Statements in Meeting with System Officials on the Seventeenth Day of the Blessed Month of Ramadan

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, innocent, and virtuous family, especially the Awaited One on earth.

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters, esteemed officials. This meeting is one of the blessed sessions of our year. Esteemed officials from various sectors are present and hearing good reports; as today, the President also provided a good report. Usually, in this session, Presidents express their positive activities in some way. Thus, minds and thoughts become acquainted with information and news, and they hear the truths; for this reason, thanks be to God, it is a blessed session.

However, what I want to express at the beginning of these remarks relates to the blessed month of Ramadan, of which we have passed more than half and less than half remains. This opportunity should be regarded as very precious by dear brothers, dear sisters, and esteemed officials, especially by us; it is an opportunity for repentance, an opportunity to return to God the Exalted, an opportunity to illuminate the heart and refresh the hearts, and an opportunity for supplication; we should supplicate before God the Exalted. Each of you, in whatever field you are engaged, certainly has problems, deficiencies, and needs for elements and factors; these should be sought from God. Alongside your efforts, your prayers and supplications are certainly essential; we must not forget this supplication.

In several supplications, including the noble supplication of Abu Hamzeh al-Thumali, it is stated: "And nothing saves from You except supplication to You." The means of our salvation is supplication to the Lord the Exalted. Now, how is this supplication, which is the means of our salvation? Weak individuals may sometimes supplicate before other humans; what is the difference between these two? What is the difference between supplication before God and supplication before "the servants of God"? It is important to pay attention to this point. Supplication before the servants of God is to soften the heart of the one to whom you are supplicating; however, supplication before God is to soften our own hearts; to save our hearts from hardness; this is the means of salvation. If the heart is freed from hardness and becomes soft, it will gain illumination. This illumination of the heart opens paths for a person, gives hope to a person, encourages a person to strive, and guides a person on the correct and right paths. When there is piety, God the Exalted grants guidance to a person. This piety arises from the same softness and illumination of the heart; this is the essence of the matter.

In Surah al-Zumar, it is stated: "So woe to those whose hearts are hardened from the remembrance of God; they are in clear error." A hard heart, a heart afflicted with hardness, is like this. Clear misguidance is mentioned for them in this verse. In Surah al-Ma'idah, regarding the Children of Israel, it is stated: "So for breaking their covenant, We cursed them and made their hearts hard." The manifestation of divine curse is their hard-heartedness, which is due to their own actions: "For breaking their covenant with God the Exalted, they forgot and violated it." These are matters that should be considered in our believing society; especially for us officials, each of whom bears a burden in a certain sector. In Surah al-Baqarah, again regarding the Children of Israel, it is stated: "Then your hearts became hard after that, so they are like stones or even harder; and indeed, from stones, there are some that rivers gush forth from them." Your hearts became harder than stone; this is what the Noble Prophet stated on behalf of the Lord in the context of disputation with the Jews of Medina, reminding them of their past. All of this serves as a means of lesson, awareness, admonition, and preaching for us; we must strive.

In a narration in al-Kafi, it is stated: "And the hard-hearted are far from Me." Being distant from God the Exalted is the worst affliction for a person; for a person to be distanced from God the Exalted, and hardness of heart has this characteristic that it distances a person. Or in another narration: "No servant has been struck with a punishment greater than hardness of heart."

Well, we must take advantage of these days. The blessed month of Ramadan is a good opportunity; both through the supplications in this month—whether those related to the pre-dawn hours, or those related to the days or nights—which contain themes that soften our hearts, and also through the very act of fasting and attention to duty; we need this. If our Islamic and revolutionary society becomes heedless of divine remembrance, the remembrance of God, and humility before the Lord, and supplication before the Lord, it will certainly be struck, it will certainly be hit; it will certainly fail. We will reach those lofty goals, those desired aspirations, if we can pursue a sincere and faithful effort; and this is only possible through attention to God the Exalted and increasing the illumination of the heart and the connection of the heart with God the Exalted; this is our message regarding seizing the opportunity of the month of Ramadan, which I believe is more important than all that we will express. This is the essence of our words; we must be vigilant. Of course, I myself am the first addressee of these words; I bear more responsibility than you and carry a heavier burden than yours; I need these words more than you do; it is necessary for me and for you that we pay attention and take advantage of this month, of this opportunity; the nights of Qadr are also ahead.

