The Leader's Nowruz Message on the Occasion of the New Year

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

O Turner of hearts and sights. O Manager of night and day. O Transformer of years and conditions. Transform our state to the best state.

I congratulate the joyous occasion of Nowruz, which is close to the birth of the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) and Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (peace be upon him), and has gained greater honor due to its proximity to these blessed days, to all our dear compatriots across the country, as well as to Iranians residing in other countries around the world, and also to the people of countries that honor Nowruz and celebrate it. I especially congratulate the families of the martyrs, the veterans, and the disabled, and I hope that everyone has a good year ahead.

The year 87 that has passed was a very eventful year; both in terms of international issues and domestic matters. On the international level, significant and important events occurred that undoubtedly have profound and effective impacts on global policies, including the massive financial and economic crisis that began in the United States and reached Europe and other countries, including those in our region. This issue is very important for the people of the world; it not only affects their daily lives and economic planning but also likely leaves significant impacts on their views regarding economic theories and capitalism. Fortunately, our country and our nation were able to largely shield themselves from the harmful effects of this overwhelming global storm, and of course, necessary precautions must continue.

Among the important issues in the world and the region in the past year was the attack by the Zionist regime on Gaza, which drew the attention of the entire world. Some viewed the issue from the perspective of long-standing animosity towards Islamic resistance and the Palestinian cause—primarily many politicians from Western countries—while others looked at it with sympathy for the oppressed Palestinian people and the people of Gaza. However, the results of this cowardly and oppressive attack were shocking for the entire world. For twenty-two days, the defenseless people of Gaza resisted, and the Zionist regime attacked these people with all its might for twenty-two days, and the end of this saga was marked by the failure of the Zionist regime; this is a very important experience for the world regarding the possibility of nations resisting against the oppression and tyranny of the oppressors and bullies.

Aside from these, various other issues occurred in the region and globally that we will pass over.

On the national level, we have also had important issues from the beginning of the year until today. The year 87 began with good news regarding nuclear matters, and the Iranian nation became aware that their young, skilled, and diligent scientists were able to prove their progress in the country's nuclear issues despite global sanctions and demonstrate the capabilities of the Iranian nation in such an important matter to the entire world; this brought new respect and credibility to the Iranian nation in the eyes of the world not only in the scientific field but also in various other areas.

The Islamic Consultative Assembly was also formed, thanks be to God, for its eighth term, and throughout the year, this Assembly, in cooperation with the esteemed government, approved and undertook good works, which we hope will continue.

Throughout the year, thanks be to God, many other significant works have also been accomplished in various fields. In the same nuclear field, we had the temporary and experimental launch of the Bushehr power plant at the end of this year, which is also an important and significant piece of news. Of course, this is also a result of the progress of our own scientists within the country, which convinced the entire world that the path of the Iranian nation's nuclear advancement cannot be blocked.

In the field of scientific issues, many other significant works have been accomplished, the enumeration of which would take a long and detailed time. I have personally witnessed a selection of these scientific advancements and observed them closely at an exhibition, which is truly astonishing. Our dear youth and our hardworking and striving nation have been able to demonstrate remarkable progress in the scientific field, and these important and astonishing advancements have neutralized the thirty years of propaganda against the revolution that has been disseminated from various corners.

Among these scientific and technological advancements was the launch of the Omid satellite. This is the first step in this great endeavor that places the country among the very few nations in the world regarding this technology and draws the attention of the world to Iran, showing that the Iranian nation is bubbling from within and growing from within, and the capability for the advancement of the Iranian nation is not limited.

In the field of economic issues, I must tell our dear nation that despite the massive wave and devastating storm of economic recession and the global economic crisis, and despite the sanctions imposed against Iran due to the nuclear energy issue and other matters, the officials of the country have been able to overcome this wave and largely control the negative consequences and effects of this wave in the country, preventing our nation from being swept away in this massive wave that has caused many countries significant problems, allowing the nation to stand on its own feet. God willing, economic advancements should blossom more and more each day, bringing happiness to the nation and, God willing, creating opportunities and grounds for various advancements in different fields.

As you can see, the year of innovation and blossoming has fortunately been accompanied by many innovations and remarkable blossoming, and it has been able to fully activate this slogan in its preliminary stage. Of course, blossoming and innovation were not exclusive to this year; we must pursue this line with seriousness in the coming years as well, and God willing, we will reach a point in the field of science and technology that is worthy of the Iranian nation.

The current year, which begins from this moment, is an important year, and we hope that the Iranian nation can overcome the various experiences of this year with their strength—rooted in faith in God—and God willing, all the events that may occur over the course of a year at the global, regional, and national levels will turn to their benefit.

What I convey to our dear nation is this: We recited in the first prayer of the year: "O Transformer of years and conditions. Transform our state to the best state"; transform our state to the best of states. This is the divine will; however, the efforts of the Iranian nation, the efforts of each and every one of us, are certainly necessary and a necessary ground for the attention of God's grace and mercy. We must strive to transform our conditions, to improve our lives, our minds, our hearts, our world, and our hereafter; this is the duty of each individual in the Iranian nation. A vast and immense realm of spirituality and religious matters and human thoughts to external realities and what we encounter in our daily lives and our personal and social lives is encompassed under this great divine command that is repeated every year in this noble prayer: "Transform our state to the best state." I will suffice with just one example and consider this a prominent and significant instance of transforming our conditions, and I convey this to you, dear nation.

In terms of consumption, in terms of spending the financial resources of the country that are created through our own efforts and through the hard work of all our compatriots and the officials of the country, we are experiencing a kind of negligence that we must transform into a special attention and concern. We are suffering from wastefulness; we are experiencing extravagance and carelessness in consumption; I will explain this in detail in my speech at the beginning of the year, God willing. However, today I will only mention it briefly; many of the resources of the country, perhaps a significant portion of the resources of the country in all areas—both in personal matters and to some extent in public matters—are spent on our wastefulness and excesses in consumption. We must manage consumption wisely and rationally. Consumption, not only from the perspective of Islam but also from the perspective of all rational individuals in the world, is something that must be controlled by reason. Consumption cannot be managed based on whims, desires, and what the human soul demands. It reaches a point where the resources of the country are wasted, the gap between the poor and the rich widens, some remain longing for the essentials of life, while others waste and squander resources through extravagance and carelessness.

We must reform our consumption model. We must move towards reforming the consumption model. The officials of the country, in the first place—whether the legislative branch, the executive branch, and other officials of the country; the judiciary and others—and individuals and personalities at various social levels, and all our people from the poor to the rich, must pay attention to this principle that we must reform the consumption model. Such consumption in all areas—in essential life matters, in excesses of life—consuming without logic and without rational planning is detrimental to the country and to our individuals. I request from all the people, especially from the officials, to increase their efforts in this area this year, to enhance them, and to plan for the reform of the consumption model.

Therefore, I consider this year to be the year of "the movement of the people and officials towards the reform of the consumption model" and I hope that this title—"the reform of the consumption model"—will serve as a guideline for all of us and that we can all act according to this important, vital, and fundamental slogan for the country and utilize our national resources in the best possible way.

I honor the memory of the dear and great Imam; I honor the memory of the dear martyrs and once again extend my greetings and congratulations to all the people of Iran.

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