Statements at the Gathering of Pilgrims and Residents of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza

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 Awaited One on earth. O God, send blessings upon Your guardian, Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha, as many as there are in Your knowledge, with a lasting prayer as long as Your glory and sovereignty endure. O God, send peace upon Your guardian, Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi al-Naqi, with a lasting peace as long as Your majesty, greatness, and glory endure.

I am grateful to the Almighty God for granting me the opportunity once again, for another year, to meet with you dear and loyal people beside this holy and blessed shrine, and I extend my sincere greetings to the esteemed pilgrims who have gathered here from all over the country and to the honorable residents of this sacred city. I congratulate you on the arrival of the new year and the celebration of Nowruz, and I express my condolences on the martyrdom of Imam Hadi (peace be upon him). This great Imam possesses the unique quality of articulating the most important chapters related to the ranks of the Imams (peace be upon them) in a comprehensive and eloquent manner within the visitation texts that have reached us from the Imams. The Ziyarat al-Jami'a al-Kabira (the Great Congregational Supplication) is from this great Imam; the visitation of Amir al-Mu'minin on the day of Ghadir, which is one of the most precious expressions and sayings of the Imams, is also from him. We hope that, by the grace of the compassionate gaze of this great Imam—whose martyrdom coincides with the first day of the year and the celebration of Nowruz—the Iranian nation will benefit from divine guidance this year.

Today, I will present several points to you dear brothers and sisters who are present, and indeed to the entire great nation of Iran. First, we will take a brief and general look at the forty-year record of the Islamic Republic—both in foundational principles, slogans, and values, and in performance—since the year 1397, which is this year, marks the fortieth anniversary of the victory of the Revolution. In these forty years, this raised flag has attracted the eyes and hearts of a vast multitude of nations in the region. We would like to take a brief look to see the status of the main slogans of the Islamic Republic system over these forty years and how our performance as officials has been during this time. Of course, this discussion is a lengthy and detailed one, which is not suitable for this session, so I will suffice with a brief statement and a few references; I will defer the detailed discussion of this topic to another session during the blessed month of Ramadan. If I am alive and reach the blessed month, I will speak in detail on this matter, God willing; this is one point.

The next point is to state that in our country, there are vast talents and capacities that have not yet been utilized; if they are utilized, the situation of the country will improve significantly. The next point I will present today is to identify the obstacles to utilizing these capacities; we need to be somewhat aware of our behavioral shortcomings; let us see what has prevented us from being able to utilize this vast capacity. The next topic, the next heading, is regarding this year's slogan, which is "Support for Iranian Goods"; I will provide some explanation on this matter. Then I will make a reference to regional issues and a mention of the future; this is the outline of today's discussions. I hope that the dear brothers and sisters present in this session will listen patiently to this discussion, and I ask the Almighty God to make my tongue eloquent so that I can express what is intended.

Regarding the main values of the Revolution, the slogans of the Revolution, and the fundamental principles of the Revolution, what I can say is that the Revolution has passed a good test in this regard; that is, the Iranian nation has been able to preserve the fundamental principles and the main slogans of the Revolution with the same firmness as at the beginning, up to today. The main slogans and values are: independence, freedom, popular sovereignty, national self-confidence and self-belief, justice, and above all, the realization and implementation of the laws of religion and Sharia in the country; these slogans have been preserved with the same freshness as at the beginning.

Today, the country enjoys independence, which has been a public demand of the people in the Revolution; that is, the reaction of the Iranian nation to two hundred years of foreign domination over this country. It is good for our youth and our thinkers and researchers to pay attention to this. Before the Revolution, for about two hundred years, the dominating powers ruled over this country, and governments operated under the shadow of foreign powers. The Qajar government was sustained by the guarantee of the Tsarist government of Russia; that is, in the Iran-Russia wars, in the matter of Turkmenchay, Abbas Mirza Qajari obtained a promise from the Russians that the government would remain in the Qajar family; that is, the Qajar family lived under the banner and guarantee of the Russians. Then the British came, brought Reza Khan to power; the same British brought Mohammad Reza to power; then, on the 28th of Mordad in 1953, the Americans intervened and restored Mohammad Reza's monarchy; that is, throughout these years, our governments were brought in and taken out by either this power or that power. At one point in time—under the 1907 agreement—the British and Tsarist Russians agreed to divide Iran between themselves; one part under British domination, one part under Russian domination, and a small part in between was independent; that is, the country was under domination; hence, the public demand of the Iranian nation was to escape this state and gain independence. I can say that today no nation in the world has the independence that the Iranian nation possesses; all nations in the world, in one way or another, have some form of deference to the powers. The nation that is not influenced by any of the powers is the Iranian nation. Therefore, independence has been preserved.

