Statements at the Meeting with Officials of the System and Guests of the Islamic Unity Conference

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 Muhammad, and upon his pure and virtuous family and his chosen companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment.

I congratulate you on the anniversary of the blessed birth of the Prophet of Mercy, the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad ibn Abdullah (peace be upon him and his family), and the auspicious birth of Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq, the great Imam, to all of you esteemed attendees, to the dear guests of the Islamic Unity Conference, and to the ambassadors present at this session; and I also congratulate all the people of Iran, all the Muslims of the world, and indeed all the free people of the world—both Muslims and non-Muslims—on the birth of the Noble Prophet; the radiant sun that rose during the era of ignorance and the deception of ignorance, illuminating the world; as Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) expressed: "And the world is a dark place of apparent deception"; the truth of the matter is just that; the world was engulfed in the darkness of ignorance and deception at the time when the Lord of the worlds bestowed this light upon humanity. Today, the blessed body of the Prophet is not among us, but "He sent him with guidance and the religion of truth"; his religion, his guidance is with us. If we follow this light, if we are included in this Quranic expression that "they follow the light that has been sent down with him," then the result will be that "those are the successful ones"; following the divine guidance and the light he brought—which is the Quran, the book of guidance and the book of light—following this divine gift through the Noble Prophet to humanity will lead to success and salvation for mankind.

Humanity seeks success, seeks salvation. The plight of humanity from the beginning until today is characterized by the absence of justice, the absence of mercy, the absence of guidance. The various misguidances of humanity have made life difficult for them. Today, humanity is still in need of that source of light; today, humanity still needs to respond to the invitation of the Noble Prophet—which is the invitation of truth, the invitation of sincerity, the invitation of mercy; if humanity reaches this stage of intellectual maturity to respond to the invitation of the esteemed Prophet of Islam, the troubles of humanity will be alleviated. Today, the presence of powers and the oppression stemming from their audacity and recklessness in criminal acts has caused the world to be like that day, "a dark place of apparent deception"; unfortunately, today humanity is still afflicted. This affliction is not exclusive to the Islamic world that has distanced itself from Islam; rather, all of humanity is afflicted; those countries that seemingly enjoy civilizational advancement and worldly glitter are severely afflicted; this affliction stems from ignorance, from deception, from the absence of justice; and Islam is the answer to all of these; Islam guarantees the success and salvation of nations; we Muslims must take this lesson.

Of course, it should not be forgotten that by God's grace and divine favor, the movement of resistance against oppression and tyranny exists in the world today, relying on the name of God and on Islam. Our region is an example of this. Today, in our region, the spirit of Islamic awakening prevails among many nations and countries. The fact that you observe the arrogant powers of the world, at the forefront of which is the criminal America—the Great Satan—are sensitive to this region is because the spirit of inclination towards Islam and the acceptance of Islam and Islamic awakening is clearly visible in this region; they oppose the awakening of Muslim nations, they fear the awakening of Muslim nations. Wherever Islam has been able to dominate the hearts and souls of people, global arrogance has been dealt a blow, and we firmly believe that global arrogance will once again be struck by the Islamic awakening in this region.

Our message to our Muslim brothers, to the Muslim nations, to the intellectuals of the Islamic world, to the esteemed religious scholars in Islamic countries is this: strengthen this Islamic movement as much as you can; the way to salvation for this region is to strengthen Islamic awakening, to strengthen the Islamic resistance movement. This duty falls upon all segments of the Muslim nations; especially the scholars of Islam, especially intellectuals, writers, poets, scientists, artists, and political elites; they are obliged, they are the addressees of the call of the Prophet of Islam and Islamic guidance. Today, this opportunity has arisen in the Islamic world; especially in this region of West Asia, the ground for Islamic awakening is prepared; everyone must help bring this awakening to fruition.

