Statements of the Leader of the Revolution in Meeting with Members of the Islamic Associations of 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.

Welcome, my dear ones! This session is a very sweet and desirable one for me; the presence of the youth with this vitality, this enthusiasm, these good words, this eloquent reasoning, and the programs that have taken place truly made our meeting a sweet one, and today will be a memorable day for me, God willing.

First, let me say a word about the month of Rajab. There exists a delicate spiritual dimension in every human being. Well, a human is a collection of various dimensions; there are instincts, desires, and needs; one dimension is the spiritual dimension in every human being, in all humans. This dimension is very delicate, and in youth, its delicacy and clarity are more pronounced. If we can strengthen this spiritual dimension in ourselves, it will guide the other dimensions of our being. It does not mean that the spiritual and meaning-seeking dimension suppresses instincts, needs, reasoning, and intellect; no, all of these are preserved in their own right. This spiritual and meaning-seeking dimension guides all other dimensions if it remains within us and is strengthened. The wicked people you observe in the world, who are either oppressors, ruthless, greedy for wealth, lustful, or gluttonous, are those whose meaning-seeking dimension has not been nurtured, gradually weakened, and disappeared. I advise you, the youth, to take advantage of the month of Rajab to strengthen this meaning-seeking dimension.

After the month of Rajab comes the month of Sha'ban, and then Ramadan, which is the spring of spirituality. You are, as Mr. Haj Ali Akbari mentioned, the embodiment of human spring; because you are in the spring of your lives; take advantage of this spiritual spring as much as you can. Remembering God, mentioning God, the prayers that have been revealed, paying attention to the meanings of these prayers, reciting the Quran, performing prayers on time, avoiding sin, and good morals are great opportunities available to all of us, but you, the youth, can make better use of these opportunities; just like these material opportunities. Imagine a field where a marker has been placed at the end of it, and something is there, and they tell me and you that whoever reaches it first can take it; well, who will get there first? It is clear that you are young, you have energy, you have enthusiasm; by the time I get myself moving, you have already reached and taken it. Spirituality is exactly the same; know this. In spirituality, you can reach your goal faster, easier, and sweeter. Those luminous individuals you have seen in our time, like the late Ayatollah Bahjat - for example - who was a luminous person; an elderly man and very radiant; these are the ones who have been careful about themselves since their youth, meaning from this stage of life. Those who think late have less success. Those who do not think at all remain deprived of that luminosity and clarity; they become like many people in the world; this is our first point.

Well, with you dear youth - you call yourselves adolescents, I refer to all of you as youth - we have a lot to discuss; in various sections, we have different discussions with you. Ultimately, you are, in a sense, my brothers and sisters; in another sense, you are my children; and in another sense, you are considered the grandchildren of this humble servant; you are our dear ones. Both you who are present here and your background, those several thousand students of the associations and twelve million students - as this dear young man mentioned - all of you fall under this category that we have mentioned. Well, we have many words to share with you. Today, I want to present a central point that includes a demand from the associations and the union of the associations. I will begin with a preamble: We are engaged in a confrontation with an enemy front, which is the front of global arrogance and its followers and affiliates; this is evident. Its axis is America and Zionism, and its followers and affiliates are some of the powers and semi-powers you observe; we are in conflict with them; the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic system are in conflict with them. What is this conflict about? Or in other words, in what arenas is our conflict with global arrogance? If we were to enumerate the arenas in which we are in conflict with them, I could probably mention ten areas right now; if we sit down to think and study, it could be more; twenty, thirty, or more points of conflict with global arrogance.

For example, consider the issue of the independence of the country - economic independence, political independence, cultural independence - this is one of the arenas of our conflict with global arrogance. The nature of arrogance and arrogant powers is to encroach; whether in the era of colonialism, which pertains to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and continued into the twentieth century, or in newer and more modern forms that they later established and are now continuously entering the field day by day. Their goal is encroachment; encroachment on the interests of nations, on countries, and domination and influence. This is the goal of global arrogance. Well, if a country wants to stand against this goal and defend its independence - whether cultural independence, political independence, or economic independence - naturally, a conflict arises; one of the arenas of our conflict with global arrogance is this.