Well, this session is an opportunity to address some of the general and important issues of the country so that some matters that may sometimes be subject to discussion and differing opinions can be raised and discussed here; some issues that may have been neglected by us can be reminded of here; for this reason, it is a useful session; since officials are present, experts are present.

Fortunately, this year we had the phenomenon of elections; the elections were a great achievement; the greatness of the elections demonstrated the power of the revolution, demonstrated the power of the Islamic system; we must not be heedless of this. In global propaganda, in the statements made about our elections on radios and global media— which you can see that they constantly talk about our elections—they do not mention this point at all and do not address it, that this election was indicative of the power of the system; it demonstrated the capabilities and deep influence of the system in the hearts. Usually, they do not say this, but it is a reality that exists. The people who came to the ballot boxes on the election Friday, regardless of whom they voted for, all performed a common act; this common act is very valuable. This common act must be seen and shown to the world; this common act was trust in the system, an expression of trust in the Islamic system. Yes, some voted for Zayd, some for Amr, some for Bakr, some for Khalid, but all of them performed a common act. That common act was that they trusted the ballot box that the Islamic Republic had placed there and trusted this great movement that is stipulated in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic and entered the arena to elect the executive official of the country; this is very important.

Let us not ruin this common act. Let us not extract words and considerations from this common act in such a way that we ruin the essence of this common movement, that we waste it; this common act was very important. However, we should not come and divide the Iranian nation, saying, "Some said yes to this issue or no." No, the people only came to determine individuals. Why do we divide individuals? Let us be vigilant that these divisions, these disputes, do not emerge from the heart of a great and common act of the Iranian nation. The entire Iranian nation opposes the enemies of this nation and the enemies of this nation's progress. Yes, there may be some who are traitors; in all countries, in all nations, at all times, there are treacherous individuals, but the majority of the Iranian nation are those who oppose the enemy that imposes hardships on the nation, imposes sanctions, imposes war, imposes insecurity; all of the nation is like this.

Today, as you can see after our elections, the Americans, with complete audacity, have both increased sanctions and are beating the drum of opposition and enmity more than ever; this is how it is. Given the enmities, given the situation, given the needs, given the lofty goals that are before us, a new atmosphere must be created. In creating this new atmosphere—an atmosphere of cooperation, an atmosphere of work, and an atmosphere of striving for a common goal, which is the advancement of the country and the elevation of the Islamic Republic—everyone is involved, everyone is a partner. We must be able to bring ourselves closer to the objectives of the sacred Islamic Republic step by step. These are objectives that have existed in the slogans of the Islamic Republic from the beginning, and they still exist today; we must bring ourselves closer to them. This goal requires the efforts of all. If we all strive, we can stand firm, we can endure, we can bring our enemy to their knees; if we are all together; this is our constant recommendation. Today, I again recommend; everyone must help the officials of the country, cooperate with them so that they can work; the officials of the country must also genuinely consider the people; the officials of various sectors must cooperate with each other. My habit is to always support all governments that are in power; today is the same, and God willing, as long as we live, it will continue to be so.

In a broad view of the issues of the country, you who are responsible, from the top officials to the managers of various sectors, if you want to manage the country correctly, if you want to manage opportunities and threats in the true sense of the word—because there are both opportunities and threats; we must be able to manage these opportunities and threats correctly—if you want to utilize national resources correctly, if you want to actualize the capacities of the country, many of which are still unknown, and benefit from them, if we want to distinguish the right path from the wrong path—because humans, the officials of the country, governments, and various sectors sometimes observe paths that some of these paths are wrong; they do not lead us to our destination—and if we want to accomplish these great tasks, we need to first specify our decision-making criteria and choose them correctly, and secondly, utilize our experiences; this is my message today. We must be able to choose decision-making criteria correctly; there are often mistakes in this regard; over time, throughout different periods, not just today; I will explain.

