Statements of the Supreme Leader in Meeting with Workers and Educators on 'Workers' Day' and 'Teachers' Day'

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

First, I extend a warm welcome to all dear brothers and sisters, esteemed workers, and honorable teachers, students, and young ones. I hope that wherever you are and in whatever field you are serving, you are all under the divine grace and favor.

These days, both on the occasion of the martyrdom of the esteemed martyr Ayatollah Motahhari and on the occasion of Teachers' Day and Workers' Day, it is an opportunity for thinkers and intellectuals to speak to our nation about these two or three fundamental and vital issues of society, to illuminate truths in each area, and to elevate the level of knowledge of our nation in these areas, which is already high, even higher.

I must say a word about Martyr Motahhari. Although it has been thirteen or fourteen years that we have repeatedly spoken and heard about the greatness of this man, this is an unfinished book. The virtue of a man like Martyr Motahhari cannot truly be expressed in a way that does justice to him, even over the years. Therefore, our nation must continue to hear about this dear martyr, Motahhari. That sentence is that Martyr Motahhari was a fighter in the path of God; that is, a Mojahed in the way of God. However, jihad has various forms. One of the most difficult jihads is to stand against the invasion of wrong and deviant thoughts and cultures and the wrong understanding of a group of people, to know the truth, and to want to defend it with speech, thought, logic, and the weapon of language and pen, guiding minds towards what is right. This is one of the very difficult jihads, and Martyr Motahhari carried out this difficult jihad for many years. He was a perceptive and insightful person; he was not an ordinary person; he had sharp insight; he looked at the society and understood the mistakes in the general understanding of our nation, which were influenced by the indoctrination of the enemies, and began to fight against them. This very struggle, which was a struggle in the path of God, greatly contributed to the victory of this revolution; because until people's thoughts are correct, correct actions do not emerge from them. When the thought is correct, a person acts correctly. When one finds belief in a correct path, they move in that path and traverse it. Martyr Motahhari helped people recognize the path. Thus, he contributed to the victory of this revolution and the guidance of this general movement.

I wish those who were in the field of struggle in those difficult days would sit down and analytically write about what has passed, those sorrows, those pains, and those heartaches, so that our young people, our dear ones, and our young ones understand through what passages we have passed.

Sometimes a bus passes through difficult paths, and a passenger who is asleep does not realize what has happened to the poor driver, the driver's assistant, and a few who were awake to pass through dangerous passes. They should write these so that people know what Motahharis did in those times.

Another point is that the same struggle led to Motahhari attaining the honor of martyrdom; that is, the enmity that brought Motahhari down and shed his blood was an enmity that was harmed by the guidance and awareness he gave to the people. Because Martyr Motahhari stood against eclecticism, stood against hypocrisy, stood against the cultural invasion of the West and the East, and promoted pure Islam and jurisprudential Islam, those who opposed these things brought him down. If they could, they would bring down anyone who was like Motahhari, smaller than Motahhari, and on Motahhari's path; but God Almighty did not give them this opportunity, and God willing, He never will.

Therefore, honoring Motahhari is because of these. Sometimes I see some people write or say things about Martyr Motahhari that stem from not knowing Motahhari. They write and express strange and incorrect things about him that his spirit was not aware of. Unfortunately, this is a reality; that is, the same people who fought against Martyr Motahhari's thoughts during his peak, today, because the name of Martyr Motahhari is a shining name, cling to his name here and there and under the banner of this name, they still express their own words.

But regarding those other two topics; that is, the topic of teaching and education. I might have said this eight or ten years ago, I think in Friday prayers, that 'people should pay attention to how to direct the efforts of society. This means independence, which is important for a nation.'

