Statements in Meeting with Workers

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 and chosen progeny, especially the Awaited One among the inhabitants of the earth.

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters. Our annual meeting with workers is, in my opinion, an important session. This year, especially since it is the year of production boom, and the sustainability of production is dependent on the existence of workers, their work, and their intentions, this meeting is even more significant. Fortunately, the present gathering has made the atmosphere spiritual by reciting these beautiful and meaningful poems, directing the ambiance towards spirituality and seeking the grace of the Lord, during the month of Sha'ban and the presence of the noble Prophet. I believe this session has taken on a spiritual state, which is important for us.

In the poem you recited, you mentioned spring; I say that work is also spring. Just as spring brings forth underground talents and natural abilities—trees bear fruit, foliage, and shade; nature comes alive in spring and reveals its inner potentials—work does the same; work brings all inner and real talents to the forefront. If there is knowledge but it is not put to work, what benefit is there? If there is innovation and inner talent in individuals but there is no work, this talent does not benefit anyone; it is work that brings talents, capacities, and existing realities in human resources to light, manifests them, and puts them to use; this is the importance of work.

One of the great responsibilities of the Islamic community and its officials is to clarify the value of work for public opinion; work should become a value, not just a necessity. Of course, work is a necessity—it is a need of society, a need of the individual; it is both a necessity of life and a spiritual and psychological need; that is, work is also a spiritual and psychological necessity—but it is not merely a necessity; work is a high value in society; we must bring this to the understanding and perception of the public. If this meaning—truly understood—becomes clear, then the value of the worker will rise. The worker must be recognized as valuable in society. It does not matter; workers from all sectors—those sectors you mentioned, of which you are representatives, and the rest of the sectors; wherever there is work, wherever there is movement, wherever there is production.

The boom in production is contingent upon certain conditions, one of which is work. This work must be jihadist; extraordinary work must be done in the country to bring about the boom in production; if the boom in production occurs, this itself is one of the main pillars of the resilient economy. When the resilient economy is realized, it means that society will not be worried about what certain American or Zionist scoundrels or others decide regarding our oil or our economy or similar matters. The reason I emphasize the boom in production and, more broadly, the resilient economy, and on Iranian goods and on work movement in the country, is for this reason. The nation needs dignity and self-sufficiency from foreigners. A nation places national dignity alongside its primary needs. Nations are not satisfied to be under the influence and control of decision-makers who are either not friends of this nation or are its enemies. Today, many of these decision-makers in the world regarding economic matters are enemies of the Iranian nation. They claim to only be enemies of the Islamic Republic, but they are enemies of the Iranian nation because the Islamic Republic is established with the help and support of the Iranian nation; without the support of the Iranian nation, there would be neither a republic nor an Islamic one.

The enemy has become despondent through other means. Look! You are, thanks be to God, wise individuals; many of you are among those whose minds and thoughts are productive, constructive, innovative, and aware in various fields; you know that since the beginning of the revolution until today, the enemy has focused on all points that could lead the country into chaos, including the issue of work and workers—perhaps even more than other issues, they have focused on this point—but in all these matters, the workers of the country have struck back at the enemy, discouraging them. This has not only been a recent phenomenon; for forty years, this issue has existed; the working community has been and remains one of the most loyal communities to the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic. Therefore, the enemy has worked hard on this issue. The officials of the country and those in power, policymakers, and implementers of policies must be vigilant; they must appreciate this.

The points that the Minister mentioned are completely correct; the audience for these points is the officials of the country themselves, not just the Ministry of Labor, but various sectors and different governmental agencies. The issue of job security, the issue of respect for workers, the issue of workers' wages—these are fundamental issues; they must be addressed properly. There are those who seek to exploit their own interests. I said at the beginning of the year that a factory that is operational is bought from the government—now at what price is another discussion—and the factory is destroyed, the machinery is sold off, the worker is made unemployed, and the land is turned into a high-rise; these must be stopped; these are among the fundamental duties of the Islamic government; the government—not just the executive branch, but the executive, judicial, and legislative branches—all must support work; this is what supporting workers means. The issue of imports that was mentioned is very important; there has been much emphasis on it, and strict governmental regulations have been established for it; it must be implemented decisively. Fortunately, today—meaning in these days; we have been receiving news about this since last year—there are those who are looking for domestic goods, but the seller offers foreign goods instead of domestic ones, claiming they are domestic! They lie; sometimes these incidents occur. Well, what is produced domestically is, in terms of quality, better than foreign counterparts, and in terms of price, less than foreign counterparts. We must not allow indiscriminate imports and some wrong policies to cause this domestic producer to face problems; if they face problems, production will stagnate, workers will become unemployed, and the country will remain in need.