Well, what is the criterion for decision-making? Naturally, the general statement that exists here is national interests; that is, the criterion for decision-making for governments is the provision of national interests; whether short-term interests or long-term interests. The issue here is how we define national interests, how we identify them; what we truly consider to be national interests and what we do not. The essential point that I want to express is that national interests are those that do not conflict with the national identity of the Iranian nation, with the revolutionary identity of the Iranian nation. National interests are truly national interests when they do not conflict with the identity of the nation; otherwise, where we consider something as national interests but trample on national identity, we have certainly made a mistake; this is not national interests; this has been the unfortunate fate of our country from the Constitutional Revolution until before the revolution; national identity has been trampled underfoot. Of course, this situation arose before the Pahlavi era, from the late Qajar period. National identity has always been trampled by things that were considered national interests by managers and decision-makers; this means reversing the relationship. National interests must be aligned with national identity, not that national identity becomes subordinate to national interests, which are inevitably imaginary interests. When someone comes and says, "We must become Westernized from head to toe in order to progress and advance," this is the same as trampling on national identity. That is, a nation with a historical background, with a rich and strong culture, with all these beliefs, is told, "You must abandon everything, throw it away, and become Western from head to toe, then you can progress." This is depicting and delineating interests that require separation from national identity; this is the same as de-identifying the nation and rendering the nation non-existent; this reached its peak during the Pahlavi era; however, I mentioned that it started from the late Qajar period. The revolution came and changed this perspective.

One of the great achievements of the Islamic Revolution is that it defined an identity for the nation and insisted on it; it extracted and deduced national interests based on that and pursued them. In that previous form, we did not truly reach national interests; as you can see, our country, with all these resources, with all these capabilities, due to the loss of this identity, did not have any progress commensurate with its dignity and commensurate with the flow that existed in the world from the Constitutional Revolution until before the revolution. In the advanced, active, and vibrant world, the movement towards progress in terms of science, technology, and various aspects of life progressed differently; however, in our country, there was stagnation and regression; but since the revolution, with this change in perspective, the situation has changed. After the revolution, we feel that we are progressing, we feel that we are moving forward; of course, there are many backwardnesses, but progress is noticeable.

In my first speech of the year, I perhaps briefly mentioned a list of the country's achievements in various fields—in infrastructure, in human resources; in various fields—because some are unwilling to acknowledge these, to admit them; even some of the officials themselves neglect what the revolution has achieved. That with these issues that arose for the country, with all these problems, with the imposition of war, with the imposition of false sanctions, with the clear and obvious enmity of the dominant powers of the world, the country has been able to achieve these accomplishments; these are nothing but the fact that the country felt its identity; the Iranian nation understood its identity, recognized it, felt its existence, and moved with strength and power; this feeling of identity gives such a state to a person; it gives confidence to a person.

Well, we say, "The identity of the Iranian nation"; what is this identity? How is our national identity defined? We are a Muslim nation, rooted in history, and revolutionary; this is our identity. Our Islam, our historical depth, and our revolutionary nature are the three main elements that constitute our national identity. We must not lose sight of these three.

Our Islamic nature means that the values and principles of Islam constitute our identity. Our rootedness in history means that our human forces throughout history have had lofty thoughts—in various fields: in philosophy, in science, in technology—and have accomplished great works and advanced humanity according to the temporal circumstances; this must be kept in mind. The notion that we think, "New technology and innovation belong to the West and Europe and have always been like that," is incorrect. We have been pioneers and leaders in technology at times; technologies appropriate to our day. Of course, the nature of science and technology is that as it progresses, the speed increases; we have mentioned examples many times and do not want to repeat them. The more progress is made, the faster it becomes. The reason that the gap between scientifically advanced countries and backward countries is constantly widening is the same; scientific advancements also increase speed. We were indeed pioneers in technological matters in accordance with our time; not only we as Iran, many Eastern countries had this state, including us Iranians. Therefore, our Islam and rootedness in history; and then the revolution; the revolution is a significant part of our identity. The revolution means that profound transformative movement that, relying on Islam, was able to change the situation of the country, and one important aspect of it was that it brought the nation out of the margins and into the core of governing the country. The nation was nothing in the country; the Iranian nation, for centuries, was defined under the governments, had no role in creating the governments. Yes, when a king had a war, he would take some of the nation, put them under arms, and take them to war; that was the role of the nation. However, for the nation to have a role in determining a policy, in determining a responsibility—let alone the top officials of the country—such a thing did not exist. The nation was waiting for this dynasty to go, for the next dynasty to come; just as this government ruled, now the other one would come to rule; the previous one would exert force, now the next one would come to exert force! The Iranian nation had no role. For the first time in our history—history spanning several centuries, from ancient times to the present—the Iranian nation, after the revolution, gained a role, moved from the margins to the core, and determined. As is evident, from the highest official of the country, from the leadership, the presidency, various other officials, they come to power through the election of the nation and must answer to the nation; they must answer to the nation. This was one of the most significant events, changes, and transformations that the revolution created. Therefore, after the revolution, national interests changed; that is, the criteria for national interests naturally changed. After the revolution, as we mentioned, dictatorships turned into popular governance, dependencies turned into political independence, and backwardness turned into significant advancements; in infrastructure, in human resources, in important industries like nanotechnology, biotechnology; major industries in which we are now among the top ranks in the world and among over two hundred countries; in science, in higher education, and so on. These are events that our revolutionary identity has brought about.