One of the arenas of our conflict is the issue of progress. If Iran, with its self-sufficiency that it has shown from global powers, does not pay attention to them, does not become dependent on them, and does not rely on them - with these characteristics - achieves progress, this becomes a model of progress; that is, it becomes a model for other countries, for other nations. This progress is one of the centers and arenas of conflict between us and global arrogance; we want to achieve this progress, and they want us not to achieve this progress.

One of the fundamental motivations that led the arrogant powers to align against us in the nuclear issue was this; now they brought up other excuses, but they had several main motivations. One of them was that a country could achieve an extraordinarily sensitive scientific field like the nuclear field without relying on America, England, or any other power; this was very important to them, dangerous, and they did not want this to happen. And I am sure that if we give in to them, they will tomorrow create issues regarding biotechnology, nanotechnology, and various other scientific matters. Scientific progress, economic progress, and civilizational progress are among the areas of conflict and dispute between the Islamic Republic and global arrogance.

One of the contentious issues and areas of conflict is the powerful presence of the Islamic Republic in the region and the world; this powerful presence prevents the plans of global arrogance. America currently has a plan for the region of West Asia - which they call the Middle East, and I insist on not using this term for reasons I have mentioned before - you have seen under the title of Greater Middle East, New Middle East, which they have repeatedly mentioned over the past ten to twelve years, they have a program.

These programs have led to certain actions, but the powerful presence of the Islamic Republic has prevented the advancement of their plans. This is also one of the arenas of conflict and disagreement.

Another area is the issue of Palestine; another area is the issue of resistance; another area is the propagation of Western culture and Western lifestyles, which if a lifestyle accepted and promoted by the Westerners or Americans becomes prevalent in a country, the elites of that society become like tamed sheep in front of the policies of America and the West and the opposing power; they insist that this should happen, and the Islamic Republic wants to prevent this from happening.

Well, now I have mentioned a few examples of these arenas of conflict; I said that if I want to think off the top of my head, I could mention ten arenas, but if we sit down to think - you think, we think - we could add ten, twenty, thirty, or more.

Well, now we come to the main issue I want to address. One of the areas of disagreement and conflict between the Islamic Republic and global arrogance is the issue of the youth; the issue of the youth. Today, regarding the youth, there is a very extensive soft war between the Islamic Republic and America and its accomplices and Zionists. A few years ago, I told the student youth: "You are the officers of the soft war"; you are too, all of you are officers of the soft war. When a youth has motivation, self-confidence, the ability to think, and courage, they are an officer - an officer in the soft war struggles - this is the characteristic of youth.

Well, now imagine an officer with an identity that is desirable to the Islamic Republic and an officer with an identity that is desirable to the enemy of the Islamic Republic; compare these two and see what comes out; now our discussion is about the soft war, which is more dangerous than hard war; sometimes they threaten us with hard war and bombardment and attacks and such things, but they are mistaken; this is not the case, they do not have the capacity for this, they do not have the courage, and even if they do, they will receive a blow.

But the soft war is ongoing right now; the opponent is attacking; we are also engaged; now whether we are attacking or defending is another discussion, which I believe this side should also attack while maintaining its defensive centers. So there is a war; now you can liken this soft war to hard war and the battlefield; like the situation that exists now, for example, in Syria or Iraq or Yemen or anywhere else; these wars that are currently happening or during the Sacred Defense, which lasted eight years in Iran. Consider an officer who is sitting in his headquarters or in his trench; this officer can be of two types; there are two types of identity or two types of definition for this officer: sometimes this officer is in the form of a determined, alert, motivated, hopeful, hardworking, thoughtful, courageous, and self-sacrificing human being. Well, if such an officer is in his headquarters or in his trench with these characteristics, one can guess a result for this war. The officer is brave, noble, thoughtful, faithful, hopeful, determined, and motivated; this is one type of officer. This same officer can also be imagined with a different structure and a different identity. Imagine a person who is hopeless; that is, he believes that fighting is futile; he says you are standing for no reason, it is useless; he is hopeless. Or a person who is submissive, who has no will to resist and stand; now he may stand a little, but when the pressure increases and the force increases, he surrenders; his spirit is like this. Or a person who is deceived; he trusts the enemy's smile, trusts the enemy's deception, or does not even understand the enemy's deception. Well, war is full of deception and trickery; all wars are like this: Al-Harb Khud'ah (War is deception). In these hard wars, one of the essential tasks that a powerful commander can perform is to deceive the enemy with an operation and a movement; the enemy thinks he is going to move from there, and his attention is diverted there, and then he moves from behind. Now imagine this officer is a deceived officer; he does not understand the meaning of the enemy's deception and does not recognize it. Or a person who is completely lethargic; he wants to take a break and sleep. Or he is addicted; either addicted to drugs or addicted to lust or addicted to some of these computer games that have recently become popular - I have heard that some people become addicted to them - and is thoughtless and indifferent to his own fate and that of others who are looking up to him. Or he is preoccupied with instincts; for example, this officer is in the trench thinking about satisfying his material instincts and animal instincts; preoccupied with indulgence. So this officer can also be imagined in this form and in this identity and in this structure. What is the result of the war? It is clear. So the identity of the officers of the soft war can be defined in two ways.

