Statements in a Video Conference with Representatives of Student Organizations during Ramadan Meeting with Students

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 Muhammad and his pure family, and God's curse upon all their enemies.

I thank God and am pleased that this meeting has been held, even in these unfavorable conditions. Of course, an in-person meeting with you young people would have been more exciting for me, but this format is also a form, and we hope that this session will be beneficial for the youth community, for the country, and for myself.

The discussions presented by the students in this session had several characteristics that I would like to mention briefly: Firstly, the discussions were mature, thoughtful, and good. Honestly, the level of discussions this year was higher than what has been presented in previous sessions; they were well thought out and worked on, which is very valuable; for this reason, I am grateful. The questions raised were numerous; if we were to answer even some of these questions, it would take a lot of our time. Perhaps my expectation is justified that our friends - representatives in universities and some sections related to students and universities in the office - commit to answering these questions. These questions have clear answers, just as some ambiguities and doubts raised have acceptable explanations that can be discussed. Regarding the suggestions made, these suggestions are just that; it is not the case that every suggestion can necessarily be operationalized. Some of these suggestions stem from a lack of understanding of the conditions of the subject matter; I observe this and see it, and if we want to make decisions about these suggestions - whether I make the decision or the institutions do - it requires more work, and we hope that God Almighty grants us this success.

Of course, my current recommendation to the office is to take these suggestions, review them, and work on each of these suggestions. I should also mention that some of the criticisms directed at the institutions in your statements are not valid; some are valid, but some are not. The invalidity of the criticism is due to a lack of sufficient information about the existing conditions of that subject; it is for this reason that this criticism naturally comes to mind; and anyone in this situation would have this criticism. In any case, these questions, ambiguities, and criticisms can be resolved in face-to-face discussions. At the same time, many of the points made were correct, and stating these in this arena and in this program will naturally help create a discourse in these areas, and I welcome the emergence of public discussions in some of these areas to shape the minds of the general public in our society and country in this direction.

It was asked what my humble opinion is regarding the specifics of the statements made or the suggestions given. Some of these, of course, can be understood in my public statements; for example, you complain about why a group has objections to the extremism of some who discuss justice-seeking; well, you yourselves have also objected to some of the extremism that occurs in this area. My opinion on issues related to justice-seeking is clear, and I have spoken in detail on these matters. In some other issues, opinions can also be expressed, which again I believe is the responsibility of the same friends who are in our office or in the university representations related to academic and student sections. I will not delve into the discussion further; because if we want to discuss the issues that have been raised, we will have lengthy discussions ahead.

The reason for insisting on addressing the youth: 1) The future belongs to the youth I have noted some issues that I will present, which I believe are noteworthy. The session is, of course, student-oriented, but the audience of this session is not just students; we have four million students, which is a large number, but the number of those who will be the audience for the topics we are discussing will be most of the youth; young students, young seminary students, young graduates, young workers; the entire youth community is the audience for these discussions. The insistence on speaking with the youth and discussing with them and hearing from them and conveying something to them is influenced by a definite premise, and that premise is that the future is in the hands of the youth and belongs to these young people. There is no doubt that in the mid-term future, sometimes in the short-term future, many of the responsibilities for the issues you are raising today will fall to you young people and the group of youth who are the audience for these discussions today, and management will be entrusted to them; there is no doubt about this. Therefore, discussing with the youth and talking to them and listening to them is important for us. Anyone who is interested in the future of the country must inevitably help the youth so that they can build this future in the best possible way, God willing.

2) The presence of valuable elements in the nature of youth Another part of the logic of dialogue with the youth is the view of the nature of youth. As you observed today in your statements and I always have this judgment about the youth, the nature of youth is accompanied by hope, initiative, frankness, risk-taking, and tirelessness, and these are valuable elements for managing society; part of our problems stems from a lack of risk-taking or fatigue, or a lack of initiative, or a lack of frankness, or hopelessness; these are not present in the youth, which is why we prefer to engage more with this group of youth who naturally possess this nature.