So the conclusion: anything that conflicts with this identity is not national interest, even if we imagine that it is a benefit for the nation or a profit for the nation; no, anything that opposes our Islam, our revolution, our long-standing historical background, or is foreign to it, or anything of this kind is not considered national interest.

Of course, this statement should not be misunderstood; this does not mean that we should deprive ourselves of the scientific advancements of the world or various human advancements; no, because these days it has become common that any word that comes out of the mouths of officials is interpreted and misinterpreted widely—from English radio to various internet platforms—constantly to their liking; let this statement not be misinterpreted that we said because we revolted, because we are Muslims, because we have a historical background, therefore we close the door to the use of human advancements! No, human advancements belong to everyone; they do not belong to a specific person; all humanity has the right to benefit from these advancements. The more intelligent, clever, and skilled someone is, the more they will benefit; we wish to be more intelligent and skilled, God willing, we will benefit more. This statement means that our national interests should not be subordinated to the imposition of foreign policies. We must define our own national interests; there should be no imposition.

Of course, the arrogant powers do not sit idle; they have various methods for imposing their demands. They sit down and define certain things as international norms. Today, for example, America defines something as an international norm; suppose "America's interests must be respected everywhere in the world"; this became an international norm. If someone in some distant corner of the world—thousands of kilometers or miles away from America—has interests that conflict with America's interests and wants to secure their own interests, they say they have acted contrary to international norms. First, they define something as a norm, then based on that, they accuse nations, countries, and governments of being abnormal when they have a conflict with their defined norm! This is wrong; this is what they are doing today.

For example, recently among the statements of the Americans against us, the issue of "destabilizing the region" is mentioned; this has now become a title: destabilizing the region! First, what does this region have to do with you? Secondly, you are the ones destabilizing this region; America and its agents are the ones who have destabilized this region; North Africa is like this, the West Asia region is like this, Syria is one way, Iraq is another way. That they pay a group to produce, provide weapons, define a military program for them, support them, and treat their wounded in hospitals, these are the ones destabilizing the region. Who created ISIS? Who strengthened ISIS? Today, even the claim of "coalition against ISIS" is a lie; this is also a lie. Yes, they oppose the uncontrollable ISIS; however, they want the controllable ISIS to be in their hands, and if someone wants to destroy and eliminate this phenomenon, they will seriously stand against them. You see, today American planes bomb the Syrian military forces that are facing ISIS or something similar to ISIS. The same thing happened in Iraq. ISIS sold Iraqi oil; here a significant government official—who was our guest here; a well-known international figure—told me that the image of the ISIS trucks that were stealing oil from Iraqi sources and selling it to a certain country was under the eyes of the Americans, yet the Americans never dropped a single bomb on them, never prevented it! This was happening right under their eyes, and they claimed to oppose ISIS; however, if they were truly opposed to someone, they would oppose this kind of support; no, they even helped! Well, these are the ones who have created instability in this region; Iran has not created instability; these statements they make about Iran.

Now, this recent statement by the American President is also of the same kind, that in light of these recent terrorist incidents, they accuse Iran of "supporting terrorism," while the root of terrorism in this region is American. The issue of "human rights" is the same. The Americans are again raising the issue of human rights, which is truly ridiculous and astonishing! That is, those who go there and sit with the leaders of the medieval tribal regime of Saudi Arabia—this is truly a disgrace that, in my opinion, this stain of shame will never be removed from the Americans; it will always be like a brand on their forehead—and talk about human rights against a country like the Islamic Republic! In a country that has not heard a whiff of democracy and elections, they go and sit and mock and accuse a country like Iran, which is the center of democracy and the epitome of democracy! These are things that will remain. Today, in the various political uproars, it may not seem apparent, but these will undoubtedly remain in history.

Therefore, our main point regarding the discussion of decision-making and decision-making is this; national interests are the criterion for the validity of decisions, and national interest is that which has no conflict with the identity of the Iranian nation and is not detached from it; that is, it must arise from this identity; this becomes the interest of the Iranian nation. This must always be kept in mind by the officials of the country, the esteemed government, the judiciary, the legislative power, and those who make major decisions for the country; anything that has the appearance of opposition to Islam or alienation from Islam, opposition to the revolution or alienation from the revolution, opposition to the historical roots of the Iranian nation or is foreign to it, or anything of this kind cannot be considered national interest and cannot be decided upon.