This is one of the hard points of conflict between us and our enemies.

The enemy prefers our soft war officer, who is the youth, to be one way, while the Islamic Republic prefers him to be another way. This is not to be interpreted as fanaticism and, as they say, dogmatism and backwardness; no, this is a method of education, this is derived from the definition of the officer and commander of the soft war. One of the areas of our challenge with America is this. The Americans want our youth not to have that courage, not to have that hope, not to have that motivation, not to have that dynamism, not to have that physical ability, not to have that intellectual capacity, to be optimistic about the enemy, and to be pessimistic about their own leadership and their own background; this is how the enemy prefers our youth. The goal of the enemy's radio, television, and internet propaganda and all the various activities they do, which target our youth, is this; they want to turn the Iranian youth into such an element; an element that has neither proper faith, nor that kind of courage, nor motivation, nor hope; they want to turn him into this. The Islamic Republic is exactly the opposite; it wants this youth to become an active and influential element.

Now here is my demand from you, my dear ones and my children: you must play a role in raising your peers - the high school youth who are your contemporaries - according to this correct definition and help them become this way; this is the duty of the Islamic associations. Naturally, this is only possible if you have achieved success in self-building and self-improvement. Thanks be to God, as Mr. Haj Ali Akbari mentioned - I was truly pleased with his report, I had some information, but he stated it clearly here today - it is largely like this. Build yourselves and build others. The Islamic associations are not just for you; you are student Islamic associations, and student Islamic associations have the same duty. Wherever, any Islamic association - whether student or otherwise - if it does not strive to educate the Iranian youth with this identity and this structure mentioned, or if it acts contrary to this or falls short in this regard, it has acted against its duty; it has acted against what God wants from it. In the supplication of Makarem al-Akhlaq, a person asks God for dozens of important things; among them: وَ استَعمِلنی لِما تَسأَلُنی غَدًا عَنه (And employ me for what You will ask me about tomorrow); I am responsible; we are all responsible. You, the youth, we the elders, but we are all responsible; the youth are just as responsible as the elders, there is no difference. Your effort should be to expand the quantity of your audience as much as you can; I do not mean to expand the associations [but rather] to expand the scope of the associations' influence and outreach to your peers. It is possible that your counterpart is not part of the associations and does not want to be, that is fine, but the associations should work to reach many audiences, find a wide range of audiences, and have an impact on them, and that impact should be to form the identity and character of the Islamic youth, as the Islamic Republic demands, as the Islamic Republic defines; not as America and the Zionist capitalist define. This is a duty; this work must be pursued. Of course, I am aware of the programs of the union; I have been given reports; I have looked at the report; the report was good; the programs are good programs, but you must strengthen them day by day; both in quantity and quality, these programs must be strengthened.

