Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Meeting with the People of Qom on the Anniversary of 19th of Dey

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

We thank the Almighty God for the warm breaths and lively hearts of the youth of Qom, which once again perfumed the atmosphere of this Hussainiya on the occasion of the 19th of Dey. Certainly, the awareness, awakening, and insight of the dear people of Qom and the response they gave with all their being to the seminary and their religious authority is a lasting event in the course of history and will remain so.

If we consider the event of the 19th of Dey as the starting point of the history of new transformations in the world, it is not surprising, and no exaggeration has been made. The events of human society and this great world are influenced by the law of mutual impact. Events affect one another, and the chain of historical events creates great occurrences. If we visualize the issue this way, the movement of the people of Qom on the 19th of Dey in 1978 was a spark in the strange dark atmosphere of oppression of that day - which requires many books to describe the oppression that existed in the country at that time, and how the so-called advocates of freedom supported that oppression and defended the tyrannical rulers with all their might - in such an atmosphere, the pure blood that was shed in Qom on the 4th of Mordad and the great movement of the people of Qom on the 19th of Dey was a spark that truly struck the warehouse and the immense stock of faith of these people, and suddenly transformed the atmosphere.

If there had been no event of the 19th of Dey in Qom, the various events in the cities and the series of Arbaeen gatherings that brought people to the battlefield would not have occurred. If those transformations and events had not happened, the 22nd of Bahman would not have come into being, and the Islamic Revolution would not have achieved victory. The Islamic Revolution achieved victory, the challenge with global arrogance began, the might of global arrogance was shattered, the might of America and Zionism was defeated. If this shattering of the false might of the superpowers - which dominate the world of humans with their might more than their actual existence - awakened and stirred Muslims in various countries, the steadfastness of the Iranian people, the victimization of the Iranian nation in various events, in the imposed war, in the difficult period of simultaneous defense and sanctions - that the Iranian nation stood firm like this, progressed steadily - shook other nations. If this steadfastness had not existed, if this resistance had not been there, if this challenge to the false might of the superpowers had not occurred, nations would not have entered the battlefield; Islamic awakening would not have emerged; the events that are transforming the region today and creating a new role would not have come into being. Events start from one point and proceed in a chain. If there is perseverance, patience, continuity in the path, and sustained action, then all blessings and all good things will follow.

Steadfastness is the first condition. Nations must persevere in the path they begin; "So call to Allah and be steadfast as you have been commanded." (1) In the Holy Quran, the command for steadfastness has been given to the noble Prophet of Islam in various places; the secret is just that. One must stand firm, must show stability, must not lose the way, must always keep the goal in sight, and must continuously move forward. If this happens, victories will come one after another, just as they have for the Iranian nation.

The Iranian nation has today placed this great experience before other nations; the experience of success stemming from two factors: insight and patience. Insight means not losing the way, not making mistakes in the path, not falling into wrong paths and deviations, not being influenced by the whispers of the deceivers, and not making mistakes in action and goal. Patience means steadfastness. Generations hand over to one another. Today, by the grace and power of God, a young generation in our country is present that has not seen the revolution, has not fully understood the war, but at the same time stands in the field with the same spirit, the same feeling, the same motivation, and the same decisive determination; this is very important, this is the art of the Islamic Revolution. We must strengthen the factors of this steadfastness and this insight among ourselves.

There are two interconnected things that form the chains of the nation's power: one is the decisive decision of the sacred Islamic Republic against deviation, against submission, and standing firm against the greed and bullying of the superpowers and global arrogance. The Islamic system, as a whole, with its collective identity, knows decisively what it is doing and has chosen its path and stands firm. This is the first factor. The second factor is the intelligent and determined presence of the loyal people. If these two were separated, if the officials of the system and the managers of the country were present, but the people were not in the scene, certainly, things would not progress. If the managers of the system were to experience disruption in their intentions, in their judgments, in their understanding, in their decision-making against the dense army of disbelief and error that has lined up against them, certainly this would affect the disruption of the system; it would also remove the people from the scene. These two factors are together, they exist today, and God willing, they will continue to exist in the future. With the presence of these two factors, none of the blows, tricks, plots, and conspiracies of the enemy will have any effect on this nation.

