Statements on the Birth Anniversary of Lady Zainab (peace be upon her) with a Group of Nurses from Across the Country

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 chosen progeny, especially the Remaining One of God among the people.

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters, to the highly valued nursing community; I congratulate you on Nurse Day and also on the coincidence of Nurse Day with the birth of Lady Zainab. This is an important matter. Those who wisely chose this name and this time for Nurse Day have done a commendable job; it is truly appropriate. Lady Zainab (peace be upon her) is a prominent figure in human history, not just in the history of Islam; this is indeed the case. That strong and resilient personality, that great human being, that person who is "the hand of God in the sleeve of a woman"; few people, whether male or female, can enter difficult fields with such strength and resilience. This great lady has been recognized as a model of nursing, and with this naming, a special connection has been established between you, the nursing community, and this magnificent lady; I congratulate you on this. I will mention two or three points; one regarding nursing issues, a sentence regarding the events of the 9th of Dey — which was two days ago — and a reference to current issues. Regarding nursing, what I believe and see is this: I say that nursing is a combination of a set of moral values and human virtues; from compassion and empathy to responsibility, to patience and endurance in the face of restlessness and irritability, all of which are great human virtues, and the problems of human societies are often due to the lack of these. Nursing is a collection of such values, along with diligence and care for the person under your care — with precision, with attention, with diligence — and patience and steadfastness without becoming disheartened by witnessing hardships. Some professions deal only with the beautiful and pleasant aspects of life; your profession is one that constantly deals with illness, with patients, with pain, with suffering; you endure these, you do not become disheartened, you do not lose hope, you carry out your work; these are moral virtues; therefore, I say this with complete faith that honoring nurses means honoring human virtues; if we elevate the status of nurses and value them — which I have mentioned many times — it is actually valuing the rare moral and human virtues; these are moral virtues. Now, I would like to make an aside here regarding what I said about these being rare in society: It is true that we should honor nurses, respect them, but beyond that, we must spread these virtues that we mentioned, which nursing is a combination of, throughout society; we need this, our society needs it. Today, our society needs compassion among individuals and members of the community; today, our society needs empathy, responsibility, patience, and similar qualities. We are currently moving along a very important, proud, and critical path; we, the Iranian society, are moving towards a peak, and moving towards a peak requires care and conditions; on smooth and paved roads, such care is not necessary; but when one is moving towards a peak, certain precautions are necessary. Today, our society, our country, our people, need these qualities: let us be patient with one another, let us be tolerant, let us be kind, let us be compassionate, let us help one another. Of course, the Iranian disposition and the ethical roots of Muslim Iranians are precisely these. Well, you have seen how people respond with heart and soul in the face of natural disasters; yes, these exist, but they must be promoted, they must be developed. All those who can play a role in this regard, such as management bodies, advertising organizations, media, religious teachers, and even political activists, must promote these virtues and those who possess them so that these virtues spread in our society. I saw on television a few nights ago a respectable man who was neither a billionaire nor a manager of an institution, nor did he have unlimited money, but he managed to provide dowries for hundreds of couples through effort and collecting donations from this and that; they showed his warehouse, and I was watching on television; yes, these must be promoted, these people must be promoted, this kind of work must be promoted. Promoting virtues is one of the duties of all members of society and those who can carry out this work. A very important point regarding nurses — which fortunately the Minister has mentioned some very good points, they have done some work, and they intend to do more work that must, God willing, be carried out with the necessary speed and wisdom — is that we should not only entrust our patients to nurses in terms of care, but we must also take care of the nurses' mental and physical well-being. The nurse we trust, the one who is in charge of our ill person, the one who needs care, must not become exhausted, must not become impatient; we should not create conditions for them that lead to fatigue, impatience, and lethargy. A nurse who, for example, is forced to work two shifts in a row will not have any patience left; one cannot blame them, they cannot. Especially female nurses; the issues of their families, their children, their spouses, their family environment, all of these