Freedom; independence and freedom have been among the main slogans of the Revolution; freedom has been secured in this country. Yes, some act unfairly; they take advantage of the existing freedom and falsely claim that there is no freedom; foreign radios and foreign propaganda echo their words. The reality is not like that; today in our country, there is freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of choice; no one is pressured, threatened, or pursued for having thoughts or opinions that oppose the government's views. Anyone who claims, "I have been pressured because my opinion on a certain issue is contrary to the government's opinion," is lying; such a thing does not exist. Numerous individuals express various anti-government opinions in different media, and no one interferes with them; it is not intended that anyone should confront them. There is freedom of expression; they can speak.

Yes, freedom everywhere in the world has boundaries; freedom does not mean acting contrary to the law; freedom does not mean acting contrary to religion and Sharia. The framework of freedom in our country is our constitution and the laws of the country, all of which are inspired by the pure Sharia of Islam; of course, this is the case. It is not logical for someone to expect to be free while acting contrary to the law, and this does not exist. Therefore, freedom exists.

Popular sovereignty; public elections in our country are among the most unique elections in the world and in various countries. Almost every year, and recently every two years, elections are held. In elections, everyone is free, everyone participates, and our nation participates with enthusiasm. You can observe that in these forty years, the governments that came to power through the people's votes had various inclinations; at one time they had a tendency towards a certain policy, at another time they had a tendency against it; all of these were chosen by the people. Popular sovereignty is established in our country. We have not allowed a single day of delay in our elections, even during the war.

Another value and principle is national self-confidence and self-belief of the Iranian nation, meaning that the nation should not feel passive and humiliated in front of others; that is, the spirit of "we can"; this, thanks be to God, exists in the country today. Of course, I mentioned that the explanation of these and the related statistics is lengthy, and I will present them in another session. Today, thanks be to God, our nation and our youth stand on their own feet and feel independence and self-belief.

The issue of justice. I said a few weeks ago that we are lagging behind in the discussion of justice; this is my belief, but others—those with ill intentions—have interpreted it differently; they have framed this statement to mean that the country has made no movement in terms of justice; this is contrary to reality. A great deal of work has been done in the field of justice, and very good work has been accomplished, but this is not the justice we seek and that the Muslim nation desires; it is far from that; otherwise, if you compare our country with the pre-Revolution era or with many other countries, you will see that the class gap is smaller here, the capabilities of the lower classes are greater, and the general availability of education and healthcare is certainly higher than in many other countries.

I have written down a statistic here that is worth mentioning. The source of this statistic and the one who provided it is the World Bank; that is, it is not an internal bank. It is stated here that before the Revolution, the Gini coefficient was above 50. The Gini coefficient is a calculation used to show the class gap and the distance between the poor and the rich in countries; the higher this number, the greater the class gap; the lower it is, the smaller the class gap. Before the Revolution, the Gini coefficient was above 50; in the year 1394, the Gini coefficient in the country was 38; that is, we have managed to reduce the class gap by this amount—between 50 and 38.

According to another statistic—which is also related to the World Bank; it is part of international statistics—the absolute poor class before the Revolution constituted 46 percent of the Iranian nation; that is, almost half of the Iranian nation before the Revolution belonged to the absolute poor class; today this figure of 46 percent has reached 9.5 percent—of course, in the year 1393; I do not have the statistics after that—meaning this amount of work has been done.

The Islamic Republic, despite all the pressures it has faced, has made significant strides in achieving justice and has made good progress. Of course, propaganda says otherwise; and the justice we expect, the justice we seek, is more than this. Therefore, the slogan of justice is also a real slogan and one that, thanks be to God, is enduring and established in the country.

And the issue of religion and the realization of Sharia, thanks to the existence of the Guardian Council; all the arrogant powers oppose the Guardian Council because it ensures the conformity of laws and actions with the sacred Sharia; this relates to the slogans. Therefore, I can generally state that the forty-year performance in the field of the main slogans of the Revolution has been acceptable and good.

However, regarding the performance of the country's officials; the record in terms of the executive performance of officials. In terms of security and stability, the performance has been very good; in terms of science and technology, the performances have been very good; in terms of the country's infrastructure—such as communication roads, dams, power plants, ports, and the like—the performance has been very good; in terms of non-oil exports, in terms of gross national product, the gross national product compared to the pre-Revolution era has almost doubled; there is a desirable record in these areas; in terms of social development, the same applies; that is, in terms of performance, there are encouraging statistics in various sectors. Of course, propaganda shows something different; in propaganda, the enemies try to distance the people from positive realities to tarnish their hearts towards the Islamic Revolution, the system, and Islam; the reality is as I have stated.

The next point is regarding the unused capacities and potentials; this is also a very important point. I want to say that what you observe—from advancements, from capabilities, from general and national abilities—is the utilization of a part of the country's capacity; the country's capacity is greater than this. If we can utilize all the capacities of the country with proper planning, the progress of the country, the growth of the country will be much greater than today. The existing capacities are as follows:

One capacity is our educated youth; this is very important. We have ten million university graduates in the country; we have over four million students currently studying; that is, 23 times the number at the beginning of the Revolution. At the beginning of the Revolution, we had 170 or 180 thousand students; today we have over four million students; that is, there are 23 times more students than back then; this is a very important capacity for the country. Besides the university students, the number of young people studying in religious seminaries or those engaged in practical fields is very high; they have many abilities and can play a role in science, industry, practical matters, and education. We have not utilized them properly; unfortunately, we are still not utilizing them properly today. The reason I insist that young people should take initiative wherever they can, act, establish, and innovate is because of this. A comprehensive plan is necessary in the country to utilize this youthful potential we have. When we said "fire at will," it is not only for cultural matters; in all areas that are effective for the country's progress, young people can play a role. This is one of our potentials.

One of the important capacities is the demographic wave, which some oppose. Some say, "Why should the population of the country be this large and why should it increase?" This is a mistake. An eighty million population in a country is a source of pride for that country; this country has eighty million people. This Western policy—which I will refer to later—[that is] the policy of population control, has now caught up with them and is causing them distress; they do not want Islamic countries to have large populations and active youth and capable individuals. The reason I insist that families must have more children is that the future of this country will need these young people, and human resources cannot be imported from abroad; the country must provide them itself. This demographic wave is one of our potentials.

The vastness of our country's territory and its proximity to free international waters are opportunities for this country; we are not fully utilizing them; one of the two shores of the Persian Gulf belongs to us, a large part of the Sea of Oman belongs to us. We have numerous neighbors; we share borders with fifteen countries, and this is a very important opportunity and capacity for the country. Geographically, our country is located in a sensitive position; it is the point of connection between the East and West and North and South, and this is important from a geographical perspective.

There are valuable natural resources in our country that are sold abroad today without any added value; one of them is oil and gas. Last year, in this very session, I said that we are first in the world in terms of oil and gas reserves; that is, no country has as much oil and gas as our dear Iran; we are first in gas, fourth in oil, and first in the total volume of oil and gas combined in the entire world. This is a very important capacity; it is a very significant opportunity; the reason the enemy wants to exert its control and guardianship over this country at any cost is because of these resources. This [oil and gas] is one of the valuable resources of the country, along with abundant and precious metals, pastures, forests, and many other resources. If these capacities are utilized, Iran's economy will rank among the top twelve economies in the world among over two hundred countries; if, with the innovation of young people, with the presence of young people, and with the presence of active and hardworking managers, God willing, we can utilize these resources, the country's economy will rank among the top twelve economies in the world and will be advanced in every respect, which today it is not.