And as for experiences; we said we must utilize experiences. I have mentioned several points here. One issue is the impact of national cohesion and unity on success; this is very important. In the statements of the President, it was also mentioned, and I confirm that national cohesion must be preserved, national unity must be preserved. Commonalities must always be kept in mind. This does not contradict that a dissenting voice exists in a certain area—opposing a certain policy or program; this does not contradict at all. However, it should not mean that there is conflict and dispute regarding the major and fundamental issues of the country.

We have tested this cohesion and unity over these nearly forty years. Well, during the war, there were some who opposed. At the same time that we were embroiled in the imposed war, there were some standing in the streets and intersections of Tehran—certainly many of you remember—who were distributing statements against the war. Opposition may exist, but the majority of the nation, the vast majority of the nation, had a unified voice and stood firm on it; this is what we mean by national cohesion and unity. The country should not be polarized; the people should not be divided into two categories; that state which unfortunately occurred in 1979 due to the then-President, who divided the people into supporters and opponents, is a dangerous thing.

Another point that is necessary to mention regarding this national cohesion and unity is that this unity will become evident and prominent when there is a clear distancing from the enemy. One of the things that questions national unity and creates doubt and disagreement, and if there is a disagreement, it makes it evident, is not distancing from the enemy; we must be vigilant. The enemy is not only outside the country; sometimes the enemy infiltrates inside the country as well. In 2009, you witnessed; in some streets of Tehran, groups emerged—of course, they were not many, they were few—who openly spoke against the system. The major problem that arose was due to not distancing from a group; they should have made their distance clear, but they did not, and thus subsequent problems arose. When you see that some are opposing your system, opposing the essence of your revolution, opposing your beliefs and religion, you must specify and announce your distance from them; this is a necessary thing. Especially we officials must be very serious and diligent in this regard. If this is done, then national unity and cohesion will find meaning and be realized.

The second point that is among our experiences is prioritizing internal capacities. This is what we announced this year as the year of national production and employment. National production; one of the aspects related to capacities is national production; here, industrial and agricultural production is meant; of course, software production and production of knowledge and thought are also certainly part of domestic production and are important, but since economic issues were at hand, our intention is industrial and agricultural production and similar matters. National production, domestic production; internal capacities must be taken into account. In my opinion, our young human resources are a very good capacity. A few days ago, a group of student youths gathered here in this Hosseiniyeh; some of them came here and spoke. I told some of the esteemed officials that the level of understanding, perception, and insight of these individuals regarding the issues of the country is very high and advanced; they must be utilized; these are our advanced human resources, individuals who can play a role in advancing the country and propelling it forward. We have utilized this internal capacity significantly in scientific matters; in this issue of nuclear energy, a few years ago, one day they came here—to this very Hosseiniyeh—to give us a report exhibition; there were various booths that I visited, and in all these booths, almost all were young people—young people of a young age—whom the esteemed officials introduced. These were the individuals who had advanced various aspects of nuclear energy and had been able to accomplish great works and advance this industry. This is very significant; our youth have such capabilities. This is one issue.

Another important topic that is also among our essential experiences and you must pay attention to in managing the country—in whatever sector you are in—is the issue of not trusting the enemy and the promises of the enemy; this statement is serious; this issue is serious; we have been hurt in some places by trusting the enemy; even though we could have not trusted, we did. This trust in the enemy and the promises of the enemy strikes us; that we consider it improbable that "no, it is unlikely that what they said will not be fulfilled," this is not correct. When it comes to working with foreigners, we must focus on details with utmost precision and be cautious. We must not trust them; neither in action nor in the quality of expression. I also want to mention that some of you esteemed individuals who are here, apart from the top officials of the country—namely the heads of the branches and so on—there are various other individuals who are speakers, meaning they have platforms—they can speak and their words are heard; in the tone of expression of these individuals, there must not be a sense of trust in the enemy; this negatively impacts the internal mindset and also affects its reflection on our opponents and enemies abroad. Sometimes it has happened that we have made concessions in a certain matter under the pretext of "to take the excuse from the Americans or the enemy," and it has not been taken, and we have lost something! We must not trust; likewise in various matters.