Attention to the current sensitive position of the country from three angles: Of course, the issue in the current conditions of our country is of greater importance, and this arises from the current position of the country, which I believe must be considered for any decision-making and any action, as it is a very important and sensitive position. I will now briefly discuss this topic, that is, the current position of the country, from three angles and a general view:

1) The Islamic Republic is on one side of a vast and immense struggle on a global scale One angle is that there is a clear truth, and that is that the Islamic Republic today is on one side of a vast and immense struggle on a global scale; a serious struggle in which one side is the Islamic Republic, and the other side is the front of disbelief, oppression, and global arrogance; the Islamic Republic is currently engaged in such a vast and immense struggle; there should be no doubt about this. The opposing front seeks to eliminate the Islamic Republic from the field with various methods and tricks at its disposal; if it succeeds - which God willing it will not - it will be very costly for the future of the country for the Islamic Republic to retreat in the face of this front of oppression, disbelief, and global arrogance and to surrender and exit the field.

On the other hand, the struggle of the front of disbelief and global arrogance against the Islamic Republic is to prevent the emergence of a model. Many of the problems we have today are due to this; that is, there have been sabotages to prevent an attractive model from emerging for nations. We cannot overlook these sabotages or ignore them; they have existed, and they still exist. Therefore, one of our perspectives on the position of the country relates to the understanding that the Islamic Republic is engaged in such a political battle, intellectual battle, soft warfare, and occasionally hard confrontations with the vast front of oppression, disbelief, and global arrogance.

2) The high capacity of the country for confrontation Another perspective on the position of the country is that we should pay attention to the high capacity of the country for confrontation; we have very high capacities to confront this vast front, which is also powerful and has apparent powers; experiences have shown us this; we have a lot of experience in this regard over the years that proves to us that we have the capacity to confront and face this immense front; we have both military struggle experience, the years of sacred defense, and various issues that some of you referred to in expressing your respect for our dear martyr, martyr Soleimani; we also have scientific jihad, which the world has acknowledged that the speed of the Islamic Republic's progress in scientific matters is several times the average speed of the world, which is a very important issue and fortunately continues; and we also have cultural jihad.

A vast group of youth committed to religious principles, in the face of the cultural onslaught of the enemy You see, despite all the appearances that you friends have pointed out, I also pay attention to them and acknowledge them, there is a reality; there is a lot of cultural onslaught against our country; this is not just today; even today, with the advent of cyberspace, the volume has multiplied, but even before that, through radios, through televisions, various means have been used against cultural issues in the Islamic Republic. Despite all this, there is a vast group of youth - not a small group, not a minority - committed to the religious, ideological, and cultural principles of the Islamic Republic; this indicates that we are stronger than the enemy in cultural jihad. There are various issues that some of you have pointed out, and some have not. The religious demonstrations that have taken place in recent years - the Arbaeen march, the issue of I'tikaf, the issue of mourning for Imam Hussein, and recently the unprecedented massive funeral of our dear martyr, martyr Soleimani, and similar events - all indicate that the Islamic Republic is not lagging behind in the cultural battle against the front of global arrogance, despite all its efforts, and significant progress has been made; therefore, it is the same in cultural jihad. It is the same in social jihad; for example, the vast services observed in recent events or in last year's floods, or in earthquakes, or in the presence of these jihadist groups in villages, and the massive movement that has been initiated in this regard; all of these indicate that in social jihad, our performance, the performance of the country, and the capacity of the country have been very high, and certainly even more so in deprived areas and similar places.

Now, let me point out one matter here; it was mentioned about the activities that the service-related institutions to the leadership are engaged in; I tell you: I believe that you are unaware of most of these activities; that is, this is partly due to the lack of transparency, which is one of your criticisms; that is, most of the significant work they are doing, you are largely unaware of. Good work is being done in the field of social services, and the same goes for intellectual jihad; in the field of intellectual jihad, a lot of intellectual work has increased; adherence to the slogans of the revolution has improved; the discussions you are having indicate the depth and progress of intellectual work.

Of course, some may say, "It has been 40 years or, as one of the gentlemen said, 42 years since the victory of the revolution"; yes, 42 years is not a long time for these kinds of general and macro issues, it is a short time. Many of these works are gradually carried out over time, especially with the problems that have existed in our country. Therefore, if we want to look at the position of the country from this perspective, we must acknowledge and accept that the capacity of the country to confront the enemy - whether in military matters, scientific matters, social matters, cultural matters, and so on - is very high, and we can easily confront and face this front and emerge victorious; that is, this hope for victory is not an illusory hope, it is a hope based on this clear reality.