Well, why have we not utilized these capacities? The reason we have not utilized these capacities is the existence of obstacles; I will enumerate a few of these obstacles.

One of these obstacles is the disbelief of some of our officials in these very capacities; either they do not believe in them or they do not give them importance. The existence of so many young people in the country is a significant capacity; some of our officials, over time, have not given this importance; some have not believed it, have not given it importance; they have not accepted that "work can be done by these young people"; some have not accepted it, have not believed it. The day the country's nuclear industry began to operate and reached the peak that everyone knows, there were some—indeed, some of our scientists, some of our older generations—who told us, "Do not do it; it is of no use; you cannot do it"; some even wrote to me saying you cannot do it. Why? Because those who were involved were mostly young; most of them were around thirty years old or younger; they were able to do it. Those who denied it later admitted, "Yes, they were indeed able to accomplish this task." Today, in various industries, in nanotechnology, in various industries, in high-tech industries, the majority are young people; they are working, striving, and they can; our young people are capable of many great tasks. Some of our officials over time have not believed in this potential or have not given it importance.

In my opinion, the most important challenge our country faces is a mental challenge, meaning that the public does not know how much wealth is at the country's disposal; some of our officials, unfortunately, do not know how much wealth—human wealth and natural wealth—is at the country's disposal; the enemy is also taking advantage of this. The enemy wants to say that you cannot or do not have; I insist on telling the people that we can and we have, and our resources are abundant. Our officials must believe in the power of the youth and the capabilities of the youth and give them importance; our young people must not become weary of work, of innovation, or discouraged by some ingratitude. Some young people complain to us that "we did this work or could have done this work or can do it; [but] we are not given attention"; well, they should not become discouraged; they should pursue their work, their innovation; both the officials and the youth have responsibilities; this is one of the obstacles.

Another obstacle is the laziness of some individuals who are responsible in various sectors; unfortunately, they have been and are afflicted with laziness and lack of effort. The state of the country demands vigorous and diligent work; officials and managers wherever they are must increase their efforts.

One of the obstacles that has prevented us from utilizing these capacities is reliance on foreign prescriptions. I mentioned; our people are not passive in the face of foreigners. Some of our officials in various corners of the country have more trust in foreign prescriptions than in domestic ones! And this is also a great mistake. You can observe that the very Western demographic policy of "fewer children, better life" is a European policy, a Western policy; they themselves acted on it and today are facing problems; they are offering rewards for families to have children; they want to compensate for their backwardness, which is of no use. Some have accepted this Western prescription. A few years ago, we insisted, we said—in speeches, in private meetings with officials—that the obstacles to population production should be removed; the officials accepted this, acknowledged our words, but unfortunately, there are obstacles in the middle management; they do not act as they should and as they should according to this Islamic prescription that "marry, reproduce, multiply, for I will boast of you before the nations on the Day of Resurrection." Some of them act according to the Western prescription! This is one of the obstacles to our progress.

Another one is acting according to the policies of the World Bank, the adjustment policies, and the policies related to some international treaties, what they call conventions; implementing these policies is among the obstacles to progress in the country.

Being inattentive to the internalization of the economy. Among the policies of resilient economy and the characteristics of resilient economy is internalization; internalization means that wealth production should be carried out through internal activities of the country; we should not look outside, our gaze should not be directed outside. Over the past years, in various governments, several times they wanted to borrow from the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund, and I did not allow it; I prevented it; they had prepared the groundwork for this to be done. The fact that we ask for help from foreigners and become committed to them is a great mistake; the economy must be internally driven. Of course, the meaning of internalization of the economy does not mean that we close the doors of the country; no, we have said "internally driven and externally oriented"; I will explain this when discussing "Support for Iranian Goods." One of the obstacles has also been the lack of attention to the internalization of the economy in the country.

One of our obstacles to progress is political or factional tribalism; that is, "if you do this work, it is good; if the opposing faction does it, it is bad"; this is our problem. We are caught up in political factionalism and tribalism; this must be set aside. A good action, if someone has done it who is your enemy, when management is in your hands, decision-making is with you, that good action should be promoted, should be pursued; [that is,] "because so-and-so did it, we will not do it; because the opposing faction did it, we will not do it"—this is a mistake; this is wrong. One of our problems is this.

