Meeting with Various People from the Provinces of Khorasan, Isfahan, and Tehran

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

I sincerely thank all the brothers and sisters who have come from distant places and various regions to honor the days that remind us of the glorious memory of our nation's defense, especially the esteemed scholars and the noble families of martyrs, warriors, and dear heroes.

We must answer the question of what position and status the enthusiastic young Basij forces and warriors hold in our society after the imposed war, which lasted nearly eight years, has ended. Perhaps this is one of the enemy's tactics to suggest that after the war, the warriors—whether those who were tested on the battlefield and succeeded in striving and sacrificing or the enthusiastic youth who find the power and spirit of defense within themselves but are disappointed by not having much presence on the battlefields—have become disheartened and hopeless regarding their role in defending the revolution.

We say that defending the revolutionary society is always a paramount and essential duty because the threat against the revolutionary society is almost constant. We do not say that war is constant. The threat exists; however, it depends on how our nation presents itself against the threat and to what extent it maintains its readiness. If the revolutionary nation always maintains its readiness, meaning the youth keep membership in the Basij and continue training and education, and if the people preserve the spirit of defense for themselves, and if the appearance and demeanor of society are such that anyone who looks at it feels that the nation is ready and prepared to defend the country, then the threats will not materialize, and the enemy's intentions will not be realized.

From the behavior of a society, it can be understood whether this society is capable of defending its identity and dignity or not. A society where people give more importance to personal matters than to national and collective issues, a society where the youth tend towards corruption, a society where influential individuals become indifferent and unconcerned about the interests of the revolution and the country, a society where political, religious, group, and ethnic differences escalate and grow, a society where men and women lean towards pleasure and a luxurious life accompanied by corruption, know that this society is not capable of defending itself. Such a society cannot defend its interests, honor, and dignity.

What you have observed and the elderly have seen for themselves, and the young have heard about, is that in the last one hundred and fifty years, colonialism exerted influence over the culture of the country and our youth and education, leading people towards idleness, corruption, ruin, and discord, because they wanted our nation to be unable to defend its interests, personality, welfare, and future. If the enemy concludes that the society can no longer defend itself, know that the threat is serious, and the enemy's intention will be realized, and it will strike.

The reason why we, the Iranian nation, were able to stand and resist against the various invasions of the enemy in the ten years after the revolution, despite all its difficulties, and inflict more damage on them, is that by the blessing of religion, faith, revolution, Islam, and Quranic and Islamic education, a great personality whose words and speech were the content and essence of the Quran and Islam, revolutionary spirit and revolutionary piety and more unity of word prevailed among our people.

Our enemies—Iraq, America, the East, and the West—did not benefit from their unity and attack and pressure on the Islamic Republic system. The reason for our success was that you, the youth, were present on the scene, the nation was ready, and the revolutionary spirit prevailed over non-revolutionary and anti-revolutionary currents. As long as this is the case, the enemy's threats will not materialize. The threat and ill-intent of the enemy and danger exist; however, as long as you are on the scene, this danger will not be realized.

The role of the young Basijis and the Basij in this general readiness is completely clear. In response to the initial question of what the position of the Basij is in our country after the war period, I say that the Basij must remain with the same spirit, enthusiasm, and power of the war period, and the youth must be trained, organized, and prepared.

The Basij is not one of the armed forces. The Basij is the essence of a nation that is present in military, industrial, social, religious, and educational centers. It is not that we have the army and the Revolutionary Guards and another armed force called the Basij. No, the Basij is the essence of a nation that, under the shadow of education, has taken up arms and, in times of national need, alongside the armed forces, bears the heaviest and most burdensome load, as was seen in the war. Of course, organization, order, discipline, and Islamic conduct are the foundation of the matter.

I have emphatically instructed the brothers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to take the issue of the Basij seriously. The administration and arrangement of the Basij constitute about half of the mission and responsibility of the Revolutionary Guard Corps. Alongside this issue, I must say that the behavior, conduct, and discipline of Basij members must be closer to Islamic behavior than others, and the spirit of Basij readiness must, God willing, prevail in all institutions and organizations of the country.

On the occasion of the presence of a group of customs brothers in this assembly, I emphasize that the Basij and revolutionary spirit, combined with complete readiness for work and effort, must prevail in financial, economic, and social organizations in a correct and sincere manner. Customs was one of the exclusive centers of foreigners during their domination over Iran, through which they worked against the interests of the nation. The country's entry and exit gates were in the hands of foreigners and individuals and institutions and governments dependent on them; foreigners who had no interest in the country's interests, and this was nothing but humiliation and misery. Even later, when it was taken from the hands of foreigners, the corruption of financial institutions, including customs, during the previous regime was such that it still brought harm and trouble to the nation. Of course, good and trustworthy elements were everywhere—they were there too—but sometimes a corrupt person would corrupt an entire institution. Of course, during the revolution, thanks be to God, good managers and caring officials have managed these collections, and a lot of effort has been made, but there is still much work to be done.