3) Institutionalizing the feeling of power and dignity in the country Another perspective is the feeling of power and dignity that has been institutionalized in the country, which is very important; that is, there is a deeply institutionalized feeling in the country among the general public. Now, some engage in negative thinking and attribute their weaknesses to the country, to society, to the Islamic Republic, but the reality is that fortunately, there is a deep public feeling in the country, and that is the feeling of dignity and power.

Creating a sense of inferiority in nations, a ground for the domination of despotism and colonialism You see, let me explain here: one of the things that is very important in the despotic and colonial approach to nations is that the colonial and dominating powers try to create a sense of inferiority in those nations they want to dominate; that is, a necessary prerequisite for them is to humiliate that nation, to instill a sense of inferiority in it, to inject a feeling of incapacity into it, to make it understand that it is nothing, has no identity, is nobody, and has no importance; this is one of the fundamental tasks. Unfortunately, this was done in Iran; that is, it started from the late Qajar period; both the internal despotism of the last Qajar monarchs and the very dangerous and influential interventionist policies in the country - mainly British policy - fueled this meaning. Of course, at that time, both Russia and England had control, but the Russians, for various reasons that are not the place to discuss, retreated somewhat; mainly the English were dominant over the country's issues, one example of which is the famous 1919 Vossuq al-Dowleh Treaty - the famous colonial treaty - which realized this state of humiliation and general inferiority and the uselessness and nothingness of the nation, and this became the ground for the rise of someone like Reza Pahlavi and the continuation of his rule and then the rise of his son Mohammad Reza, which was a tragic event in our country that the enemies caused and the nation was a spectator; in the matter of the rise of Reza Khan Pahlavi, the nation was a spectator and had no influence, no presence, no say; they just watched, an event happened, a coup occurred; they neither sought to find out who it was, what it was, nor expressed any opinion, nor stood up, and suffered the severe consequences; that is, they endured the so-called fifty-year despotism and dictatorship because of that feeling of inferiority and humiliation that they had experienced.

The Islamic Revolution and the eradication of the Pahlavi regime, an earthquake in the world In stark contrast to this, the Islamic Revolution occurred. In the Islamic Revolution, the youth of the country felt that they could accomplish an impossible task that everyone in their judgments said was impossible - and that was shaking the Pahlavi regime - in the best possible way; and not only shaking the regime but eradicating it. A regime that the foreigners were earnestly trying to support and work for. The Americans, just as you see today defending some governments, were firmly defending the Pahlavi regime, standing up for it; however, their defense of the Pahlavi regime was greater than what they support and defend some of their dependent governments today.

The internal oppression was also extremely severe; that is, the treatment that was carried out at that time against the people, against the activists, against the opponents, against the protesters is beyond what the youth today can imagine; that is, the treatment that was carried out at that time is completely beyond your imagination; for example, possessing a book or a half-line written in a notebook would lead to someone enduring imprisonment for a long time, in addition to the tortures they would endure before conviction; that is, it is extraordinary and is not even a subject for discussion in this regard. The Iranian youth and the Iranian nation were able, with their will and power, to eradicate such a regime, to accomplish an impossible task and astonish the world; that is, when the Islamic Republic came to power and the dependent monarchy regime in the country was eliminated, the world was astonished; they fell into a state of bewilderment for a while, wondering what is happening; it truly created an earthquake in the world. Since then, until today, factors creating a sense of dignity and power have continuously emerged in the country, raising the level of national authority; that is, we are a country that stands firmly against bullying with power and clarity, not just one or two people in the government have this state; no, the nation as a whole has this feeling, this feeling of power, this feeling of dignity. Of course, there are also those who engage in negative thinking and are very few and isolated, but the general public has this feeling of power and dignity.