Many well-meaning and caring individuals have said, and I also confirm, that sanctions in many cases benefit the country, benefit the Iranian nation; this is stated by well-meaning, interested, and informed individuals. Yes, sanctions create some problems; banking sanctions, oil sanctions, etc., may cause some issues, but ultimately they are in favor of the country. One of the officials of the country said that in a foreign meeting, one of the foreign politicians said to us, 'Sir! You were able to produce so many modern weapons during the sanctions; your capabilities are very high; despite being under sanctions, you were able to accomplish such great things; what would you have done if there were no sanctions?' This gentleman said: 'I told him that if there were no sanctions, none of these things would have been accomplished;' he was right. Sanctions compel us to look inward, to seek production [to meet] our needs from within ourselves, to identify our innovations, to recognize them. I tell you— you are workers, you are high-level workers, many of you have higher education—appreciate this capacity for production, this capacity for innovation; and officials must appreciate this as well.

Well, the enemies are working through various means against the Iranian nation, against our great revolution, and against our Islamic Republic, which has raised the banner of justice in the world and has drawn the attention of nations to itself [they are trying] and want to bring it to its knees; they have tried through various means and have failed; now they have turned to various economic issues and say they want to apply economic pressure to bring Iran to its knees. They should know that the Iranian nation will not kneel before them; this recent move by America is the same.

First, their efforts regarding oil will lead nowhere; we can export as much oil as we need, as much as we deem necessary; now they think they are blocking the routes, but a vigilant and aware nation and officials, if they roll up their sleeves, can open many deadlocks; this is one of them, and they will certainly do this; therefore, their efforts will not yield results; this is one.

Secondly, they are being hostile; they should know that this hostility will not go unanswered; they will receive a response for this hostility; the Iranian nation is not one to sit back and watch while they conspire against it and act against it while remaining silent.

Thirdly, as I said, we value the fact that we are less dependent on this form of oil sales; this is much better for us. The important thing is that we become aware of our inner treasures, that we become familiar with them, and that we know that the capabilities of our human resources in our country and society are far beyond what is currently being demonstrated.

Our youth can make many innovations; we have shown this over the years, both in production matters and in various social issues, political issues, and in the economic matters that they have focused on since the beginning of the revolution; these various advancements of the country, these constructions, these numerous efforts have all occurred in response to the enemy's actions. The capabilities of the Iranian nation are very great. We must promote the culture of work, production, and effort; this spirit of waiting for easy wealth must be eradicated; we must not promote this.

Various agencies, including the media and others, must be aware that types of activities such as lotteries should not be promoted. The verses that this esteemed reciter recited very well teach us: وَ اَن لَیسَ لِلاِنسانِ اِلّا ما سَعیٰ (and that man has nothing but what he strives for); the true and real achievement of a person is that which is the product of his effort and endeavor; this is it. If food is placed in front of a person, put in their mouth, this does not lead a person anywhere. It is where the mind works, where the thought works, where the arm works, where the will and determination work, that is what grows the individual and the society. Societies that have grown materially in the world have done so through this effort; they have strived and grown. God Almighty has promised that those who work for this world, even if they are not thinking of spirituality and the hereafter, He will help them so that they can continue on the path they are on; effort is required.

However, our perspective is not solely material; we seek the welfare of society, the scientific growth of society, the material growth of society, the technological growth of society, but we also seek the spirituality of society, the righteousness of society, the dignity of society, and the moral advancement of society; we are also pursuing these. We do not settle for material advancement, and this effort is necessary. This realization is possible; its achievement is feasible, and thanks be to God, it has already begun. I look at various groups across the country, mostly young, mostly educated, mostly motivated, with spiritual motivations, and I see that this movement has begun, thanks be to God. When we said the second step, it means that the same motivation, the same movement, the same high determination that was able to lift this country from under the boots of colonizers and arrogant powers after many years—requiring a very high determination, which the Iranian nation accomplished under the leadership of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified)—exists today to carry out a great movement, and God willing, this great movement will lead to a bright future for the Iranian nation, and with divine grace, the Iranian nation will reach the peak of elevation and dignity in both material and spiritual terms. And this work is yours, young people; this work belongs to our youth, and today our youth, thanks be to God, have the capability, the motivation, the necessary intellectual growth, and the required determination. The enemy, of course, is angry about this, is upset about this.

Fortunately, our nation is a united nation; you observe, this issue of the flood that occurred, no one really called on the people—sometimes we insist on various issues, we pursue them, we invite the people, but this time there was no need for that—people themselves rushed like a flood to help those affected by the flood. The incident that has occurred in the country in response to the onslaught of this natural disaster—flood being a natural disaster—this incident is a significant one, more important than the flood itself. Young people from all over the country set out, collaborated with local youth, helped, donated assets, and provided physical assistance; these are significant matters; such events exist in the country, and all of these are heralds of a good future. The enemies, of course, cannot see this and are making their efforts. I said the other day that these enemy efforts are, in fact, the last gasps of the enemy's hostility; today I emphasize the same, and the enemy will eventually tire of their hostility, and the Iranian nation, with divine grace, will not tire.

May God's mercy be upon our great Imam who opened this path for us, may God's mercy be upon our dear martyrs who were able to bring us this security and independence, may God's mercy be upon the martyrs of the working class who, whether in the Sacred Defense or in subsequent periods and even today, have been actively present in all fields, and may God's mercy, peace, and divine grace be upon all of you dear ones. And convey our greetings to the rest of our dear worker brothers and sisters.

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