I have repeatedly said that we have trusted the officials who pursued the JCPOA, and we still do; these are our own individuals, interested and faithful; however, in this JCPOA matter, we have, in many instances—due to trusting the words of the other side, the negotiating counterpart—given up on a point, neglected something, and left a gap; the enemy is currently exploiting that gap! These are truly important matters. Our esteemed Foreign Minister, Dr. Zarif, writes a telling letter to the European officials—of course, this is the umpteenth time—and points out the violations of the spirit of the JCPOA and the body of the JCPOA. Sometimes they said the spirit of the JCPOA has been violated; he says that not only the spirit of the JCPOA, but also in some places, the body of the JCPOA has been violated by the Americans; he has listed them and sent them to them. That person is no one who can be said to be opposed to these negotiations; no, the esteemed Foreign Minister himself, because he is a religious person, a conscientious person, and a person with a sense of responsibility, he is also making this objection. This is because a certain leniency was exercised on our part; if this leniency had not occurred, if there had been no trust in the enemy, the enemy would have been blocked from doing this. We do not want to discuss the JCPOA now, but those who have been designated to oversee the JCPOA—the esteemed President, the esteemed Speaker of the Parliament, the esteemed Foreign Minister, and a few others—must truly be vigilant in this matter; they must be vigilant, they must monitor what is happening. After all, we have mentioned some points; I explicitly stated some conditions for accepting the JCPOA, I wrote them down—not verbally; I sent them in writing—these must be observed; these must be observed precisely. When the other side audaciously stands and says something, the more we concede in this regard, it will be interpreted as weakness; it will be interpreted as if we are compelled, we are forced; the feeling of helplessness in us encourages the enemy to increase their unjust pressures. This is another issue.

The next issue that is among our experiences that you must also consider in managing the country and governing the country and managing interests and harms and opportunities and threats is the issue of the military and security power of the country. This is very important; this is one of the issues that must be given due attention. Some of our officials are directly responsible for military and security matters, and they have the necessary duties and responsibilities, and good work is being done. A large part of the officials of the country are those who do not have a direct connection to security and military matters, but they can indirectly influence; they must pay attention to this point; that is, the factors of the country's power must be preserved; the factors of the country's power, the armed forces, the IRGC, the Basij, the faithful and Hezbollah elements. I tell you, those who stand firm against the enemy in various sectors, endure difficult conditions, are the faithful and revolutionary elements, and they are the ones who stand firm; these must be preserved. The officials of the country in various sectors, whether in universities, in industrial sectors, in scientific sectors, in service sectors, must take care of these elements. The fact that the enemy dislikes the IRGC is evident; do you expect America to like your Quds Force? Do you expect America to like, for example, a certain commander of ours who is active in this regard? It is evident that they dislike it! It is evident that they impose conditions in various sectors! They want the factors of our power not to exist. This is just like saying to you that your wrestling team is to participate in the world championship competitions, on the condition that you do not include those two or three strong wrestlers in the national team; what does that mean? It means come to lose! You are entering international competitions, come, so that you will lose; that is what it means. That they say the condition for this is that, for example, the IRGC should not be like this or the Basij should not intervene or not participate in such matters—such as regional matters—means this; that is, you must not bring your own factors of power into the field, into the scene; we must do the opposite. We must give utmost importance to military and security power and strengthen it and increase it day by day.

The next issue, which is also among the things that are very important, is the issue of the economy of the country, which we have discussed a lot in this regard; the President also elaborated on the issue of the economy and the work that must be done. Of course, he mentioned some things that "this must be done, this must be done." Who is the audience for these musts? Himself. That is, the audience for these musts, apart from Dr. Rouhani himself and his working team in the twelfth government, is no one else; that is, most of these works, now some of them may relate to the Parliament or the judiciary or some other places, but the majority of them are the works of the officials themselves; they must carry out these musts; these are realities. The issue of the economy is very important.

In the issue of the economy, one issue is domestic production, which is very important! That he mentioned regarding investment is correct; we also agree. Of course, I mentioned the need for domestic and foreign investments five or six years ago in this session that we held here in this upper floor; many of you were present there, and there were economists among them; there I said that we need this amount of investment just for, for example, the oil sector and for various sectors of the country; these are needs that exist and must be provided, but there is a subtle point. Sometimes, the economic friends who are responsible in the government, whether in this government or the previous one—who have met with us sometimes—usually make the conditions very difficult for creating employment! To create a job, for example, it is sometimes said that one hundred million is needed; well, yes, there are some jobs that require one hundred million to create a job, but there are many jobs that are not like this. Today, in our villages, in our small towns, in various regions of the country, we can create employment with much smaller amounts. You see people; one person came on television— I saw his report just briefly—who has employed, for example, twenty people with his own initiative, with his own enthusiasm in a certain sector and industry, and all his investment—from beginning to end—does not reach one hundred million, but he has been able to gradually advance the work and employed twenty people there, and that too in production work.