must be taken into account. I was speaking with the Minister before coming to the meeting that something must be done so that nurses can have peace of mind and can carry out their work with ease. The work enthusiasm of nurses, their patience, their timely presence, and their responsiveness to the family needs of nurses must be taken into consideration by the managers, God willing; they should be able to carry out these tasks, God willing. Of course, these tasks are difficult, time-consuming, but they must strive for divine success; because the nursing community is a dear and important community. The problems of nurses must be seriously addressed, their rights must be recognized, and justice regarding the work of nurses must be fully observed. The fact that they said, "We should recognize an independent identity for nurses, not under the issues of medicine," is important; such actions must be taken. Fortunately, we now have tens of thousands of nursing students who are entering the nursing profession; with good management, with good planning, both regarding educational issues and regarding the balanced distribution of nursing across the country, and regarding the income and earnings of nurses, these can be addressed; this is among the priorities of the health system. And of course, nurses and doctors complement each other; nurses and doctors are not rivals, they complement each other. A doctor complements a nurse, and a nurse complements a doctor; each plays their role in their respective areas. One issue is the observance of religious boundaries in hospitals, and I ask the respected officials to pay attention to this matter; sometimes in hospitals, a female patient insists that her nurse be a woman, and this is not provided for her. These matters must be carefully observed. Well, this is about nurses and the issues that we thought were necessary. We want, we insist, we pursue, and we also pray that, God willing, the nursing community will day by day be more vibrant, more motivated, and with the sense of responsibility that, thanks be to God, exists in them, they can carry out their work. But regarding the 9th of Dey, [that is] two days ago. Commemorating the great tests of a nation is a fundamental issue. Tests arise in the paths of countries and nations, in which sometimes they shine brightly; this is not specific to our nation, but for our nation, during the revolution and after the victory of the revolution until today, there have been many such tests and many such bright moments, and the nation has shone, one of which was the 9th of Dey in 2009. The presence of the nation in the public arena and in the streets was able to eliminate a rooted and significant conspiracy. Two days ago, people across the country commemorated that day, that movement, that popular uprising; commemorating that great movement and great test is very necessary. There is a very important point that the Iranian nation, fortunately, with their insight, has fully recognized. Well, people have demands; in most cases, their demands are justified; they have demands, expectations, and if they are not met, they protest. The demands of the people are one issue, and creating turmoil due to demands is another issue; the latter is the work of the enemy, not that of a friend. A friend, when he sees a car moving slowly and cannot ascend a hill properly, helps it, pushes it to get it moving, or if the car has stalled, he helps it to start; that is how a friend acts. But what does the enemy do? When he sees the car is not moving, he deflates the tires or, for example, destroys a part of the car that is functioning; that is the enemy's work. And the enemies have been constantly engaged in such actions since the beginning of the revolution. This year, of course, in Aban, you observed — and there is an interesting remark regarding this that I will mention later — that people had demands; the enemy, who had prepared individuals, took advantage of the opportunity of these demands, immediately intervened, and began to destroy. The insight of the people was evident here, as soon as they saw that the situation was one of destruction, burning, and annihilation, they withdrew. The demands of the people were present and continue to be, but they did not agree to accompany the instigators; they withdrew, and the instigator was left alone; this is important. The instigator tries to hide among the people. The insight and awareness of the people ended the turmoil; both in Aban this year, and in 2009, and throughout the various years from the beginning of the revolution until today; [this is due to] the insight of the people. Just a month ago, in these events, the people distanced themselves from the instigators; after two or three days, they came back to the streets, and those massive gatherings in various cities of the country occurred; these are the insight and awareness of the people. In my opinion, and what I feel, those who exploit the demands of the people are often those who are connected with the intelligence services of the enemies; this is often the case. Now, a number of them may, of course, come to the scene out of excitement, but among those who cover their faces, attack gasoline depots, attack the country’s wheat reserves to set them on fire, and roam the city destroying infrastructure — whether belonging to the government or the people — it