One of our problems is the lack of serious struggle against corruption. I want to say here that today the issue of corruption, meaning the notoriety of corruption and corrupt individuals in the country, has become a very common issue; no, this is not the case. Of course, even a little corruption is bad, it is harmful; but the fact that some propagate that "corruption has taken over everywhere" is not true at all. There are many righteous, faithful, honest, and clean-handed individuals in the management of the country; they are not few; they are many; most of them are. Now, of course, there are some who are corrupt. Of course, we must seriously fight against these corrupt individuals; we must engage in persistent struggle; that we say, let there be some noise, and then after a while it goes silent, this is not the work that will ultimately benefit the country. So one of the problems is the lack of serious struggle against corruption.

My dear ones! One of our problems is the country's dependence on oil. This oil is a blessing from God for us, but the fact that our economy is dependent on oil is one of the biggest problems of our country. We must work, make efforts to make oil independent of the country's economy; we should not be at the mercy of oil; oil should be at our disposal. If our control is in the hands of oil—[because] the prices of oil are determined by other powers, sometimes they impose sanctions, sometimes they buy, sometimes they say we should not buy from this country, we should buy from that country—these problems exist. We must free ourselves from an oil-dependent economy, which is certainly a very difficult task; however, this work must be done in the country.

One of the important obstacles is fundamental flaws in our lifestyle; this is not related to the officials, it is related to us and you, the general public. We have problems in our lifestyle: one of our problems is consumerism; one of our problems is extravagance and overspending; one of our problems is excessive desire for comfort; one of our problems is elitism. Unfortunately, elitism spills over from the upper classes to the lower classes; a middle-class person—when they want to hold a party, when they want to have a wedding—holds it like the elites. This is a flaw, this is a mistake, this harms the country. Excessive consumption, excessive wanting, excessive eating, excessive spending are among the important flaws in our lifestyle.

We must have a sense of loyalty to our national economy; consuming foreign goods is one of our major flaws; we must have a sense of loyalty towards domestic consumption and our national economy. Our young people have loyalty towards certain football teams; one supports the red team, another supports the blue team, [and they do so] with loyalty; and even [loyalty to] foreign teams; one supports Real Madrid, another supports another team; these people have loyalty towards these teams; if we had the same amount of loyalty towards our national economy and domestic production, many of our issues would be resolved; this is another one of the obstacles.

Now, let us talk about this year's slogan; the topic of "Support for Iranian Goods"; this is this year's slogan. First, let me say this; some say, "You set the slogan of the year, it is of no use; they do not act, why do you set the slogan of the year for no reason?"; I do not accept this statement. The slogan of the year is proposed for two purposes: one is to guide the executive policies and actions of government officials, and the other is to justify public opinion; that is, public opinion should pay attention to what issue is important for the country today; today, the issue of Iranian goods is an important issue for the country. Government officials may not accept some of the slogans we set each year, but those who do accept them strive, act, and work to the best of their ability; of course, if the work is done better and more comprehensively, more results will be achieved. Therefore, it is not the case that these slogans are useless; no, these slogans are indeed beneficial.

This year's slogan is addressed to both officials and the people. This year's slogan is [Support for] Iranian Goods. Iranian goods mean the final product of work, investment, economic activity, intellect, and innovation; the investor with his capital, the worker with his labor, the designer with his intellect and knowledge—all of these strive, and the product of their work becomes Iranian goods. Therefore, it is something significant, something very important; this must be supported. In supporting these Iranian goods—which are the product of the efforts of economic activists, workers, investors, planners, designers, and the like—both the people have a role as producers of Iranian goods and as consumers of Iranian goods; they must both produce and consume; they must strive in production—now I will mention the tasks that need to be done—and they must be careful in consumption to consume Iranian goods; and this places responsibilities on both the people and the government officials; the audience of this slogan includes both the people and the officials.

Well, how should we support? This support is primarily through increasing production, which is the responsibility of government officials—to plan—and also the responsibility of the people so that domestic production increases.