The enemy's efforts to undermine this feeling of dignity and power Of course, the enemy continues its policy of trying to humiliate the nation; that is, today they are continuing the same policies; that is, the enemy has not lost hope that it can influence the spirit of the people. This point must be considered by all of us in our analyses, in our statements, in our protests that the enemy today seeks to undermine this feeling of dignity, this feeling of power, this national self-confidence, and to eliminate it. Of course, the enemy tries, but God Almighty has decreed the opposite. This very incident of Corona caused the people to feel even more dignity; well, you observe what is happening in the West, in Western countries, in America. This incident that occurred here also went there; there, see what the situation is like, what the situation was like here: the management that took place, the presence that the people had, the great works that were done in this regard. Or, for example, the satellite launch, or the scientific works that are currently being carried out to understand this virus. All of these are events that God Almighty has decreed; or this great movement of charitable assistance and service that took place. Therefore, the conditions of the country are these. That front is there, that enmity is there, those capacities are there, and this feeling of dignity and power also exists in the country.

The necessity of paying attention to the presence of youth in various sectors and middle management Now, given this, regarding the issues related to the youth and what I think I should convey to the youth, I have noted some things that I will present. Of course, fortunately, due to the emphasis that has been placed and the repetition that has occurred, attention has been paid to the issue of youth; now in the statements of friends, there may have been pessimistic remarks, but in my opinion, this is not the case; attention has been paid to the presence of youth in various sectors, and work is being done in this regard. Now, what we mean by "youth-oriented" is one of those questions that the friends in the academic and similar sectors should answer. Attention has been paid to the presence of youth and importance is given to their presence, to their entry into middle management, to their opinions, and so on.

Good work has been done in the past year in student and seminary environments More importantly, the student environments have fortunately done good work. In this past year, that is, from last year when this session was formed until today, good work has been done. One of the very good works that has been done in the student environment and also in the seminary is the issue of "problem-oriented" discussions and work, which was one of our recommendations, and fortunately has been pursued, and specific, important issues have been raised in a problem-oriented manner and good opinions have been reached. Or addressing international issues, which was also one of our recommendations. Fortunately, I observe that multiple issues related to international topics have been addressed, which I do not want to name. Now, there was a complaint that "why was a certain issue not pursued"; well, you are not aware, it was pursued. A specific issue was mentioned by one of the brothers about why this matter was not pursued; it was pursued, it was pursued seriously; however, the desired results were not achieved, but the work was pursued seriously; one end of the work was in our hands, and one end was in the hands of others, and naturally, it could not reach a conclusion. In any case, in international matters, the youth worked; they thought; the truly astonishing jihadist activities that I sincerely thank and praise, and I thank God that our youth have been prepared in this way. This complaint that the jihadist friends have is a valid complaint that why they are not invited to decision-making forums for issues, or why their opinions are not sought for the services being rendered and they are only used as labor and so-called service providers; these are valid criticisms that are correct.

Addressing issues related to privatization, which was one of the works that was done this year in the youth sector; of course, there may have been some extremism in this regard, but the very act of pursuing these topics was good in our opinion, it made the officials aware of their responsibilities. Now, the criticism that one of the friends made that students conducted fieldwork in this regard and disagree, that is debatable, but in any case, the very act of pursuing these topics was good; that spontaneous organizations also emerged. Following up on family issues and women's issues, which fortunately was also mentioned here, I believe is one of the important issues that must be pursued, and certainly, there has been a lack of work in this area; and whatever is said in this regard and protested, I accept and believe that serious shortcomings have occurred in this area. Fortunately, this was one of the topics that I saw in student discussions.

Several recommendations to the youth: 1) Individual and social self-building Now, the recommendations I present to you dear youth, whether students or the other youth I mentioned, the first issue is self-building; self-building is very important; both in individual dimensions and in collective dimensions. You yourself must build yourselves, and your group must build itself as a collective; self-building is very important. The opportunity of Ramadan is a good opportunity; although we have reached the end of the month, the remaining few days are a good opportunity for prayer, supplication, and connection with the Quran; and not abandoning the spiritual connection with the end of Ramadan; that is, it should not be the case that Ramadan is over, and the conditions for prayer and supplication and presence are ready, and actions are taken, and once Ramadan is over, everything is abandoned; no, connection with the Quran, relationship with the Quran, prayer with presence, prayer on time, attention to supplications - I have referred to some of the supplications, and I will refer to some more - are matters that I believe are necessary for self-building. This helps you to pass through the pitfalls easily and safely. There are pitfalls; fear is a pitfall, doubt is a pitfall, feeling weak is a pitfall, unhealthy motivations are pitfalls; there are many pitfalls on our path, especially for those active in social issues; therefore, they need more self-building and need to strengthen their spiritual and moral foundation. I believe that when your spiritual and moral foundation is strong, you will gain more abilities in thought, decision-making, and action, and we need these in the youth generation; this is our first recommendation and our first statement to you dear youth; and you are truly like my children, and I wish for you what I wish for my own children, and what I say is genuinely beneficial for you.