If we can truly address the issue of villages—now I have noted the issue of villages here—solving the issue of villages, which is a major part of solving the problems of villages, is creating rural industries; this will reduce problems. Villages need industries that are compatible with rural life; we have been negligent in this regard. Rural industries must be taken into account, and the necessary facilities for villages must be provided. Now they mentioned the internet; yes, the internet is something, but more necessary than the internet, for example, is roads, transportation facilities, and facilities for the easy transfer of products. It should not be that a product that costs thousands of tomans in the center of a large city, for example, a villager cannot earn more than one-tenth of this price and profit from it; it should not be like this. When we can manage and ensure communications, when rural transportation and trade become easy and guaranteed, naturally, villages will remain producers, and many problems will be reduced. These urban marginalizations are due to the disordered state of the villages that come to the cities and have now become one of the problems of the country, leading to marginalization and the numerous social harms that arise from urban marginalization.

One issue is the important issue of imports, which of course, in some items of imports, tariffs solve the problem, while in some items of imports, tariffs do not solve the problem. Imports must be restricted in certain areas. Of course, in some areas, you may encourage imports; this is not a problem. It depends on the needs and the facilities that exist in the country. Where there is domestic production and imports harm this production, imports must be strictly restricted. Sometimes, one hears certain complaints—sometimes they write to us, sometimes one hears in some public reports—that the domestic producer is complaining that we are producing this product with great effort, and on the other hand, it is being imported without restraint. The domestic consumer—who is, for example, a certain governmental or semi-governmental device—does not buy this product under the pretext that this product is not as good as the foreign product. Well, if its price is cheaper, you consume it, use it, help the production, the next experience will be better; this is natural and clear; otherwise, if we want to keep preparing luxury goods, this will not work, and this domestic production will never reach anywhere.

The issue of smuggling. One of the important issues is the issue of smuggling. There must be serious action taken regarding smuggling.

I have noted here that most ministries can play a role in strengthening the national economy. This is truly the case. Many ministries, apparently, have no connection to economic issues—let's assume the Ministry of Science is not an economic ministry—but they can play a role in strengthening the national economy. For example, in the doctoral and master's theses and similar works they do, they should guide and direct them to serve the national economy; to solve internal issues, to solve the internal problems of the country. Our young people are ready; this is one of the important tasks. This connection between industry and university that we have been repeating for several years is among the important things; as well as the other ministries.

The proper implementation of Article 44, which has not been executed as it should be in this government and in the previous government; it has not been properly executed in this government, nor in the previous government. In the implementation of this Article 44, which involves assigning economic responsibilities to the private sector, with the specific conditions that have been defined and the policies that have been announced and the law that has been established for it, the backwardness must be compensated. This will greatly assist the domestic economy.

And of course, the issue of investment security is very important; part of investment security relates to the executive branch, some to other bodies such as the judiciary and various other institutions. This is also an issue.

Of course, in the field of economic issues, we talk a lot; in these past years, both I and the government officials, as well as in the Parliament and others, have spoken a lot, but we must enter the field of action; there must be a clear work plan. A clear roadmap must exist; one of the first tasks that must be done in the government, God willing, is to prepare a clear and comprehensive roadmap that all these works can be carried out by the relevant sectors.

Another thing that affects the management of the country—that you can manage the country—is the issue of cyberspace; cyberspace is very important. In the issue of cyberspace, what is most important is the issue of the national information network. Unfortunately, there has been negligence in this regard; the work that should have been done has not been done; it cannot be like this. That we, under the pretext that we should not restrict cyberspace, neglect these areas does not solve an issue, and it is not a correct logic. Well, today, cyberspace is not specific to us; the whole world is engaged with cyberspace today; the countries that have established a national information network and controlled cyberspace to their advantage and for the benefit of their desired values are not few. The best countries, the strongest countries, have red lines in this regard; they do not allow many aspects of cyberspace sent from America and the behind-the-scenes devices of this issue to enter; they control it. We must also control it; this control does not mean that we deprive the nation of cyberspace; no, it does not mean that. Today, an avalanche of correct and incorrect propositions is falling on the heads of our internet users; false information, incorrect information, harmful information, pseudo-information—some things are not real information, they are misinformation—well, why should we allow this to happen? Why should we allow those things that are contrary to our values, contrary to our established principles, contrary to the main components of our national identity, to be developed by those who are ill-wishers of ours within the country? No. Do something so that everyone can benefit from the advantages and benefits of cyberspace; increase the speed of the internet—these are the things that must be done—however, in those things that are not harmful to your country, harmful to your youth, and harmful to your public opinion; this is very important; this work must be done. Therefore, the issue of the national information network is also very important.