Domestic production should improve in quality. It is narrated from the Prophet Muhammad that he said: "May God have mercy on a person who does a job and does it well"; they should perform their work firmly, beautifully, and well, and the quality of work should rise.

Support also includes aligning with needs, preferences, and modern advantages; this is also support; it should not be the case that you do not pay attention to what people want. Producing Iranian goods means that something should be produced that is in accordance with the preferences and desires of the people, along with the necessary delicacies.

Marketing outside the country and exporting is also one of the types of support for Iranian goods. We must utilize our proximity to fifteen neighboring countries—besides other distant countries that can consume Iranian goods—to export Iranian goods; this is the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, and the economic activists; they should engage in marketing. I was given a statistic—because I did not take notes, I do not remember it correctly, but it was a very important statistic—that if we can commit to providing twenty percent of the needs of our neighboring countries—only neighbors—[that is] twenty percent of their total consumption, a certain number of jobs will be created—a very high number that I cannot specify right now, but its impact on job creation in the country and the creation of national wealth will be very significant; this is one.

Then, making it cheaper and making it competitive is one of the very important tasks in the country; we must be able to produce domestic products that are competitive with foreign goods; as much as possible, we should be able to produce them cheaper than foreign goods, which of course has its prerequisites; some of the prerequisites are the responsibility of the government, and some are the responsibility of us.

This support has requirements that, if not observed, this support will not be realized. One of the requirements is serious management of imports by the government. Government officials must seriously manage imports. Goods that are produced domestically or can be produced must not be imported from abroad. Many people come to me with complaints saying we have established this factory, we have produced this product, and as soon as this product is about to enter the market, suddenly we see that the customs door has opened, and a similar product has been imported from abroad! This causes many of our factories to fail because of this; some go bankrupt, and problems arise for them. Imports must be given serious attention and managed by the government.

Sometimes, certain items are imported, and we remind the officials why this has been imported? In response, they say we did not import this; the private sector imported it; this answer is not sufficient; the private sector must be managed; the government must manage and control what is imported and how much is imported and what should not be imported; these must be taken into account; certainly, one of the important tasks that must be done is this.

One of the requirements is a serious struggle against smuggling, which unfortunately has not been properly carried out in various years, and it must be done. Of course, I recently heard that the Ministry of Economy has launched a system in customs; it has been reported that this system is very effective, very useful for preventing smuggling; very good, this work should be pursued, and this work must be realized. Smuggling must be stopped. And the people should also be committed not to consume smuggled goods, goods that they understand are smuggled, so that it does not become profitable for smugglers to engage in this work. The statistics from our young experts regarding the destructive impact of imports on domestic production are very important statistics. There are young experts who work in these areas and understand very well; they brought me statistics and showed me how much a certain amount of imports destroys jobs in the country! At the same time, we lament the unemployment of young people; imports flood into the country like a flood. Therefore, one of the types of support is that we must combat smuggling and excessive imports domestically.

Another type of support is investment by economic activists in production. It should not be the case that economic activists pursue more speculative work; if they want to invest, they should invest in production. If they purify their intentions, act for God, and do it for the country, this investment becomes an act of worship; investment has profit, but since it is for the advancement of the country, for helping the people, this becomes an act of worship.

Well, these issues pertain to the matter of support for Iranian goods. My recommendation is this: as I mentioned, pursue Iranian goods with loyalty; sellers should sell Iranian goods; buyers should buy Iranian goods; officials should help and support Iranian production and prevent imports and smuggling; this discussion is concluded.

One sentence regarding regional issues and the malice of the Americans is necessary, as this is a current matter. The Islamic Republic has raised the flag of dignity and power of the Iranian nation in the region this past year. The Islamic Republic played an important role in breaking the back of the Takfiris in the region; it accomplished this. The Islamic Republic was able to reduce the evil of Takfiris from the people in a significant part of this region and bring about security; these are significant accomplishments of the Islamic Republic. These are great works, not small ones. Now, the international meddlers, those who want to interfere in all internal matters of various regions, complain that the Iranians are involved in the issues of Iraq, why they are involved in the issues of Syria and the like; why do they interfere? Well, what is it to you? The Islamic Republic was able to neutralize America's plans in the region; what was America's plan? America's plan was to create wicked, oppressive, and insulting groups like ISIS to distract the minds of nations from the usurping Zionist regime, to occupy them with their internal issues, with civil wars, with internal problems, and to leave them no opportunity to think about the Zionist regime; this was America's plan that created ISIS; we were able to neutralize this plan by divine grace and with God's permission.