2) Strengthening epistemological foundations and avoiding passivity and deviation The second recommendation is strengthening epistemological foundations; this is very important. Thanks be to God, there are many good thinkers among you, and you think and work in various fields, but youth environments, including universities, have historically been targets of vulnerabilities, including two major vulnerabilities that have affected youth environments: one is passivity, and the other is deviation. Passivity means feeling helpless, useless, hopeless in the face of difficult events, which can be resolved by strengthening spirituality; that is, when spirituality is strengthened, passivity will not arise at all. Deviation - intellectual deviation, deviation in epistemological foundations - can be resolved with this recommendation. You see, in the early days of the revolution, we had youth who were Muslims and entered the field for Islam, but because their epistemological foundations were weak, their knowledge bases were not solid - for whatever reason they were not solid - they were attracted to eclectic groups and transformed from a healthy, believing, Islam-seeking youth into those who turned their weapons against their compatriots, targeting the young, the old, the market traders, and caused those atrocities, those crimes; due to weak epistemological foundations, they were drawn to those unhealthy groups and led to these paths; in the end, they ended up under Saddam's flag; that is, in the end, their work reached this point; the root of all this was the lack of intellectual stability. Others at the same time - we knew individuals; I was acquainted with many of these individuals before the revolution in these groupings and so on - stood firm and strong; because their epistemological foundations were correct, they were connected with the books of martyr Motahhari, familiar with the thoughts of Allameh Tabatabai, acquainted with the words of the late martyr Sadr, their epistemological and intellectual foundations were solid, therefore they stood firm; some had weak epistemological foundations and unfortunately went away. Or later, in the early days of the revolution, some did revolutionary work and after a while became part of the regretful ones - the group of regretful ones - which is one of the issues of our revolution, namely the issues of the regretful gentlemen who were once revolutionary and later regretted being revolutionary.

Extraordinary supplications of Sahifa Sajjadiyya This is because of weak epistemological foundations; that is, when epistemological foundations are weak, they cannot preserve them in the face of events, questions, and ambiguities and keep them on the straight path. Therefore, I believe you should pay attention to faith-related and epistemological issues. You see, this supplication that I mentioned - the twentieth supplication of Sahifa Sajjadiyya, the famous supplication of moral excellence - is like this: O God, grant me the most complete faith and make my certainty the best certainty; it says I have certainty, but make my certainty the best. And guide my intention to the best intentions and my actions to the best actions, until the end of this supplication. This supplication is indeed extraordinary. I recommend that dear youth become familiar with this twentieth supplication of Sahifa Sajjadiyya. Of course, the supplications of Sahifa are extraordinary; that is, Sahifa Sajjadiyya is not just about one or two supplications. Now, I mentioned the twentieth supplication, the twenty-first supplication is also extraordinary in another way, and there are various other supplications in this extremely valuable book. Now, this twentieth supplication, which is the supplication of moral excellence, read it, pay attention to it. Fortunately, good translations of Sahifa Sajjadiyya have been done, and I have seen three or four of these translations, and they are indeed very good translations and trustworthy; refer to them, and use them. This is our second recommendation to you dear youth.