An independent nation means a nation whose American or British or someday Russian and the like masters cannot interfere in its destiny and do whatever is in their favor and discard what is in the nation's favor. Countries that are not independent are like this. Today, look at some countries that we will not name; you will understand where we mean. These countries have leaders who obey America. When a nation and a country's leaders obey America, what do they do in that country? It is clear; the things that are in America's favor are decided and executed in that country. From buying, selling, advertising, promoting, sidelining, dismissing, appointing, and in short, everything that is in the favor of that master is done in that country. Anything that is in the people's favor is not done. The lack of independence of a nation is such a calamity; which was also the case in the previous regime. The most important problem of this country in the past was that the detestable Pahlavi regime was dependent on America and before that, dependent on Britain! They would say who should come up and become prime minister, or official, or minister, or oil company manager, or have a certain job. When the Americans said, they would give that person position and responsibility. Whoever the foreign enemies of this nation wanted to be removed from the scene, these Pahlavi regime people would use all their power to remove him. In this country, if something was in the Americans' favor, it was done by that apparatus. If something was against them and in the people's favor, it was not done; rather, it was opposed. The lack of independence of a country is like this.

Our nation fought and gained independence. What is this independence? This is an important issue. We have three types of independence, and these three types are sequential. One is difficult; the second is more difficult than the first; the third is the most difficult of all! The one that is difficult and our nation solved that problem and achieved its result is 'political independence'; which we achieved and it was very difficult.

What does 'political independence' mean? It means that today in this country, those who are responsible, whether the government, the parliament, or the judiciary, are all your servants. They are under no one's burden except their divine duty. Independence means this. Even if the whole world gathers America, Britain, Europe; even on the day when there were two powers, East and West in the world, and they join hands and want to move this nation and this country a step in a direction that is to the detriment of the people and in their favor, the officials and leaders and servants of this country will not allow it. This is political independence. Political independence means that today those who govern this country are those whom the people want. In a few days, there will be presidential elections. People will search and choose the face they are interested in and trust and consider powerful and capable for the country's affairs. Of course, the babbler says his babble. The babbler even babbles to God:

Every inner thought that becomes imaginative When you bring a reason, its imagination increases

Those whose insides are sick, no matter how much they look at this country, their eyes do not see. They see the people; they see the enthusiasm of the people; they see the people's interest in the officials; they see the sincerity and purity of the country's officials; they see that the people choose the country's officials; but they still babble; they speak; they accuse; they accuse the elections and the people; they accuse the officials.

Of course, these are not worth considering. They should not be paid attention to. The reality is that people see everything. Thanks be to God, this nation was able to achieve political independence with its power. Today our country, politically, is an independent country; a country that stands on its own feet. This is not something I say. In foreign trips, I have spoken with the leaders of many countries. The leaders of dozens of countries in the world, during the years of the presidency and after that, have spoken with me and all accept this; all say this and all understand this.

One day, the East and the West joined hands to be able to drag this country in a direction. When we defended a right, they all joined hands to prevent us from defending that right; but they could not. Today, too, they have all joined hands to eliminate and destroy the rights of the Palestinians. We also stand and say: 'We oppose.' Their cry has risen that 'Why does Iran oppose?!' They say this in private meetings, they say this in public meetings, they say this in their propaganda, and they even threaten. Let them do it! We say what we have understood, what our duty is, what we know God Almighty wants; we say it, we choose it, and we walk that path. No one can influence the nation and government and the Islamic Republic system of Iran and your servants. This is political independence, and we have achieved it.

More difficult than this is 'economic independence.' Economic independence means that the nation and the country stand on their own feet in their economic efforts and do not need anyone. It does not mean that a nation that has economic independence does not trade with anyone in the world; no. Trading, buying something, selling something, making deals, having commercial discussions, these are not signs of weakness. But it should be such that a nation can first provide its main needs itself. Secondly, in the world's economic equations and global exchanges, it should be a weight. They should not be able to easily set it aside; they should not be able to easily besiege it; they should not be able to easily swallow it and dictate whatever they want to it. Today, countries that are economically advanced and have power and unfortunately control and pursue global colonialism and arrogance if they want to exchange goods with a country and have cooperation, they impose conditions on that country. An independent economy of a country means that what the country needs can be provided within the country; the country's factories all work, and the country's workers consider work their human, religious, and conscientious duty. A worker is not only someone who is in a factory. Anyone who does a useful job in this country is a worker. A writer, an artist, a teacher, an innovator, and a researcher, these are also workers.

Being a worker is an honor. It is an honor to be a worker; let alone those powerful and capable arms and hands that set the wheels of factories in motion; if those arms are not there, those wheels will not move, and a nation that falls into such a situation will have a dark future.

Now, have we achieved economic independence or not? I say this is the one that is more difficult. We must strive. Of course, we can claim economic independence today; but with conditions and stipulations. This has several conditions: First, in the country, everyone should do whatever task they have well. It is said: 'May God have mercy on the one who does a job and does it well.'; God bless the one who does a job and does it firmly and perfectly; does it well. If you are turning a screw and tightening it, if you are turning a wheel, if you are stitching somewhere, if you are greasing a machine, if you are printing a book, if you are writing a book, if you are teaching in a class, if you are attending to patients in a hospital, if you are busy cleaning the city's streets in the municipality for your people, if you are a speaker, if you are a writer, if you are a researcher, if you are a cleric, if you are studying and learning, if you are in a university or school, if you are busy with art, if you are a filmmaker, if you are a storyteller, if you are a journalist; whatever you are and whoever you are and wherever you work, you must strive to do the work you do correctly, completely, firmly, and not fall short. This is one of the conditions that if realized, we will achieve economic independence.

The second condition is that those who have money and resources should not only think about themselves; because that money is also obtained from this country, that money is also obtained in the shadow of this nation and from this land and soil. Who can say 'I have money and in becoming wealthy, I am not indebted to the services and help of the government and the nation'? Is such a thing possible? Money does not rain from the sky for a person! Money is obtained in this daily life and effort. Thousands of people work; one person accidentally becomes wealthy. Those who have money and resources should not spend this money only for their own use. If you want to invest somewhere and engage in a business, do not only think about how much this work benefits me? We do not say do not consider your own personal interest at all. We say consider your country's interest as well. Do not make harmful investments. Do not make useless investments. Do not invest in work that does not advance the country's production. Those who have money and resources should have religious conscience and a sense of responsibility.

Another condition is that there should be innovation in the country's work and economic effort environment. I say it is good for the factories that exist in our country; whether those in the hands of the government or those in the hands of the people today, many production units are in the hands of the people and belong to the people themselves to spend some of their income on research, on advancing work, and on improving the quality of their produced goods. Why should we sit and wait for someone else in Europe or in another corner of the world to do research and we learn from them?! Are we less than them?! Do we understand less?! So they should research, innovate, advance production, advance industry, and raise production in terms of quality and quantity. This is also a condition; having innovation and creativity.

Offer something to the global human market that turns eyes towards you and makes them feel the need for it. It should not just be a claim. In this field, there must be real action. This is also a condition. Then, the country's scientific apparatus should come to the aid of the country's economy. University thinkers should come and work for the government. The government should rely on the thinkers and scholars who are in universities and are studying. Do not think that the research and words of a certain European thinker who said something are always the same. Today they say something, and twenty years later, ten years later, five years later, another scholar comes and invalidates that word and says something else. Why have we become accustomed to accepting whatever Westerners say unconditionally and sitting idly by and listening to them and accepting it?! You must find the correct one. The economists of our country must find what is compatible with the conditions of our land, with our beliefs, with the characteristics of our country, and compatible with our economic issues. As was expressed here, today we see, thanks be to God, new economic plans are underway by the government and the country's officials. These economic plans, as their officials state, God willing, will have sweet and good results in the future, and we hope that future comes sooner. But I want to say that the deprived and poor and low-income classes, for whom the increase in the price of a commodity immediately affects their personal life, must be supported and covered. We say this so that the officials of economic issues and various economic sectors and those who have work and production in their hands think correctly about these issues and help these vulnerable and so-called oppressed and deprived and low-income classes, so that, God willing, this nation can flourish the economy. This becomes economic independence.