The last issue I will mention is the issue of America. Many of our issues with America are fundamentally unsolvable; the reason is that America's problem with us is us—the Islamic Republic itself—that is the problem. It is not nuclear energy that is the problem, nor human rights that is the problem; America's problem is with the very existence of the Islamic Republic. That a government, a regime, a ruling system arises in an important place like Iran, in a wealthy land like Iran, a government comes to power that does not heed the "yes and no" of a power like America and itself says "yes and no" in matters, this is intolerable for them; they oppose this, they resist this. How do you want to solve this opposition? Therefore, our problems with America are not solvable; they have issues with the essence of the system. I tell you that apart from the system, they also have problems with the independence of the country; that is, if a regime other than the Islamic Republic were in power and was to be independent, they would have problems with that as well. This experience of the national movement is before our eyes. In the national movement, Dr. Mossadegh had good faith in the Americans, even had affection for them, but he was not inclined to rely on them—he was certainly against the British—but he was inclined towards independence. The one who was the agent of the coup against Dr. Mossadegh was not a British agent; rather, an American one, and behind it was more than the British intelligence agency, the CIA of America was behind it; this is how America is. That is, even with a regime and a government that is not a religious government at all, nor a revolutionary government— the national movement was not a revolutionary government; it was only seeking the independence of the country from the yoke of the British—they could not coexist; they oppose independence. This country is an attractive country; you should know this. Of course, all of you know; however, know it more. We are an attractive country, our location is important, our ecological issues are important, our underground resources are important. I once said in this session that we make up one percent of the world's population; what percentage of the essential resources of the world's main metals are in our country; now oil and gas aside; there is a tremendous wealth lying here; in addition to all this, we have an extraordinary human force. This country is attractive. The powers whose job is to encroach here and there are not willing to easily let go of such a soft and juicy morsel; unless we do not allow it to go down their throats, which we will not allow; of course, the Islamic Revolution will not allow it. Therefore, these are excuses; human rights are an excuse, destabilizing the region— which has recently been in the slogans of the Americans against us—is an excuse, terrorism is an excuse; and likewise, the rest of the statements they make. They themselves are both terrorists, and terrorist-breeders, and supporters of a country like the Zionist regime, which is the brain of terrorism and the mother of terrorism, and has come into existence from the very beginning with killing and oppression; they are its supporters. Therefore, all these are excuses; they are not good with the Islamic system. We cannot get along with America; ambiguous and double-edged statements in these matters that may be misused by others should not be made; we must state our matters clearly and explicitly.

The Americans themselves should also know that the Islamic Republic will not retreat from its fundamental positions. We will not give up on fighting oppression, we will not give up on defending Palestine, we will not give up on striving for our rights. We are a living nation; fortunately, the revolution is alive, the revolution is young. They were waiting for the revolution to grow old; we may grow old, but the revolution does not grow old. Thanks be to God, the revolution is at the peak of vitality, youth, capability, activity, productivity, and creativity. When you look at these revolutionary youths, you confirm that the revolution continues to produce and give birth; there is constant growth in the revolution. Therefore, God willing, it promises a good future for our nation. And we hope that day by day the situation of the nation improves and the country can repel threats in the best possible way, God willing.

O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, make us grateful for the Islamic Revolution. O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, make us grateful for the pure bloods that have been shed for the establishment of this system; make us aware of our duties and make us act upon them. O Lord! In these remaining days of Ramadan—especially the nights and days of Qadr—bestow upon us Your grace and mercy. O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, grant victory to the Iranian nation in all arenas. O Lord! Grant us success and complete victory in both the spiritual and material realms. O Lord! Make the pure soul of our great Imam (may his soul be sanctified) pleased with us; make the pure souls of the martyrs pleased with us; make the sacred heart of the Awaited One pleased and satisfied with us.

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