3) The importance of continuing idealism and demand-making The third recommendation is that you should not lay down the flag of idealism and demand-making; all the discussions and statements that you friends have made here for an hour and a half were demand-making; the audience of demand-making was sometimes myself, sometimes our office, sometimes other groups; this is a very valuable thing; do not lose this demand-making, do not lose this idealism. These are idealistic; it may be that some of the things you demand are not feasible, which is indeed the case; that is, when a person enters action, the problems of fieldwork become more apparent to him, it becomes clear that all the things we wanted could not be operationalized or could not be operationalized this quickly; however, the very act of idealism is valuable; because if there is no idealism, we lose our way; this idealism prevents us from losing our way and from deviating to the left and right in the middle of the path. Keep this idealism; these important ideals: justice, independence, eliminating corruption, ultimately Islamic civilization. The main and real and ultimate ideal is the establishment of Islamic civilization; do not lose these and demand them and think about them; of course, demand-making must be in logical forms, which I may also have something to say in this regard.

The necessity of vigilance in preventing the enemy from exploiting your demand-making I had noted two points regarding demand-making that I thought would be good to pay attention to. The first point is that demand-making is naturally accompanied by a type of protest. Well, yes, demand-making means that there is a deficiency, and we want to demand the removal of that deficiency - naturally, that is demand-making - therefore it is accompanied by protest; do not let your demand-making and your protest be interpreted as a protest against the Islamic system; this is important; the enemy is waiting for this. Sometimes you may think you have a complaint about the stock market - for example - or about the issue of the car, you mention the complaint; however, the enemy interprets your manner of protest as a protest against the system or conveys that this protest was against the system; do not allow this; seriously prevent this and do not let the enemy find such an opportunity to derive such an interpretation from your demand-making or protest.

The second point is that if you hold the flag of demand-making, it is good; however, if you lay down this flag, there may be those who pick up this flag whose goal is not to solve the problems of the people; rather, their goal is to oppose and fight against Islam and the Islamic Republic and the Islamic system; do not let this happen; that is, this must not happen. Of course, the Marxist left, which has always pursued these issues, has no reputation in the world today; this leftist Marxist current is suffering from severe poverty; both in terms of intellectualism - as they say, in terms of theory - they are truly weak and have nothing to say, and politically; all their leaders and great figures have surrendered to America, surrendered to the Zionist regime, surrendered to the monarchist groups; therefore, they have both intellectual poverty and political poverty and field poverty; that is, they do not have an active, efficient, self-sacrificing person to enter the field; therefore, they are insignificant, but in any case, there are always those who will seek to exploit good and correct slogans; if you abandon these slogans, they may take them; this is also a point.

4) Criticism alongside suggestion and avoiding aggression The fourth point is that demand-making is not just criticism; demand-making is not just protest, although there is protest in it. Criticism alongside suggestion; today, of course, suggestions were made, which are good; some of these suggestions are acceptable suggestions, some are worth considering, but the youth group that hears this speech and is active in these areas should pay attention that merely criticizing, merely protesting will not advance this work, it will not have any serious and lasting benefit; now, it may have some small benefits at the beginning; what is beneficial is suggestion. You see, in Islam, the prohibition of vice is accompanied by the promotion of virtue; the prohibition of vice is the same as protest, the promotion of virtue means suggestion, providing solutions, presenting actions that should be taken and can be taken; these go hand in hand; therefore, accompany your demand-making with providing solutions and giving good and acceptable solutions. And also, do not accompany demand-making with aggression and bad-mouthing; my request is this. Of course, today you all spoke very well and respectfully to me, thank you very much. Of course, in the past, both during my presidency and even before my presidency when I went to university, I sometimes faced aggressive encounters, and it did not matter to me; that is, I could cope with those encounters, and ultimately in the confrontation between myself, who was sitting on the podium, and that group who were criticizing, the one who was defeated was not me.

Today, of course, all of you spoke very well; however, sometimes officials come to universities or student gatherings and are subjected to destruction. The fact that you protested that so-and-so did not come to the university environment despite being invited, yes, I have repeatedly advised the officials to go and speak with students in universities, to explain, to talk; my opinion is the same, but they respond that when we go, the goal of those young people who gather there is not to understand the issues and clarify the issues, their goal is to destroy; for this reason, they do not come. I request that you do not close the space for dialogue; that is, when the discussion of destruction and insult and such things arises, naturally, the space for dialogue is closed; do not let it be like this. Speak with reasoning and logic. Of course, some of the words may be sharp; that is fine; speaking sharply does not contradict the absence of aggression and insult and such things.