is rare that there are those who are solely driven by excitement; in my belief, the orchestrators and operators of these actions are connected to foreign intelligence services; they know who they are; they have kept them ready so that when an excuse arises, they can come to the scene. Now, the point I mentioned is this: one of the high-ranking officials of the country recently told me that in a meeting they had with a foreign politician, this official was told that on the first day of the Aban incident, which was a Saturday, they were in Washington; the Americans — [that is] the truly foolish leaders of America — were happy, expressing their joy; news from Iran was coming in, and they were very happy. This politician said that the Americans told him: "Iran's work is finished"; this politician said: "No, Iran is strong; it will not be affected by this incident." They said: "No, this situation is different from previous ones; it is completely different, it is over." Then, the day after tomorrow, the situation was resolved; this person was still there, and he said: "They were very upset, very disappointed that it did not lead to anything and the situation was resolved"; the Americans are like this. Now, you observe what they are doing in Iraq, what they are doing in Syria; they are taking revenge on Hashd al-Shaabi![5] Because Hashd al-Shaabi entered the scene and defeated the ISIS they had created; they are actually taking revenge for that; they use something as an excuse, attack Iraq, and martyr a number of people. Not only I, but both I, the government, and the Iranian nation strongly condemn this American crime. Now, the noteworthy point is that when such incidents and events occur for the Americans, which you can see how much anti-American sentiment there is in Baghdad and throughout Iraq, that gentleman tweets[7] — or gives speeches or tweets or writes articles — that we see this as the work of Iran, Iran is responsible, and we will respond to Iran. First of all, you are wrong! It has nothing to do with Iran; secondly, be logical, which you are not; the Americans should be logical — which, of course, they are not — and understand that the people of this region are disgusted with America; why do they not understand this? You Americans committed crimes in Iraq, committed crimes in Afghanistan, killed people. After the fall of Saddam, the Americans, through wicked organizations like Blackwater[8] and others, perhaps killed and eliminated more than a thousand Iraqi scholars; they attacked people's homes, laid the man of the house on the ground in front of his wife and children, and kicked their faces with boots; you did these things. You Americans bombed wedding parties; not once, not twice, but dozens of times; you bombed mourning ceremonies, you committed crimes; the people are disgusted with you; the people of Afghanistan, the people of Iraq, the people of Syria, and others. Now, we do not want to name some countries, but we know, we are aware that their people are extremely disgusted with America. Well, they are disgusted, this disgust manifests itself somewhere; what does it have to do with Iran? They are not logical, they do not understand this. The necessity of political and security actions of the type that the Americans are carrying out in the region is this very hatred. They oppress the people, plunder the interests of the people, and act arrogantly towards the people. An American official enters a certain country, goes to a base that belongs to their own military, probably enters the country without permission, and then invites the president of that country to come here; well, you fool! This is someone else's home; with whose permission, with what political ethics do you expect to go into a base belonging to Americans in this country and invite the president of that country to come here, and if he does not come, you get angry? This is how they are, this is how they behave. Well, when they behave like this, it is obvious that this causes hatred among the people, causes anger among the people towards America, and this anger manifests itself somewhere, which is now showing itself.[9] If the Islamic Republic decides to oppose a country, to fight, it does so explicitly. We are firmly committed to the interests and welfare of our country and nation; we are firmly committed to the dignity of our nation; we are firmly committed to the progress and greatness of the Iranian nation; anyone who threatens these will face us without any hesitation, and we will strike back. We thank God that our dear people, the Iranian nation, are a brave nation, an insightful nation, a nation ready for action, their men, women, and youth are ready for action and are present in the arena. And that some say war will happen, there will be conflict; no, we will never lead the country towards war, but if others want to impose something on this country, we will stand against them with all our might. And we believe that God is with us; we believe that victory belongs to us; we believe that the future of this country will be much better than today, just as today is much better than yesterday. May God's mercy be upon the dear martyrs and upon Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) who opened this path for us, and may God's grace be upon all of you dear ones. Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.