the things I mentioned, these achievements, are all scientific reserves and should be taught in universities; in the naval universities and related to this work, these things can be presented as teaching materials.

Another point in your work is that your action was able to elevate and enhance Iran's international standing. I want to say this: the political value of your work was not less than its military value, if not more. The very fact that you were able to carry out such a significant movement at sea, [that] Iran had this much force, this many young people, this much scientific capability, this much skill to accomplish this great task, created an international standing for the country.

The next point is that your maritime journey had several lessons; it had lessons that are noteworthy. The first lesson was the lesson of recognizing God. The sea is one of the prominent signs of God's existence. In prayer, we read "O He who in the seas are Your wonders"; the sea is the center of the wonders and marvels of creation. The greatness of the sea, the vastness of the oceans, the beauty of the various scenes of the sea, in some places the wrath of the sea, the grace of the sea, the astonishing marine creatures, all of these are divine signs, all of these are signs of God. The sea is, in fact, an exhibition of the signs of the Lord. So the first lesson of this maritime journey is the recognition of God; a person's belief in God is strengthened, they see the divine signs with their own eyes.

The second lesson is the lesson of the revolution. This maritime journey clarified the value and importance of the Islamic Revolution of Iran for ourselves, for you, for anyone who becomes aware of your story; why? Because this knowledge, this capability, this self-confidence was given to us by the revolution; this ambition, this courage to undertake such a great task was given to us by the revolution. Before the revolution, there was no news of this; during the disgraceful era of the Pahlavis and Qajars, with all this coastline, with all these maritime capabilities, we did not know the sea, we were not familiar with it, our naval forces were also preoccupied with other matters. Fortunately, you did not experience those days. Among them, there were those who were honest and pure-hearted, who explained to us what was happening in the Navy of that day. There was no news of such great works. This work was gifted by the revolution, presented to our forces who were able to accomplish this work. So the next lesson is the lesson of the revolution. The revolution revived the sea from neglect, brought maritime navigation back from oblivion.

The next lesson of your movement is the presence of security. Your presence in distant areas, in the farthest points of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, contributed to the security of the country. You showed that the sea belongs to everyone; the open seas are not exclusive to anyone. These superpowers, if they can, will even claim the oceans in their name to keep others at bay. The special privileges in matters related to humanity are among the characteristics of superpowers, among the characteristics of America; you contradicted this. Although during this journey, of course, they also took hostile actions against you, they did things to try to thwart or sabotage your movement; [but] you triumphed over them; you proved that the open seas belong to everyone. One of the clear results of your work was that you demonstrated that the open sea belongs to everyone. [That] "we do not allow certain ships to pass through certain straits" is a great fallacy; why? The open sea belongs to everyone; everyone must be able to pass; everyone must be able to come and go. The sea and air must be free for all nations. The security of maritime shipping and transportation must be ensured for all countries. Today, the Americans are attacking oil tankers, assisting maritime smuggling networks; this is their great transgression; this is happening in our region; we are also aware that it is happening elsewhere to some extent. These are violations of an undeniable international human law. You practically implemented this law of universal security of the sea for everyone. This is another lesson.

Well, from all these lessons we discussed and what we said regarding your movement, we must draw a conclusion, and that is that we all know that human successes, great achievements, various advancements, fulfilled hopes, all arise from the depths of efforts, emerge from the depths of hardships. Comfort-seeking, sitting in a corner, watching, longing, sighing, and occasionally complaining will not lead to anything. Hardships must be endured, efforts must be made, work must be done to achieve success. It is not enough for a person to look at the summit of a mountain where some have gone up and say we also want to be there. If you want to reach there, you must pave the way for the hardship of this journey; otherwise, you will not reach there. You demonstrated this, and this is an important lesson.

Well, now I will mention two more brief points at the end of my remarks. One point is that the story of your eight-month journey can serve as the basis for a good television and cinematic work; artists should come forward. The events that occurred for you during this time are not something that can be contained in a few pages of a report or in a few minutes of speech. Each detail of your experiences — you were 350 individuals — each had feelings, actions, thoughts, movements, joys, and sorrows; all of these together form a long, instructive, and meaningful story. For this work to be introduced, it can be presented in an artistic format, in a cinematic or television format; this is where the artists' work comes in to carry this out.

The last point, which is related to the country's officials, is attention to the sea. We still do not pay the necessary attention to the sea. Today, ninety percent of world trade is conducted via the sea. Maritime transportation is the most important part of international transportation. We are also among the countries that fortunately have several thousand kilometers of maritime borders; diverse seas as well. We have seas in the north of the country, seas in the south, oceans; we must utilize them greatly, we must make extensive use of the sea. The esteemed officials of the relevant sectors must sit down and think about this issue, plan, and design. Of course, there has been some movement for this work recently, but it must be expanded; we must make extensive use of the sea.

There are countries that are landlocked; in reality, sometimes a country is imprisoned between several other countries, and whenever it wants to go somewhere, it must obtain permission from these countries; they have no sea. During my presidency, at one of the international gatherings, the president of a country wanted to meet with us, he came and sat next to me; one of his first questions was whether you have a sea? I said yes, we have it in abundance, thanks be to God. He said, lucky you! We do not have a sea; that was his problem. One of the first issues he raised was the issue of having a sea and not having a sea; that is the reality. We must utilize the sea; we [must] use our diverse and long maritime borders and work on this issue for national interests.

This year, thanks to the attention of the Awaited One (may our souls be sacrificed for him), Muharram was vibrant. The enemies tried, they made efforts to make Muharram lackluster, [but] the exact opposite of what they wanted occurred. This year's Ashura decade was more vibrant, more active, more prosperous, and more beneficial than the Ashura decades of previous years. This is God's work; what is done for God and in line with divine objectives, the Almighty God assists it.

We hope, God willing, that you will always be successful, and honored. You are truly my children; I pray for you and hope that, God willing, in all the events of life, in all the great tests of life, like this test, you will be successful and supported.

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