Today, the front opposing us - whose leaders are America and the Zionists - has resorted to all means it could, has utilized all ways it could to confront the Iranian nation, to weaken and eliminate these two factors, namely the strengthening factor of the system and the factor of the people's steadfastness in the scene. They themselves also state this explicitly; they say that the sanctions we have imposed and are executing against Iran - and they pursue this with complete malice - are to tire the people, to remove the people from the scene, to make the people turn their backs on the Islamic system. Either this should happen, or a crack should occur in the will of the officials; the officials should reconsider their calculations. Their expression is: they say they want the officials of the Islamic Republic to feel that the cost of their decisions is high. This means creating a crack in the will of the country's officials. With all their might, with all the tricks they know, they are pursuing these two tasks. Either they create doubt among the people and separate them from the system, or they create doubt among the officials and force the officials to reconsider their decisions. They are mistaken; they cannot accomplish either.

One day in the early days of Islam, the enemies thought that by the siege of Abu Talib and the economic blockade of the Muslims, they could bring them down; but they could not. These disgraceful miscalculators think that we are today in the conditions of the siege of Abu Talib. This is not the case. We are not in the conditions of the siege of Abu Talib today; we are in the conditions of Badr and Khaybar. We are in a situation where our nation has seen the signs of victory; it has come close to them; it has achieved many stages of victory with pride. Today, do they scare our people with economic blockade? With these words, with these tricks, do they want to remove the people from the scene? Is such a thing possible? Today, do they want to create disruption in the will of the officials? "Say, this is my path; I invite to Allah with insight, I and whoever follows me." (2) This is the path that has been chosen with insight, this is the path that has been opened with struggle, this is the path that has been paved with the blood of the dearest ones. We have walked this path, and we have reached many peaks. We will not stop, God willing, we will move forward; but until today, we have reached many peaks. The Islamic Republic, today, where is it, twenty or thirty years ago where was it? The enemies of the Islamic Republic, their might and bluster of that day where is it, their weakness and collapse today where is it? These are signs that encourage the Iranian nation. No, in the continuation of the path of Islam - which is the path of God, the path of religion, the path of worldly and otherworldly happiness - the will of the officials will remain steadfast; the people today and in the future will be the steadfast supporters of this great movement.

One of the places where people can show their presence is in these elections. Not from now, but for some time, they have started; perhaps to do something that in this election, the presence of the people decreases. You hear it, you see it; now in the amount that reaches the ears of the people, in the eyes of the people, in the press and in various media, our enemies, from the top down, which is the center and command post of the front of disbelief and arrogance, to their small pawns and foot soldiers who are spread everywhere - they are here and outside - all their efforts are to do something that the people do not participate in this election. With the experience I have from the behavior of these people, and with the trust I have in the grace of Almighty God, I predict that by divine grace, the presence of the people in this election will be a blow to the enemy, and with this election, a fresh blood will be breathed into the body of the revolution, the country, and the Islamic Republic system; a new movement will arise for it, a new vitality will emerge; just as all elections have been like this. Elections are a manifestation of the presence of the people; a manifestation of the people's involvement in their destiny.

Of course, there are pitfalls; we must strive to prevent these pitfalls. Our people and our country have the best and worst memories from the elections of 2009. The best memories are the result of the massive presence of forty million people at the ballot boxes, which astonished the world; the worst memories are related to the political maneuvering of a number of ignorant, incompetent, and sometimes hostile individuals in the election issue. Well, in every issue, in every event, it is possible that some people do not accept, are opposed. How should one show opposition? The law has determined the way. Why should they break the law? Why should they create costs for the people? Why should they make the country happy for the enemy? Why should they execute programs that the infection of the enemy's decisions and tricks is loud and clear? The law has determined the way. We said there, we told everyone, all sides of the issue were obliged to act according to what has been said - which is the law - why did they not do it?!

They did not accomplish anything. And as long as this nation is in the scene, as long as this bond exists, no one in this country will accomplish anything in wrongful actions. They did not accomplish anything and will not accomplish anything, but they created costs for the country, created costs for the nation; why? With that magnificent and glorious election, the country could have avoided this cost.

There were various factors. This should be a lesson for us, it must be correct, we must all be vigilant. Elections are a manifestation of the presence of the people and the product of that, a manifestation of the people's vote and will; it must be respected.

Elections must be healthy, competitive. Competition is different from hostility; competition is different from mutual accusations; we must all be vigilant about these. Competition is not that someone considers proving themselves to be dependent on negating another. Competition is not that some come to attract the people's attention, making promises that are against the constitution, against ordinary laws; these must not exist. Those who enter the arena of elections, whether from the side of the executors and officials, or from the side of those who are nominated, must adhere to the etiquette and conditions of a healthy public movement; they must be committed; this is necessary.

Executors must do their utmost to be trustworthy. Fortunately, our elections over the years - we have had so many elections; more than thirty elections in these thirty-two years - have been healthy elections. Sometimes some claimed that the elections were unhealthy; we sent to investigate, to scrutinize - both during the blessed life of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) and after that - they found that no, there may be some violations here and there, but something that would make the elections unhealthy, that would change the result of the elections, has absolutely not happened; what the people chose has occurred outside. They must strive to ensure that elections are healthy; this is the responsibility of the executors; whether the executors in the government and the Ministry of Interior, or in the honorable Guardian Council.

They must be vigilant. Nothing is higher and more precious than the law. It is well known in the world that a bad law is better than no law. It is not unlikely that one might accept this; because lawlessness is chaos; a bad law at least has a standard; well, one can reform it. Fortunately, our electoral laws are good laws; they may become more complete and better later.

Those who enter the arena of elections must have certain commitments, obligations. This is addressed to all those who enter the arena of elections as candidates, and it is addressed to all the people. Our dear people across the country should observe these behaviors in the election candidates, follow them, and pay attention. Election candidates must enter with the intention of service. If they enter with the intention of seeking power and accumulating wealth and various other unhealthy motivations, they do not serve the country. Election candidates must enter with the motivation of service; this must be discerned, understood, and guessed. If candidates become connected to centers of wealth and power, things go wrong; just as today in so-called democracies around the world, in America and elsewhere, this is the custom; companies and wealthy individuals give money to election candidates for the presidency or congressional elections, but they are committed to them in return. That president who comes to power with the money of various organizations and centers of wealth is committed to them. That member of parliament who comes to the assembly with the money of a certain company and a certain wealthy individual is forced to make laws where they deem necessary, to create and remove laws, to expand and restrict laws. This representative is of no use to the people. One must not be connected to personal wealth centers, and even less so to public wealth. Someone who uses public funds to reach the parliament is doubly wrong; this has multiple issues. These must be monitored by the people. Of course, not everyone can be accused. We cannot say, "This person is connected to so-and-so, this person is connected to so-and-so, this person has spent this money"; these must also be clarified, must be proven.

The people must open their eyes, be aware. Fortunately, our people are awake. Individuals who can assure a person, create a proof between a person and God, a person can trust these; where one can investigate, one should investigate. These are necessary. Care must be taken. God willing, a good election will take place; a vibrant election, with the presence of the people. The people must recognize correctly, choose correctly, and God willing, a parliament will be formed in accordance with the Islamic system. And by divine grace, God willing, it will be so.

If we ask God, if we enter, if each of us feels responsible, if our intention is to elevate the Islamic system and Islam and the Iranian nation, to bring happiness, to provide happiness for our worldly and otherworldly lives, the divine path is not closed. If we take a step, the Almighty God will open the way; the main thing is that we strive, make decisions, and set our intentions.

I am confident that this election will also be a sign for other nations. That is why the wicked devices of global arrogance, from America and England and the Zionists and others, are constantly trying to sabotage this election, to distort it. Other countries are watching to see what this pioneering electoral and revolutionary nation - which is the Iranian nation - will do. The Iranian nation is among the pioneers in this regard. Other nations are watching to see where the elections in Iran will lead. Global arrogance wishes that the elections in our country would turn out in such a way as to discourage nations. ... Well, you have already said the last word! "Death to America" is indeed the last word.

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, include Your favors, Your guidance, Your mercy, and Your assistance upon this dear nation. O Lord! Place our youth under the attention of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him) and include them in the prayers of that great one. Increase the victories of the Iranian nation day by day.

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