The country needs you; the country has an urgent need for these millions of students and students we have today. We need faithful, loyal, hopeful, energetic, active, and innovative youth; the country needs them, the future of the country needs them. It is true that 37 years have passed since the life of the Islamic Republic and the enemy has not been able to do anything wrong with all its efforts; this is true, but "the enemy cannot be considered insignificant and miserable"; they have long-term plans. Just as we say fifty years from now - for example, I said this three or four years ago, that our plan for fifty years from now in the scientific field is this - we think for fifty years into the future, they also think for fifty years into the future; they are also trying, they are thinking about breaking this movement - so that this movement does not remain confined to Iran, does not remain enclosed, but continues and expands in various places and in various forms - we must not let that happen; who should not let that happen? You; you the youth; tomorrow belongs to you. Build yourselves in the true sense of the word, and remain steadfast. Tomorrow you will go to university; your presence in university should strengthen that religious and revolutionary identity in you, not weaken it. Some people are like this; before going to university, they are one way, and when they go to university, they become another way! No, this identity must be strengthened. The university is also an Islamic university; the university belongs to Islam; the university belongs to the revolution, belongs to this revolutionary nation. This identity should continue; you should maintain steadfastness. This steadfastness is very important.

And do not let your connections break. Now the associations have connections with each other; these connections should not be severed. Try to maintain these connections. This blessed chain, these connections - both now and after passing through the student path and entering the student path or wherever you will go - should be preserved; become an example of وَ تَواصَوا بِالحَقِّ وَ تَواصَوا بِالصَّبر (and they recommend one another to the truth and recommend one another to patience); keep and maintain each other; like mountaineers in dangerous places who tie each other with ropes; if one slips, he does not fall to the bottom of the mountain; when they are connected to each other, if one slips, the others who have not slipped yet will hold him and pull him up; this is how connection and attachment are. تَواصَوا بِالحَقِّ وَ تَواصَوا بِالصَّبر; recommend one another to walk the path of truth, and also to patience; patience means steadfastness, standing firm, not wavering in the face of bitter events, not shaking, not becoming hesitant; this is our message to you.

Well, of course, the officials also have responsibilities. Fortunately, the education system today has a religious management; this is an opportunity that must be utilized. When the leadership of the organization is religious, many good things can be accomplished - these children, these two dear ones of mine, this girl and boy, said very good things; the points they mentioned are truly correct, and I recommend both to our office to note these and pay attention to them and follow them, and also to the education system to focus on the points they mentioned - what I am saying is, first of all for students, not just for Islamic associations, an opportunity for leisure should be provided for engaging in revolutionary work. The method of education and training, and mainly education, should be such that our student youth do not spend all their time, energy, and mental and physical strength on the papers in these books; sometimes it is like this; one sees that all the physical, spiritual, mental, and nervous power of the student is spent on these books; they neither find time for leisure nor for sports nor for revolutionary activities; well, this is a flaw; they should make it so that our students find time. Of course, this is not a one-day or two-day job; this requires planning. It may not happen today or tomorrow, but they must pursue it so that this work can be done. Children should be raised with revolutionary spirit; thus, they should be given the opportunity for revolutionary work, the opportunity for revolutionary thinking; this is one.

Secondly, they should give space to trustworthy student organizations; like these Islamic associations, like this union; these are organizations; a trustworthy and religious organization, or the Basij, the student Basij; it is an organization, a trustworthy and religious organization; they should give them space, give them the opportunity to work; provide them with opportunities, provide them with material and spiritual resources - as these young people said here - provide them with material and spiritual resources; appreciate them. If we wanted to create the motivations you have with money and advertising and such things, it would never have been possible; لَو اَنفَقتَ ما فِی الاَرضِ جَمیعًا مَا أَلَّفتَ بَینَ قُلوبِهِم (If you spent all that is in the earth, you could not bring their hearts together). Here too, I say that if we spent all the wealth, we could not gather this much motivation, this much ability, and this much enthusiasm and interest. This is bubbling from within; this is what God has done; hearts are in the hands of God, my heart and your heart are in the hands of God. We should appreciate this. They have now come into the field; our youth, whether in the union of Islamic associations or in the Basij and similar organizations, have come into the field and want to work for God, for the revolution, for the country; they should be given space, and they should be supported materially and spiritually.

The third point is that in some schools - one of these two dear young people mentioned this; I also had information, I have heard - there is opposition to revolutionary activities. Suppose the children want to plan and prepare for the 22nd of Bahman - for example - the school officials, instead of helping, create obstacles; sometimes they officially obstruct; no, this approach must be addressed. The children must study, they must study well; I am an advocate of studying; you know, but alongside studying, this revolutionary work must also be done.

My dear ones! The youth of our country are promising; the youth environment in our country is promising; not that I am unaware that there are some youths who are going down wrong paths, doing bad things; yes, I am aware of them, but when I look at the youth environment of the country as a whole, I thank the Almighty God. With all these factors of deviation, with all this motivation, with this vast front of enmity and focus on the youth, we have a large group of youth who are faithful, religious, revolutionary, devoted to God, and passionate about spirituality; this is not a small matter; this is very important; this is a great thing. Some are devoted to the Quran, some are devoted to retreat, some are devoted to the Arbaeen pilgrimage, some are devoted to standing firm in the fields of revolution and in the manifestations of the revolution. This is very magnificent, very valuable; the enemy opposes all of this.

And let me tell you, the enemy of the Islamic Republic has failed so far; there is no doubt about this; know this. So far, they have failed, this I have said many times, and the reason is clear to everyone; it is obvious, and its reasoning is not a complicated or ambiguous reasoning. The reason is that when this revolution came into being, when the Islamic system was established, they decided from day one to eliminate this system; at least to prevent it from growing. 37 years have passed, and this system has grown day by day, has become stronger day by day, this tree has become robust, has borne leaves and fruit, and the enemy has not been able to do anything wrong.

So far, they have not been able to do anything. This is not limited to here; in the Islamic world, you can see what they have done against the fighting, faithful youth in Lebanon and Palestine; what could they do against Hezbollah in Lebanon? How much propaganda and practical activity have they done against them, threatened them, and carried out their threats? Meanwhile, Hezbollah shows its robust body in the Islamic world. Now, even if a corrupt, dependent government condemns Hezbollah in some statement, with oil dollars, so what! What importance does it have? Hezbollah shines there like a sun. Hezbollah is a source of pride for the Islamic world. The youth of Hezbollah and the Hezbollah group in Lebanon are a source of pride for the Islamic world. They have done what the armies of three Arab countries could not do in two or three wars; they defeated Israel. Before the defeat they inflicted on Israel, at least in two wars - in the first war, not all countries were involved, but in two wars, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria brought their armies against Israel and were defeated - the armies of three countries, including a strong army like Egypt or a strong army like Syria, and Jordan, lined up against the Zionist regime and were defeated in military conflict. This same Zionist regime, after becoming stronger, was defeated by Hezbollah in 33 days. Is this a small thing? Is this a small matter? Is it wrong for us to say that they are a source of pride for the Islamic world? Now, if a piece of paper condemns them somewhere, well, let it be condemned, what importance does it have? The truth is growing, the truth is flourishing. The truth may face difficulties on its path, but in the end, it will prevail. The Quran says: فَاَمَّا الزَّبَدُ فَیَذهَبُ جُفآء (As for the foam, it vanishes); the foam on the water has a striking appearance; when you look at the river when the water bubbles and hits each other, the foam appears before your eyes, but this foam is not lasting. فَاَمَّا الزَّبَدُ فَیَذهَبُ جُفآء; this foam on the water goes away, it is destroyed. وَ اَمَّا مایَنفَعُ النّاسَ فَیمکُثُ فِی الاَرض (And what benefits people remains on the earth); that which is beneficial, that which is vital for people, that is the flowing, clear water, that remains. The truth is like this; the truth will prevail, the truth will achieve its goals. Yes, there are challenges along the way. The condition is that it does not lose itself in the face of these challenges; the soldier of truth, the officer of truth, the seeker of truth does not lose himself in the face of these challenges. When he does not lose, stands firm, endures difficulties, he will reach the result; just as he has reached the result; both in the early days of Islam and in any place where there was steadfastness and also in our time, which is the time of the dominance of materialism.

Dear ones! The truth belongs to you; you are the seekers of truth. The future belongs to you; God willing, the day will come when these problems will diminish and gradually disappear due to your steadfastness, and God willing, you will reach the summit. Convey my greetings to the children who did not come. They said this session should be held every year; now I do not know the date, but I have no objection; the more we see you, the better for us.

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