Our workers were influential in the life of this revolution and this country. You must know that at the beginning of the revolution, to bring our factories to a strike, how much investment was made! We were aware of it. Now I do not want to say the details of those issues in this session; these are minor issues that should be expressed elsewhere and at specific opportunities. Before the victory of the revolution and in the midst of the struggles, I saw that some intended to brick up the doors of the factories so that when the Islamic Republic was established, these factories would not respond at all! They had this intention. But who resisted them? The workers. I went to a factory at that time maybe the workers of that factory are present in this gathering and or when this meeting is broadcast, they will hear in that factory, the communists and the leftists and so-called 'supporters of the working class' attacked me to destroy me; because they realized I had gone there to prevent their sabotage. But the factory workers, whom the leftists thought they had in their grip, defended me. The next day when we went, we saw that they had expelled all of them from the factory.

Our workers are like this. The enemy is trying today as well; know this. Because they know that the Islamic Republic stands firm and strong against America and against the enemy; to bring it to its knees, they are trying today to perhaps completely disrupt the country's programs. If the West and America and our enemies and hypocrites and others and others can disable our factories, they have dealt a significant blow, and today they are trying to deliver this blow. Today, who is standing against them? Our Muslim workers; our conscientious workers. In the past, from the beginning of the revolution until today, it has been like this; today it is like this, and by God's grace, in the future, our workers will always strike at the chests of those who want to disrupt our work environment.

The third, which is the hardest of all, is 'cultural independence.' This is very difficult and requires a lot of heartache. The struggle for cultural independence is harder than all types of independence. I once said that the enemies are launching a 'cultural invasion.' This claim is true, and God knows it is true. Some do not understand; that is, they do not see the scene. Someone who sees the scene is aware of what the enemy is doing and understands that it is an invasion, and what an invasion it is!

Let me say in a simple and short sentence that a nation fights with the power of its faith and belief. Fighting and resisting is done with faith, not with hands and eyes and bodies. Hands and eyes and bodies are tools. Consider a healthy and strong person, a skilled shooter, and knowledgeable in all military arts who does not believe in fighting. Also, consider someone who does not know how to hold a gun; but believes that one must fight with tooth and nail. Which of these two fights better? The one who knows how to fight but does not believe does not fight! It is true that he knows, but he does not use his knowledge. There is also someone who does not know how to fight, but believes that one must fight. Therefore, he fights with tooth and nail and learns to fight as soon as possible.

What did our Basijis do? Did our Basijis undergo such extensive courses? They underwent twenty-day courses, forty-five-day courses, two-month and three-month courses; but you saw what they did on the battlefield. Why? Because they believed that they must defend and fight. Our nation, from the time it made the revolution until today, has believed that it must fight against the enemies of Islam; against aggressors, against oppressors, and against those who held the fate of this country in their hands for decades and ate and plundered and destroyed, it must fight; it must put aside all pleasures and come to the field of struggle. Our nation had this belief; it came to the field, and the revolution was victorious, the war was victorious, and until today, thanks be to God, we have come forward.

Now, if the enemy enters our country with news waves; enters our country with its radios and introduces its words into the minds of the nation in such a way that 'fighting is not good; defending Islam is of no use; standing against the enemy has no benefit; no matter how much you strive and fight, you have lost,' will there still be a struggle against the enemies of Islam in the country of Iran?! It is clear that not! Many Muslims in the world do not fight against America and the enemies of Islam. Many nations read the Quran, pray, and worship, but they do not fight against the enemy of Islam, and even make friends with them! If the enemy can turn our nation into a nation that has no belief in fighting, no hope for victory, no asceticism towards sensual and materialistic displays, it has won. This is where cultural struggle becomes a struggle more obligatory than obligatory.