They say, "We intervened in the suppression of ISIS"; they are lying! America's policy is to have ISIS in their grasp. Of course, creating such groups is easy for America, but keeping them is difficult. They want to have them, to keep them in their grasp, they have no incentive to eliminate them; regional security is not their concern, in addition to the fact that the Americans are incapable of creating security in the region; the evidence is Afghanistan. The Americans have been in Afghanistan for fourteen years; what have they done? Have they been able to create security in Afghanistan? Absolutely not! Some say they could not, some say they did not want to; whichever it is, it makes the claim of America and others like it—[that is] England and others—to be a false and baseless claim for their presence in the region.

Our presence is at the request of governments; wherever we have gone, it has been because the governments and nations of the region have asked us; we have not acted forcefully, we have not imposed ourselves, we have not interfered in the affairs of countries; when they needed help, we helped; we provided help with very rational and logical motivations; everyone should know this. Any assistance that has been provided in the context of regional issues has been done with very rational and logical calculations; it is not the case that someone has acted out of emotions; no, not at all. Thanks be to God, we have succeeded, and after this, it will continue to be so. We do not intend to interfere in countries, and I can undoubtedly say that in regional matters, America will not achieve its goals, and we, God willing, will realize our own goals.

Let me summarize the discussion, my dear ones! I will summarize what I have said in a few sentences; the summary of our discussion is this:

First, all the problems of the country are solvable; we have no problem in the country that is not solvable; we have no problem whose key and solution is in the hands of foreigners. There are problems, but all the problems of the country are solvable, and the key is in the hands of the Iranian nation and the officials of the country.

The second point: the Revolution is moving forward with power and vitality; the fortieth anniversary of the Revolution is not the old age of the Revolution, it is not the regression of the Revolution, it is the maturity and vitality of the Revolution. The Revolution, at its fortieth anniversary, thanks be to God, is moving forward with power, preserving its slogans, and keeping its main flags raised.

The third point: our youth are the capital of hope for the country in all fields; the youth are very valuable. In advanced industries, it is the youth who are active; in cultural and artistic matters, it is the youth who are active; in military and command roles, it is the youth who play a role; in management, wherever there are young people, management will be more vibrant, and our recommendation is that in various management roles, young people should be utilized more and more.

The next point: the enemy hoped—that this point is important—that the third and fourth generations of the Revolution would turn away from the Revolution, [but] today the inclination and commitment of the third and fourth generations of the Revolution to the Revolution and their deep and mature interest in the Revolution is not less than that of the first generation. The enemy tries to exaggerate the problems and show them to be much larger and more significant than they are.

I say in response that all these problems, by divine grace and divine guidance, can be solved by our young people. The enemy is severely worried and angry about the flourishing of our youth. The reason you saw the enemies—Americans and Westerners—oppose our centrifuges so much is not only because these centrifuges enrich uranium, but more so because this scientific movement enriches the minds of our youth, prepares them for greater tasks; more than that, it demonstrates the capability of the Islamic Republic in nurturing the youth of the country. I tell you that our dear youth will build this country better than what was in the minds of the previous generation—our generation; God willing, they will build it better and will be able to raise the flag of independence, greatness, and dignity of this country higher than it has ever been.

O Lord! Bestow Your grace and mercy and guidance upon our youth and keep their steps firm on the straight path of truth. O Lord! Make the Islamic Iran more and more prosperous day by day and unite the pure soul of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), who opened this path for us, with the souls of Your saints. O Lord! Make the heart of the holy guardian of the Age pleased and satisfied with us; include the prayer of that great one in our favor. O Lord! Include the spiritual and hidden guidance of that great one in our favor; make us among the companions of that great one and hasten his reappearance.

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