Our advice to the rulers of Islamic countries is also to return to the guardianship of Islam; to be under the guardianship of God; the guardianship of America and the guardianship of tyranny will not benefit them. Unfortunately, today some of the Muslim countries in our region, instead of being under the guardianship of God, are rallying under the banner of the guardianship of tyranny, instead of following Islam and the light of the Quran, they follow America. America, by its arrogant nature, humiliates them; you have heard—all have heard—that the foolish President of America likened the Saudi rulers to a milk cow; this is humiliation; this is an insult; an insult to the people of that region and the people of that country. If the Al Saud do not mind being insulted, well, let them not mind, let them be insulted; but this insult is to the people of the region, an insult to the Muslim nations. Why should Islamic rulers join America in two criminal acts that have unfortunately wounded our region today—one is the criminal act against the Palestinians and regarding the important issue of Palestine, and the other is the criminal act regarding Yemen? They should also be assured that in both cases, victory will certainly belong to the people of Palestine and the people of Yemen, and America and its followers will be defeated in this matter.

Today, America is clearly weaker in this region than it was ten years ago and twenty years ago; clearly, the wicked Zionist regime is weaker today than in the past. A few years ago, the Zionist regime was defeated by Hezbollah in Lebanon; it was able to resist for 33 days and then was defeated; two years later, it was able to resist against the Palestinians for 22 days and was defeated; a few years later, it was able to resist against the oppressed people of Gaza for 8 days and was defeated; just this past week, it was able to resist for 2 days and was defeated; this is the weakness of the Zionist regime, the ever-increasing weakness of the Zionist regime.

Nations that have thought, that have identity, that have motivation, that rely on God, that trust in God, will stand firm, and the Almighty God will help them. "And if those who disbelieve fight against you, they will surely turn their backs, and they will find no protector or helper"; this is the divine tradition that has been established before, and you will not find any change in the tradition of God; this is the divine tradition; if Muslims stand firm, they will prevail over all the instruments of the tyrannical and arrogant powers. Today, the people of Yemen are enduring the harshest tortures from the Saudi government and its allies and America—its supporter—but know that the people of Yemen and Ansar Allah will certainly be victorious; they will not be defeated; the people of Palestine will not be defeated; the only way is resistance, and what has today flustered America and its allies, causing them to resort to foolish words and wrong actions, is the steadfastness of the Muslim nations, and this steadfastness will yield results.

Dear brothers and sisters! The people of Iran have been resisting for forty years. On the first day, we were like a thin sapling, we were vulnerable; thanks to the blessed name of the Prophet and the guidance of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), we were able to stand firm; of course, we sacrificed martyrs, we endured hardships, but we stood firm. Today, the people of Iran and the country of Iran are a mighty tree; today, America and the Zionist regime are mistaken to threaten the people of Iran; their threats, their actions, their malice have failed until today, and they will continue to fail; sanctions will fail, their policies will fail; thanks to resistance.

Resistance is only possible in the shadow of faith in God and reliance on God and trust in the divine promise; the Almighty God has promised, He has emphatically stated: "And certainly, God will help those who help Him"; He has emphatically promised victory; this promise will be fulfilled. If we reform ourselves, if we look at the divine promise with a good opinion rather than a bad opinion, we will be victorious. Bad opinion of the divine promise belongs to the disbelievers; "Those who have a bad opinion of God, the evil of time will be upon them, and God will be angry with them and curse them"; those who have a bad opinion of the divine promise will not benefit from it. The people of Iran have proven their good opinion of the divine promise; they have stood firm. We have faced military attacks, we have been sanctioned, we have experienced the infiltration of espionage agents, we have sacrificed martyrs, but the people of Iran stood firm like a mountain and were able to strengthen and stabilize themselves! Today, this good tree—the good tree of the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran—is a good tree whose "root is firm and its branches are in the sky." Day by day, by God's grace, we have progressed, day by day we have become stronger; after this, it will be the same; and this is the formula for the movement of Muslims and the progress of Muslims in the Islamic world. May God's mercy be upon our great Imam who opened this path for us, and may God's mercy be upon our dear martyrs who gave their lives on this path and brought blessings to the people of Iran; God willing, the same will happen in the future. If the Muslim brothers consider unity, solidarity, a common voice, and a common heart in the entire Islamic region, they will, by God's grace, overcome all these conspiracies.

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