5) The importance of discourse creation The fifth point is discourse creation, which I referred to at the beginning of the speech; one of the blessings of this session we have today with you and the sessions we have had with the youth - at least once a year in recent times and more before - has been discourse creation; that is, the fact that you say something, it gets disseminated, a group of youth and non-youth hear it, gradually creates a correct mentality. These mentalities are the same as discourse; that is, it creates a specific intellectual orientation in society, which is a valuable thing. My request is that student movements pay attention to discourse creation. Extract the issues of the system, think, predict well-considered and strong solutions, and present them.

Of course, the national media must help, without a doubt, the national media must help. Now, today, in this recent period, the national media has youthful, vibrant, and revolutionary sections that friends have not paid attention to. Ultimately, the opinions of the youth and the matters that the youth prepare must be taken into account, and discourse creation must occur in society. When discourse creation occurs, public acceptance of the youthful and progressive groups will be achieved; that is, public acceptance will emerge, and then it will leave its effect on the selection of management and similar matters.

The remedy for the country's problems is a youthful and Hezbollah government Of course, as I have emphasized before and have repeatedly said, I believe in a youthful and Hezbollah government and am hopeful for it, and of course, a youthful government does not merely mean that there must be a young president, even if he is, for example, 32 years old; no, a youthful government means a lively, energetic, and ready government that is of an age to be able to strive and work and is not tired and worn out; this is the meaning. Some people, even at older ages, can be considered young in a sense; now, this dear martyr you mentioned - martyr Soleimani, and I remember him day and night - was in his sixties, he was not very young; if he had lived another ten years and I had lived, and I was to specify, I would have kept him here, that is, I would not have sidelined him because he was not young. Therefore, sometimes individuals who are not in their youth can perform good youthful actions. In any case, in my opinion, the remedy for the country's problems is a youthful, Hezbollah government and a believing youth who can guide the country through difficult paths.

6) Expanding the front of the revolution and avoiding the exclusion of believing individuals The next point, the sixth recommendation that I have noted here, is to expand the front of the revolution, to recruit; do not exclude; mere differences in taste and differences of opinion about a particular issue should not lead to exclusion. There are some who believe in Islam, the revolution, and the Islamic system and many of the characteristics that you value, but they do not agree with you on a particular issue; this should not lead you to exclude them, to consider them outside the circle of revolutionary commitment. As much as you can, expand the front of the revolution, recruit; of course, I do not mean recruiting hypocrites, I mean recruiting believing individuals who have a difference of opinion with you.

7) Clarity and strength against those who create doubts in the foundations and beautify the enemy The next point - which is the seventh point - is that in contrast to this state of exclusion and rejection, there is another state that is also wrong: there are some who are all their efforts to create doubts in the foundations of the revolution and deny the signs of the country's progress; speak firmly and clearly with them, that is, clarify your boundaries with them. I do not recommend behaving with leniency towards anyone who does not accept the foundations of the revolution and creates doubts in these foundations and beautifies the enemy and places the wrong path before us; no, there you must act with clarity, you must act with strength. And this is what creates doubts; this is the backbone of the enemy's cultural work; this is the essence of the enemy's soft war, which is to create doubts. If anyone in the country, within the country, does the same work as the enemy, they must naturally be confronted.

After all, some help the enemy; that is, they beautify the enemy.