Today they are doing this work. Today, in various fronts, the enemy is working. One front is the front of our young people in schools. These dear young people of ours, our pure boys and girls, the children of this nation. They stir their pure hearts, pure bodies, and pure minds with sensual provocations, by spreading lust-inducing pictures, with films and videos and tapes and all kinds of wickedness and baseness, and lead them to corruption. See what a great crime this is! This is one of the things they do.

Some have thought that when we attack the cultural invasion of the West, our only issue is that someone on the street did not properly observe hijab. Thanks be to God, people observe their hijab; except for a few individuals. The issue is not these. This is secondary. The main issue is what is inside the homes and originates from youth gatherings, and the enemies are working there. What is not apparent, what is hidden, the danger is there. Our young people threw away lusts, threw away comfort and pleasure; they went to the field of struggle and were able to bring the enemy to its knees. Now the enemy is taking its revenge on our young people. What is its revenge? The enemy's revenge is to engage our young people in pleasures and lusts. They spend money, print vulgar pictures, and distribute them for free among young people. They make videos and give lust-inducing films for free to this and that to watch. Of course, some make money this way; but those who invest are not investing for money. They can freely distribute them in other countries and make money. Here they want to ruin and destroy the young generation.

This is the attack of an invader. Now, between us and God, if the judiciary of this country arrests someone who promotes such corruption, what punishment is more appropriate for him than all? Someone who leads thousands of young people of this country, our pure and clean young people; our innocent children to the valley of corruption and lust, what is his punishment? In my opinion, they should be punished in the severest way.

The goal of the enemy's cultural invasion is to change people's minds; to divert them from the path of Islam and to make them despair of struggle. That gentleman who, according to what we see, is himself خسِرَ الدُّنْيا وَالآخِرَةِ (has lost both this world and the hereafter), writes that 'the Iranian nation has lost both this world and the hereafter'! They write and even print that 'the Muslims of the world, including the Iranian nation, have lost both this world and the hereafter.' Why? Because they fought against America; that is what he means! Is this losing both this world and the hereafter? The Iranian nation that was able to save itself from the humiliation of dependency; was able to save itself from the humiliation and disgrace of connection and attachment to the detestable, corrupt, puppet Pahlavi regime and connection with America and display such courage and bravery and pride in the world and step on the path of freedom, is it خسِرَ الدُّنْيا وَالآخِرَةِ (has lost both this world and the hereafter)?! Are our young people, our faithful families, our men and women devoted to religion and lovers of God's path, خسِرَ الدُّنْيا وَالآخِرَةِ (have lost both this world and the hereafter)?! The one who says this is truly خسِرَ الدُّنْيا وَالآخِرَةِ (has lost both this world and the hereafter). They have neither this world nor the hereafter. Their world is a world of misery; their hereafter is undoubtedly God's wrath and punishment. They say these things about the people and even spread them. Why do they spread them? To destabilize the people; to change the people's faith. Whose work is this? The work of the same enemy whose economic independence is to his detriment, political independence is to his detriment; cultural independence is to his detriment.

These are the enemy's agents. This is a cultural invasion. This is a struggle against the Iranian nation, which the enemies are carrying out. It is not exclusive to us; they are hostile to Islam and are enemies of Islam.

Now, what is our duty? I say the duty of the teacher and the cultural worker and the student, who are at the center of the circle, and also all those who are involved in the cultural affairs of the country, is a long jihad and struggle.

These days are the days of honoring the teacher, and there is no greater honor than this that today the heaviest part of the work, which cannot be done by anyone other than you, is on your shoulders. Others have done the easy work. Today is the day that the teachers of the country must do that difficult work. What is that difficult work? Building Muslim, faithful, religious, and spiritually and ideologically healthy individuals. Building a young person who can turn the wheels of the country with his powerful hands, and this is the greatest work.

I hope God Almighty grants success to all of you teachers, workers, students, university students, and all those involved in the cultural or economic affairs of the country and to the officials of this country, and that the pure spirit of Imam and the sacred heart of the Imam of the Age be pleased with you, and that the prayers of that great one include all of you.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings