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[08 Jan 2015] Poll: Majority of Germans regard Islam as threat - English

Russia takes a swipe at what it calls American double standards with regard to terrorists, saying Washington\'s policy is the main obstacle in the fight against terrorism.

China has warned the United States to be cautious in its words and actions with regard to territorial disputes involving China and its neighbors. The Chinese Foreign Ministry warning comes amid a diplomatic wrangle over Beijing\\\'s newly announced air defense zone in the East China Sea. Before this, Washington had warned Beijing against imposing an air defense zone over both the South China Sea and East China Sea. US State Secretary John Kerry said recently that Washington would help its regional allies in protecting their territorial waters. China and its neighbors lay similar claims to parts of the strategic and resource-rich seas. The development comes days after Chinese fighter jets chased the US and Japanese military aircraft inside China\\\'s newly declared Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea. Chinese defense authorities say they have sent more fighter jets to the zone. The Chinese air force described the mission as a defensive measure in line with international law. China says foreign aircraft passing through the airspace, including passenger planes, will have to identify themselves to Chinese authorities. The zone includes the skies over islands at the heart of a territorial dispute between Japan and China. China is also locked in territorial rows with the Philippines over wide swathes of the South China Sea and has said it might set up a similar zone there. Senior Chinese officials have repeatedly called on Washington not to take sides over the issue.

FLOOD in IRAN | Defending the Sanctity | Gen. Qasem Soleimani A disastrous flood has hit Iran that has brought tremendous amount of damage to the cities, villages, and houses of ordinary people. General Qasem Soleimani gave a heartfelt message to everyone in this regard.

The Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Iran will not back down an iota from its rights and will never give in to pressure. Ayatollah Khamenei said the rights of the nation including its nuclear rights must be recognized. The leader expressed his support for the Iranian government and officials including the nuclear negotiating team. Ayatollah Khamenei also said he will not get involved with the details of the negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. But he said there are red lines and limitations that the Iranian negotiators will have to heed. Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in an address to commanders and members of the Basij volunteer force in Tehran. Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Speech in Meeting with Basij Commanders Print 20/11/2013 Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Speech in Meeting with Basij CommandersThe following is the full text of the speech delivered on November 20, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with fifty thousand Basij commanders. The meeting was held at the Musalah in Tehran. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad and upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth. Greetings be upon you Abi Abdullah and upon those who laid down their lives for you. I will send you God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s eternal greetings as long as I live and as long as night and day prevail. May God not make this prayer my last covenant with you. Greetings be upon Hussein, upon Ali ibn al-Hussein, upon the children of Hussein and upon the companions of Hussein - those who laid down their lives for Hussein (a.s.). This meeting is a very important meeting. Basij is the manifestation of the greatness of our nation and the domestic capability of our country. This meeting is the meeting of commanders. You tens of thousands of commanders of Basij have gathered in this place and one can guess from this large gathering how glorious Basij is. You are a source of satisfaction, hope and trust for the supporters of the Islamic Republic, the Revolution and the country and you are a source of intimidation and fear for the ill-wishers, enemies and those who bear a grudge [against the Revolution and the Islamic Republic]. The coincidence of Basij Week with these days, which are the days of the great epic of the history of Islam, is a good and valuable occasion. What I mean by this great epic is the epic created by Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) which complements the epic of Ashura. The epic that Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) created revived and preserved the epic of Ashura. The greatness of what Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) did, cannot be compared to other great events in history. It should only be compared to the event of Ashura itself and truly, these two events complete one another. This great personality and this great lady of Islam and all of humanity managed to stand firm in the face of the great mountain of hardships and there was not even a tremble in her voice because of all these events. She stood firm like a glorious mountain peak both in the face of enemies and in the face of hardships and bitter events. She became a lesson, a role model, a leader and a pioneer. At the bazaar of Kufa, while she was held captive, she made this astonishing speech: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Oh people of Kufa, who are treacherous and disloyal, do you cry for us? May your tears not dry and may your moans not stop. You are like a woman who loosens her threads after she pulls them together\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [al-Ihtijaj, Volume 2, page 303]. The words are as firm as steel and the meaning flows like a river and it influences hearts and souls. In such conditions, Zaynab al-Kubra delivered a speech, which was like the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), and she shook hearts and souls and she shook history with these words. This speech became eternal in history. It was delivered in front of the people while she was held captive. After that, she delivered a speech in front of Ibn Ziad in Kufa and a few weeks later, she spoke in front of Yazid with such strength that it both humiliated the enemy and the hardships which the enemy had imposed. She said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Do you foolishly think that you can defeat, suppress and humiliate the household of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.)?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Honor belongs to Allah and His Messenger, and to the believers\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 63: 8]. Zaynab al-Kubra is the manifestation of dignity, as Hussein ibn Ali (a.s.) was the manifestation of dignity in Karbala on the day of Ashura. The way she looks at events is different from the way other people look at those events. Despite all those hardships, when the enemy wants to taunt her, she says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I did not see anything except for beauty\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Lohuf, page 160]. She said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"What I saw was beautiful. It was martyrdom. Although it was difficult, it was in the way of God and it was done for preserving Islam. It was the creation of an epic in history so that Islamic Ummah knows what it should do and how it should move forward and stand firm\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". This is a great achievement made by the epic of Zaynab (s.a.). This is the dignity of God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s saint. Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) is one of God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s saints. Her dignity is the dignity of Islam and she made Islam and the Holy Quran valuable. Of course, we are not as aspirational and determined as Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) and therefore we cannot say that the behavior of this great lady is our model. We are too inferior to say such things, but anyway, our movement should be in line with the movement of Zaynab (s.a.). Our efforts should be focused on bringing dignity for Islam, the Islamic community and the entire humanity. This is the same responsibility that Allah the Exalted has entrusted to prophets through Islamic obligations and rules. In the first part of my speech, what I want to briefly discuss with you dear basijis and dear youth is that one of the factors which brought about this spirit and this patience in Zaynab al-Kubra (s.a.) and other divine saints - who moved forward with such spirit and patience - is sincerity and honesty. It is very important to honor our promises to Allah the Exalted and to devote our hearts to the path of God in a sincere way. In the Holy Quran, this sincerity is necessary for divine prophets as well: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And remember We took from the prophets their covenant, as We did from you, from Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus the son of Mary: We took from them a solemn covenant, that (Allah) may question the custodians of Truth concerning the Truth they (were charged with)\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 33: 7-8]. God says that this covenant is very firm and serious. In the phrase \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Leyasala\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" lam signifies results and consequences. The result of this covenant is that these great prophets will be questioned about their sincerity in this covenant. That is to say, our Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and other great prophets should prove before God the level of their sincerity concerning the conditions of this covenant. This part is related to prophets. God also says to ordinary people and believers: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah: of them some have completed their vow (fully), and some (still) wait: but they have never changed (their determination) in the least, that Allah may reward the men of Truth for their Truth, and punish the Hypocrites if that be His Will\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 33: 23-24]. When addressing great prophets, God referred to unbelievers as the opposite of honest individuals: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And He has prepared for the unbelievers a grievous Penalty\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 33: 8]. And when addressing these believers, He referred to hypocrites as the opposite of honest individuals and there are important points in this comparison. You and I will be questioned about our promise to God. We have a covenant with God. In the holy ayah \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", the pledge that believers made to God and that was honored by them is the same as another ayah in this holy sura: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And yet they had already covenanted with Allah not to turn their backs\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 33: 15]. All of us should pay attention to such points. Believers promised Allah the Exalted not to escape in the face of the enemy and not to turn their backs. The Holy Quran stresses that abandoning one\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s positions and retreating in the face of the enemy are among the things which should not be done. One should stand up against the enemy in any military, political and economic war and in any arena which is a test of strength. Your determination should overcome the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s determination. Your willpower should overcome the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s willpower. This can be done and this is possible. From the viewpoint of the Holy Quran and Islam, running away and retreating from the enemy are forbidden in any arena of jihad and confrontation. When we used the phrase \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"heroic flexibility\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", some people defined it as abandoning the ideals and the goals of the Islamic Republic. Some of the enemies too used it to accuse the Islamic Republic of betraying its principles. These interpretations were wrong and they misunderstood this phrase. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Heroic flexibility\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" means an artful maneuver for reaching one\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s goal. It means that the followers of God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s path - any divine path - should utilize different methods, in any way possible, in order to reach their goal and this should be done whenever they move towards the different ideals of Islam. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"If any do turn his back to them on such a day - unless it be in a stratagem of war, or to retreat to a troop (of his own)- he draws on himself the wrath of Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 8: 16]. Like the arena of war, any movement - whether forward or backward - should be launched in order to reach one\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s predetermined goals. There are certain goals and at each stage, the Islamic government pursues one of these goals in order to make progress, achieve transcendence and create the great Islamic civilization. The Islamic government should try to achieve this goal at this stage. Of course, there are certain stages and phases to reach these goals. Experts, intellectuals and officials in charge of this are identifying these phases and goals and, as a result, our collective movement will begin. Everyone should try to make any movement, at any stage, reach its goal. This is a proper system which is based on logical and rational measures. All activists in the arena of politics and macromanagement of the country should always keep this in mind. All the people and you dear basijis too - who are activists in the arena of Basij - should always keep this in mind. Well, when we say that we want to move forward, does this mean that the Islamic government is warmongering? Does this mean that the Islamic government wants to confront all nations and all countries in the world? Sometimes one hears that the enemies of the Iranian nation - specifically the najis-mouthed dirty dog of the region, the Zionist regime - move their jaws to say that Iran is a threat for the entire world. This is the claim of the enemy, but this is exactly the opposite of Islamic principles. On the contrary, those evil and malevolent forces - including the fake Zionist regime and some of its supporters - that show nothing except for malevolence, are a threat for the entire world. The lesson that the Islamic government learned from the Holy Quran, the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.) and the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) is a different lesson: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Allah commands justice and the doing of good\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 16: 90]. Allah the Exalted invites us to administer justice and do good. The commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said that we should be kind to everyone because \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Those who have the same religion as you have, they are brothers to you, and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 53]. People are either your Islamic brothers or human beings like you. This is the logic of Islam. We want to render services and show kindness to everyone. We want to establish a friendly and kind relationship with all human beings and all nations. We even have no enmity with the American people despite the fact that the government of America is an arrogant, hostile and evil government which bears a grudge against the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic. The American people are like other peoples. What the Islamic Republic is opposed to is arrogance. The hostility of the Islamic Republic is oriented towards global arrogance. We are opposed to and fight against arrogance. Arrogance is a Quranic word and it has been used in the Holy Quran to refer to people like Pharaoh and the groups of people who are ill-wishers and who are opposed to truth. Arrogance existed in the past as well and it has continued to prevail until the present time. In all eras, arrogance has had the same structure. Of course, it has used different methods and tactics in different eras. There is arrogance today as well and it is led by the United States of America. We should know arrogance and its characteristics. We should know the methods and the orientation of arrogance so that we can organize our behavior in the face of arrogance. We are opposed to unreasonable behavior in all arenas. We believe that we should move forward with wisdom and acumen in all arenas, in all collective and individual orientations and in all plans. If we do not know the scene, if we do not know our friends and our enemies, if we do not know imperialism and arrogance in the present time, then how can we move forward with wisdom and acumen? How can we make accurate plans? Therefore, we should know these things. What I am saying about arrogance is a few examples regarding the behavior of today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s global arrogance in the world. In many of these examples and cases, today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s arrogance shares the characteristics of arrogance in previous centuries and previous eras. One of the characteristics of arrogance is egotism. When arrogant groups - those people who have taken everything in their hands as the highest-ranking individuals in a country, in a group of countries or in a global system - consider themselves to be superior to other people, when they regard themselves as the pivot, when they place everyone, except for themselves, on the periphery, then a wrong and dangerous equation will be formed in global interactions. When arrogance views itself as superior and as the pivot and core [of everything], then the result will be that it grants itself the right to interfere in the affairs of other people and other nations. If arrogance considers something to be a value and if other people do not, this will grant it the right to interfere in their affairs and bully and pressure them. This egotism makes them claim to be the guardian of nations and to be responsible for global management. It also makes them consider themselves to be the boss of all the people in the world. As you can hear, American officials and politicians speak about the government of America as if it were the leader of all countries. They say that they cannot let this be done. They say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We cannot allow this person to be or not to be in charge\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". They speak about our region in a way that it seems they are the owners of this region. They speak about the Zionist regime in a way that it seems regional nations have to accept this imposed and fake regime. They behave towards independent nations and governments as if they did not have the right to live. This egotism and this attitude of considering oneself to have a special position among all people, all nations and all human beings is the main foundation on which arrogance has been built and this is its biggest problem. This egotism will lead to another characteristic and another criterion for arrogance which is the tendency to ignore other people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s rights. They neither accept truth nor the rights of other nations. They do not at all acknowledge other people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s rights. In international negotiations, someone says something which is right, but America does not accept it. It tries to deny such rights with different methods and it does not accept truth. This has happened many times. In the present time, one of the examples of this behavior is our current issues related to nuclear activities and industries. Imagine that someone says something which is true. If one is fair, reasonable and rational, he should give up when he faces the truth. But arrogance does not give up. It hears the truth, but it does not accept it. This is one of its characteristics. It does not acknowledge the rights of other nations either. It does not acknowledge the right of a people to choose, to do what they want and to adopt those economic and political measures which they want. They believe in imposing things on other nations. Another characteristic of colonialism and arrogance is that it condones crimes against nations and the entire humanity and that it is indifferent towards such crimes. This is one of the greatest disasters of arrogance in modern times. Modern times means the era of scientific progress and the era of the emergence of dangerous weapons. When these weapons became available to arrogant powers, they created a disaster for all nations. They do not attach any value on the lives of individuals - those individuals who do not follow, obey and surrender to them. There are many examples in this regard. One example is the behavior of arrogant powers towards Native Americans - those people whose financial and natural resources, whose geography and whose entire properties are in the hands of non-natives now. Well, there were native people in America. Their behavior towards these Native Americans was so violent and so disgusting that it is one of the darkest points in the history of modern America. The Americans themselves have written many things about the massacres that took place and the pressures that they exerted. The same thing was done by the English in Australia. The English hunted people, for pleasure, like animals and like kangaroos. They did not attach any value on the lives of human beings. This is only one example. There are hundreds of examples which have been recorded in their own history books. Another example is the nuclear bombardment that was launched in the year 1945 of the Christian calendar - that it to say, the year 1324 of the Hijri calendar - when the Americans destroyed two Japanese cities and, as a result, hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Over the course of time, the number of people who suffered from deformities and different diseases because of nuclear radiations was several times larger than this and these problems have persisted until the present time. They did not have any cogent reason for this - I will refer to this later on. They easily dropped these bombs. Until now, atomic bombs have been used twice and both times, they were used by the Americans who consider themselves to be the main responsible party for the nuclear issues of other countries. They like to forget these events, but it is not forgettable. All these lives were destroyed, but it was not at all important to them. For arrogance, the lives of human beings have no value and it is easy for arrogant regimes to commit crimes. They massacred the people in Vietnam. In Iraq, their security services and their mercenary security agencies - such as Blackwater which I referred to in the year 1390 - committed certain crimes. They are still committing crimes in Pakistan with their drones. In Afghanistan, they conduct a number of bombardments and they commit crimes. They are not afraid of committing crimes in each area they can get their hands on and in each area their interests dictate. These crimes include murder and torture. The Guantanamo prison - which belongs to the Americans - still has prisoners. It is 10, 11 years now that they have been arresting a number of people from different countries and putting them in this prison on different charges. They have been keeping them in this prison without any trial and with extremely difficult conditions and they have been torturing them. In Iraq, the Abu Ghraib prison was one of the American prisons. In this prison, they used to torture and set dogs on prisoners. Looting the vital resources of other nations is easy for them. Capturing and enslaving Africans is one of the tragic events in history which American imperialism and other such regimes do not like to be reviewed. They do not like the issue of enslaving the people of Africa to be reflected on. They used to sail ships from the Atlantic Ocean and anchor them on the coast of West African countries such as Gambia and other countries in this continent. Then, they used to go and capture hundreds of thousands of men and women and old and young people with guns and other weapons which were not available to people at that time. While these people were in difficult conditions, they were taken to America on such ships for slavery. They captivated free people who were living in their houses and in their own cities. In the present time, the black people who live in America are the descendents of those slaves. For several centuries, the Americans exerted such an eccentric pressure and there are many books in this regard such as the book \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Roots\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" written by Alexander Haley. This book is a very valuable book for showing part of these crimes. How can today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s modern man forget such events? Despite all these crimes, the white people continue to discriminate against blacks in America. Another characteristic of arrogance is deception and hypocritical behavior. You should pay attention to this issue. They try to justify the crimes which were referred to and they try to show that they were rendering services by committing these crimes. Global arrogance, which intends to dominate all nations, is frequently using this method in its entire life: the method of justifying crimes and taking on the appearance of rendering services. When the Americans want to apologize for their attack on Japan - that is to say, the two bombs which exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki - they say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Although tens of thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands of people were killed by the two bombs that we dropped on these two cities, this was the cost of ending World War II. If we the Americans had not dropped these bombs, the war would have continued. If we had not done this, then two million people - instead of the 200 thousand people who were killed as a result of these bombs - would have been killed. Therefore, we rendered a service by dropping these bombs\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". Notice that this is a statement which the Americans make in their official propaganda. Now, around 65 years have passed from that day, but they have repeatedly said this. This is one of the deceptive and hypocritical statements and one of the elaborate lies that is not made and told by anyone except arrogant regimes. These bombs were dropped on and exploded in these two cities in the summer of the year 1945 of the Christian calendar and this crime was committed in that year. This was while four months before that - that is to say, in the early spring of 1945 - Hitler, who was the primary warmonger, had committed suicide. Moreover, Mussolini - the president of Italy at that time, who was the second important element in the war - had been arrested and the war was practically over. Japan too, which was the third important element in the war, had announced that it was ready to surrender. Therefore, there was practically no war, but these bombs were dropped anyway. Why? It is because these bombs had been built and they must have been tested somewhere. Certain weapons had been built and they must have been tested somewhere. Where should they test them now? The best option was to drop these bombs on the innocent people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the excuse of war so that it becomes clear whether these bombs work properly or not. Such is their deceit. They claim to be the supporters of human rights, but they target the Iranian passenger plane in the air and they kill about three hundred passengers who are unaware of this. Moreover, they do not apologize and they award a medal to the person who commits this crime. You have heard that in recent weeks, the Americans - from the President to lower-ranking politicians - have created uproar about the use of chemical weapons in Syria. They accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons. I do not want to judge who has used these weapons. Of course, evidence shows that terrorist groups have used them, but anyway, they said that the Syrian government has used such weapons. They created uproar about this and they said that the use of chemical weapons is our red line. American officials said this 10 times or more. But not only did the government and the regime of the United States of America not express any opposition to Saddam\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s use of chemical weapons during its criminal attacks on Iran, but it also provided him with 500 tons of hazardous and lethal chemicals which could be turned into mustard gas. Many of our dear youth of those times are still suffering from the effects of those chemicals and it is several years that they have been suffering from various diseases. The Americans helped Saddam to be equipped with such chemicals. Of course, he had bought such chemicals from other countries as well, but it was America that provided Saddam with 500 tons of lethal chemicals - which could turn into mustard gas - and that helped him to use it. After that, when the United Nations Security Council decided to issue a resolution against Saddam, it was America that prevented this. This is the meaning of hypocritical behavior. On the issue of Syria, the use of chemical weapons is a red line, but on the issue of Iran, it can be allowed and supported. This is because on this issue, chemical weapons are used against an independent Islamic government and against a nation which does not want to give in to America. These are some of the characteristics of arrogance. Of course, the characteristics of arrogance are more than these. Arrogant powers wage wars, create discord and confront independent governments. They even confront their own people when the interests of specific groups dictate so. During the war that Saddam waged against Iran, they offered all kinds of help - which was possible for them - to Saddam. I referred to the case of chemicals, but they also gave him secret information about Iran. After the war, when the head of intelligence services of Saddam was interviewed, he said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I used to go to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad three times a week and they gave me a sealed package in which all satellite information about the movements of the Iranian Armed Forces existed and therefore, we knew where they were\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". They offered such kinds of help to Saddam. The Islamic government is opposed to such arrogance. The Islamic government is not opposed to people and nations. It is not opposed to human beings. Rather, it is opposed to arrogance. This opposition has existed since the time of Abraham - God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Friend - Noah, the Holy Prophet of Islam and other great prophets and it has continued until today. Since that time, the camp of right has confronted arrogance. Why is that? Why does today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Islamic government confront arrogance? It is because arrogance with the characteristics that I described cannot tolerate an Islamic government such as the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is because the Islamic Republic of Iran was formed on the basis of opposition to arrogance. The Revolution was carried out in Iran in opposition to arrogance and the agents of arrogance. It was formed on the basis of this opposition. It grew, it became strong and it challenged the logic of arrogance on the basis of this opposition. Arrogance cannot tolerate this unless it is frustrated. The Iranian people, the Iranian youth, the Iranian activists and those Iranians who believe in their homeland and their country for any reason - even if it may be a non-Islamic reason - should do something to make the enemy hopeless. The enemy should become hopeless. It is very difficult for global arrogance and for the government of the United States of America in the present time to see that in this sensitive region - in West Asia, which is the one of the most sensitive regions in the world in terms of politics and economy and which influences the entire world - a country, a government and a people have emerged who do not consider themselves to be dependent on and to be the followers of this self-proclaimed superpower. This Islamic government is independent and despite the strong opposition that it is faced with, it overcomes all problems and hardships. As the Americans themselves admit, this government is challenging the influence of America in the region and it is extending its own influence. This Islamic government is becoming a role model for regional nations and this is very difficult for the Americans to tolerate. The Americans want to say that the lives of all nations depend on America. Now a people have emerged who not only are not dependent on America, but who also have not been influenced by all these hostilities. From the first day, the Americans did whatever they could, but it was not effective. These people have achieved growth and they have become stronger on a daily basis. The hostilities that the government of the United States of America has shown against the Islamic Republic happened during the time of different presidents, but all of these hostilities are of the same nature. All of these hostilities are the same. Therefore, no one should say that such and such a plot was hatched during the time of such and such a president and this plot has not been hatched during the time of the current President of America. This is not the case. All of these presidents behave in the same way. First, they provoked ethnicities in Iran, then they launched a coup d\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'état and after that, they made Iraq attack us. The next thing that they did was to help our enemy - which was the regime of Saddam - in his war against us and after the war, they imposed sanctions on us. Then, they provoked all media networks in the world and they made them align themselves against the Islamic Republic. All of these things have been done during the time of different presidents of America and now too, these things are being done. In the fitna of the year 1388 - during the term of the current President of America - one of the social networks, which could be used to further the goals of fitna and those who provoked the fitna, needed to fix some technical problems. The government of America asked this network to delay fixing these technical problems because they hoped to overthrow the Islamic Republic with the help of media activities and networks such as Facebook, Twitter and other such networks. They had these foolish delusions. Therefore, they did not let this network fix its technical problems and they said that it should delay it and attend to this task which is more important. They used all kinds of tools against the Islamic Republic and sanctions are one of these tools. From their viewpoint, this tool is enough for defeating the Islamic Republic. Their mistake is that they do not know the Iranian nation. Their mistake is that they do not know the element of faith and unity among our people. Their mistake is that they did not learn a lesson from their past mistakes. Therefore, they hope that they can bring the people of Iran to their knees by imposing sanctions, exerting pressures and other such measures. Of course, they are making a mistake. The permanent experience of the Islamic Republic during the past 35 years shows that the only way to get rid of the interference of the enemy is national power and national resistance. This is the only factor which can make the enemy retreat. Of course, the enemy is the enemy. He uses all kinds of tools. As I said, he has used and is using sanctions. We should know what it is that can help us achieve our goal. I would like to say a few things about Basij and after that, I would like to briefly speak about the current issues regarding our foreign policies. As I said, Basij is a source of dignity for the country and the Islamic Republic. Why? It is because the meaning of Basij is the presence of all the people in arenas of fundamental activities for the sake of the people and the country. Any government that has people by its side and any country in which the people show their presence and move towards a specific direction, will definitely achieve victory. This is completely clear. Countries receive a blow and they are defeated whenever the people are not present on the scene or whenever they do not have unity of action. Whenever the people are present on the scene and whenever there is unity among them, victory and progress will be certain. Basij is the example of such presence. Basij is the manifestation of the presence of the people on the scene and the unity of the people. We should adopt such an outlook towards Basij. On the issue of sincerity, which I referred to in the beginning of my speech, Basij has emerged victorious out of the test of sincerity. Basij was put to this test during the imposed war and the Sacred Defense Era which was a time when the country was in difficult conditions. Also, during the different events that took place after the Sacred Defense Era until the present time, Basij has emerged victorious out of the test of sincerity. The Basij organization has shown that it enjoys sincerity. Of course, in my opinion, Basij is not confined to this number of people who are active in the Basij organization. There are many people whose hearts are with you. They praise and respect you and they appreciate your value. These people are not active in the Basij organization, but they are basijis as well. In my opinion, those people who believe in and respect your values and who respect your efforts, your services and your jihad are basijis as well. Being present on the scene is one of the most important tasks. Moreover, the capabilities of Basij help us solve problems. Fortunately, today inside the organization of Basij, there are many scientific, artistic, social and political personalities and there are many social activists and people who can influence the people. Until today, Basij has represented a group of people who have been achieving growth and transcendence on a daily basis and it should act in the same way from now on too. What I recommend is that we should increase the capabilities of Basij. There are certain prerequisites for this: moral, behavioral and practical prerequisites. Moral prerequisites means that we should build and develop Islamic virtues in our hearts and souls. A number of these virtues are patience, forgiveness, fortitude, self-control and humility. We should strengthen these characteristics in ourselves. Behavioral prerequisites means that we should utilize these virtues when we interact with the people, the environment, society and human beings in general. Imam Sadiq (peace and greetings be upon him) used to say to his companions, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"You should act in a way that whenever people see you, they say, ‘These people are the companions of Imam Sadiq. God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy be upon Imam Sadiq. You should make us be proud of you\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [al-Kafi, Volume 2, page 233]. Each and every one of you dear basijis, you dear youth with your pure and enlightened hearts and souls should behave towards all the people - as I said, many of the people are basijis in the real sense of the word - in a way that they say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"These people are students of the Islamic government. They are a source of respect for the Islamic government and the Islamic Republic\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". And practical, jihadi and social prerequisites are the tasks that should be carried out. That is to say, we should strengthen these virtues in ourselves. It means that we should behave in a kind, diligent and praiseworthy way towards the [social] environment. It means that we should act in a serious way in all arenas including the arena of science, the arena of social services, the arena of work, the arena of politics and the arena of production. Wherever you are, you should work in a serious way without any feeling of tiredness and any laziness. We should work. This great group of basijis - tens of thousands of people from this great group are present in this meeting - can move the country towards positive paths in the real sense of word. This group of people can be a source of solidity and stability. It can be a source of grandeur for the Islamic Republic and thankfully it is playing such a role today. Today, Basij is a source of grandeur and honor for the Islamic Republic. I would like to raise a point about the recent contentions over the arena of foreign policies, our nuclear issues, the current negotiations and other such things. First of all, I insist on supporting the officials who are in charge of this. I support all administrations and all officials - whether officials in charge of domestic affairs or officials in charge of foreign affairs - and this is our responsibility. I myself have been an executive official. I have been in the middle of the arena and I felt with all my heart the difficulty of the work. I know that the responsibility of managing the country is difficult. Therefore, these officials need help and I help and support them. This is one part of the issue which is clear. On the other hand, I also insist on establishing the rights of the Iranian nation including the issue of our nuclear rights. We insist that these officials should not even take one step back on the rights of the Iranian nation. Of course, we do not interfere in the details of these negotiations. There are certain red lines and limits in this regard. These limits should be observed. We have said this to officials in charge and it is their responsibility to observe these limits. They should not be afraid of the fuss that the enemies and opponents make. They should show no fear in the face of such fuss and uproar. Everyone should know that primarily, the sanctions which have been imposed on the Iranian nation result from the arrogant grudge of America. The grudge that the Americans bear against us is like the grudge of a camel. They want to exert pressures on the Iranian nation in the hope that they can perhaps make the Iranian nation surrender. They are making a mistake because the Iranian nation will not surrender to anyone under pressure. You Americans have failed to know the people of Iran. They are a people who can, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, endure these pressures and who will turn these threats and pressures into an opportunity. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, the Iranian nation will do this. We have had certain weak points in the area of economic decisions and plans. These weak points have made the enemy feel that he can create a rift. This is an opportunity for us to know and eliminate these weak points and, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, we will eliminate them. The Americans should know and I think they know that sanctions do not work. The reason why we say they themselves know that sanctions do not work is the military threats they issue. Well, if sanctions can serve the purpose, then why do they issue military threats? This shows that sanctions have not served the purpose and that they do not work. They have to issue military sanctions. Of course, the act of issuing military threats is a very disgusting and despicable act. Instead of issuing military threats against different countries, you Americans should go and improve your own devastated economy. You should do something so that your government will not be shut down for 15, 16 days. You should go and pay your debts. You should think of improving your own economy. As I said, the Americans should know that the Iranian nation behaves in a brotherly way towards all nations: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Those who have the same religion as you have, they are brothers to you, and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". The people of Iran respect other nations, but they behave towards transgressors in a way that they become regretful. They slap transgressots across the face in a way that they will never forget. The Americans consider themselves responsible for saying something in support of the Zionist regime and the capitalist Zionists and this is a source of weakness and humiliation for them. In fact, the Zionist regime is a regime whose foundations are extremely shaky. The Zionist regime is doomed to destruction. It is a regime which is imposed [on regional nations] and it has been formed on the basis of bullying. Any phenomenon and any organism which has come into being by use of force cannot survive and this regime cannot survive either. The support of the Americans - who are indebted to Zionist capitalists - for the wretched Zionist regime is a source of disgrace for them. Unfortunately, a number of European countries flatter this regime. These Europeans go and flatter these creatures who do not deserve to be called human beings and they humiliate themselves and their people in front of these creatures. The leaders of the Zionist regime are really like wild animals and one cannot call them human beings. One day in Europe, the French nation gained a good political reputation because the president of France in those days did not allow England to enter the European Community due to the fact that England was dependent on America. This became a source of dignity for France. On that day, the dignity of the French government increased because it stood up against America and because it did not let England - which was dependent on America - enter the European Community. A people achieve dignity in such a way. Today, the politicians of this country [France] go and humble themselves not only before America, but also before these damned and dirty Zionists. This is a source of humiliation for the French nation. Of course, the people of France themselves should find a cure for this problem. I would like to speak to you dear youth about a few things. You youth should know that without a doubt, the bright and promising future of this country and the Islamic Republic belongs to you. You will manage to help your country and your people reach the peak of glory. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, you will be able to build a perfect model of the modern Islamic civilization in this country. In order to carry out these great tasks, you should promote and strengthen - as much as you can - religion, piety, morality and purity of soul among yourselves. Today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s youth need religion, piety, science, enthusiasm, trustworthiness, morality, social services and physical exercise. These are the things which today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s youth need and by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, you dear basijis will succeed in doing this. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), bestow Your blessings on these people and on all the basijis of our country. Dear God, make the Iranian nation conquer the peaks of honor on a daily basis. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), make the immaculate soul of Imam satisfied with us and with these people. Dear God, make the pure souls of martyrs satisfied and pleased with us. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), make the holy heart of the Imam of the Age satisfied and pleased with us and hasten the re-appearance of this great Imam. Make us be among his companions and his accompanying mujahids and make us be martyrs by his side. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings. Source: http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1839&Itemid=4

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on October 9, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with participants of the 7th Elite Youth Conference. The meeting was held at Imam Khomeini (r.a.) Hussainiyah. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful Well, as usual, meeting with you dear youth is very sweet and inspiring for me and it prepares the ground for taking action and implementing policies and plans. Most of the things that the friends mentioned in this meeting was informative and notable. Today, I did not write down what you said because I decided to take the prepared notes of each one of you. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, officials in our office - they have heard what I said in this regard now - will collect and categorize the suggestions that you put forward in this meeting. It is necessary for us to pay attention to these suggestions and, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, they will receive attention. A number of these suggestions should be submitted to different organizations. A number of the points that the friends made in this meeting requires further explanation. That is to say, it was not clear to me what you meant. For example, one of the friends pointed out that a road map of knowledge should be prepared. I did not understand whether he meant that we should prepare something different from the comprehensive scientific plan on which extensive research has been carried out for a very long time and which has been prepared and implemented. You dear outstanding personalities who have participated in this meeting and all other outstanding personalities who have not participated in this meeting for any reason should know that whatever your field of study of is and whatever area you work on - including the humanities, technological sciences, fundamental sciences, medical sciences, sciences related to health and all other fields of study on which you work - you are the engineers of the future progress of the country. It is you who are building the future of your dear country, Iran. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, if you pursue this goal with firm determinations, great efforts and constant follow-up, you will achieve results and you will build the future Iran. The point that I would like to address to you is that you should know the strategy of scientific progress with rapid acceleration is a fundamental strategy for the Islamic Republic. The intellectuals of our country have reached the conclusion that if overcoming difficulties and taking difficult paths in Islamic Iran requires two, three prerequisites, one of them is scientific progress. This is a fundamental policy. This policy has been pursued for about 10-12 years now. Different administrations and officials in charge of such things and outstanding youth have worked and made many efforts in these areas and thankfully today, when we see the results, we become hopeful. I have said many times to the youth, to officials and to you and I would like to say it now: the young individuals and outstanding personalities of our country and our manpower are able to help their country and their people to conquer peaks of progress in different arenas. This capability exists in you. We used to say this based on the experience of other people and the information that we had received from them. But later on, we ourselves experienced this. I have said many times that Iranian youth and Iranian outstanding personalities can carry out all kinds of scientific and technological tasks provided that the necessary infrastructures exist in our country. There is nothing which Iranian talent and outstanding Iranian personalities cannot produce and build, unless the necessary infrastructure does not exist in the country and these infrastructures should be built. Our country enjoys such a high level of capability and talent. Real progress of the country is not possible except with scientific progress. This is the reason why we said our main discourse and policy is this. Real progress cannot be achieved except with scientific progress. A number of countries may offer their natural resources and oil barrels to leading countries in terms of wealth and knowledge and they may buy their products in return. In such countries, a kind of superficial progress may be achieved, but this is not real progress. The real progress is inborn and it is made when a nation depends on its own domestic capabilities. The value of countries, governments and nations depends on this inborn power. If a country makes a leap on its own and if it achieves growth from the inside, this will make this country and this nation valuable, important and respected. But if such growth is not achieved from the inside and if it is achieved with the help of others, then this country will not earn respect. Well, during the time of taghut, it was foreigners and westerners who were prepared to do part of the work related to the nuclear technology in our country and they used to sign certain contracts with Iran. The Bushehr nuclear power plant, which we built with great difficulty after the passage of many years, was supposed to be built by the Germans. Of course, the Germans took the money and did nothing in return and after the Revolution, they did not give us any answer. Now, imagine that such and such a western country builds and manages a nuclear power plant for us and then we benefit from the electricity that such a power plant can generate. This has no dignity and value for a nation. Respect and dignity are achieved when a nation shows its own capabilities. When you develop such a capability, then you can benefit - on an equal footing - from the capabilities of other people, as they benefit from your capabilities. The point that one of the friends in this meeting made was correct. It is evident that a country cannot only rely on its own capabilities in scientific and technological areas. It should borrow from others as well, but this borrowing should not take place in the form of begging. It should take place on an equal footing. You should offer your scientific achievements to others and you should benefit from their scientific achievements. You should offer your technological achievements to other people and you should benefit from their technological achievements. In such circumstances, you will remain respectable in the world. This is what is necessary. I will tell you dear youth - who are the children of the Revolution and the Islamic Republic - that the enmity of the camp which confronts Islamic Iran and shows hostility towards it, is focused on the power of Iran. They do not want Iran to become powerful. You should always pay attention to this fundamental point during all events including political, economic, international, regional and domestic events. You should not forget this point. Today, there is a political and powerful camp in the world which does not want Islamic Iran to turn into a powerful country and nation. Since the beginning of the Revolution, the situation has been like this. I will tell you that in the year 1357, when the Islamic Revolution emerged in Iran and caused that great commotion in the world, a number of outstanding western personalities such as Kissinger, Huntington and Joseph Nye - who are outstanding political personalities in America and Europe - published a series of articles during the early years of the Revolution. These articles and writings warned the western political system and western governments that the Revolution which has been conducted in Iran does not only mean a transfer of power and a change of governments. It means the emergence of a new power in - as they say - the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Middle East\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" region. I do not at all like this term. They said that a new power is emerging in - as we say - \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"West Asia\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". This new power may not be on a par with western powers in terms of technology and science, but in terms of political influence in areas surrounding this country, it is either better than or as good as western powers and it will challenge them. These outstanding personalities warned western powers about this. This means that, in their opinion, the emergence of this power would put an end to or at least weaken western influence in this sensitive, wealthy and very strategic region which connects three continents to one another and which is the center of oil, wealth and important and necessary minerals. The West has made many efforts to achieve political, economic and - naturally - cultural domination over this region. At that time, these outstanding western personalities guessed that this would happen and of course, they guessed correctly. Today, after the passage of more than three decades, the nightmare which they have been suffering from is gradually coming true. That is to say, a great national and regional power has emerged which has not been defeated by different economic, security, political and psychological pressures. On the contrary, this power has managed to influence regional nations, to establish and promote communal Islamic culture and to help regional nations have a sense of identity. The events which occurred two years ago in our region were very important events. You can see how westerners reacted to such events. The events in Egypt, North African and West Asian countries were very important events. The awakening of nations with empty hands and their resistance against the humiliation which the West and America in particular had imposed on these nations with the help of their agents were very great events. Of course, it has not come to an end. Westerners think that they have suppressed this Islamic Awakening but in our opinion, it has not been suppressed. This was a historical juncture and the region is passing through this historical juncture. The fate of this Awakening has not been sealed yet and westerners themselves know this. This can be seen in their analysis of Islamic Awakening and they are still concerned about it. They do not know what is happening in the region. This happened thanks to the uprising of the Iranian nation, the victory of the Revolution and the formation of the Islamic Republic which manifested the emergence of a national, deep-rooted, religious, steadfast, talented and developing power. Now, on each branch of scientific, technological and research areas you outstanding personalities throughout the country work, you are valuable constituents of this great order which is fulfilling this historical mission. Today, you have shouldered this great responsibility. What is important is that your movement should not stop progressing. What is important is that your movement should continue without any interruption or pause in the middle of the way. The same is true of all important social, political and military movements. When a movement starts, when a great and long-term task begins, you should not let any pause and interruption take place in the middle of the way. During the Sacred Defense Era, we saw this with our own eyes when we were engaged in battle. During the war, when a movement started, it would achieve victory if it was not stopped. But if our determination was undermined in the middle of the way, if there were doubts, if we showed laziness and if there was a pause or interruption in our work, it would lead to frustration and defeat. You should not let this rapid scientific movement stop progressing. Of course, I am addressing all people involved in this issue, both you dear youth and different organizations including the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Health and the Vice Presidency for Scientific and Technological Affairs. You dear youth work hard, acquire knowledge, carry out research and engage in self-edification and often, you carry out interesting and outstanding work. The statements that you made in this meeting is part of this work. Work is not only physical. Offering thoughts, ideas and opinions and making an effort in order to put forward excellent suggestions are among the best pieces of work. The Vice Presidency for Scientific and Technological Affairs is a very important organization and what it does is very sensitive. A few years ago, this organization was formed at my insistence and later on, the National Elites Foundation was formed. There were certain people who rendered genuine services such as Mrs. Soltankhah and Mr. Vaezzadeh. And today, Mr. Sattari, who is the son of a martyr, is in charge of this vice presidency and this foundation. My advice to the officials in charge of Vice Presidency for Scientific and Technological Affairs and the National Elites Foundation is that they should pursue the matter. You should not start to do things all over again. Outstanding work has been carried out in this regard. You should move forward according to such work. You should try to find and remove shortcomings and weak points and you should not forget about your strong points. In my opinion, the most important thing which these two organizations can do is that they should focus their efforts on preparing the ground for innovation. Innovation is very important. This process of innovation should not be stopped. Each step should bring about another step. Constant follow-up is necessary in order to preserve the process of innovation in the country. The honorable officials who are in charge of Vice Presidency for Scientific and Technological Affairs should constantly follow up this scientific process in the country. They should see where problems and hurdles lie and they should resolve them. The Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution - which, of course, deals with these issues within the remit of its responsibilities - is important. The Vice Presidency for Scientific and Technological Affairs, which is an organization for coordinating other organizations, other scientific organizations in the country - that is to say, these two ministries - research centers and different scientific and technological centers in charge of implementing these policies should all act in a coordinated and well-organized way. Any kind of disorder and disharmony should be removed. Of course, our scientific growth is very good on a regional and international level. Our absolute growth rate is good and we enjoy a very fast rate of scientific growth, however this is not the sole standard. This rate of scientific growth should be preserved. This rate of scientific growth does not mean that we have achieved or are close to achieving our goal because we used to be very backward. And the world does not wait for us to move forward. It does not sit and watch. The world is constantly moving forward as well. Of course, the rate of our scientific growth is faster [than the global average] and we should preserve it. If this rate of scientific growth is preserved, there will be this hope that we can conquer peaks and reach front lines and, as I said many times, our country and our scientific centers can be reference points for the world. This should happen and, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, it will happen. Of course, I do not think that this will happen in five, ten, fifteen years. No, this is not the case. A few years ago, I said that you can picture this future in 40, 50 years when everyone in the world has to learn Farsi if they want to have access to new scientific achievements. Your efforts should be focused on this. You should do something to make others need your knowledge and learn your language in order to acquire the knowledge that you have. This is possible. The late Dr. Chamran was an outstanding scientific personality. In the present time, he is known for war tactics, martyrdom, military expertise and other such things, but he was also an outstanding scientific personality. He studied at an outstanding American university, but later on, he left this university and went to Lebanon and - after that - to his own country to engage in jihad. He used to tell me that in American universities - including the university that he was studying in - there were few outstanding students and the number of Iranians among them was larger than other nationalities. Iranians are more talented than the global average. We have repeatedly heard this from other people and, as I said, in the present time experience shows that this is true. The point which I have stressed from the beginning and which has not been properly addressed yet is the issue of the connection between science and industry, between universities and industries and between research centers and industrial centers. Of course, it is several years that I see this issue has been addressed by students, outstanding personalities and officials. This is a very important point. We have a scientific community and an industrial community. Our industrial community is thirsty for having access to the scientific and research achievements of our universities and research centers. And our scientific organizations need a market to consume their scientific achievements so that their enthusiasm continues to flow like a bubbling spring. In the present time, there is not a reasonable and complete relationship between these two communities. If we manage to establish a strong relationship between industries and universities, between industries and research centers or - in the general sense of the word - between industry and science, this will lead to the growth of industrial centers and the blossoming of our universities. Our industrial centers can turn to universities in order to solve their problems. As well as solving their problems, they can utilize the scientific achievements of universities in their industries. Our universities too can begin to flow smoothly. This is like a dam which has been built, but which does not have an irrigation system. Well, this dam has no value. Half of the work that we should do is to build certain walls and gather water behind these walls. The other half is to build an irrigation system so that the water behind these walls can flow to areas and lands which in are in need of water. This should be done. Of course, companies and factories should turn to scientific centers more than the past and scientific centers too should prepare themselves more than the past. Each year, we should witness hundreds of research projects - which are requested by industrial centers - in universities and scientific centers. Of course, these requested projects should address domestic needs. In my opinion, today one of our great weak points is that our scientific centers are after foreign projects. Even many youth, professors and other academic people sometimes acknowledge this. Such projects are not things that the country needs. I do not want to say that this is absolutely forbidden, but if you sit and work on certain scientific and research projects in order to meet the needs of such and such a scientific and technological organization in the world - which will buy these projects at a low price - this is not a major achievement. You should see what our domestic needs are, how your research - particularly the research that Ph.D. students and students at higher levels carry out - can help the country and what gaps it can fill. Therefore, there should be a great and serious competition in the area of innovation. There should be a competition, in the real sense of the word, whether in scientific or in technological areas. In graduate theses, particularly doctoral theses, one of the points which should definitely receive attention is innovation. In these theses, it should be clear in which areas innovation occurs and this should be the standard for evaluation. The National Elites Foundation should work in a serious way to create an environment for scientific enthusiasm. If this happens, the Iranian specialists who live outside Iran will be excited to come to their country and the talented Iranian youth will find the enthusiasm to stay in their own homeland and render services to their own country. There is a fundamental and important point in this regard which is piety and self-purification. The capabilities of outstanding personalities in our country - including young men and women and their professors - will increase in the shade of piety, self-purification and attention to God. Their capabilities will increase and they can easily make achievements. One of the greatest advantages that you have is youthful purity. This is not a permanent thing. During youth, there is a kind of purity and enlightenment which makes it easy for an individual to enjoy divine mercy. If Allah the Exalted opens up the path for individuals, if He smoothes the way for them and prepares the ground, they will achieve their goals more easily. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We will indeed make smooth for him the path to Bliss\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 92: 7]. You should appreciate the value of the piety, purity, faith and enlightenment which exist in you and which prepare the ground for spirituality. You should ask Allah the Exalted to help you and your country. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, we will be able to reach the desired point for our country and our nation. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, I will always pray for you, as I have prayed for you so far. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings

AYATULLAH KHAMENAEI’S MESSAGE TO HAJJ PILGRIMS – 2011/1432A.H. In the Name of Allah, the All-Beneficent, the All-Merciful All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and may divine blessings and greetings be to the Master of the creatures, Muhammad al-Mustafa and his immaculate family and his elect companions. The spiritual spring of Hajj has arrived with its freshness, purity and God-given grandeur and majesty, gathering again the faithful and eager hearts like butterflies encircling the Ka’bah of Divine Monotheism and Islamic Unity. Camped at Makkah and Mina, Arafat and Mash´ar are the fortunate human beings who, having responded to the call of (وَأَذِّن فِي النَّاسِ بِالْحَجِّ): (22:27) “proclaim the Hajj to all the people”, are being honored with the hospitality of the Clement and Munificent Lord. Here is the blessed House and the source of guidance from which the enlightening Divine signs radiated and the canopy of safety was set up to cast its universal shade. Wash your hearts in the Zamzam of piety, humility and God’s remembrance. Open the inner eye to the lights of the Divine signs. Embrace the spirit of submission and dedication, which are the hallmarks of true servant-hood. Keep on refreshing in your hearts the memory of that patriarch who, in willing compliance, led his Ishmael (Ismâeil) to the scene of sacrifice, thus showing us the clear path of attaining the friendship of the Glorious Lord and the manner of traversing it with a resolve infused with faith and an intent imbued with sincerity. The station of prophet Abraham (Ibrâhim) is one among these clarifying signs. The footprint by the side of Holy Ka’bah of prophet Ibrâhim, may Peace be upon him, is only a symbol of the station of Ibrâhim. The station of Ibrâhim is his station of dedication and self-sacrifice, his fortitude and resistance to personal desires and fatherly feelings as well as against the domination of unfaith, polytheism and Nimrod, the tyrant of the time. Today these two paths of deliverance lie open before each of us, individuals belonging to the Muslim Ummah. Determination, courage and firmness of resolve on part of each one of us can advance us towards the same goals to which mankind have been invited by the Divine envoys from Adam to the Seal of the Prophets, with the promise of dignity and felicity, in this world and in the Hereafter, for those who take this path. It will be worthy of the Hajj pilgrims’ attention at this great assembly of the Islamic Ummah to address the most important issues of the Islamic world. The uprisings and revolutions in some important Islamic countries are at the head of these issues. The events that have taken place in the Islamic world in the period between the previous and present Hajj pilgrimages can change the destiny of the Islamic Ummah, and they forebode a bright future accompanied with dignity and progress, material and spiritual. Dictators and ‘corrupt’ taghoots, allied with foreign powers, have been overthrown in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, and the stormy waves of popular uprising in some other countries threaten to bring down the castles of wealth and power. This new chapter in the history of Our Ummah reveals certain facts which are all manifest Divine signs and give us vital lessons. These facts should be taken into account by Muslim nations in all their calculations. First, a young generation has emerged from the hearts of these nations after decades of political subjugation to foreign powers, which with its admirable self-confidence, is ready to face threats, confront the dominant powers and is determined to change the status-quo. Second, despite the authority and efforts of secular rulers and their overt and covert measures to curtail the influence of religion in these countries, Islam, with its conspicuous and impressive presence, has become the guiding principle of popular expression and sentiment. Like a fountainhead effusing through popular discourse and behavior it has given vitality and freshness to the rallies and activities of the millions. The mosques and minarets, Islamic slogans and calls of Allahu Akbar, all are clear indications of this fact and the recent Tunisian elections provide decisive evidence for this claim. There is no doubt that free elections in any Islamic country will hardly result in anything but what happened in Tunisia. Moreover, as revealed for all by this year’s events, God Almighty has placed such a force in the resolve and determination of nations that no power whatsoever can withstand it. With this God-given power nations can change their destiny and partake of Divine help. Furthermore, during the last decades arrogant powers, led by the United States, had reduced the regional states to a subjugate condition through their political and security tactics. They imagined to have opened an obstacle-free highway for their rising economic, cultural and political domination over this susceptible part of the world. But now they are the primary target of the disgust and hatred of the region’s nations. Undoubtedly, the regimes emerging from these revolutions will never submit to the disgraceful inequalities of the past, and the political geography of the region will be drawn by the nations in pursuance of their dignity and complete independence. In addition, the crafty nature of the hypocritical Western powers has become all too apparent for the people of these countries. The U.S. and Europe made their utmost efforts to retain their pawns in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, each of them in a particular way. But when their wishes had to give in before the resolve of the nations, they cast a wily friendly smile at the triumphant public. There are further precious facts and manifest Divine signs embedded in the regional events of the past year, which are not hard to discern for reflective minds. Nevertheless, the entire Islamic Ummah and especially the revolutionary nations stand in need of two basic elements: First, the continuity of their stand and avoidance of slackness in resolve. In the Qur’an, the Divine summons to the Greatest Messenger, may God bless him and his family, are addressed in these words: فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ وَمَن تَابَ مَعَكَ وَلاَ تَطْغَوْا “Be steadfast, just as you have been commanded—[by Allah] and whoever has turned [to God] with you—and do not overstep the bounds (11:112)” and (فَلِذَلِكَ فَادْعُ وَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ). “Be steadfast, just as you have been commanded (42:15).” The Prophet Moses, may peace be upon him, is quoted as telling his people: (وقَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ اسْتَعِينُوا بِاللّهِ وَاصْبِرُواْ إِنَّ الأَرْضَ لِلّهِ يُورِثُهَا مَن يَشَاء مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ) “Turn to God for help and be patient. The earth indeed belongs to God, and He gives its inheritance to whomever He wishes of His servants, and the outcome will be in favor of the pious people. ” (7:128) At the present, the most significant aspect of piety for the risen nations is not to halt in their auspicious movement, and not to let themselves be diverted by the achievements of this phase. This is the important part of the piety whose possessors are rewarded with the “favorable outcome.” Second, careful awareness with regard to the plots and gimmicks of the arrogant international powers who have suffered a setback from these uprisings and revolutions. They evidently will not sit idle. They will reenter the arena with all their political, financial and security outfits to reestablish their influence and control in these countries. Their outfits are carrot and stick and deceit. Experience has shown there are some among the elite who are susceptible to these gimmicks. Fear, greed or negligence prompt them to serve the enemy. The vigilant eyes of the youth, intellectuals and religious scholars should be closely watchful. The greatest threat posed by the Camp of Unfaith and arrogant powers lies in its intervention and influence over the structures of the new political systems in these countries. They will do their utmost to see that the new systems do not take on an Islamic and republic identity. All the concerned people in these countries and all those who cherish their homeland’s honor, dignity and progress should work to ensure the complete and perfect Islamic and republic character of the emergent polity. In this regard, the role of the constitutions will be significant. National unity and official recognition of sectarian, tribal and ethnic differences are a precondition of future success. The valiant revolutionary nations of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, as well as other awakened and combatant nations, should know that the sole means of deliverance from the oppression and guile of the United States and other Western hubristic powers is to establish a global balance of power conducive to their interests. The Muslims should bring themselves on a par with the great world powers in order to be able to reach a serious solution of their problems with the World-devourers. This cannot be achieved except with the cooperation, understanding and solidarity of Islamic countries. This was an unforgettable advice of the great Imam Khomeini. For months on, the United States and NATO dropped bombs on the heads of the Libyan people making Gaddafi, a vicious dictator, an excuse. Gaddafi was someone who was considered their close friend before the valiant uprising of the Libyan people. They used to coddle him, steal the wealth of Libya through his hands and press or kiss his hand in order to dupe him. Following the people’s uprising, they made him an excuse to destroy the entire infrastructure of Libya. Which state could stop the tragic massacre of the Libyan people and destruction of the country at the hands of NATO? Until the claws and fangs of the bloodthirsty and barbaric Western powers are not broken, such dangers will remain conceivable for Islamic countries. Their safety from such dangers is not possible except by forming the Islamic world as a powerful pole. Today the West, United States and Zionism are weaker than ever before. Economic troubles, successive failures in Afghanistan and Iraq, deep-running public outrage in America and other Western countries with its daily widening scope, the struggles and sacrifices of the people of Palestine and Lebanon, the daring popular uprisings in Yemen, Bahrain and some other countries under American influence—all these are significant portents for the Islamic Ummah, especially for the emergent revolutionary nations. Faithful men and women throughout the Islamic world, particularly in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya should make the most of this opportunity for the formation of an international Islamic power block. The vanguard and the elite of the uprisings should place their trust in Almighty God and, with reliance on His promise of help, adorn the new chapter in the history of the Islamic Ummah with their lasting achievements, thus earning God’s approval and fulfilling the prerequisites of His help May Peace be upon God’s righteous servants! Sayyid Ali Husaini Khamenaei 29 Dhul Qa´dah, 1432 05 Âbân, 1390 27 October, 2011

بازديد رهبر انقلاب از شركت كارخانجات داروپخش http://farsi.khamenei.ir/news-content?id=19505 در سال تولید ملی و در آستانه‌ی روز كارگر، حضرت آیت‌الله خامنه‌ای رهبر معظم انقلاب اسلامی صبح روز 10 اردیبهشت 1391، با حضور در كارخانجات تولیدی داروپخش، از نزدیك در جریان آخرین دستاوردهای تولیدِ دارو در كشور قرار گرفتند و در جمع هزاران نفر از كارگران نمونه‌ی سراسر كشور تأكید كردند: تحقق واقعی اهداف مختلف كشور از جمله استقلال سیاسی، نیازمند خوداتكایی و استقلال اقتصادی است. استقلال اقتصادی نیز به شكل‌گیری تولید ملی مشروط است و تولید ملی نیز با احترام حقیقی، همگانی و عملی به كار ایرانی و سرمایه‌ی ایرانی به وجود خواهد آمد. رهبر انقلاب اسلامی در ابتدای ورودشان به محل شركت كارخانجات داروپخش، در جایگاه یادمان شهدای كارگر حضور یافتند و با قرائت فاتحه، برای ایشان علو درجات را از درگاه خداوند مسئلت كردند. حضرت آیت‌الله خامنه‌ای سپس در سالن استریل تولید داروهای تزریقی و قطره حضور یافتند و از مراحل مختلف تولید، كنترل و بسته‌بندی این داروها بازدید به عمل آوردند. بخش تولید، كنترل و بسته‌بندی داروهای تزریقی و قطره‌های استریل چشمی و بینی شركت تولیدی داروپخش در مدت یك سال و به دست متخصصان داخلی طراحی و ساخته و تجهیز شده است. از جمله داروهای تولیدی در این بخش، داروی هورمون رشد است كه مراحل تولید آن بسیار پیچیده و تنها در انحصار چند كشور معدود است. امروز همزمان با بازدید رهبر انقلاب اسلامی از كارخانجات تولیدی داروپخش، نخستین داروی تزریقی این مجموعه با نام تجاری «انوكساپارین 6000» تولید و روانه‌ی بازار شد. در این دیدار همچنین وزاری بهداشت، درمان و آموزش پزشكی و نیز تعاون، كار و رفاه اجتماعی و همچنین وزیر صنعت، معدن و تجارت گزارشی از اهم فعالیت‌ها را ارائه كردند. خانم دكتر وحید دستجردی وزیر بهداشت، درمان و آموزش پزشكی با اشاره به دستاوردهای كارخانه‌های تولید داروی كشور با وجود تحریم‌ها گفت: تحریم‌ها به عنوان یك فرصت موجب شده است كه متخصصان داخلی با عزم جدی در تولید دارو و به‌ویژه داروهای با فناوری‌های پیشرفته گام بردارند و جمهوری اسلامی ایران به كشور اول منطقه در تولید دارو تبدیل شده است. http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1627 Supreme Leader Meets with Laborers 29/04/2012 On the eve of International Labor Day, Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution met today with a group of exemplary laborers from across the country. Speaking at the meeting, His Eminence described labor as the driving force behind the progress of all societies. Ayatollah Khamenei said that socialist and capitalist governments take advantage of laborers and added that in contrast to socialism and capitalism, Islam is honest with laborers and considers labor as valuable. The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that it is necessary to apply Islamic principles to labor and laborers. He added that investment and labor are two essential requirements for national production and progress. \\\"It is necessary to value Iranian labor and investment so that national production becomes viable in the real sense of the word.\\\" His Eminence stressed that the enemies have focused their plots on economic issues and added: \\\"The signs of this great plot are becoming more visible on a daily basis in current conditions. But by Allah\\\'s favor, the Iranian nation will remove this obstacle from its path by relying on the same willpower that helped them remove the previous obstacles.\\\" The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated that the efforts of Iranian laborers, investors and managers are the requirement for overcoming the economic plots of the enemy. He reiterated: \\\"The people should also reveal their determination to oppose the enemy by consuming our domestic products.\\\" Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the government should pay attention to the issue of domestic production and stated: \\\"There is a need for fundamental work in this area. The strength our economy depends on constant efforts by the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of government.\\\" His Eminence said that supporting healthy economic activities, labor, production and investment is among the responsibilities of the three branches of government. He referred to the measures that should be adopted in this regard and added: \\\"Improving skills, training the workforce, adopting the correct managerial perspective and creating a sense of security both for laborers and for investors are among the things that should be done.\\\" The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that confronting and combating economic disruption in an appropriate way is a necessity for strengthening domestic production. He added that smuggling and misusing the money that the people have invested in the banks are among the manifestations of economic disruption. He explained: \\\"Receiving large amounts of money from our banks to spend on a particular project and then diverting the money to other things is an example of treachery and stealing from the people, and it is necessary to confront such people.\\\" Ayatollah Khamenei said that creating competition, improving the quality of domestic products and minimizing the cost of production are other requirements for national production. He added: \\\"The government should help our production units in this regard.\\\" The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed: \\\"The three branches of government, different governmental organizations, the private sector, those who are in charge of improving the culture of our society, the IRIB and everybody else should be at the service of national production so that by Allah\\\'s favor, we can strike a serious blow to the blood-thirsty enemies of the Iranian nation.\\\"

Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Speech to Basijis 21/11/2012 The following is the full text of the speech delivered on November 21, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with Basijis and Salehin activists. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful Thankfully, an event similar to the great event of Ashura - which has been narrated for us - took place in our own times. During the Sacred Defense Era, many men, women and young people who were trying to achieve their noble goals, laid down their lives and wealth and forgot about the material aspects of their lives. Today we are benefiting from the blessings of this event. The coincidence of this event with the great event of Ashura is a lesson for us. The Islamic Ummah should never forget the event of Ashura which is a lesson and a source of guidance for us. Definitely Islam is alive because of the event of Ashura and the efforts of Hussein ibn Ali (a.s.). \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And I am from Hussein.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This narration means that Hussein (a.s.) continued the path of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and he continued to promote Islam after him. If it had not been for the event of Ashura and if these great sacrifices had not been made in the history of Islam, this valuable experience and this practical lesson would not have been bestowed on the Islamic Ummah and Islam would have definitely deviated from its path - as many religions before Islam did - and nothing would have remained from it. The greatness of Ashura is because of this. Of course, the pain and suffering which Imam Hussein (a.s.) and his followers endured on the day of Ashura were too agonizing and the harm which was inflicted was very serious. The life of Hussein ibn Ali (a.s.) is more valuable than everything in the world. The pure and sacred lives of those followers of Imam Hussein (a.s.), the lives of those youth and those members of Imam Hussein\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) household are not comparable to the life of other people. Their bodies were covered in blood and dirt. They made sacrifices and they laid down their lives. The households of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and Imam Ali (a.s.) were imprisoned. Those events are very tragic and very difficult to tolerate. But what was achieved on the day of Ashura was so great and glorious that it made it easy for Imam Hussein (a.s.), his followers and his household to endure the sufferings. This has been narrated by prominent figures. The late Hajj Mirza Javad Agha Maleki (may God bestow paradise on him) stressed in his book \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Muraqibaat\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" - what he has said in this book is certainly true - that the greater the sufferings grew on the day of Ashura, the brighter and more cheerful the face of Hussein ibn Ali (a.s.) would become. You should always keep in mind these important and extraordinary facts about Ashura. In our own times, we have seen similar examples of these sacrifices. We have seen similar examples of sacrifices which we have read about in history books. One significant and remarkable example of these sacrifices is what Basij did before the start of the imposed war, during the Sacred Defense Era and after it ended. We have enormously benefited from the blessings of Basij and by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, these blessings should and will continue to benefit us. An important point about Basij is that during the Sacred Defense Era, we could see that Basij enjoyed great purity. We should preserve this purity in Basij. The present situation is more complicated. It is dangerous to go to war, kill, fight and take on responsibilities which may result in martyrdom or disability. It is still dangerous even if nothing happens to you, but being present in a military confrontation is not complicated. The present situation in which you are faced with the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s plots and attacks has certain complications. The confrontation between you and the enemy has certain complications. The dangers that our soldiers were exposed to may not exist today, but the present situation has more complications. An advantage of the military confrontation we experienced was that whoever entered it showed great purity of intention. Entering the arena of war was a life and death situation. It was not a joke. It needed courage, selfless efforts, faith and reliance on God, but our soldiers went to war and they were martyred. Today we still need that kind of courage and faith in different arenas, but it is possible that certain people call themselves basijis without having these characteristics. You should be vigilant about this. First, we should guard ourselves against this and second, we should guard Basij against this. This is the duty of all members of Basij. You should strengthen the basiji spirit in Basij organizations including Salehin organizations which you manage. We should make sure that Basij has purity in everything it does. This is difficult to some extent. One reason why practicing self-restraint and paying attention to spiritual matters is called \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"greater jihad\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" is the difficulty of this task. In a military confrontation with the enemy, one can easily measure one\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s and other people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s purity. It is easier to do this in the case of a military confrontation, but in the arena of practicing self-restraint this is not very easy. In latter case, you may make a mistake in judging how pure your actions are and others may also misjudge what kind of person you are. Another point is that we should avoid negative qualities such as arrogance, pretension and hypocrisy. These qualities are very destructive. If we make an achievement, we should be thankful to God and we should know that our achievement has been made with the help of God and we should ask God to help us continue making these achievements. It is very important not to be arrogant and not be over-confident. We should not think that we have made achievements on our own and we should rely on God Almighty. It is a fact that there is no power except the power of God Almighty. Everything is done by God. Our achievements, our capabilities, our enthusiasm, our faith and our love all come from God. We should know this and we should be thankful to God. We should ask God Almighty to increase these qualities in our characters. This is an important issue. I noticed an important point in the statements of the dear people who spoke in this meeting. That point is the high quality of organizations which form the basis of Basij. What is damaging is superficiality in our beliefs, our understanding of different matters and our principles. Superficiality is damaging. It is like a precarious stack of things which is easily blown down by a strong wind. We should give depth to our beliefs. Thankfully, you pay attention to these issues. Salehin organizations were created with a view to giving depth to the thoughts and the spirits of young basijis in spiritual and educational matters. Generally, Basij is one of the miracles of the Revolution. Basij reflects the innovation of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.). It shows his understanding, his wisdom and it reflects the connection between his enlightened heart and the source of divine wisdom. Basij provided a solid foundation for the Revolution. See how active Basij is in the area of scientific matters, in the area of practical matters, in the area of technological matters, in the area of spiritual matters, in the area of social services, in the area of formulating theories on different parts of social life, and in different other areas. If one day something happens which makes our people arm themselves against the enemy for the purpose of defending their country, these youth, these basijis, these brave youth of our dear nation will once more prove the courage of the Iranian nation, the resistance of the Iranian nation, the power of the Iranian nation and the invincibility of the Iranian nation to the enemy. Other groups of people and other countries which have tried to tread the enlightened path of Islam will follow our example. We have a valuable experience in this regard. We should perform well because it will make Basij a living and dynamic role model in the world of Islam. Today this has almost happened. Therefore strengthening Basij, making all its members as pure and spiritual as possible, expanding its activities to all areas of life are among the tasks which should be carried out by the people in charge of Basij, member of Basij and everyone connected with Basij. Islam has advised us to start from ourselves. All of us, at all levels, should start from ourselves. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"He who considers himself the leader of people should educate himself before educating others.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Saying 73] This piece of advice is true at all levels. We should start from ourselves. We should establish this idea in Basij. The Islamic view of lifestyle can be a standard for self-evaluation in Basij. I am not saying that organizations which are higher in rank should evaluate our behavior. I am saying that we should be the people who evaluate our own behavior. How is our behavior in our workplace? How is our behavior towards our wife and children? How is our behavior at home and in social environments? How is our behavior towards people who stand below us in rank? How is our behavior towards people who stand above us in rank? How is our behavior towards the enemy? In Islam, there are certain criteria for all of these. We should evaluate ourselves. This is self-evaluation. This can lay a firm foundation for our lives and for the work we should do in all areas - especially the work we should do in Basij, which is the topic of our discussion. Anyway, our country, our nation, our Revolution and our history need Basij and Basij needs to improve itself on a daily basis in terms of quality. What you dear brothers and sisters are doing - in Salehin organizations - is very good and outstanding and it perfectly complements Basij. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, we should improve Basij on a daily basis. We should raise quality in Basij. Of course, quality should be given more significance than quantity, but increasing the quantity of work as well as the quality of work is also important. That is to say, we should both increase the volume of our work and add depth to it. Both should be taken into consideration. Today the world of Islam needs this movement by Basij. The savage attack on Gaza over the past week, which is truly shocking, should awaken the world of Islam and it should give fresh impetus to the movement of Muslim peoples. The enemy is not sitting idle. This effort by the Zionist regime has several dimensions. First, it shows the extreme brutality of the Zionist regime. How savage these people are. They have no conscience at all. You become shocked when you see how savagely they attack innocent people and civilians. They have no human qualities. They are against the world of Islam and the Islamic Republic of Iran. These creatures who have no human qualities want to challenge the Islamic Republic of Iran at international meetings. This is one aspect of the issue which is very important. Another shocking aspect of the issue is that the leaders of global arrogance behave so shamelessly in this crisis. They not only do not frown at the brutal Zionist regime and they not only do not prevent it from doing what it is doing, but they rather support and encourage it. America explicitly supported the Zionists. England supported them. France supported them. These are the leaders of global arrogance. Muslim peoples do not have enemies who are as hated and brutal as these people. All these people explicitly supported them. The recent event shows how willing the leaders of global arrogance are to observe morality. They are very far away from human qualities. Now that they give political support to the Zionist regime for the purpose of safeguarding their corrupt political interests, why do they claim that they support human rights? Does America - which not only fails to condemn this violent and savage attack in Gaza, but also supports it - have the right to claim that it supports human rights? Does it have the right to put itself in the position of prosecutors of other nations and governments in the name of defending human rights? This is a shameless claim. The same is true of France and England. Muslim nations have not forgotten their past behavior in the world of Islam, the crimes that they committed, the killings that were carried out and the pressures that they exerted on Muslim peoples in different countries. And today they support the actions of a brutal regime, namely the Zionist regime. This is another aspect of the issue. Another aspect of the issue is the behavior of Arab and Islamic governments regarding the event of Gaza which was not acceptable. Some of them only condemned the Zionists in words and some others did not even condemn the Zionists in words. Those who call Muslim nations to unity and claim to be the leaders of the Islamic Ummah should prove themselves in such situations. They are very outspoken on issues which suit their political agenda, but in this case - because they have to face America and England - they refuse to condemn the Zionists in an outspoken and genuine way or they merely offer verbal support, which is of little value and is not very effective. Today the world of Islam, especially Arab countries, should join hands to defend the people of Gaza and make the enemy lift the siege. They should try to help the innocent people of Gaza. Of course, God Almighty has bestowed on the people of Gaza the blessing to resist and stand up against this violent and savage enemy. The people of Gaza saw the result of their resistance: they managed to preserve their dignity. They proved that by relying on resistance and hard work it is possible - even with a small number of people - to defeat large and heavily armed groups that are supported by the arrogant powers. Today the Zionists, who have occupied Palestine, are looking for a ceasefire more desperately than the people and the officials of Gaza. Although they committed these crimes and brutal actions, they were harmed more. This happened because of the resistance of the small number of Muslim people and youth in Gaza. There is no other way to defeat the enemies. This is a message to the world of Islam. If the world of Islam wants to be invulnerable to the attacks, machinations and plots of the enemy, it should defend itself strongly. It should strengthen itself, both spiritually - strengthening one\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s faith and determination - and materially. Material strength includes making scientific and technological progress, gaining experience and making advances in the area of building weapons and in other areas. The world of Islam and Islamic societies should equip themselves with these. If they do this, then every district even as small as Gaza can inflict as much harm on the enemy as the people of Gaza did. As I said before, what the people of Gaza did made the enemy look for a ceasefire more desperately than the people and the officials in Gaza although they went through pain and suffering and a number of them were martyred. This is a lesson for the world of Islam and of course we learned this lesson during the Sacred Defense Era. Thankfully, our people, our youth, our scientists and our experts have made progress in this regard. We have made progress in theoretical and practical areas. We have become fully aware of the fact that we should stand on our own feet which is one of the requirements for resistance. Another point is the issue of unity among the Islamic Ummah and among the people of each country. The unity among the people and the political parties of each country is important. The same is true of our nation. The reason I repeatedly point out that political parties, our dear officials, people who can address the public - including newspapers, websites, executive and other organizations in charge of our media - writers and people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s representatives should preserve unity among themselves, is that unity is very important in essence. Fortunately our country has managed to preserve its unity and cohesion. Fortunately the recent disagreements between the officials have not shattered the unity of our nation. The fact that there are differences of opinion between the officials creates no problems as long as these differences do not result in major disputes. In the eyes of the enemy, our country has been very powerful since the start of the Revolution and this has happened because of our unity. Today they have the same opinion. Some time ago I advised the officials to preserve unity among themselves. Fortunately the esteemed officials of the three branches of government listened to my advice. This is very valuable. It is necessary to thank these people. The officials and the heads of the three branches of government listened to my advice. They stressed that they will preserve their unity in different areas although they have differences of opinion. We welcome this positive move made by these dear brothers and esteemed officials and we believe that it was a wise move and they should continue to be careful about what they say. What the MPs are doing in the Majlis is one of the things that has certain praiseworthy aspects. You dear brothers and sisters and the honorable people of Iran should know that asking questions of our government officials, whether the President or other executive officials, is a positive move because of two reasons. One reason is that it shows the people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s representatives in the legislative branch have a sense of responsibility towards issues of the country. This is positive. Another reason is that the executive branch announced with confidence and with praiseworthy courage that it is prepared for answering the questions posed by the MPs. This is positive too. The legislative branch carries out its responsibility and our executive officials show that they have confidence in their decisions and sincerity. What else do we expect? This is the best situation. This decision has been made: the Majlis has announced that it wants to summon the President for questioning which shows their sense of responsibility, and the executive branch has announced that it is prepared to answer the questions with confidence - they said this to me too. This too is praiseworthy. These two moves made by the Majlis and the executive branch are both good. But I believe that the efforts should not be continued. They should end the issue immediately. This was a good test for both the Majlis and the executive branch. The people are also insightful and wise. Continuing this issue is exactly what the enemies want. The enemies want to pitch the two branches against each other. The enemies want to provoke people on each side to give in to their feelings and create uproar through newspapers, websites and other such things. Our country needs tranquility. All the officials, no matter which branch of government they belong to, need tranquility to do their duties and the people also want tranquility. The Majlis did its duty and in response to the decision of the Majlis, the executive branch showed that it has the necessary self-confidence to defend its actions. What these two branches of government did is satisfactory. Now I ask the brothers who made this decision in the Majlis to end this issue and show that government officials in the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of government respect unity and tranquility more than anything else. I thank all the brothers and sisters in Basij. I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows success on all of you. I thank all the brothers and sisters who spoke in this meeting. I hope that God Almighty bestows great rewards on them. I also thank the dear brother who gave me his medal. I have accepted this medal, but I would like to give it back to him as gift. It is better for him to keep the medal because it will evoke the memory of his championship and something to remember me by. I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows success on you. Source : http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1727&Itemid=4

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Iran will raze Tel Aviv to the ground if Israel launches a military strike against the Islamic Republic. “Israel’s leaders sometimes threaten Iran, but they know that if they do a damn thing, the Islamic Republic will raze Tel Aviv and [the occupied city of] Haifa to the ground,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on Thursday in an address to large crowds of people in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad on the occasion of Nowruz (Iranian new year). The Leader pointed out that the enemy seeks to create hurdles through sanctions and threats and downplay Iran’s achievements through propaganda, as its two major strategies against the Iranian nation. “The center of conspiracy and the basis of hostility with the Iranian nation is the US government,” Ayatollah Khamenei noted. The Leader pointed to the effects of the West’s embargoes against Iran over its nuclear energy program, saying, “Besides the negative effects of the sanctions, a highly positive impact also took place and the huge potential of the Iranian nation was activated and the talents of the youths of our country flourished.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" “Thanks to the sanctions, the Iranian nation embarked on enormous activities and massive infrastructural works were done in the year 1391 [Persian calendar year].” The Leader alluded to the repeated offers of direct talks with the Islamic Republic by the United States and said, “Through different ways and messages, the Americans try to negotiate with us on the nuclear issue, but I am not optimistic about these talks.” “I am not opposed to talks with regard to the nuclear issue, but certain issues must be clarified,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. The Leader pointed to the US claim that they intend to be honest in their talks with Iran and noted, “We have repeatedly asserted that we do not seek nuclear weapons but you do not believe this honest word; why should we accept your word?” “Negotiation is an American tactic for deceiving the public opinion and if it is otherwise the Americans should prove it,” the Leader said. Touching on Iran’s comprehensive negotiations with the P5+1 (permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany), Ayatollah Khamenei said that Washington does not want the talks to come to a conclusion, adding, “With regard to the nuclear issue, Iran only wants the recognition of its rights to enrichment.” The Leader noted that the US seeks to prolong the course of the negotiations in an attempt to “paralyze” the Iranian nation and said, “Iran will never be crippled and if the Americans want the issue to be over, there is one simple solution which is the US should put aside its enmity with the Iranian nation.” Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to Iran’s 11th presidential election in June and called for a high turnout in the poll in a bid to disappoint the enemies and ensure national security. The Leader underscored the importance of participation of various political spectrums in the election and noted, “All the [political] views and factions that believe in the Islamic Republic should participate; this is both a right and obligation, as election in the Islamic Republic is not for a specific political view and faction.”

Supreme Leader\\\\\\\'s Speech at Inauguration of Islamic Awakening and Ulama Conference 29/04/2013 The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 29, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting at Inauguration of Islamic Awakening and Ulama Conference. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master, Muhammad al-Mustafa, and upon his immaculate household, chosen companions and those who follow them well, until the Day of Judgment. I welcome you honorable guests and I ask Almighty and Merciful God to bless this collective effort and make it an effective step towards happiness of Muslims. \\\\\\\"Surely He listens and responds.\\\\\\\" Today the subject of Islamic Awakening, which you will discuss in this conference, tops the list of the issues of the Islamic world and the Islamic Ummah, an amazing phenomenon that will result in the re-emergence of Islamic civilization - for the Islamic Ummah and then for all of the world - in the not too distant future providing that, with Allah\\\\\\\'s permission, it stays healthy and continues. Today what lies in front of our eyes and cannot be denied by any informed and intelligent individual is that the world of Islam has now emerged out of the sidelines of social and political equations of the world, that it has found a prominent and outstanding position at the center of decisive global events, and that it offers a fresh outlook on life, politics, government and social developments. This is considered an important and significant phenomenon in today\\\\\\\'s world, which is suffering from a deep intellectual and theoretical vacuum after the failure of communism and liberalism. This is the first sign of the political and revolutionary events in North Africa and the Arab region on a global scale, which itself is a harbinger of greater truths that will come to pass in the future. Islamic Awakening, which speakers in the arrogant and reactionary camp do not even dare to mention in words, is a truth whose signs can be witnessed in almost all parts of the world of Islam. The most obvious sign of it is the enthusiasm of public opinion, especially among young people, to revive the glory and greatness of Islam, to become aware of the nature of the international order of domination and to remove the mask from the shameless, oppressive and arrogant face of the governments and centers that have been pressuring the Islamic and non-Islamic East in their clutches for more than two hundred years and have been exposing nations to their brutal and aggressive thirst for power disguised with the mask of civilization and culture. The dimensions of this auspicious awakening are widespread and mysterious, but what was witnessed of its immediate outcomes in a few North African countries can make hearts confident about the great and amazing outcomes that will be achieved in the future. Miraculous fulfillment of divine promises is always a hope-inspiring sign that promises the fulfillment of greater promises. The Quranic account of the two promises that Allah the Exalted gave to the mother of Prophet Moses is an example of this divine tactic. At that difficult moment, when she was ordered to cast her baby in the river in a basket, Allah the Exalted said, \\\\\\\"Surely We will bring him back to you and make him one of the messengers.\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 7] The fulfillment of the first promise, which was the smaller promise and a cause for happiness for the mother, became the sign of the fulfillment of the promise of prophetic mission, which was far greater and of course, it required long-term suffering, struggle and patience: \\\\\\\"So We restored him to his mother that her eye might be refreshed, and that she might not grieve, and that she might know that the promise of Allah is true...\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 13] This true promise was the great mission which was fulfilled after many years and it changed the course of history. Another example is the reminder about the overwhelming power of God to suppress the invaders of the Holy House: in order to encourage His audience through the Holy Prophet to submit to His order, Allah the Exalted makes use of this example \\\\\\\"so let them serve the Lord of this House\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura Quraysh, Ayah 3] and says, \\\\\\\"Did He not cause their war to end in confusion?\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Fil, Ayah 2] Similarly, in order to raise the spirits of His beloved Prophet and convince him of the truth of the promise \\\\\\\"your Lord has not forsaken you, nor has He become displeased\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ad-Dhuha, Ayah 3], Allah the Exalted gives the reminder about the miraculous blessing: \\\\\\\"Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter? He found you astray and guided you.\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ad-Dhuha, Ayah 6-7] And there are many such examples in the Holy Quran. The day when Islam achieved victory in Iran and managed to capture the fort of America and Zionism in one of the most important countries in this extremely sensitive region, those who were wise and quick to learn realized that if they had patience and insight, other victories will come one after another. The brilliant truths in the Islamic Republic, which are acknowledged by our enemies, have all been achieved in the shade of trust in divine promises, patience, resistance and asking God for assistance. In the face of temptations by weak people who, during tense times, shout \\\\\\\"we are sure to be overtaken,\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ash-Shuara, Ayah 61] our people have always shouted \\\\\\\"by no means, my Lord is with me and soon will He guide me.\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ash-Shuara, Ayah 62] Today this is a precious experience that is available to the peoples who have stood up against arrogance and tyranny and have managed to overthrow and shake corrupt governments that are subservient to and dependent on America. Resistance, patience, insight and faith in the divine promise \\\\\\\"surely Allah will help him who helps His cause\\\\\\\" will pave this path of glory for the Islamic Ummah until it reaches the peak of Islamic civilization. At this important meeting, which has been attended by a group of religious scholars of the Islamic Ummah from different Islamic countries and denominations, I believe it is appropriate to discuss a few necessary points regarding the issue of Islamic Awakening. The first point is that the earliest waves of awakening in the countries of this region, which started simultaneously with the entry of the pioneers of colonialism, were mainly caused by religion and religious reformers. The names of outstanding leaders and personalities - such as Sayyid Jamal ad-Din, Muhammad Abduh, Mirza-e Shirazi, Akhund-e Khorasani, Mahmoud al-Hassan, Muhammad Ali, Sheikh Fazlollah, Hajj Agha Noorullah, Abul A\\\\\\\'la Maududi and tens of famous, great, mujahid and and influential clerics from Iran, Egypt, India and Iraq - have been recorded in history books forever. Similarly, in the contemporary era, the brilliant name of the great Imam Khomeini is shining like a brilliant star at the forefront of the Islamic Revolution. Meanwhile, today and in the past, hundreds of famous religious scholar and thousands of lesser-known religious scholars have played a role in great and small reform movements in different countries. The list of non-cleric religious reformers, such as Hassan al-Banna and Iqbal Lahori, is also long and amazing. Almost everywhere, clerics and theologians have been the intellectual authority and spiritual support for the people and wherever they have appeared in the role of guides and pioneers at the time of great developments and have moved forward in the first rows of popular movements in the face of dangers, the intellectual bond between them and the people has been strengthened and they have played a significant role in showing the path to the people. This is as beneficial to the wave of Islamic Awakening as it is unpleasant and distressing to the enemies of the Islamic Ummah, those who bear grudges against Islam and those who are opposed to the rule of Islamic values, and they are trying to take away this intellectual authority from religious strongholds and create new centers for it. They have learned through experience that they can easily reach a compromise with these centers over national principles and values, and this is something that will never happen in the case of pious religious scholars and devoted religious personalities. This makes the responsibility of religious scholars heavier. Through vigilance and caution and by identifying the enemy\\\\\\\'s deceptive methods and machinations, they should completely shut the door to infiltration and foil the enemy\\\\\\\'s plots. One of the greatest calamities is becoming attracted to the lure of worldly wealth. Exposure to the favors of wealthy and powerful people and being indebted to taghuts of lust and power are the most dangerous cause of separation from the people and loss of their trust and friendliness. Self-centeredness and thirst for power, which lure weak individuals towards developing an inclination to poles of power, prepare the ground for involvement in corruption and deviation. It is necessary to constantly keep this holy Quranic ayah in mind: \\\\\\\"(As for) that future abode, We assign it to those who have no desire to exalt themselves in the earth nor to make mischief and the good end is for those who guard (against evil).\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 83] Today in the era of hope-inspiring movements of Islamic Awakening, sometimes certain things are witnessed which on the one hand, show the efforts by the agents of America and Zionism to create unreliable intellectual authorities and which on the other hand, show the efforts by debauched Qaruns to drag religious and pious people towards their poisoned and contaminated activities. Religious scholars and pious men should be extremely vigilant and careful. The second point is the necessity of delineating a long-term goal for Islamic Awakening in Muslim countries, a noble aim that gives orientation to the awakening of nations and helps them reach a certain point. It is through identifying this particular point that one can prepare a roadmap and specify the medium- and short-term goals in it. This final goal cannot be anything less than creating a brilliant Islamic civilization. All parts of the Islamic Ummah - in the form of different nations and countries - should achieve the civilizational position that has been specified in the Holy Quran. The main and the general characteristic of this civilization is that it should allow human beings to utilize all the material and spiritual capacities that Allah the Exalted has bestowed on them and on the world in order to bring about happiness and transcendence for humanity. The surface structure of this civilization can and should be witnessed in popular government, in the laws that have been extracted from the Holy Quran, in identifying and addressing different needs of humanity, in avoidance of rigidity and reactionary attitudes as well as unwarranted innovation and adulteration, in creating public welfare and wealth, in establishing justice, in liberation from an economy that is based on special privileges, usury and taking pride in wealth, in promoting human values, in defending oppressed people in the world, and in hard work and innovation. Adopting an ijtihadi and scholarly outlook on different areas - ranging from humanities to the system of formal education, from economy and banking to technical and technological production, from modern media to art and cinema and to international relations and other areas - are all among the requirements for this civilization-building. Experience has shown that all of these things are possible and within the capacities of Muslim communities. This outlook must not be treated with haste and pessimism. Being pessimistic about one\\\\\\\'s capabilities is ingratitude to God\\\\\\\'s blessings, and neglecting help from God and the laws of creation amounts to slipping into the morass of entertaining \\\\\\\"evil thoughts about Allah.\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Fath, Ayah 6] We can break the chain of scientific, economic and political monopolies of the domineering powers and help the Islamic Ummah become the pioneer of restoring the rights of the majority of nations in the world, which have been dominated by a minority of arrogant powers. Through religious faith, knowledge, ethics and constant struggle, Islamic civilization can gift advanced thought and noble codes of behavior to the Islamic Ummah and to the entire humanity, and it can be the point of liberation from materialistic and oppressive outlooks and corrupt codes of behavior that form the pillars of current Western civilization. The third point is that in the movements of Islamic Awakening it is necessary to pay constant attention to the bitter and horrifying experience of following the West in politics, behavior and lifestyle. In more than a century of following the culture and politics of the arrogant powers, Muslim countries suffered from deadly calamities such as political dependence and humiliation, economic plights and poverty, decline of moral virtues and ethics and shameful scientific backwardness, and this was while the Islamic Ummah enjoyed a glorious history in all of these areas. This statement must not be interpreted as hostility towards the West. We are not hostile towards any group of human beings because of geographical differences. We have learnt lessons from Ali (greetings be upon him) who describes human beings in this way: \\\\\\\"Those who have the same religion as you, they are brothers to you, and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you.\\\\\\\" Our complaint against oppression and arrogance and against bullying and transgression is the moral and practical degeneration that has been imposed on our nations by the colonial and arrogant powers. Currently, we can witness the bullying and interference of America and some of its followers in the region in the countries in which the breeze of awakening has turned into the storm of uprisings and revolutions. Their promises must not affect the decisions and actions of outstanding political personalities and the great movement of the people. In this case as well, we need to learn lessons from our experiences: those who pinned their hopes on the promises of America for years and based their behavior and policies on the inclination towards the oppressor did not manage to resolve any problems of their nations or eliminate an injustice to themselves or to others. By surrendering to America, they did not manage to prevent the demolition of even one single Palestinian home in a territory that belongs to the Palestinians. The politicians and outstanding personalities who are deceived by the bribe or intimidated by the threats of the camp of the arrogant powers and miss the great opportunity of Islamic Awakening should be apprehensive about this divine threat: \\\\\\\"Have you not seen those who have changed Allah\\\\\\\'s favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition into hell? They shall enter into it and an evil place it is to settle in.\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura Ibrahim, Ayah 28-29] The fourth point is that today one of the most dangerous things that threatens the movement of Islamic Awakening is the efforts to foment discord and turn these movements into bloody sectarian, ethnic and national conflicts. Currently, this plot is being seriously pursued by intelligence services of the West and Zionism with the help of petrodollars and bribed politicians from East Asia to North Africa and particularly in the Arab region. And the money that could have been spent to bring about happiness for mankind is being used to make threats, excommunicate, assassinate, bomb, shed Muslim blood and to kindle the fire of long-lasting grudges. Those who consider the unified power of Islam as an obstacle in the way of their evil goals have come to the conclusion that fanning the flames of conflicts inside the Islamic Ummah is the easiest way to achieve their satanic goal and they have used differences of opinion in Islamic jurisprudence, kalaam, history and hadith - which are natural and inevitable - as a pretext to excommunicate, shed blood and cause fitna and corruption. A vigilant look at the scene of domestic conflicts clearly reveals the enemy\\\\\\\'s hands behind these tragedies. These deceptive hands undoubtedly take advantage of the ignorance, prejudice and superficiality that exists in our societies and they add fuel to the fire. The responsibility of religious and political reformers and outstanding personalities is very heavy in this regard. Currently, Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, Syria, Pakistan, and Iraq and Lebanon are in one way or another involved in or exposed to these dangerous flames. It is necessary to be extremely careful and to look for a remedy. It would be naïve to think that all of these things are due to ideological and ethnic factors and motives. Propaganda campaigns of the West and dependent and mercenary media in the region pretend that the destructive war in Syria is a Shia-Sunni conflict and they create a safety margin for the Zionists and the enemies of resistance in Syria and Lebanon. This is while the two sides of the conflict in Syria are not Shia and Sunni, rather they are the supporters and opponents of anti-Zionist resistance. Neither the Syrian government is a Shia government, nor is the secular and anti-Islam opposition a Sunni group. The only achievement of the plotters of this calamitous scenario is that they have managed to make use of religious sentiments of simple-minded people to kindle this deadly fire. A look at the scene and those who are involved in it at different levels can clarify the issue for any just individual. Also, in the case of Bahrain, this wave of propaganda is spreading lies and deception in another way. In Bahrain, the oppressed majority - who have been deprived of the right to vote as well as other fundamental rights that a nation should enjoy - have risen up to demand their rights. Should this be considered a Shia-Sunni conflict simply because the oppressed majority are Shia and the oppressive secular government pretends to be Sunni? Of course, the European and American colonialists and their friends in the region want to make things appear like this, but what is the truth? These are the things that call religious scholars and just reformers to careful thinking and sense of responsibility and they make identification of the enemies\\\\\\\' goals behind highlighting sectarian, ethnic and partisan differences an obligation for everybody. The fifth point is that one of the standards for judging whether Islamic Awakening movements are on the right path is the positions they adopt on the issue of Palestine. Since sixty years ago up until today, the occupation of Palestine has been the biggest tragedy that has been imposed on the Islamic Ummah. Since the first day up until today, the tragedy of Palestine has been a combination of killings, assassinations, destruction, usurpation and transgression against what is held sacred in Islam. The necessity of putting up a resistance against this warring and usurping enemy and fighting him has been agreed upon by all Islamic denominations and all honest and healthy national currents. Any current in Islamic countries which disregards this religious and national responsibility out of consideration for the domineering demands of America or under the pretext of unreasonable justifications should not expect to be viewed as loyal to Islam and sincere in its nationalistic claims. This is a test. Anybody who does not accept the slogan of liberating Holy Quds and saving the Palestinian nation and Palestinian territories or anybody who sidelines this slogan and turns his back on the camp of resistance, will be condemned. The Islamic Ummah should keep this clear and fundamental standard in mind everywhere and at all times. Dear guests, brothers and sisters, never lose sight of the enemy\\\\\\\'s plot. Our lack of vigilance creates opportunities for our enemies. The lesson that Ali (greetings be upon him) teaches us is that \\\\\\\"whoever is careless about his cause, his enemy will not sleep over this advantage...\\\\\\\" In this regard, our experience in the Islamic Republic is also a source of lessons. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the arrogant Western governments and America - which had long established full control over Iranian taghuts and used to determine the political, economic and cultural destiny of our country and which had underestimated the enormous power of Islamic faith in society and remained unaware of the power of Islam and the Holy Quran to deploy forces and to guide - suddenly realized that they had been unaware and their governmental organizations, intelligence services and control rooms resumed work in order to make up for the overwhelming defeat they had suffered. We have witnessed various kinds of machinations from them over the past thirty-something years. In essence, there have been two factors that have foiled their plots: insistence on Islamic principles and presence of the people on the scene. These two factors are the key to the problems everywhere. The first factor is guaranteed by sincere religious faith in divine promises and the second factor is guaranteed by sincere efforts and honest clarification. A nation that has faith in the honesty and sincerity of its leaders will bring in enthusiasm with their blessed presence, and wherever a nation stays on the scene with a solid determination, no power will have the capability to defeat it. This is a successful experience for all the nations that gave rise to Islamic Awakening through their presence. I pray to Allah the Exalted to bestow His guidance, assistance and mercy on you and on all Muslim nations. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\'s mercy Source: http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1772

Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Speech at Inauguration of Islamic Awakening and Ulama Conference 29/04/2013 The following is the full text of the speech delivered on April 29, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting at Inauguration of Islamic Awakening and Ulama Conference. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master, Muhammad al-Mustafa, and upon his immaculate household, chosen companions and those who follow them well, until the Day of Judgment. I welcome you honorable guests and I ask Almighty and Merciful God to bless this collective effort and make it an effective step towards happiness of Muslims. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Surely He listens and responds.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Today the subject of Islamic Awakening, which you will discuss in this conference, tops the list of the issues of the Islamic world and the Islamic Ummah, an amazing phenomenon that will result in the re-emergence of Islamic civilization - for the Islamic Ummah and then for all of the world - in the not too distant future providing that, with Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s permission, it stays healthy and continues. Today what lies in front of our eyes and cannot be denied by any informed and intelligent individual is that the world of Islam has now emerged out of the sidelines of social and political equations of the world, that it has found a prominent and outstanding position at the center of decisive global events, and that it offers a fresh outlook on life, politics, government and social developments. This is considered an important and significant phenomenon in today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s world, which is suffering from a deep intellectual and theoretical vacuum after the failure of communism and liberalism. This is the first sign of the political and revolutionary events in North Africa and the Arab region on a global scale, which itself is a harbinger of greater truths that will come to pass in the future. Islamic Awakening, which speakers in the arrogant and reactionary camp do not even dare to mention in words, is a truth whose signs can be witnessed in almost all parts of the world of Islam. The most obvious sign of it is the enthusiasm of public opinion, especially among young people, to revive the glory and greatness of Islam, to become aware of the nature of the international order of domination and to remove the mask from the shameless, oppressive and arrogant face of the governments and centers that have been pressuring the Islamic and non-Islamic East in their clutches for more than two hundred years and have been exposing nations to their brutal and aggressive thirst for power disguised with the mask of civilization and culture. The dimensions of this auspicious awakening are widespread and mysterious, but what was witnessed of its immediate outcomes in a few North African countries can make hearts confident about the great and amazing outcomes that will be achieved in the future. Miraculous fulfillment of divine promises is always a hope-inspiring sign that promises the fulfillment of greater promises. The Quranic account of the two promises that Allah the Exalted gave to the mother of Prophet Moses is an example of this divine tactic. At that difficult moment, when she was ordered to cast her baby in the river in a basket, Allah the Exalted said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Surely We will bring him back to you and make him one of the messengers.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 7] The fulfillment of the first promise, which was the smaller promise and a cause for happiness for the mother, became the sign of the fulfillment of the promise of prophetic mission, which was far greater and of course, it required long-term suffering, struggle and patience: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"So We restored him to his mother that her eye might be refreshed, and that she might not grieve, and that she might know that the promise of Allah is true...\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 13] This true promise was the great mission which was fulfilled after many years and it changed the course of history. Another example is the reminder about the overwhelming power of God to suppress the invaders of the Holy House: in order to encourage His audience through the Holy Prophet to submit to His order, Allah the Exalted makes use of this example \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"so let them serve the Lord of this House\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura Quraysh, Ayah 3] and says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Did He not cause their war to end in confusion?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Fil, Ayah 2] Similarly, in order to raise the spirits of His beloved Prophet and convince him of the truth of the promise \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"your Lord has not forsaken you, nor has He become displeased\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ad-Dhuha, Ayah 3], Allah the Exalted gives the reminder about the miraculous blessing: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter? He found you astray and guided you.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ad-Dhuha, Ayah 6-7] And there are many such examples in the Holy Quran. The day when Islam achieved victory in Iran and managed to capture the fort of America and Zionism in one of the most important countries in this extremely sensitive region, those who were wise and quick to learn realized that if they had patience and insight, other victories will come one after another. The brilliant truths in the Islamic Republic, which are acknowledged by our enemies, have all been achieved in the shade of trust in divine promises, patience, resistance and asking God for assistance. In the face of temptations by weak people who, during tense times, shout \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"we are sure to be overtaken,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ash-Shuara, Ayah 61] our people have always shouted \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"by no means, my Lord is with me and soon will He guide me.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ash-Shuara, Ayah 62] Today this is a precious experience that is available to the peoples who have stood up against arrogance and tyranny and have managed to overthrow and shake corrupt governments that are subservient to and dependent on America. Resistance, patience, insight and faith in the divine promise \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"surely Allah will help him who helps His cause\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" will pave this path of glory for the Islamic Ummah until it reaches the peak of Islamic civilization. At this important meeting, which has been attended by a group of religious scholars of the Islamic Ummah from different Islamic countries and denominations, I believe it is appropriate to discuss a few necessary points regarding the issue of Islamic Awakening. The first point is that the earliest waves of awakening in the countries of this region, which started simultaneously with the entry of the pioneers of colonialism, were mainly caused by religion and religious reformers. The names of outstanding leaders and personalities - such as Sayyid Jamal ad-Din, Muhammad Abduh, Mirza-e Shirazi, Akhund-e Khorasani, Mahmoud al-Hassan, Muhammad Ali, Sheikh Fazlollah, Hajj Agha Noorullah, Abul A\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'la Maududi and tens of famous, great, mujahid and and influential clerics from Iran, Egypt, India and Iraq - have been recorded in history books forever. Similarly, in the contemporary era, the brilliant name of the great Imam Khomeini is shining like a brilliant star at the forefront of the Islamic Revolution. Meanwhile, today and in the past, hundreds of famous religious scholar and thousands of lesser-known religious scholars have played a role in great and small reform movements in different countries. The list of non-cleric religious reformers, such as Hassan al-Banna and Iqbal Lahori, is also long and amazing. Almost everywhere, clerics and theologians have been the intellectual authority and spiritual support for the people and wherever they have appeared in the role of guides and pioneers at the time of great developments and have moved forward in the first rows of popular movements in the face of dangers, the intellectual bond between them and the people has been strengthened and they have played a significant role in showing the path to the people. This is as beneficial to the wave of Islamic Awakening as it is unpleasant and distressing to the enemies of the Islamic Ummah, those who bear grudges against Islam and those who are opposed to the rule of Islamic values, and they are trying to take away this intellectual authority from religious strongholds and create new centers for it. They have learned through experience that they can easily reach a compromise with these centers over national principles and values, and this is something that will never happen in the case of pious religious scholars and devoted religious personalities. This makes the responsibility of religious scholars heavier. Through vigilance and caution and by identifying the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s deceptive methods and machinations, they should completely shut the door to infiltration and foil the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s plots. One of the greatest calamities is becoming attracted to the lure of worldly wealth. Exposure to the favors of wealthy and powerful people and being indebted to taghuts of lust and power are the most dangerous cause of separation from the people and loss of their trust and friendliness. Self-centeredness and thirst for power, which lure weak individuals towards developing an inclination to poles of power, prepare the ground for involvement in corruption and deviation. It is necessary to constantly keep this holy Quranic ayah in mind: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"(As for) that future abode, We assign it to those who have no desire to exalt themselves in the earth nor to make mischief and the good end is for those who guard (against evil).\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Qasas, Ayah 83] Today in the era of hope-inspiring movements of Islamic Awakening, sometimes certain things are witnessed which on the one hand, show the efforts by the agents of America and Zionism to create unreliable intellectual authorities and which on the other hand, show the efforts by debauched Qaruns to drag religious and pious people towards their poisoned and contaminated activities. Religious scholars and pious men should be extremely vigilant and careful. The second point is the necessity of delineating a long-term goal for Islamic Awakening in Muslim countries, a noble aim that gives orientation to the awakening of nations and helps them reach a certain point. It is through identifying this particular point that one can prepare a roadmap and specify the medium- and short-term goals in it. This final goal cannot be anything less than creating a brilliant Islamic civilization. All parts of the Islamic Ummah - in the form of different nations and countries - should achieve the civilizational position that has been specified in the Holy Quran. The main and the general characteristic of this civilization is that it should allow human beings to utilize all the material and spiritual capacities that Allah the Exalted has bestowed on them and on the world in order to bring about happiness and transcendence for humanity. The surface structure of this civilization can and should be witnessed in popular government, in the laws that have been extracted from the Holy Quran, in identifying and addressing different needs of humanity, in avoidance of rigidity and reactionary attitudes as well as unwarranted innovation and adulteration, in creating public welfare and wealth, in establishing justice, in liberation from an economy that is based on special privileges, usury and taking pride in wealth, in promoting human values, in defending oppressed people in the world, and in hard work and innovation. Adopting an ijtihadi and scholarly outlook on different areas - ranging from humanities to the system of formal education, from economy and banking to technical and technological production, from modern media to art and cinema and to international relations and other areas - are all among the requirements for this civilization-building. Experience has shown that all of these things are possible and within the capacities of Muslim communities. This outlook must not be treated with haste and pessimism. Being pessimistic about one\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s capabilities is ingratitude to God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s blessings, and neglecting help from God and the laws of creation amounts to slipping into the morass of entertaining \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"evil thoughts about Allah.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Fath, Ayah 6] We can break the chain of scientific, economic and political monopolies of the domineering powers and help the Islamic Ummah become the pioneer of restoring the rights of the majority of nations in the world, which have been dominated by a minority of arrogant powers. Through religious faith, knowledge, ethics and constant struggle, Islamic civilization can gift advanced thought and noble codes of behavior to the Islamic Ummah and to the entire humanity, and it can be the point of liberation from materialistic and oppressive outlooks and corrupt codes of behavior that form the pillars of current Western civilization. The third point is that in the movements of Islamic Awakening it is necessary to pay constant attention to the bitter and horrifying experience of following the West in politics, behavior and lifestyle. In more than a century of following the culture and politics of the arrogant powers, Muslim countries suffered from deadly calamities such as political dependence and humiliation, economic plights and poverty, decline of moral virtues and ethics and shameful scientific backwardness, and this was while the Islamic Ummah enjoyed a glorious history in all of these areas. This statement must not be interpreted as hostility towards the West. We are not hostile towards any group of human beings because of geographical differences. We have learnt lessons from Ali (greetings be upon him) who describes human beings in this way: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Those who have the same religion as you, they are brothers to you, and those who have religions other than that of yours, they are human beings like you.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Our complaint against oppression and arrogance and against bullying and transgression is the moral and practical degeneration that has been imposed on our nations by the colonial and arrogant powers. Currently, we can witness the bullying and interference of America and some of its followers in the region in the countries in which the breeze of awakening has turned into the storm of uprisings and revolutions. Their promises must not affect the decisions and actions of outstanding political personalities and the great movement of the people. In this case as well, we need to learn lessons from our experiences: those who pinned their hopes on the promises of America for years and based their behavior and policies on the inclination towards the oppressor did not manage to resolve any problems of their nations or eliminate an injustice to themselves or to others. By surrendering to America, they did not manage to prevent the demolition of even one single Palestinian home in a territory that belongs to the Palestinians. The politicians and outstanding personalities who are deceived by the bribe or intimidated by the threats of the camp of the arrogant powers and miss the great opportunity of Islamic Awakening should be apprehensive about this divine threat: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Have you not seen those who have changed Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition into hell? They shall enter into it and an evil place it is to settle in.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, Sura Ibrahim, Ayah 28-29] The fourth point is that today one of the most dangerous things that threatens the movement of Islamic Awakening is the efforts to foment discord and turn these movements into bloody sectarian, ethnic and national conflicts. Currently, this plot is being seriously pursued by intelligence services of the West and Zionism with the help of petrodollars and bribed politicians from East Asia to North Africa and particularly in the Arab region. And the money that could have been spent to bring about happiness for mankind is being used to make threats, excommunicate, assassinate, bomb, shed Muslim blood and to kindle the fire of long-lasting grudges. Those who consider the unified power of Islam as an obstacle in the way of their evil goals have come to the conclusion that fanning the flames of conflicts inside the Islamic Ummah is the easiest way to achieve their satanic goal and they have used differences of opinion in Islamic jurisprudence, kalaam, history and hadith - which are natural and inevitable - as a pretext to excommunicate, shed blood and cause fitna and corruption. A vigilant look at the scene of domestic conflicts clearly reveals the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s hands behind these tragedies. These deceptive hands undoubtedly take advantage of the ignorance, prejudice and superficiality that exists in our societies and they add fuel to the fire. The responsibility of religious and political reformers and outstanding personalities is very heavy in this regard. Currently, Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, Syria, Pakistan, and Iraq and Lebanon are in one way or another involved in or exposed to these dangerous flames. It is necessary to be extremely careful and to look for a remedy. It would be naïve to think that all of these things are due to ideological and ethnic factors and motives. Propaganda campaigns of the West and dependent and mercenary media in the region pretend that the destructive war in Syria is a Shia-Sunni conflict and they create a safety margin for the Zionists and the enemies of resistance in Syria and Lebanon. This is while the two sides of the conflict in Syria are not Shia and Sunni, rather they are the supporters and opponents of anti-Zionist resistance. Neither the Syrian government is a Shia government, nor is the secular and anti-Islam opposition a Sunni group. The only achievement of the plotters of this calamitous scenario is that they have managed to make use of religious sentiments of simple-minded people to kindle this deadly fire. A look at the scene and those who are involved in it at different levels can clarify the issue for any just individual. Also, in the case of Bahrain, this wave of propaganda is spreading lies and deception in another way. In Bahrain, the oppressed majority - who have been deprived of the right to vote as well as other fundamental rights that a nation should enjoy - have risen up to demand their rights. Should this be considered a Shia-Sunni conflict simply because the oppressed majority are Shia and the oppressive secular government pretends to be Sunni? Of course, the European and American colonialists and their friends in the region want to make things appear like this, but what is the truth? These are the things that call religious scholars and just reformers to careful thinking and sense of responsibility and they make identification of the enemies\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' goals behind highlighting sectarian, ethnic and partisan differences an obligation for everybody. The fifth point is that one of the standards for judging whether Islamic Awakening movements are on the right path is the positions they adopt on the issue of Palestine. Since sixty years ago up until today, the occupation of Palestine has been the biggest tragedy that has been imposed on the Islamic Ummah. Since the first day up until today, the tragedy of Palestine has been a combination of killings, assassinations, destruction, usurpation and transgression against what is held sacred in Islam. The necessity of putting up a resistance against this warring and usurping enemy and fighting him has been agreed upon by all Islamic denominations and all honest and healthy national currents. Any current in Islamic countries which disregards this religious and national responsibility out of consideration for the domineering demands of America or under the pretext of unreasonable justifications should not expect to be viewed as loyal to Islam and sincere in its nationalistic claims. This is a test. Anybody who does not accept the slogan of liberating Holy Quds and saving the Palestinian nation and Palestinian territories or anybody who sidelines this slogan and turns his back on the camp of resistance, will be condemned. The Islamic Ummah should keep this clear and fundamental standard in mind everywhere and at all times. Dear guests, brothers and sisters, never lose sight of the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s plot. Our lack of vigilance creates opportunities for our enemies. The lesson that Ali (greetings be upon him) teaches us is that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"whoever is careless about his cause, his enemy will not sleep over this advantage...\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" In this regard, our experience in the Islamic Republic is also a source of lessons. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the arrogant Western governments and America - which had long established full control over Iranian taghuts and used to determine the political, economic and cultural destiny of our country and which had underestimated the enormous power of Islamic faith in society and remained unaware of the power of Islam and the Holy Quran to deploy forces and to guide - suddenly realized that they had been unaware and their governmental organizations, intelligence services and control rooms resumed work in order to make up for the overwhelming defeat they had suffered. We have witnessed various kinds of machinations from them over the past thirty-something years. In essence, there have been two factors that have foiled their plots: insistence on Islamic principles and presence of the people on the scene. These two factors are the key to the problems everywhere. The first factor is guaranteed by sincere religious faith in divine promises and the second factor is guaranteed by sincere efforts and honest clarification. A nation that has faith in the honesty and sincerity of its leaders will bring in enthusiasm with their blessed presence, and wherever a nation stays on the scene with a solid determination, no power will have the capability to defeat it. This is a successful experience for all the nations that gave rise to Islamic Awakening through their presence. I pray to Allah the Exalted to bestow His guidance, assistance and mercy on you and on all Muslim nations. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy Source: http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1772

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful‌ First of all, I would like to welcome all the dear brothers and sisters and the glorious officials who render many services in one of the outstanding arenas of the Islamic community - that is to say, the arena of hajj and visiting the House of God and the enlightened city of Madina. I hope that you will benefit from this great achievement in the hereafter. I hope that your actions and efforts in this auspicious arena will be so sincere that your performance sheet in the hereafter shines, like the sun, with the light of purity and sincerity. I express my gratitude to the honorable gentlemen for the efforts that they have made in the arena of hajj. The things that they have done - whether in cultural, spiritual, moral and educational areas or in practical and organizational areas - should really be appreciated. What is important is that we should know hajj is one of the strong points of the holy religion of Islam. Although there are not a few strong points in Islamic sharia, hajj plays an outstanding role because of the characteristics which it enjoys and which we are more or less familiar with. In fact, we can say that hajj is a source of power for the Islamic community and the Islamic Ummah. The day when we Muslims from different countries and with different denominations manage to achieve intellectual growth so much so that we can form the Islamic Ummah in the real sense of the word - unfortunately, we Muslims have not managed to achieve this moral, political and intellectual growth until today - and the day when we Muslims from eastern parts to western parts of the world of Islam manage to form one single ummah although we may have different governments, we understand how hajj can be a source of power, strength, transcendence and dignity for this Islamic Ummah. Today, the Islamic Republic should adopt such an outlook towards hajj. It should regard hajj as a means of power. What kind of power? By power, do we mean materialistic, political, military power or soft power such as cultural or linguistic power? The answer is no. The power of hajj is far beyond this. As well as showing the political and cultural power of the Islamic government, hajj provides a source of spiritual power. That is to say, it builds human beings from the inside, prepares them to overcome difficult obstacles and opens their eyes to realities which cannot be seen and felt without being present in the arena of hajj. By performing hajj rituals, one can understand a number of spiritual and educational realities of Islam. Hajj plays such a role. One of the requirements of hajj is that hajj pilgrims should behave in a brotherly - in the real sense of the word - way towards one another in the arena of hajj and this great Islamic obligation. They should not look at one another as outsiders and enemies. They should see themselves as people who are moving towards one goal, who pursue one thing, who revolve around one pivot. Allah the Exalted says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Let there be no obscenity, no wickedness and no quarreling in the Hajj.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 2: 197] The meaning of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"no quarreling\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" is not that we should not quarrel with the enemy. On the contrary, hajj is the manifestation of quarreling with the enemy. Some narrow-minded and pessimistic people say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"There should be ‘no quarreling\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' during hajj pilgrimage. Why do you hold a detestation ceremony during hajj pilgrimage?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" The enmity which is reflected in this ceremony means enmity towards polytheism and atheism. This is one of the most fundamental principles of Islamic life. The kind of enmity which should not exist in hajj pilgrimage is enmity between brothers and believers and enmity between people who believe in monotheism. This enmity should not exist. Not only should we Muslims express in words that we have no enmity towards one another, but also we should feel this from the bottom of our hearts. This is the exact opposite of what the enemies of Islam are trying to do in the Islamic community. You should pay attention to this. The existence of differences between Islamic denominations and between Shia and Sunni Muslims will not create any problem as long as these differences are confined to ideological differences. One person may believe in something and another person may believe in something else. Problems arise when these ideological differences lead to behavioral differences, confrontation, hostility and enmity. The enemies of the world of Islam are after creating such a situation and hatching such a plot. They have properly understood that the Zionist regime can breathe easily if Islamic denominations in the world of Islam start confronting and fighting with one another. They have understood this truth perfectly and properly. On the one hand, they form groups which engage in takfirism - not only do these groups anathematize and curse Shia Muslims, but they also anathematize Sunni denominations - and on the other hand, they hire a number of mercenaries to add fuel to the fire of discord. You know and have heard about this plot. They provide these groups and mercenaries with different means of mass communication. Where do they do this? They do this in America and London. The kind of Shia Islam which is promoted from London and America is useless for Shia Muslims. Shia leaders - particularly the leaders who emerged after the victory of the Islamic Revolution - our Imam and other leaders placed great emphasis on preserving the unity of the Islamic Ummah and behaving in a brotherly way towards Muslims. This is while a number of people - who interfere in the affairs of Muslims for no reason - are after fueling the fire of discord. This is the thing which the enemy wants. This is the thing which the enemies of Islam - who are neither Shia nor Sunni - like to pursue. We should understand this condition properly and we should pay attention to it. Another important point is that Muslims should share and exchange their original Islamic cultures and their Islamic experiences with one another. This is another strong point of hajj and another source of power for it. We may have heard different things about such and such an Islamic country. But, hearing is different from sitting and talking directly to an individual from an Islamic country. This individual can also compare what he has heard about our dear Islamic Iran with what he sees in you and hears from you. This way, he can discover the truth about Iran. There are an enormous number of propaganda campaigns against the Islamic Republic. There are a large and surprising number of media networks who propagandize against the Islamic Republic with different methods. When a young individual from such and such an African, Asian, Arab or non-Arab country goes on the Internet, watches such and such an international channel or reads such and such an international newspaper, how can he or she understand that what such media networks say is false? Your presence in hajj and in this international arena gives you the opportunity to reveal the truth not only in words but also in action. It helps you to speak the truth about Shia Islam, the Islamic Revolution and the events which are happening today. Another important and crucial point about hajj is the thing which I referred to earlier: strengthening spirituality in our hearts and souls. My dear ones, we can put up a resistance in the arenas of jihad for the sake of God only if our hearts are filled with faith in God and reliance on Allah the Exalted. It is not possible to move forward without spirituality. It is not possible to take difficult paths without a strong faith. Without reliance on Allah the Exalted, it is not possible to ignore the superficial power of powerful countries and see the real power. Reliance on God, faith and belief in God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s promises are necessary. These things can be achieved in hajj. When people go on hajj pilgrimage they \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Witness the benefits (provided) for them.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 22: 28] These benefits are not only material benefits. There are otherworldly, spiritual and psychological benefits as well as material benefits in hajj pilgrimage. This is the significance of hajj. Well, today you can see that besides creating intellectual, psychological and ideological discord among Muslims throughout the world of Islam, the enemies fuel the fire of war as well. See how they fuel the fire of war in our neighboring countries with the pretext of Shia and Sunni differences. They do this in different ways in our neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Iraq, Syria and Bahrain. Even when the problem is not about Shia and Sunni, they say that it has occurred because of Shia and Sunni differences. I have given many examples in this regard. The enemies are prepared to set the region on fire for their own political interests. Superpowers are like this. They are not afraid that an explosion may take place in such and such a neighborhood of an Iraqi city and they are not afraid that 50 people may be killed in this explosion. They are not afraid that certain events may happen in Syria, Egypt or other countries which may turn them into a ruin. Superpowers - such as America and countries like America - do such things for their own illegitimate interests. We hope that the Americans are serious about their new outlook on Syria. We hope that it is not another political game. It is several weeks that they have been threatening the region to wage a war and create a serious conflict for the sake of the interests which they have defined for themselves. And they consider it legitimate to defend these interests no matter if they jeopardize the interests of ten other countries and nations. They are such people. They do not care about justice and the interests of human beings. They refer to such interests as national interests, but these are not really their national interests. Rather, these are the interests of the Zionists and the enemies of humanity. These are the interests of capitalists who have proved during the last 70, 80 years that they are not committed to any human principle and value. But they call it national interests and they are prepared to fuel all kinds of wars and fitnas for the sake of these proclaimed national interests. It is several weeks that they have been trying to cause great controversy by threatening the region with a war and bombardment. Well, if they are serious about their recent outlook, this means that they have turned back from the wrong path which they have been taking during the last few weeks. We hope that they are serious. This is the condition of the region and the world. The Islamic Republic takes a look at all these issues with open eyes and with its full attention. What we have understood is that as a nation with a total population of 70, 80 million people and with a sensitive geographical location in the world, we should strengthen our position by adopting the right outlook and by benefiting from our Islamic power. We should let the entire humanity see our lofty and human goals which have originated from Islam and we should invite all human beings to cherish the gift which Islam has offered to human beings. This is our responsibility. I have repeatedly said that strengthening the country from the inside is possible primarily with firm faith, unity of the people, appropriate actions by the officials of the country, cooperation between the people and officials and reliance on Allah the Exalted. That is to say, we should benefit from rationality, spirituality, reliance on God and diligence. Undoubtedly, this will influence the conditions of the region as it has influenced the region so far. I hope that what Islam wants for the Islamic Republic, people throughout the world, Muslims and non-Muslims will be achieved with your presence in different arenas - including your presence in the arena of hajj which manifests your rationality and your clear outlook. I hope that your presence in such arenas will bring about communal happiness. I ask all of you to pray for us. I hope that this year you will experience a good hajj pilgrimage and I hope that you, all Iranian hajj pilgrims and all the pilgrims who visit the House of God from throughout the world will benefit from divine blessings and mercy. I hope that your hajj pilgrimage will be accepted by God. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on September 5, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with the chairman and members of the Assembly of Experts.The meeting was held on the occasion of the 14th Congress of the Assembly of Experts which was held on the 12th and 13th of Shahrivar. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful I would like to welcome the honorable gentlemen and the ulama and seminary scholars who are outstanding personalities from throughout the country and who have thankfully gathered in this meeting. Although the responsibilities of the Assembly of Experts have been defined in the Constitution, the arrangement of this meeting has resulted in the generation of different discussions about different arenas of the country and the expression of different opinions by the gentlemen. Well, executive officials are also present in this meeting. Fortunately, the esteemed President and a number of other honorable officials are also members of this assembly and this has boosted the hope that the opinions of the gentlemen in this meeting will receive more attention. I hope that this will be done and we too will help, within the scope of our capabilities and responsibilities, for the gentlemen to achieve the stated matters. I deem it necessary to point out that your participation in the funeral procession of the [unknown war] martyrs - which was held in the beginning of this congress - was very valuable and constructive. When the people see that honorable and great personalities, such as the esteemed chairman of the Assembly of Experts and other personalities, pay their respects to the bodies and graves of martyrs - whom they do not know - and participate in their funeral procession because of the fact that they are the martyrs of the path of the Revolution and the path of righteousness, this will be a lesson for our society. And I will say that our country and our society will be in need of keeping the memory of the martyrs alive and preserving their path for a very long time. The point that I would like to make is that on different levels of decision- making for the Islamic Republic, it is our responsibility to adopt a comprehensive outlook towards the issues of the country. It is obvious that different events - on regional, international and domestic levels - occur which are beyond our power to prevent. The Islamic Republic, the officials, the people and those who protect the foundations of the Islamic Republic have certain responsibilities. These responsibilities cannot be defined on the basis of the events which occur. That is to say, when something happens, we cannot make a certain move and adopt a certain position in an inactive way. This should not be done. This means that the Islamic Republic is being dragged into different events. It is necessary to preserve our comprehensive outlook towards the issues of the country and we should adopt positions and identify events with this comprehensive outlook. Thankfully, this comprehensive outlook has dominated the country until today. It is not the case that officials have ignored this issue since the beginning of the Revolution until today. The Islamic Republic was formed amid a whirlwind of events. This has been repeatedly mentioned, but we should not forget that the heart of this statement is the preservation of God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s religion in people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s lives, in society and in our country. The heart of this statement is the formation of our social lives on the basis of sharia, the divine religion and the divine values and rules. The formation of such a government in a world which was quickly moving towards materialism was like a miracle and this miracle happened. When the Islamic Republic was formed, there was an opposition to the issue of reliance on Islam. We should not say that their opposition and enmity was because of our independence or because our policy of fighting against global arrogance. Of course, this is true and this is one reason for their enmity, but fighting against global arrogance grew out of the heart of Islam. Our democracy grew out of the heart of Islam as well. It has been said many times that when we speak about religious democracy, this does not mean an unusual combination between democracy and religion. This is not the case. Our democracy has originated from religion and Islam has shown us this path. We managed to form the Islamic Republic with the guidance of Islam. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, it will be the same in the future. As a result of this belief in Islam, the enemies have focused their attention on Islam. If they can take Islam away from the Islamic Republic, the products of Islam will naturally be destroyed and undermined. Issues should be analyzed by adopting this outlook. There are certain deployments in the world and we are always one side of things in many of these deployments. We should see who and what our opposing side is. We should see why it shows hostility towards us and why we put up a resistance against it. We should take a look at these things with a comprehensive outlook. Allah the Exalted says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Is then one who walks headlong, with his face groveling, better guided- or one who walks evenly on a straight path?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 67: 22] The meaning of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"walks evenly on a straight path\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" is that we should see - with open eyes, with wisdom and foresight and by considering all aspects - what the goal is, how we should achieve it and what the existing realities are. We should make a decision and move forward by paying attention to these things. Today, you can see that different events are happening in our region. For several years up until today, global arrogance has chosen West Asia as a place where it can launch its attacks. But despite the presence of arrogant powers in the region and despite their activities, Islamic Awakening has emerged. And I will tell you that Islamic Awakening has not come to an end. It is not the case that we can think Islamic Awakening has been destroyed by the events which have taken place in a number of countries. Islamic Awakening is not like a mere political event or a coup d\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'état. It is not like a process in which power is transferred from one individual to another. Islamic Awakening means the emergence of a kind of awareness and self-confidence which is based on Islam. Under certain circumstances, this Islamic Awakening created certain events in North Africa, Egypt, Tunisia and, before these countries, in Sudan. In other countries too, there is an enormous potential for such events. We should not think that Islamic Awakening has been destroyed. Islamic Awakening is a reality which is hidden beneath the outer layers of Islamic societies. This is why the people in any country which claims to be oriented towards Islam vote for an Islamic government. This is a sign of people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s orientation towards and attention to Islam. Therefore, Islamic Awakening is a very great event and despite the efforts of global arrogance, this event has taken place. It was not what global arrogance wanted. Therefore, it is natural for the opposing side to react to it. Today, we are witnessing the reactions of the camp of the enemies. These reactions and responses can be seen in East Asia - that is to say, in Pakistan and Afghanistan - and the farthest corners of West Asia such as Syria and Lebanon. Arrogant powers - the government of the United States of America being the outstanding power among these arrogant powers - have defined certain interests for themselves based on their colonial outlook. This outlook is the same as the colonial outlook which they adopted in the 19th century, but it has a different form. And they are trying to solve all the regional issues by promoting the interests which they have defined for themselves. They are doing the same thing in Syria and Bahrain. The presence of global arrogance in the region is one which is based on transgression, oppression and greed and which wants to destroy every resistance which is put up against arrogant powers. Of course, thankfully, they have not managed and will not manage to do this. This region has enormous wealth and it has a very important geographical and natural location. Therefore, it is natural for them to pay attention to this region. If one takes a look at what they say and what they have already done, he will see that their goal is to possess and establish their domination over the region by making the Zionist regime play a pivotal role. They are after achieving this goal. As you can see, on the issue of the latest events in Syria, the excuse which they have recently made for their interference is the use of chemical weapons in this country. Of course, with sophistry and clever use of reasons, they are trying to pretend that they want to interfere on humanitarian grounds. Who in the world does not know that this is a false claim? Undoubtedly, what is not important at all for American politicians is humanitarian needs. These are the people who kept, for many years, thousands of prisoners in Guantanamo prisons and, before that, in Abu Ghraib in Iraq while there were not any trials for these prisoners. They were imprisoned just because of certain allegations. A number of them are still in prison. Well, is this humanitarian? These are the people who saw the heavy bombardment [with chemical weapons] of the region - whether what happened in Iraq\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Halabja or what happened in our cities such as Sardasht and other cities - which was conducted by Saddam, but who did not at all react. Not only did they not react, but they also helped Saddam. Given that the Americans did not help Saddam by giving him chemical weapons - of course, westerners gave him chemical weapons and there is no doubt about this because we have the information which is related to this issue - they at least saw what happened. They became aware of this, but they did not express any opposition. This is the way they show their humanitarian support. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, they fire a volley of bullets at wedding caravans and kill many people. In Iraq, they killed hundreds of thousands of people with oppressive measures. Today too, their agents are still doing the same things, but they behave in an indifferent way. No one in the world believes that the Americans care about humanitarian issues. Of course, they use sophistry and give clever reasons, but they say such things to justify their own moves. We believe that they are doing is a mistake. On this issue, they will receive a serious blow and they will feel it. They will definitely suffer a loss in this regard and there is no doubt about this. Well, this is the condition of the region. The Islamic Republic was formed amid a whirlwind of events. At that time, it stood up against different hostile groups for many years. Not only was the Islamic Republic and its slogans not weakened and undermined, but it also became stronger, in the real sense of the word, on a daily basis. Today, the Islamic Republic is completely different - in terms of power, influence and domestic capabilities - from the Islamic Republic which existed 25, 30 years ago and today, its slogans are firm. Therefore, it should know what it wants to do by taking a look at its miraculous background and paying attention to the plots of the enemy in the region. Our responsibility, the responsibility of all the officials of the country and the responsibility of the Islamic Republic\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s government is to pay attention to three great criteria for all decisions and actions: The first criterion is the ideals and goals of the Islamic Republic. These ideals and goals should never be ignored. We can refer to one of the most important ideals of the Islamic Republic in a short phrase: ‘Creating an Islamic civilization\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'. Islamic civilization means an environment in which we can achieve growth in spiritual and material areas and in which we can attain the ultimate goal for which Allah the Exalted has created us. It means living a good and dignified life. Islamic civilization means building a dignified, powerful, confident and innovative individual who can improve the natural world. This is the goal and ideal of the Islamic Republic. The second criterion is the methods and guidelines which help us achieve these goals. These are general guidelines and they should be identified. These guidelines are relying on Islam and taking care not to become the oppressor or the oppressed in different interactions. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Be an enemy of tyrants and oppressors and be a friend and helper of those who are oppressed and tyrannized.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 47] This is a responsibility. This is a general guideline. Reliance on the votes of the people and reliance on what helps us establish democracy and other such things constitute the main policies and the major guidelines of the Islamic Republic for achieving ideals. Other guidelines are communal work, communal effort, communal innovation, national unity and other such things. And the third criterion is taking realities into consideration. We should see realities. In a meeting which was held in the auspicious month of Ramadan, I said to officials of the Islamic Republic that what we need is a kind of idealism which takes realities into consideration. We should gain a proper understanding of realities. We should take a look at realities and see what our weak and strong points are and we should know what prevents us from moving forward. We should gain a proper understanding of realities. In that meeting, I referred to a number of sweet realities which exist in our country. We should not always take a look at our weak points and shortcomings. The emergence of outstanding ideas and thoughts, the existence of active and innovative elements, the promotion of religious teachings and spiritual concepts among many youth, the preservation of religious and Islamic slogans, and the increasing influence of the Islamic Republic in the region and in the entire world constitute a number of the existing realities. These realities should be seen. Of course, besides these sweet realities, there are a number of bitter realities. This is similar to our [personal] lives which is a combination of sweetness and bitterness. By relying on and strengthening sweet realities, we should try to decrease bitter realities or make them fade away. These three elements should receive attention. Ideals and the guidelines which are necessary to achieve these ideals should not be ignored. Of course, realities should be taken into consideration as well. If we do not take realities into consideration, we will not tread our path in the right way. However, realities should not prevent us from treading our path. If the existence of a rock makes us turn back from our path, we have made a mistake. Also, if the existence of this rock is ignored and if we tread the path in a careless way, we have made another mistake. But if we take a look and see what ways we can find around this rock or how we can take the rock away from our path, make a hole in it or find an alternative path, then we have adopted the right outlook on realities. This is what our magnanimous Imam did in the first chapter of the Revolution - that is to say during the first 10 years of the Revolution which were very fateful and sensitive years. Our magnanimous Imam did not close his eyes to realities, but he did not back down and did not forget about the guidelines either. You should take a look at Imam\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s life and slogans. Our magnanimous Imam was a person who was not afraid of anyone on the issue of the Zionist regime. The idea that the Zionist regime is a cancer and should be destroyed was expressed by Imam. He was not afraid of anyone on the issue of the evil, arrogant and meddling moves of America. It was Imam who said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"America is the Great Satan.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" It was Imam who said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The attack of Muslim youth and Muslim students on the U.S. embassy and taking their documents and tools - which were used for spying - is like conducting a second revolution and is perhaps better and more important than the first revolution\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". These are the methods of Imam. One the issue of the war, he said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We fight until we end the fitna.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This is what Imam said. Other people used to say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We should continue fighting until we can achieve victory.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" But Imam said that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We fight until we end the fitna.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" It was such resistance which strengthened the foundations of the Islamic Republic. You can see what happened to those people who did not know this path, who acted in a different way in their own countries and who compromised their principles and forgot about their main slogans in order to please arrogant powers. If the slogan of fighting against Israel had been advocated in Egypt and if they had not accepted the false promises of America and its agents, the situation would definitely not have been like this. Today, the dictator of the Egyptian people, who destroyed their dignity for 30 years, has been released from prison and those who had been elected with the votes of the people may be sentenced to death. If they had not done these things, such a situation would never have been brought about. If the elected officials had adopted proper positions, those who gathered around Tahrir Square and chanted slogans against the elected officials- half or more than half of them would have started to support these elected officials. That is to say, they were not the kind of people to confront and oppose the elected government, but when one stops adopting correct and appropriate positions, such things happen. These are things which should receive attention. What we feel we should do to solve problems is that we should strengthen the Islamic Republic from inside the country. It is not only in this era that problems exist. Problems have always existed. Problems exist in all countries. If anyone thinks that there are no problems in such and such an advanced country, or in such and such a wealthy European or western country which is densely or sparsely populated, then they are wrong. Problems exist everywhere. Naturally, each nation faces certain problems when it wants to do something. The officials in such a country should solve the problems and move forward. Now, some people may want to solve problems by asking for help, by relying on others, by bribing other people and by suffering humiliation. And a number of people may want to solve problems with their own power and with the capabilities which exist in their own country. We believe that we should strengthen the Islamic Republic from inside the country. This is the essence of our work. We should strengthen ourselves from the inside. It is possible to strengthen ourselves from inside the country by thinking rationally and adopting a wise outlook. It can be done by making scientific progress and by building economic infrastructures and managing economic issues in the right way. In my opinion, these are things which are possible. Today, you can see that when they exert pressures on our oil industry, we will face certain problems. What is the reason for this? This is because since the war ended until today, we have not managed to reduce our dependence on oil. If we had reduced our dependence on oil, such pressures would not have brought about this situation. Therefore, we should take a look at ourselves and we should want to solve problems with our willpower. Thankfully, there is a new administration in our country today. One of the advantages of the current condition is that a fresh administration has entered the arena. With new ideas and thoughts, with new innovations and with a competent group of people, it wants to carry out its responsibilities and move things forward. It wants to move towards the goals which it has highlighted. The honorable President is a cleric who is active and experienced in different revolutionary arenas. This is also one of the advantages which we enjoy today. Naturally, all of us should help the administration. I think it is my responsibility to help. As we helped and supported all administrations, we will definitely help and support this administration as well. And officials will do this too. Of course, my support for different administrations does not mean that I agree with all the things that they do. In different eras, there were different administrations. We both supported and criticized all these administrations. But, such criticisms should not make us think that the administration is an outsider and it should not make us withdraw the support that we should provide to all administrations. It is necessary to provide such support and help. It is also necessary to pray for all administrations and offer our advice to them. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Advice is necessary for all believers\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [speaking in Arabic]. A friendly piece of advice may sometimes be offered in a harsh and severe way. I believe that if the officials who receive such a harsh and severe piece of advice think carefully, they will be happy to have received such advice. Even this harsh and severe piece of advice is to their advantage. Anyway, when I take a look at the current conditions in the country, I see that the future is very promising despite the problems which were referred to by the friends in this meeting - of course, they did not refer to many of the existing problems. I see that we have a clear path ahead of us and we have clear and definite ideals. We know what we want to do. Also, the path to achieving these ideals is clear and well-defined and there is no ambiguity and confusion in our guidelines and it is clear what should be done. During the recent years, it has become clear where alignments - on a regional and international level - lie. Of course, flexibility and clever maneuvers in all political arenas are good and acceptable, but such maneuvers should not make us cross certain red lines, stop pursuing the main guidelines and ignore ideals. These things should be observed. Of course, each administration and each individual uses specific methods and implements specific ideas and they move things forward with these ideas. I am completely optimistic and I believe that all the existing problems - including economic, political and security problems and cultural problems which are deeper and more important than economic problems although a number of economic problems have a higher priority - can be solved and the path to achieving this goal can be taken. I ask Allah the Exalted to help us do this. There is a certain point that I have written down to discuss. You should pay attention to the fact that one of the main methods used by the enemies of Islam, particularly the enemies of the Islamic Republic in the region, is to create sectarian and denominational discord between Shia and Sunni Muslims. You should pay attention to this issue. There are two groups of people who have turned into the agents and mercenaries of the enemy. The first group is made up of a number of Sunni Muslims and the second group is made of a number of Shia Muslims. The first group engages in takfirism and has deviated from the essence of religion and the second group is made up of people who work for the enemy. In the name of Shia, these people provoke the feelings of other Muslims, justify their enmity and fuel the fire of fitna. Each group, each institution and each government which is deceived by this great plot, which involves itself in this issue and which makes a mistake in this regard will certainly harm the Islamic movement and the Islamic government. Our country in particular will be harmed if this happens. I insist that outstanding ulama - whether Shia or Sunni ulama and whether those who live in Iran or those who live in other countries - should pay attention to the fact that differences between Islamic denominations should not make us create a new camp against ourselves. Such differences should not make us ignore the main enemy which is the enemy of the essence of Islam and the enemy of the independence and welfare of the people of the region. I hope that Allah the Exalted will help all of us and I hope that all of you and us benefit from the blessings and prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings

A small portion of the Farsi is included, but the The following is the full text of the speech delivered on November 11, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with the members of the Soldiers of Islam Mourning Committee. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful The Soldiers of Islam Mourning Committee is an auspicious phenomenon. The idea that our soldiers form mourning committees is a very auspicious and important idea. The pivot of this committee is mourning for Ashura. The other tasks that you referred to are good and necessary subsets, but the pivot is reviving and understanding the depth of Ashura. One point in this regard is that the connection between the words \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"committee\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" and \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"soldiers\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" has an important meaning. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Soldiers\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" means those people who engage in jihad in the face of the enemy. Jihad includes \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"moqatele\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Moqatele\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" means a military war. Jihad is a combination of different wars such as military wars, intellectual wars, psychological wars and social wars. A combination of these things is jihad and jihad includes all of these wars. One of the characteristics of jihad is the existence of an enemy. Not any effort is called jihad. It is possible that someone engages in scientific work, but this may not be jihadi work. Jihad is a movement which is launched in the face of a hostile act and a hostile enemy. Those people who engage in jihad in the way of God and who enjoy a jihadi characteristic and spirit will realize that this is a real blessing for their hearts and souls. Jihad is necessary because human societies are not devoid of enemies. They may have few or many enemies. Sometimes, like our society, they have many enemies and sometimes they do not. But in any case, they have an enemy. Therefore, if a society has an internal force for confronting the enemy - this force is comprised of soldiers and mujahids - then it can have a feeling of security. But if it does not enjoy this force, then it will be like a body that suffers from lack of white blood-cells which are in charge of fighting against infection. In such circumstances, all kinds of diseases may afflict this society. The effort of this group of people to revive and commemorate Ashura and to mourn for Hussein ibn Ali (a.s.) is very appropriate and necessary. Therefore, the essence of this connection - that is to say, the connection between mourning committees and soldiers - is very blessed and good. You should not abandon this and you should preserve it as much as you can. Another point is that the word \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"heyat\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [committee] means lack of order in the conventional sense of the word. They say that such and such a person acts in a heyati way. This means that he acts in a disorganized way. Perhaps we can say that you are the first people to impose order on an organization which is disorderly by nature. This is a very good thing. Well, why does the word \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"heyati\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" mean disorderly in the conventional sense of the word? This is because when someone enters an Imam Hussein (a.s.) heyat, no one tells them where to sit and where not to sit and when to come and when to go. All the movements and comings and goings are based on the will of the people and this originates in faith. This is a very good thing and you should preserve it. You should preserve the committee\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s relationship with what people love and believe in. You should preserve the interest that the hearts of people have in this committee. That is to say, it should not be the case that the committee acts in a formal way. In my opinion, the centers that you should work in are Hussainiyahs. You do not need bureaucratic organizations. Hussainiyahs, heyats and mosques are the centers that you should engage in. If we affiliate this committee to an organization and if we specify a multi-storey building for that with bureaucratic equipment, this is not a committee anymore. I fear that it may face certain problems. I am not saying that it will not be a committee, but in my opinion, the nature of such committees requires the enthusiastic participation of the people in mourning ceremonies for Imam Hussein (a.s.). This is what exerts a powerful effect on them. This is what the Revolution originated from. At least, it can be good ground for growing revolutionary virtues and teachings. The next point which is very important is the issue of nurturing panegyrists and protecting them against errors and mistakes. This is very important. One of our serious problems is really this. Panegyrists have acquired a bad name in this regard, but it is not particular to panegyrists. This issue is not particular to panegyrists and other people in charge of such affairs. It has been witnessed that those people who take the minbar and those who recite eulogies for Ashura - including panegyrists, those who have minbar and other such people - have said inappropriate things. Sometimes you and I have meeting and talk and I may say an inappropriate thing. This is not a problem because it is between you and me. This is not important. But sometimes, we have an audience of one thousand, 10 thousand or 50 thousand people and sometimes, this audience turns into millions of people. In such circumstances, we should see what effect an inappropriate and wrong statement may exert on our audience. A number of people may accept this wrong statement and they may learn a wrong concept. A number of people may reject this statement and they may take an instant dislike towards the essence of religion. Besides, there may be an angry argument between certain groups of people. Notice that certain deviations may emerge as a result of this wrong statement. Since long ago, we have seen that sometimes panegyrists perform rowzas that are obviously wrong, but they continue to perform because in order to make a few people shed tears. This is not particular to the present time. Since I was a child, I have participated in mourning ceremonies and I have listened to people who took the minbar. Should we make people shed tears at any price? You can narrate the event and you can do it in an artistic way in order to produce strong effects on people, but you should not say things which are false. I have heard that, addressing the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) a panegyrist said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Whatever you have is because of Imam Hussein (a.s.)\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". Notice how wrong this is. How can someone talk such nonsense about the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.)? Whatever Imam Hussein (a.s.) has is because of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.). Whatever he has is because of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.). Why do they not understand such concepts? Besides, they claim that they are good panegyrists and they say whatever crosses their mind. In my opinion, we should attach great significance to such issues. The next point is concerning the issue which was raised by Mr. Nejat as well. He is right. Such committees cannot be secular. We do not have secular Imam Hussein (a.s.) committees. Anyone who is interested in Imam Hussein (a.s.) is also interested in political and jihadi Islam and the kind of Islam which engages in fighting, offering blood and laying down one\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s life. This is the meaning of faith in Imam Hussein (a.s.). If a panegyrist takes care not to enter into political discussions, this is wrong. Of course, this does not mean that whatever political event takes place in the country, we should bring it up in rowzas and we should adopt specific orientations - whether revolutionary or anti-revolutionary - towards it. This is not what I mean, but revolutionary and Islamic thoughts and the auspicious guidelines which Imam (may God bestow paradise on him) formulated in our country should be brought up in such ceremonies. This task is a great and important task. The best people who can perform rowzas for Imam Hussein (a.s.) are mujahids in the way of God and these young soldiers. You should appreciate the value of this and you should provide guidance. This can be a bright and shining spring for enlightening the minds of the people and the audience and it can improve them in terms of Islamic and religious teachings. How good it is to pay attention to the issue of reading the Holy Quran in mourning ceremonies. How good it is to employ Islamic, revolutionary and Quranic concepts in mourning ceremonies. Sometimes, when they mourn, people say certain clichés such as \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Hussein vay\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". Well, this has no value and one learns nothing from repeating \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Hussein vay\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". When the audience says such clichés, you can raise revolutionary, Islamic and Quranic issues and issues which are related to the present time. When the audience repeats it, this becomes internalized in their minds. This is very valuable. This is a task that cannot be carried out by anyone except you. No media network can inculcate religious teachings into the minds and the hearts and souls of people. Therefore, this is an important and great task. I hope that Allah the Exalted rewards and bestows success on you so that you can carry out this task in the best way possible. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings

Eidul Fitr 1436 Sermon by The Leader of Islamic Ummah Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Sermons at Eid ul-Fitr Prayers Print 18/07/2015 Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Sermons at Eid ul-Fitr PrayersThe following is the full text of the sermons delivered on July 18, 2015 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, at the Eid ul-Fitr prayers in Tehran. First Sermon In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"All Praise is due to Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, and made the darkness and the light. Yet those who reject faith hold others as equal, with their Guardian-Lord\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 6: 1]. All praise is due to Allah Whom we praise, Whom we remember, to Whom we repent, and peace and greetings be upon His beloved and noble one, the best among His servants, our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad, upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, and upon those who guide the guided, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth. I would like to congratulate all you dear brothers and sisters, the dear people of Iran and all Muslims throughout the world on this auspicious Eid. I advise you who say prayers and myself, to observe divine piety, piousness, safeguarding the inner self and avoidance of sins. This year, the month of Ramadan was an auspicious month in the real sense of the word. In this month, divine blessings were showered on the people. The signs of these blessings were witnessed in the people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s fasting during the long and hot days of Ramadan, in large Quranic meetings all over the country, in great dua and supplication meetings - where thousands of youth, elderly people, men and women engaged in dua and supplication and where they spoke to their God in a pure and humble way - in donating charity, in the large iftar meals that have fortunately become common for several years now, in mosques, on the streets and finally in the magnificent Quds Day rallies. These are signs of divine mercy. The people participated in these great rallies in a hot summer day while they were fasting and while they had kept a vigil the night before - on the 23rd of the month of Ramadan - on the occasion of the Nights of Qadr. This is the right way to know the people of Iran. These are the people of Iran. It is the people of Iran who paint such a picture of themselves on the scene of worshipping God during the month of Ramadan and on the scene of fighting against arrogance, each in different ways. Our people should not be known through the hostile words of others. Rather, they should be known through themselves, through their slogans, through their movements and through such magnificent reflections. These are the people of Iran. The picture that the enemy tries to portray about the people of Iran- unfortunately some obtuse individuals repeat this- by using propaganda, is deviant and wrong. The people of Iran are the same people who showed their different aspects and dimensions in this month of Ramadan. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, all of you will pass your test today. As well as passing this test, some of you will - by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor - receive rewards, gain promotion and achieve spiritual transcendence today. The slogans of the people of Iran showed what our orientations are. On Quds Day, the slogan of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Death to Israel\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" and \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Death to America\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" shook the scene of the country. And these slogans were not particular to Tehran and large cities. The entire country stood under the umbrella of this movement. Dear God, accept what the people of Iran have done with Your mercy and kindness. Dear God, shower Your grace, mercy and infinite blessings on our people. Dear God, bestow Your mercy and forgiveness on our dear martyrs, our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) and all those people who helped and supported the people on this path. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, I swear by the time, Most surely man is in loss, Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 103]. Second Sermon In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his immaculate and infallible household. And greetings be upon the Imams of Muslims and supporters of the oppressed, especially upon the Commander of the Faithful, the Mistress of all women, Hassan and Hussein - the children of mercy and the Imams of the guided - Ali ibn al-Hussein Zayn al-Abidin, Muhammad ibn Ali, Ja\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'far ibn Muhammad, Musa ibn Ja\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'far, Ali ibn Musa, Muhammad ibn Ali, Ali ibn Muhammad, Hassan ibn Ali and Hujjat al-Qaem al-Mahdi, Your representative among Your servants and trustworthy ones in Your land. The first thing that I would like to say in the second sermon is to greet and congratulate all the brothers and sisters who say prayers and to advise them to observe piety. The events that occurred in our region during the month of Ramadan and before that, were and still are bitter events. Unfortunately, some vicious hands made the blessed month of Ramadan bitter for the regional peoples. Many Muslim peoples in Yemen, Palestine and Syria experienced difficult days and fasts because of the evil plots of the enemies. All these events are important to our people. Another issue is a domestic one: the issue of the nuclear negotiations. I deem it necessary to raise a few points in this regard. The first point is a word of thanks to officials in charge of these long and arduous negotiations - the honorable President and particularly the negotiation team who really made great efforts and worked hard. They will certainly be divinely rewarded whether the document that has been prepared will- through its determined legal procedures- be ratified or not. We have said this to those brothers in person as well. Of course in order to ratify this document, there is a clear legal procedure that, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, has to be taken. We expect that these officials take the interests- interests of the country, interests of the people- into consideration by paying careful attention, so that when they deliver the matter to the people, they can do so with their heads held high in front of Allah the Exalted as well. The next point is that by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor and grace, no one will be allowed to take advantage of this document in any way and to undermine the fundamental principles of the Islamic Republic whether this document is ratified or not. The defense capabilities and the security area of the country will- by God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s grace- be protected although we know that the enemies have placed great emphasis on these areas. The Islamic Republic will never give in to the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s greed in the area of protecting its defense capabilities and security- particularly in this environment filled with the enemies\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' threats. The next point is that whether this document is ratified or not, we will not abandon our regional friends: the oppressed people of Palestine, the oppressed people of Yemen, the people and government of Syria, the people and government of Iraq, the oppressed people of Bahrain and the sincere mujahids of the Resistance in Lebanon and Palestine. These people will always enjoy our support. The next point is that our policy towards the arrogant government of America will not change in any way despite these negotiations and the document that has been prepared. As we have said many times, we have no negotiations with America on different global and regional issues. We have no bilateral negotiations with America. Sometimes, we have negotiated with them in exceptional cases such as the nuclear issue and we have done so because of our interests. The nuclear issue was not the only case. There were other cases as well which I have referred to in my previous public speeches. The American policies in the region are 180 degrees the opposite of the policies of the Islamic Republic. The Americans accuse Hezbollah and the Lebanese Resistance - who are the most self-sacrificing forces in their country in the area of national defense - of terrorism. There is no injustice worse than this. This is while they support the terrorist child-killing government of Zionism. How can one do business, negotiate and reach an agreement with such a policy? There are other cases as well and I will expand on them in other speeches. Another point is about the Americans\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' blustering in recent days. In the recent days that the negotiations have been concluded, the American excellencies - their male and female officials - are busy blustering. Each of them is blustering in a different way. Of course, this is alright with us. Their domestic problems force them into blustering. They claim that they have dragged Iran towards the negotiating table, that they have made Iran surrender, that they have obtained such and such concessions from our country and other such claims. However, the truth is something else. They say that they have prevented Iran from building nuclear weapons, but this has nothing to do with our negotiations with America and other countries. They themselves know this and sometimes they have spoken about the importance of the fatwa that bans nuclear weapons. According to the commands of the Holy Quran and Islamic sharia, we consider building, keeping and using nuclear weapons as haraam and therefore, we will not do so. This has nothing to do with them and with these negotiations. They themselves know that this is the truth. They know that what prevents the Islamic Republic from building nuclear weapons is not their threats and intimidating behavior. There is a religious barrier behind this and they know the significance of this fatwa, but they still claim that it was they who prevented Iran. They are not honest with their own people and they do not tell them the truth. On various other matters, they say that they have adopted such and such a measure about Iran\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s nuclear industry and that they have forced Iran to surrender, but they can only see Iran\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s surrender in their dreams. From the beginning of the Revolution until today, five other U.S. presidents died or were lost in history dreaming that they would force the Islamic Republic to surrender. You too will enjoy the same fate. You too will never achieve the dream of forcing the Islamic Republic to surrender. There was one point in the statements that the American president made in recent days: he admitted to America\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s past mistakes. Of course, he said a hodgepodge of things. He admitted that the Americans made a mistake in Iran on the 28th of Mordad. He admitted that the Americans made a mistake in helping Saddam Hussein. He admitted to two, three mistakes, but he did not mention tens of others. He did not speak about the 25-year oppressive and treacherous rule of the second Pahlavi monarch. He did not speak about the many instances of torture, looting, massacre, disaster and calamity that were caused by America. He did not speak about the destruction of the Iranian peoples\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' dignity and America\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s efforts to trample upon their domestic and foreign interests. He did not speak about the Zionists\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' domination, the killing of Iranian passengers on a passenger plane and many other things. Nonetheless, he mentioned a number of mistakes. I would like to offer a friendly word of advice to these excellencies: today - after the passage of many years from the 28th of Mordad, the eight-year war and the defense that the Islamic Republic put up there - you acknowledge that you have made certain mistakes. I would like to say to you that you are making a mistake in the present time as well. In the present time too, you are busy making mistakes in different places in the region and particularly towards the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran. In a few years, someone else will turn up and show you your mistakes, just as today you are admitting to the mistakes that your predecessors made. You are making mistakes as well. Therefore, you should awaken, correct your mistakes and understand the truth. You are making grave mistakes in the region. What I want to say to the people of Iran is that by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor and grace, the Islamic Republic has become powerful and strong. It has become stronger on a daily basis. It is 10, 12 years now that six great global powers - which are among powerful countries in the world in terms of economic wealth - have been sitting in front of Iran, trying to prevent it from pursuing its nuclear industry. They have said this openly. Their real goal is to open the nuts and bolts of the nuclear industry. They have said this to our officials many years ago. In the present time too, they pursue the same dream. The result of a 10, 12-year struggle with the Islamic Republic is that they have been forced to tolerate the operation of several thousand centrifuges in the country. They have been forced to tolerate the continuation of this industry in our country. They have been forced to tolerate the development of this industry and the continuation of research on it. Research and developing the nuclear industry will continue. The cycle of the nuclear industry will continue. This is what they have been trying to prevent for many years, but today they have signed on paper that they have no problem with our nuclear industry. Apart from the power of the Iranian people, what other meaning does this have? This has been achieved because of the people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s resistance and steadfastness and our dear scientists\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' courage and innovation. God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy be upon the likes of Shahriari, Rezainejad, Ahmadi Roshan and Ali Muhammadi. God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy be upon our nuclear martyrs. God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy be upon their families. God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy be upon a people who stand by their truthful claims and rights. I would like to raise another point which is the last one. An individual has said that he can destroy Iran\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s army. Our predecessors used to call such statements, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"boasting among strangers\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [audience laughs]. I do not want to say anything more in this regard. If those who will hear this statement want to know the truth and if they are willing to use their experiences correctly, they should know that should any war break out - of course we do not welcome and begin any war - he who will emerge humiliated [literally: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"head-cracked\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"] out of it, will be transgressing and criminal America. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful When there comes the help of Allah and the victory, And you see men entering the religion of Allah in companies, Then celebrate the praise of your Lord, and ask His forgiveness. Surely He is oft-returning to mercy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 110]. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings

\\\"Reach the Peak\\\" as we delve deeply into the beautiful pages of Nahjul Balagha and the wise words of the Commander of the Faithful, the first divinely appointed Imam, Imam Ali ibne Abi Talib (A). In this episode, Sayyid Amir Behbahani speaks to us about who is \\\"The Best Companion\\\". What statement of Imam Ali (A) can be found in Hikmah number 4 in Nahjul Balagha? And what is the first essential attribute that a Mo\\\'min and a believer must have? What attribute does Imam Ali (A) call \\\'\\\"The Best Companion\\\"? What are some attributes that are absolutely necessary for a person\\\'s spiritual development? How many times has the Arabic word \\\'al-Qareen\\\' been repeated in Nahjul Balagha? And what does Hikmah number 109 have to do in this regard? What has Allah placed contentment and satisfaction in? And what should we be content with? What does Hikmah number 349 have to do in this regard? Finally, what does Imam Ali (A) say about predestination and free will? If you ultimately want to \\\"Reach the Peak\\\", you\\\'re going to have to take the first step - wherever you are! #IslamicPulse #ReachthePeak #ImamAli #Rajab #NahjulBalagha #RTP #Islam #Allah #Shia #Muslim #Sunni #AhlulBayt #Imamate #Wilayate #Ali

In this episode of our journey through \\\"The Signs of Allah\\\", Shaykh Muhammad Husayn speaks about Chapter No. 49 of the holy Qur\\\'an, Surah Hujurat, and the 3rd verse within it. What happens when we raise our voices above that of the holy Prophet Muhammad (S)? And what does verse number 3 of chapter Hujurat of the holy Qur\\\'an teach us? And is this teaching limited to just the holy Prophet Muhammad (S)? What is one of the best qualities that an individual can have? And what does Islam teach us in this regard? What does Imam Ali (A) say in this regard? Finally, what will happen if we apply this verse of the holy Qur\\\'an in our lives? It only takes a few minutes to witness \\\"The Signs of Allah\\\", but it could very well change your lives for the better, for forever. #Allah #TheSignsofAllah #IslamicPulse #Quran #Tafsir #Islam #TheWord #Hujurat #AhlulBayt

Letter 69: To al-Harith (ibn `Abdillah, al-A`war) al-Hamdani ومن كتاب له (عليه السلام) إلى الحارث الهَمْدَاني Adhere to the rope of the Qur\'an and seek instructions from it. Regard its lawful as lawful and its unlawful as unlawful. Testify the right that has been in the past. Take lessons for the present condition of this world from the past (condition), because its one phase resembles the other, its end is to meet its beginning, and the whole of it is to change and depart. Regard the name of Allah as too great to mention Him, save in the matter of right. Remember death frequently and (what is to come) after death. Do not long for death except on a reliable condition. وَتَمَسَّكْ بِحَبْلِ الْقُرآنِ، وَانْتَصِحْهُ، وَأَحِلَّ حَلاَلَهُ، وَحَرِّمْ حَرَامَهُ، وَصَدِّقْ بِمَا سَلَفَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ، وَاعْتَبِرْ بِمَا مَضَى مِنَ الدُّنْيَا لِـ مَا بَقِي مِنْهَا، فَإِنَّ بَعْضَهَا يُشْبِهُ بَعْضاً، وَآخِرَهَا لاَحِقٌ بِأَوَّلِهَا! وَكُلُّهَا حَائِلٌ مُفَارِقٌ. وَعَظِّمِ اسْمَ اللهِ أَنْ تَذْكُرَهُ إِلاَّ عَلَى حَقّ . وَأَكْثِرْ ذِكْرَ الْمَوْتِ وَمَا بَعْدَ الْمَوتِ، وَلاَ تَتَمَنَّ الْمَوْتَ إِلاَّ بِشَرْط وَثِيق.

Islamic Revolution Leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei who is on a trip to provincial city of Mashhad northeast Iran paid a visit Tuesday morning to the prestigious Ferdowsi University in the city and talked with a large audience of deans academics and instructors who had gathered in the educational hub Ayatollah Khamenei told the attendees that university plays a fateful role in promoting the country scientifically The IR Leader highlighted academic researches as imperative in securing identity independence and dignity of the Iranian nation and called for a resolute well thought project to promote the country indeed without sparing any moment In the same regard Ayatollah Khamenei noted that the present day world views international relations through the prism of power and the power of every country straddles its own scientific strength Ayatollah Khamenei hailed indigenous science as source of grandeur for its country of origin adding that his numerous calls during the recent years for creation of science and lift of recognized scientific boundaries were a prelude move to stage for a home grown science Ayatollah Khamenei urged employing of experienced professors besides providing younger talents of post-graduate levels with proper grounds to flourish into academic assets To that effect Ayatollah khamenei urged transforming university into a heated ground of scientific debates and researches Ayatollah Khamenei put the responsibility on university managers and academics to promote a lasting exploratory spirit in the students

10. We used to regard many areas as too essential to the public good to be commercialized - they were protected by tradition and regulation. Now everything is becoming fair game in the private taking of the commons -- land oceans air water education health energy and social assistance. Where do we draw the line.

Eye opening montage of news clips and photos that tell the truth about the events in Gaza. Courtesy -whatreallyhappened.com --Strategically speaking Israel does not have much time left in the ongoing conflict. Consider that it chose the timing of the current aggression very carefully-when the administration in the White House is in transition - the potentially most radical segment of the population in America - the students - are away from campuses and could not be mobilized easily and the general public in America - and elsewhere - are still recovering from the Christmas and New Year celebrations- and are also preoccupied with the economic recession. Still to the Israeli surprise regular protests with huge turn outs have been occurring in the US and around the world stripping off the deceptive cover of being so-called peaceful democratic and civilized from Israel-s face. The protests and alternative media sources deserve much credit in this regard. What is important to understand here is that if we are just demanding a ceasefire it is already part of Israel-s strategy in this conflict. There are good chances that Israel will end its aggression within a week before the new administration assumes office in the White House or the latest by the February 10 elections in Israel. Israel also knows that most people come out for protest only in reaction. Once the aggression ends the protests will subside and the new White House administration would not be pressed to issue a drastic statement. And that is only to the extent of issuing a statement- something on the line that Israel should observe RESTRAINT. The Bush administration did not bother to do even that much. Given the team of pro-Israel Hawkish-Pragmatists that Obama has assembled in his cabinet - if that is any indicator - chances are very slim that we will see a significant policy shift immediately.-- For more information see gazaawareness.blogspot.com

The 10th Iranian Presidential elections were not rigged. Not one shred of evidence has been provided in this regard. This analysis exposes the blatant lies and distortion of truth the Western media and in particular CNN are engaged in.

The 10th Iranian Presidential elections were not rigged. Not one shred of evidence has been provided in this regard. This analysis exposes the blatant lies and distortion of truth the Western media and in particular CNN are engaged in.

The 10th Iranian Presidential elections were not rigged. Not one shred of evidence has been provided in this regard. This analysis exposes the blatant lies and distortion of truth the Western media and in particular CNN are engaged in.

The 10th Iranian Presidential elections were not rigged. Not one shred of evidence has been provided in this regard. This analysis exposes the blatant lies and distortion of truth the Western media and in particular CNN are engaged in.

The 10th Iranian Presidential elections were not rigged. Not one shred of evidence has been provided in this regard. This analysis exposes the blatant lies and distortion of truth the Western media and in particular CNN are engaged in.

The 10th Iranian Presidential elections were not rigged. Not one shred of evidence has been provided in this regard. This analysis exposes the blatant lies and distortion of truth the Western media and in particular CNN are engaged in.