The hatred of nations and even governments towards America I want to say that America, despite the heavy costs it has incurred over the years to create an attractive entity for itself in the world, today the American society not only lacks attractiveness, but the country of America, the American society, and the American system have become, in a sense, a detestable entity in a significant part of the world; this is a reality. The fact that the American flag is burned in many countries, even in America - a clear report existed recently that a group burned the American flag in America itself - indicates that nations are disgusted; even the leaders of the very governments that accompany America, in many matters, when they come to speak and express their true feelings, one sees that they have feelings of hatred and distrust and indifference towards the American statesmen and government. Of course, this detestation and rejection in recent years is partly due to the presence of these gentlemen who are in charge there, partly related to them, that is, these respected gentlemen who are at the head of the country; that is from their president, who they referred to as "Dr. Trump"! A program that our witty youth executed [called] "Dr. Salam"; one remembers that. That is from the very lowly and nonsensical foreign minister who constantly speaks nonsense and irrelevant and illogical words here and there; of course, these have an impact; the presence of these gentlemen has an impact on the hatred of nations and even the officials of countries towards America, but it is not only this; the long-term performance of America, America's warmongering, America's performance in many countries, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Syria, also has an impact. They openly declare that we are deploying forces in Syria because there is oil there; that is, they openly announce this; such audacity. Of course, the Americans will not remain in Syria or Iraq, and they must leave and will certainly leave; there is no doubt about this, that is, they will be expelled, but their behavior is like this; fratricide, warmongering, supporting notorious and despotic governments, governments that are truly notorious in the world, the crimes they have committed, the warmongering they have engaged in, the terrorism they have fostered, the unwavering support they have provided for the increasing oppression of the Zionist regime and injustices, and recently their disastrous management in the issue of Corona, are all things that have led to hatred towards America; now, some try to present this America in a favorable light.

8) Attention to scientific progress The next point, which is the eighth point, is the issue of scientific progress. I have been emphasizing the issue of scientific progress for years, and it remains a point of emphasis. I reiterate: knowledge is power; knowledge is authority, and we must pursue knowledge. University environments, research, and academic environments must certainly pay attention to the issue of knowledge. Furthermore, pay attention, that my emphasis on the issue of knowledge is for the sake of the country's progress, knowledge is for opening the horizons of the future, knowledge is for the same thing that I said years ago that fifty years from now, we should reach a point where anyone who wants to benefit from the latest scientific advancements in the world must learn Persian; knowledge with this intention, with this goal. Those who have advanced knowledge in the world are those who have entered with such goals; otherwise, pursuing scientific work for our own short-term personal gain does not have much value; the main thing is to look at knowledge with that horizon-opening perspective.

9) The importance of hijab and Islamic modesty in university environments The ninth recommendation is the issue of hijab and Islamic modesty in universities, which I have concerns about, and I request that both university officials and university presidents, as well as the managers of the ministries related to universities, and the students themselves - especially the young ladies - pay attention to the issue of hijab, to the issue of the separation between men and women that exists in Islam, give importance to it, and observe the religious standards in universities.

10) Attention and vigilance regarding the enemy's recruitment from the youth community of the country The last point is that both the youth themselves and those who deal with youth issues and organizations related to them must know that just as we give importance to the issue of youth for the future of the country and the progress of the country, our enemy also gives importance to the issue of youth for the destruction of the country and for bringing the revolution to its knees; they also understand the role of youth. Everyone should be aware that they are also working on our youth, they are also trying to exploit our youth, they are also pursuing this and planning for it; in some places, they need elements within the country, they are working on the youth inside the country; in some places, they need a propagandist, analyst, and political element, and they are working on that; in some places, they need to compel a young person to turn their back on the country and go, which we have seen happen; an actor, an athlete, a semi-educated cleric, a student is somehow compelled with noise to leave the country; such actions are being carried out by the enemy on the youth. Everyone should be aware of this and be vigilant so that the enemy's recruitment from the youth community of the country is not facilitated.

I hope that God Almighty grants all of you kindness and grace. I pray for the youth regularly, without interruption, that is, at least once every night and day, I pray for you youth and for all the youth of the country that God helps them, God guides them, God makes them prosperous, and God resolves their problems; the problems of employment, the problems of marriage, the various problems they have. I will pray again, God willing; and we hope that God Almighty will answer these prayers and He does answer. Certainly, the condition of our youth community tomorrow will be better than today, by God's grace and the blessings of the presence of the Mahdi (may our souls be sacrificed for him). Always remember to seek intercession from this great figure and ask for help, intercession, and prayer from him, and God Almighty will make that great figure kind to you, to us, to all the Muslim nations and our dear nation, and keep us worthy of this kindness and send greetings and mercy and forgiveness from God for the pure soul of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) and for the souls of our dear martyrs. (The rings that the gentlemen mentioned and the lady referred to, as well as the scarf and Quran and similar items that were mentioned, God willing, I will present all of them.)

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