The customs of the Islamic Republic is the first residence and entry gate for foreigners, and in this very first residence, they assess our manners, trustworthiness, hospitality, and Islamic boundaries, and I hope efforts are made so that work is done with easy regulations and in complete health, ease, and firmness, without any illegal pressure or personal taste, so that the nation's interests are not endangered and threatened through this. Although today, a lot of effort and trouble is being made by government agencies to solve problems; however, in the conditions of relief from war, customs must, God willing, appear in the best possible way.

I also make a reference to the presence of a group of Iranian and foreign Sunni brothers in this gathering; brothers who, by the blessing of Islam and without considering borders, are brothers to each other, and as it is narrated: "The believer is the brother of the believer by his father and mother": the believer is the brother of the believer's father and mother. Today, more than ever, the unity of the word of Muslims must be given importance because discord is the perpetual path of enemy infiltration into Islamic societies. Long-term paths of discord and division that have lasted a hundred or two hundred or five hundred years have created a colonial ritual to create a wound in the body and collection of the Islamic world that is not easily treatable; like Wahhabism and some fabricated sects and religions that have emerged with the aim of creating division in the Islamic world.

If the history of the uses that colonialism has made of this division and wound is to be stated, it would become a book. I have detailed examples of these various abuses everywhere in the Islamic world—from a hundred years ago to now—that have created division and discord with the weapon or accusation of Wahhabism.

The enemy, with all the various ways it has tested to create division in the Islamic society, today faces an unprecedented phenomenon that has become the center of unity for all Muslims, and that is "the Islamic Republic." This high banner and loud voice is a new phenomenon whose constitution, slogan, and practice are in accordance with Islam, and naturally, the hearts of Muslims around the world beat for it. Today, nowhere else with this decisiveness and seriousness is pursuing Islamic rulings. The intention is not the nations; because Muslim nations everywhere are in love with Islam and ready to act upon Islam. The intention is the policies, systems, and governments that, even if they started in the name of Islam, when faced with the intense waves of global invasions, retreated.

As you have seen, in these ten years, they have called us everything for the sake of Islam: backward, reactionary, uncivilized, fanatic! On a trip I was making to Pakistan, the Imam of the Ummah (may his soul be sanctified) said to me that you should tell the scholars of Pakistan: the pressures exerted on us by America and reactionaries and the East and the West are not because we are Iranian; rather, it is because of Islam. The day the world feels—God forbid—that we are not serious about Islam, the day the arrogant world feels we are willing to negotiate over Islam and have become indifferent, these pressures will end. I conveyed the exact words of the Imam to the scholars of Pakistan—a large group of Muslim scholars who had come from all over Pakistan.

It is tangible and palpable for us that the reason for the pressure is Islam. Muslims of the world understand and feel that this place is the mother of the Islamic world and the true homeland and center of Islam. Therefore, their hearts beat for Iran and the Islamic Republic system, and they become eager for this factor of unity. Today, colonialism, considering the existence of the unity factor, tries to create divisions and differences through various ethnic and religious ways, between Shia and Sunni. Among the Sunnis, in the name of the school of such and such a school, the people of Hadith, and...; and among the Shia, under other names.

We, who are Muslims, must be aware. We must understand that if the oil money of a country known among Muslim nations for its servitude to America and the West and its disgrace and dependency on global arrogance is spent on publishing a book against Shiism, it is not for the sake of God and love for Sunnism, and it follows a malicious purpose. The reverse is also true. If we see factors in the Shia community busy provoking and inciting sensitivity towards Sunni brothers or their sanctities, if we do not attribute it to poor taste and misunderstanding, we must know that it is certainly the hand of the enemy. The enemy makes the most use of poor taste as well. Therefore, today, the unity of Muslims and the purity of the hearts of Muslim brothers with each other is the main condition for the exaltation of the word of Islam.

If someone does not want the exaltation of the word of Islam, you have no obligation towards him; but if the supporters of the Quran and Islam—from any sect and religion—are truthful and genuinely concerned and want the Quran to remain dear and great, they must know that these cries and these mercenary pens and these vile and malicious funds that are spent in some countries to create division are an obstacle to the elevation of Islam, and this is the work of the enemy. Therefore, I recommend that the week of unity—which is also near—be held with seriousness by both the institutions and the people, especially the Shia and Sunni scholars inside and outside the country, and be made a sign of unity and brotherhood. If we are united and brothers and overcome our differences, the enemy's weapon will be blunted, and the vulnerability of the Islamic world will be reduced.

Once again, I thank all of you brothers and sisters and the various groups inside and outside the country who have come, and I hope that the Almighty God grants you success and keeps all of us steadfast on His path and makes the sacred soul of our dear Imam happy with all of us and makes the sacred heart of the Imam of the Age pleased with us and includes us in his prayers, God willing.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings