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In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful As-Salamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullah All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings upon our Master, Muhammad, and upon his immaculate household and chosen companions and upon those who follow them appropriately until the Day of Judgment. Allah the All-Wise said: \"Permission (to fight) is given to those upon whom war is made because they are oppressed and most surely Allah is well able to assist them. Those who have been expelled from their homes without a just cause only because they say our Lord is Allah. And had there not been Allah\'s repelling some people by others, certainly there would have been pulled down cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques in which Allah\'s name is much remembered. And surely Allah will help him who helps His cause. Most surely Allah is Strong, Mighty.\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Hajj, Ayahs 39-40] I would like to welcome the all dear guests and the honorable audience. Among all the issues that deserve to be discussed by religious and political figures from across the world of Islam, the issue of Palestine enjoys special importance. Palestine is the primary issue among all common issues of Islamic countries. This issue has unique characteristics. The first characteristic is that a Muslim country has been taken away from its people and entrusted to foreigners who have come together from different countries and formed a fake and mosaic-like society. The second characteristic is that this historically unprecedented event has been accompanied by constant killings, crimes, oppression and humiliation. The third characteristic is that Muslims\' original qiblah and many respected religious centers which exist in that country have been threatened with destruction, sacrilege and decline. The fourth characteristic is that at the most sensitive spot of the world of Islam, this fake government and society has played the role of a military, security and political base for the arrogant governments since the beginning up until today. And the pivot of the colonialist west - which has been opposed to the unity, development and progress of Islamic countries for various reasons - has always used it like a dagger in the heart of the Islamic Ummah. The fifth characteristic is that Zionism - which is a great ethical, political and economic threat to the human community - has used this foothold as a tool and stepping stone to spread its influence and hegemony in the world. Other points that can be added include: heavy financial and human costs that Islamic countries have paid so far, preoccupation of Muslim governments and people, the sufferings of millions of displaced Palestinians many of whom still live in refugee camps after the passage of six decades and putting an end to the history of an important civilizational center in the world of Islam. Today another key point has been added to these causes and this key point is the wave of Islamic Awakening which has engulfed the entire region and has opened a new and determining chapter in the history of the Islamic Ummah. This massive movement - which can undoubtedly lead to a powerful, advanced and coherent Islamic alliance in this sensitive part of the world and can put an end to the era of backwardness, weakness and humiliation of Muslim nations relying on Allah\'s favor and the firm determination of the followers of this movement - has borrowed an important portion of its force and courage from the issue of Palestine. The Zionist regime\'s increasing oppression and bullying and the cooperation of certain autocratic, corrupt and mercenary rulers on the one hand and the spirited Palestinian and Lebanese resistance and the miraculous victories of faithful youth in the 33-day war on Lebanon and in the 22-day war on Gaza on the other hand - were among the important factors which made turbulent the seemingly calm ocean of the Egyptian, Tunisian and Libyan nations as well as other regional nations. It is a fact that the Zionist regime, which is armed to the teeth and claims to be invincible, suffered a decisive and humiliating defeat in Lebanon during an unequal war against the clenched fist of faithful and brave mujahids. Later on it re-tested its blunt sword against the innocent and determined resistance of Gaza and it failed. Serious attention should be paid to these points when analyzing current conditions of the region and the appropriateness of every decision should be evaluated against these points. Therefore, it is an accurate judgment to say that today the issue of Palestine has gained increased importance and urgency and the Palestinian nation has the right to expect more from Muslims countries in the current regional conditions. Let us take a look at the past and the present and prepare a road map for the future. I will discuss certain topics in this regard. More than six decades have passed since the tragic occupation of Palestine. All the main causes of this bloody tragedy have been identified and the colonialist English government is the most important cause. The policies, weapons and military, security, economic and cultural power of the English government and other arrogant western and eastern governments were put to the service of this great oppression. Under the ruthless clutches of the occupiers, the defenseless people of Palestine were massacred and forced out of their homes. Until today even one percent of the human and civil tragedy - which was carried out at that time by the claimants of civilization and ethics - has not been properly portrayed and this tragedy has not had its fair share in the media and visual arts. The owners of visual and cinematic arts and western movie mafias have not been willing to allow this to happen. An entire nation was massacred and displaced in silence. Certain instances of resistance emerged at the beginning, which were harshly and ruthlessly crushed. From outside Palestinian borders and mainly from Egypt, a number of men with Islamic motives made certain efforts which were not sufficiently supported and could not have an effect on the scene. Afterwards there were full-scale and classical wars between a few Arab countries and the Zionist army. Egypt, Syria and Jordan mobilized their military forces, but the unconditional, massive and increasing military and financial support of America, England and France for the Zionist regime overwhelmed Arab armies. Not only did they fail to help the Palestinian nation, but they also lost an important portion of their territories during these wars. After the weakness of Palestine\'s Arab neighbors was revealed, cells of organized resistance were gradually established in the form of armed Palestinian groups and after a while they came together to form the Palestinian Liberation Organization. This was a spark of hope which shone brightly, but it did not last long. This failure can be attributed to many factors, but the essential factor was their separation from the people and from their Islamic beliefs and faith. Leftist ideology or mere nationalistic sentiments were not what the complicated and difficult issue of Palestine required. Islam, jihad and martyrdom were the factors that could have encouraged an entire nation to step into the arena of resistance and turned it into an invincible force. They did not understand this properly. During the first few months of the great Islamic Revolution, when the leaders of the Palestinian Liberation Organization had found a new spirit and they used to visit Tehran repeatedly, I asked a pillar of the organization why they did not raise the flag of Islam in their righteous battle. His answer was that there were a number of Christians among them as well. Later on that person was assassinated by the Zionists in an Arab country and I hope Allah the Exalted has bestowed mercy on him. But his reasoning was flawed. I believe a faithful Christian who fights alongside a group of selfless mujahids - who carry out jihad in a sincere way while having faith in God, the Day of Judgment and divine assistance - would be more motivated to fight than a Christian who has to fight alongside a group of people who lack faith, rely on unstable sentiments and lack loyal support of the people. Lack of firm faith and separation from the people gradually made them neutral and ineffective. Of course there were honorable, motivated and valorous men among them, but the organization went off in a different direction. Their deviation has been a blow to the issue of Palestine. Like certain treacherous Arab governments, they too turned their back on the ideal of resistance which has been the only way of saving Palestine. And of course not only did they deliver a blow to Palestine, but they also delivered a strong blow to themselves. As the Christian Arab poet says, لئن اضعتم فلسطيناً فعيشكم طول الحياة مضاضات و آلامٌ Thirty two years were spent in this misery, but suddenly God\'s hand of power turned the tables. The victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in the year 1979 completely changed the conditions of this region and turned a new page. Among the amazing global effects of this Revolution and the strong blows that it delivered to arrogant policies, the blow to the Zionist government was the clearest and the most immediate. The statements of the leaders of that regime during those days are interesting to read and they show how unhappy and anxious they were. During the first few weeks after the victory, Israel\'s embassy in Tehran was closed down and its staff was expelled. The embassy was officially given to the Palestinian Liberation Organization whose representatives are still there. Our magnanimous Imam announced that one of the goals of the Revolution was to liberate Palestine and to remove the cancerous tumor, Israel. The powerful waves of this Revolution, which engulfed the entire world at that time, conveyed this message wherever it reached: \"Palestine must be liberated.\" Even the repeated and great problems that the enemies of the Revolution imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran failed to discourage the Islamic Republic from defending Palestine. One instance of the problems that they caused was the eight-year war waged on Iran by Saddam Hussein who had been goaded by America and England and was supported by reactionary Arab governments. Thus, new blood was pumped into the veins of Palestine. Muslim mujahid groups started to emerge in Palestine. The Lebanese Resistance formed a powerful and new front against the enemy and its supporters. Instead of relying on Arab governments and seeking help from global organizations such as the United Nations, which were accomplices of the arrogant powers, Palestine started to rely on itself, its youth, its deep Islamic faith and its selfless men and women. This is the key to all achievements. Over the past three decades this process has been accelerated on a daily basis. The humiliating defeat of the Zionist regime in Lebanon in the year 2006, the humiliating failure of the arrogant Zionist army in Gaza in the year 2008, the Zionist regime\'s escape from South Lebanon and withdrawal from Gaza, the establishment of the resistance government in Gaza and in brief, changing the Palestinian nation from a group of helpless and hopeless people to a hopeful, resistant and self-confident nation - these were the outstanding characteristics of the past thirty years. This general picture will be clear when attempts at compromise and treacherous activities - whose goal is to break down resistance and make Palestinian groups and Arab governments acknowledge the legitimacy of Israel - are also reflected upon in an appropriate way. These activities, which were initiated with the Camp David Accords by the treacherous and unworthy successor of Gamal Abdel Nasser, have always been aimed at undermining the steely determination of resistance forces. During the Camp David Accords, for the first time an Arab government officially acknowledged that the Palestinian lands belonged to the Zionists and it signed the papers according to which Palestine was recognized as the homeland of Jews. From that time until the Oslo Accords in the year 1993 and later on in complementary plans - which were imposed one after the other on compromising and careless Palestinian groups with the intervention of America and the cooperation of colonialist European governments - the enemy tried its best to discourage the Palestinian nation and Palestinian groups from resisting through the use of empty and deceptive promises and making them busy with amateur political games. The uselessness of all these accords was revealed very soon and the Zionists and their supporters repeatedly showed that they consider these accords as worthless pieces of paper. The goal of these plans was to create doubt among the Palestinians, make materialistic unbelievers greedy and cripple Islamic resistance. So far, the spirit of resistance among the Islamic Palestinian groups and the Palestinian people has been the antidote to all these treacherous games. They stood up against the enemy with Allah\'s permission and as promised by God, they benefited from divine assistance: \"And surely Allah will help him who helps His cause. Most surely Allah is Strong, Mighty.\" [The Holy Quran, Sura al-Hajj, Ayah 40] The resistance of Gaza in spite of a comprehensive siege was an instance of divine assistance. The collapse of the treacherous and corrupt government of Hosni Mubarak was divine assistance. The emergence of the powerful wave of Islamic Awakening in the region is divine assistance. The removal of the mask of hypocrisy from the face of America, England and France and the increasing hatred of the regional nations towards these countries are divine assistance. The repeated and innumerable problems of the Zionist regime - from its domestic political, economic and social problems to its isolation in the world, to public and even academic hatred of the Zionists in Europe - are all instances of divine assistance. Today the Zionist regime is weaker, more hated and more isolated than ever before and its main supporter, America, is more embattled and confused than ever before. Today the general history of Palestine in the past 60 years is in front of our eyes. It is necessary to delineate the future by considering that general history and learning lessons from it. Two points should be clarified in advance. The first point is that our demand is the liberation of Palestine, not the liberation of a part of Palestine. Any plan to divide Palestine is completely unacceptable. The two-state idea which has been presented in the self-righteous clothing of \"recognizing the Palestinian government as a member of the United Nations\" is nothing but giving in to the demands of the Zionists - namely, \"recognizing the Zionist government in Palestinian lands\". This would mean trampling on the rights of the Palestinian nation, ignoring the historical right of the displaced Palestinians and even jeopardizing the right of the Palestinians settled in \"1948 lands\". It would mean leaving the cancerous tumor intact and exposing the Islamic Ummah - especially the regional nations - to constant danger. It would mean bringing back decades-long sufferings and trampling upon the blood of the martyrs. Any operational solution must be based on the principle of \"all of Palestine for all Palestinian people\". Palestine is the land that extends \"from the river to the sea\", not one inch less than that. Of course it should be noted that through its elected government, the Palestinian people will run the affairs of the any part of the Palestinian soil they manage to liberate, just as they did in the case of Gaza, but they will never forget the ultimate goal. The second point is that in order to reach this lofty goal, what is necessary is action, not words. It is necessary to be serious, not to make ceremonial gestures. It is necessary to have patience and wisdom, not engage in a variety of impatient actions. It is necessary to consider horizons that lie far ahead and to move forward step by step with determination, reliance on God and hope. Muslim governments and nations and the resistance groups in Palestine, Lebanon and other countries can each identify their share of work in this general struggle and solve the puzzle of resistance with Allah\'s permission. The solution of the Islamic Republic to the issue of Palestine and this old wound is a clear and logical proposal that is based on political wisdom accepted by global public opinion and it has been presented in detail previously. We neither propose a classical war with the armies of Islamic countries, nor do we propose throwing Jewish immigrants into the sea or intervention of the United Nations and other international organizations. We propose a referendum among the Palestinian people. Just like any other nation, the Palestinian nation has the right to determine its own destiny and to elect its own government. All the original people of Palestine - including Muslims, Christians and Jews and not foreign immigrants - should take part in a general and orderly referendum and determine the future government of Palestine whether they live inside Palestine or in camps or in any other place. The government that is established after the referendum will determine the destiny of non-Palestinian immigrants who migrated to Palestine in the past. This is a fair and logical proposal which global public opinion understands and it can receive support from independent nations and governments. Of course we do not expect the usurping Zionists to willingly accept this proposal and this is where the role of governments, nations and resistance organizations becomes significant. The most important pillar of supporting the Palestinian nation is to stop supporting the usurping enemy and this is the great duty of Islamic governments. After the people have stepped into the arena and shouted slogans against the Zionist regime in a powerful way, on what logical basis do Muslim governments continue their relations with the usurping Zionist regime? The proof of Muslim governments\' honesty lies in their support for the Palestinian nation and in their decision to break off their overt and secret political and economic relations with the Zionist regime. The governments that host Zionist embassies or economic offices cannot claim to defend Palestine and no anti-Zionist slogan on their part will be considered serious and genuine. Today Islamic resistance organizations, which have been shouldering the heavy burden of jihad over the past years, are confronted with the same great responsibility. Their organized resistance is an active arm that can help the Palestinian nation move towards the ultimate goal. Brave resistance of the people whose homes and country have been occupied has been recognized in all international conventions and it has been praised. Allegations of terrorism by the political and media network affiliated with Zionism are hollow and worthless claims. The obvious terrorist is the Zionist regime and its western supporters. Palestinian resistance is a movement against the oppressive terrorists and it is a human and sacred movement. In the meantime, it is appropriate for western countries to evaluate the situation from a realistic perspective. Today the west is at a crossroads. It should either stop bullying and acknowledge the right of the Palestinian nation and refuse to follow the plan of the bullying and anti-human Zionists, or they should wait for stronger blows in the not so distant future. These crippling blows are not limited to the continual collapse of their puppet governments in the Islamic region. Rather the day when European and American peoples realize that the majority of their economic, social and ethical problems result from the octopus-like hegemony of international Zionism over their governments and that their statesmen give in to the bullying of parasitic Zionists who own companies in America and Europe for the sake of their personal and partisan interests, they will create a such hell for them in which no salvation will be imaginable. The US President says that Israel\'s security is his red line. What factor has determined this red line? Is it the interests of the American nation or Obama\'s personal need for the money and support of Zionist companies to ensure his second term as US President? How long do you think you will be able to deceive your own nation? What will the American people do with you the day they realize you have agreed to give in to humiliation and obedience to wealthy Zionists for the sake of remaining in power for a few more days? What will they do with you when they realize that you have sacrificed the interests of a great nation at the feet of the Zionists? Dear brothers and sisters, know that this red line drawn by Obama and people like him will be crossed by Muslim nations that have risen up. What is threatening the Zionist regime is not the missiles of Iran or resistance groups, so they can build a missile shield here and there in order to confront it. The real and inescapable threat is the firm determination of men, women and youth in Islamic countries who do not want America, Europe and their puppets rulers, to dominate and humiliate them any longer. Of course those missiles will fulfill their duty whenever the enemy poses a threat. \"Therefore, be patient. Surely the promise of Allah is true and let not those who have no certainty make you impatient.\" [The Holy Quran, Sura ar-Room, Ayah 60] Wa salaam alaykum wa rahmat Allah http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1527

Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Speech to Participants of International Conference on Islamic Awakening‌ 11/12/2012 The following is the full text of the speech delivered on December 11, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution at the International Conference of Muslim University Professors and Islamic Awakening. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful‌ First of all, I welcome you honorable guests who have come here from different countries and I also welcome the dear and honorable professors from our own universities. Since almost one and a half years ago until today, many meetings and conferences on Islamic Awakening have been held in Tehran, but I think that the International Conference of Muslim University Professors and Islamic Awakening has a special significance. This significance is because of the role of outstanding personalities and intellectuals in promoting new ideas in every society. They are the people who can lead a nation to salvation or to - God forbid - destruction. Unfortunately, the latter happened in certain countries, including our own country, over the last 70 or 80 years. There is a narration from the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.), Muhammad ibn Abdullah, which says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The masses do not follow the right path unless outstanding personalities guide them towards it.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" When he was asked who these outstanding personalities are, he answered, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Religious scholars.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Religious scholars were the first people whom he referred to as outstanding personalities and then he mentioned other groups of people. Therefore, university professors, luminaries and outstanding personalities can be the leaders of the people in every country, provided that they show purity and courage. They should not be afraid of the enemies. If they show fear, greed, negligence and laziness, they will fail to achieve the desired result. If they do not show fear, greed and negligence- if they show courage, then their efforts will achieve the desired result. During the early days of the Revolution, about thirty one years or thirty two years ago, I and two other people went from Tehran to Qom to meet Imam Khomeini (r.a.). At that time, he was still in Qom. We - who were members of the Revolutionary Council at that time - went there to ask for his opinion about a very important issue. When we explained to him what the issue was, Imam (r.a.) looked at us and asked, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Are you afraid of America?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" We said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"No\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". Then he told us to implement our decision. Then we implemented our decision and we succeeded. If you show fear, greed and negligence and if you let deviant orientations play a role [in your decision-making], you will face serious problems. Today the entire world is faced with a great event. This great event is Islamic Awakening. This is a fact. Muslim nations and the Islamic Ummah have awakened. Today achieving domination over Muslim nations is not as easy as it used to be during the time after World War I and during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Today, if global arrogance wants to dominate Muslim peoples, they will face serious difficulties. Islamic Awakening has penetrated the Islamic Ummah which has resulted in a number of revolutions and the fall of corrupt and dependent regimes in certain countries. But this is only part of Islamic Awakening, not all of it. Islamic Awakening is a deep and widespread movement. Of course, the enemies are afraid of the phrase \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Islamic Awakening.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" They are trying not to let the phrase \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Islamic Awakening\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" be used to refer to the current great movement in the region. Why are they doing this? It is because they tremble with fear when they see genuine Islam. They do not fear the kind of Islam which is based on money, corruption, aristocracy and the kind of Islam which is not supported by the majority of people. But they are terrified when they see the kind of Islam which is supported by the majority of people and which is based on action, reliance on God and divine promises. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And surely Allah will help him who helps His cause\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 22: 40]. Whenever this kind of Islam emerges, whenever there are signs that this kind of Islam is approaching them, they tremble with fear. They are filled with fear \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"as if they were frightened donkeys, fleeing from a lion\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 74: 50-51]. Therefore, they do not want the phrase \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Islamic Awakening\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" to be used. But we believe that the current great movement is a true example of Islamic Awakening and it has penetrated the world of Islam. This movement will continue in the future and it will not easily deviate from its path. We should identify the problems of these regional movements. This is the first point that I want to discuss with you. You should identify the problems of these movements and revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and similar countries. What are the dangers? What are the problems? Why do we say that these movements are Islamic in essence? Take a look at the people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s slogans. Take a look at the role of Muslim believers in overthrowing corrupt regimes. If Muslim believers and Muslim groups who firmly believe in Islam and who are greatly respected by the people had not participated in these movements, these large public demonstrations would not have been held. The pressures that the people exerted, with their presence, on oppressive regimes like those of Hosni Mubarak and Ben Ali, completely destroyed their shaky foundations. They were Muslim peoples with Islamic slogans. The crucial role of Islamist parties in overthrowing these regimes is a clear proof that this movement is an Islamic movement. And whenever there was an election in these countries, the people voted for Islamist parties. They supported Islamic parties and they preferred them to other parties. Today, if a free election is held almost everywhere in the world of Islam - there may be a few exceptions - and if Islamist leaders and politicians participate in this election, the people will vote for Islamist politicians. This is the same everywhere in the world of Islam. Therefore, this movement is undoubtedly an Islamic movement. Well, I said that we should identify the problems in these movements. Besides identifying the problems, we should delineate the goals of these revolutions, otherwise there will be confusion. We should delineate these goals. One of the most important goals of Islamic Awakening is getting rid of global arrogance. We should announce this openly because it is wrong to think that global arrogance - headed by America - may get along with Islamic movements. Wherever Islam and supporters of Islam prevail, America does its best to destroy them while putting on a friendly smile. Regional revolutions have no other choice than distancing themselves from global arrogance. We do not say that they should go to war with America, but we say that they should determine what the position of America and global arrogance is on the recent events in the region. They should do this correctly because if they do not gain a proper understanding of their position, they will be deceived. Today, global arrogance is ruling over the world by using money, weapons and science. But it lacks new ideas and a road map. Today global arrogance has this big problem. It does not have any new ideas to help the people and intellectuals. But you do. You have Islam. When we have new ideas and a road map, we can delineate our goals and we can stand up against global arrogance. In this way, their weapons, their science and their money will not be effective as they were in the past. Of course, they will not be entirely ineffective, but we should think of ways to counter them - if there is time, I will explain more. Thus, in the first place, we should have new ideas, a road map and an ideology. We should know what we want to do. We should delineate the goals of Islamic Awakening. One of the important goals of Islamic Awakening, which regional developments should pay attention to, is to preserve the pivotal role of Islam. Islam should be the pivot. Islamic principles and sharia should be the pivot of things. There is an all-out effort to claim that sharia is not compatible with progress, change and civilization. This is what the enemy says. No, it is perfectly compatible. Of course, there are many people in the world of Islam who do not have enough knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and who have supported the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s claim with their dogmatic and old-fashioned ideas. These people are Muslims, but they are at the service of the enemy. There are such people in Islamic countries which are located near us. They call themselves Muslims, but they do not have any new ideas about and any new outlook on Islamic teachings. Islam is for all eras and centuries. Islam answers all the needs of human beings. We should only develop the necessary expertise in order to find Islam\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s answers to all the questions of human beings. Some people do not have this expertise and they only know how to excommunicate and drive certain people out of religion. And they call themselves Muslims. Sometimes we discover that these people cooperate with the enemy. We should make Islam and sharia the pivot of our activities. This is one of the goals of Islamic Awakening. Another goal of Islamic Awakening is building a governing system. If a governing system is not built in countries which have carried out a revolution, they will face dangers. In North African countries, similar revolutions were carried out about 60 or 70 years ago. It was in mid-twentieth century that a revolution was carried out in Tunisia and certain people came to power. Similarly, a revolution and a coup d\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'état were carried out in Egypt and certain people came to power. The same thing happened in some other countries. But they failed to build a governing system. This resulted in not only the destruction of these revolutions but also in the complete political transformation of the individuals who had come to power as revolutionaries. There was a complete change in their political behavior and they turned their backs on their values. This happened in Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan during that time. It was around 1343, 1344 or 1345 that I and a couple of my friends were listening to Sawt al-Arab radio station in Mashhad - Sawt al-Arab used to be broadcast from Cairo in Egypt. It was broadcasting the interviews of Gamal Abdel Nasser, Muammar Gaddafi and Jaafar Nimeiry who had gathered in one place. We were being suppressed by the dictatorial regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Mashhad, but these fiery and impassioned speeches made us very enthusiastic and brought us great joy. Well, Abdel Nasser died and you saw what his successors did. You also saw what happened to Gaddafi and Nimeiry. Those revolutions underwent drastic changes because they had no plans and they did not build a governing system. There should be a governing system in countries which have carried out a revolution. They should build a solid foundation. This is one of the important issues regarding Islamic Awakening. Another important issue is strengthening popular support. Islamic governments should not separate themselves from the people. The people have certain expectations and needs. The real power is in the hands of the people. Whenever the people hold demonstrations, whenever they become firmly united and whenever they unanimously support their leaders and government officials, then America and even powers that are greater than America cannot do anything to harm them. We should maintain the support of the people and you intellectuals, authors, poets and religious scholars can do this. The most significant people are religious scholars who have a heavy responsibility. They should clarify for people what they want and where they are going. They should enlighten them about the problems and the enemy. They should help the people remain vigilant. In this way, no harm will be inflicted on the Islamic Ummah. Another issue is training the youth in scientific areas. Islamic countries should make progress in scientific and technological areas. I said that the west and America dominated the world by means of science - one of the means they used was science. They acquired wealth by using science. Of course, they acquired part of their wealth by using political machinations and immoral methods, but science also played an important role. We should make progress in science. There is a narration which says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Knowledge is power. Anybody who has knowledge will be able to dominate those around him. Anybody who fails to gain knowledge will be ruled.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" You should make progress in science. Acquiring knowledge is like having strong arms. If you do not have strong arms, other strong people will twist your arms. You should encourage the youth in your countries to make progress in science. This is possible. We have done this in Iran. Before the Revolution, we were ranked one of the lowest nations in terms of science. No one paid any attention to us. Today those who carry out research in this regard say that Iran ranks 16th in the world in terms of science and the news of our achievement spread quickly in the world. This has been achieved in the shade of the Revolution, Islam and sharia. News of this achievement spread several months ago. Those organizations who said this predicted that Iran\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s scientific rank would be single-digit in a few years. They specified a year by which Iran will achieve this rank - in 10, 12 years. They said that Iran will be ranked fourth. This is because Iran has a fast rate of scientific growth. Of course, we are still far behind the world. Our scientific growth is several times faster than the global average, but we are still behind other countries. If we move forward at this speed, we will make great progress. The world of Islam should continue making progress. Islamic countries are talented. We have good young people. They are very talented. Muslim peoples used to be pioneers in science during a certain period. Why would we not expect that the world of Islam will be an authoritative source of reference in scientific areas? Why would we not expect that we can reach a point where all countries turn to Muslim countries in scientific areas? This is possible in the future. We should try very hard. Progress in science can be achieved in the shade of Islam and regional revolutions. The Islamic Ummah has proved that it can move forward at a greater speed. Another important issue is unity - it is almost time for praying and we need to go. Dear brothers and sisters, our enemies are making the best of the discord that exists among us. They are trying to create discord among Muslim peoples under such pretexts as Shia and Sunni Islam, ethnicity and nationality. They are trying to create discord by magnifying Shia and Sunni differences. You see that they are creating discord in Islamic countries which have carried out a revolution and in other Islamic countries. Everybody should be vigilant. The west and America are the enemies of the world of Islam. We should address and respond to this issue from this perspective. They are provoking the emotions of the people. Their intelligence services are working very hard and they sow destruction wherever they can. On the issue of Palestine, they created as many obstacles as they could. Of course, they failed in their efforts. We are moving forward. The world of Islam is moving forward. The recent event in Palestine is very important. An 8-day war broke out between the people of Gaza and the Zionist regime which claims to have the strongest army in the region. But when both sides decided to declare a ceasefire, it was the Palestinian side that set conditions. Is this believable? Would anybody have believed ten years ago that one day there would be a war between the Palestinians - not all Palestinians, a group of them in Gaza - and the Zionist regime and it would be the Palestinians who set conditions for a ceasefire? Well done to the Palestinians. Well done! Well done to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the soldiers who fought in Palestine and Gaza for their outstanding courage. What they did is a perfect example of courage. I want to express my gratitude to the Palestinian soldiers for their sacrifices, their efforts and their patience. They saw that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Verily, with every difficulty there is relief\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 94: 6]. If we show patience, God Almighty will resolve our problems. Because they resisted the enemy and showed great patience, God Almighty resolved their problems. This is a lesson for both the Palestinians and other people. You should not underestimate the significance of unity between Muslim peoples. It is a very important issue. The point that our Bahraini brother raised about the silence of the world of Islam on the issue of Bahrain is true. The reason why some people are silent on this issue is that they have a denominational bias. According to these people, you can help people who have risen up against their corrupt government unless these people are Shia like the people of Bahrain. Some people have such an attitude towards this issue. They should change their attitude. We should know the enemy. We should know what his plots and machinations are. We should know how he tries to harm us. Our position on the issue of Syria was based on such an outlook. We cannot even stand to see that blood runs from the nose of a single Muslim. Even this is very painful for us. What we say is that those who are dragging Syria into a civil war, destruction and fratricide are to blame for the current situation in Syria. The demands of all peoples should be met in conventional ways and without using such violence. I hope that Allah the Exalted guides all of us. I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows His blessings on your efforts. I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows a bright future on this great wave of Islamic Awakening. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings

http://pknews.tv - on tripartite summit - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born in village of Aradan near city of Garmsar, southeast of Tehran in 1956. He is the fourth son of an ironworker who had seven children. Mahmoud and his family migrated to Tehran when he was one-year-old. He went to primary and high school in Tehran and got his diploma and was admitted to the University of Science and Technology (Elm-o-Sanaat) in the field of civil engineering after he ranked 132nd in the nationwide university entrance exams in 1975. He was accepted as an MS student at the same university in 1986 and became a member of the scientific board of the Civil Engineering College of University of Science and Technology. Later on he got his doctorate in 1987 in the field of engineering and traffic transportation planning. He is married with two sons and one daughter. Following the 1979 Islamic revolution he became a member the conservative faction of the Office for Strengthening Unity [OSU] Between Universities and Theological Seminaries. The OSU was established by Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, one of Ayatollah Khomeini's key advisors, to organize Islamic students against the rapidly growing Islamic group of Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK). With invasion of Iraq and start of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, Ahmadinejad rushed to the western fronts to fight against the enemy and joined the voluntary (basij) forces of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps (IRGC). He served in different units of the Islamic Revolution Guards Engineering Corps. He served as governor of Maku and Khoy cities in the northwestern West Azerbaijan province, and as an advisor to the governor general of the western province of Kurdistan for two years. While serving as the cultural advisor to then Ministry of Culture and Higher Education in 1993, he was appointed as governor general of the newly established northwestern province of Ardebil from 1993 to 1997. He was elected as the exemplary governor general for three consecutive years. But in 1997 the newly-installed Khatami administration removed Ahmadinejad from his post as Ardebil governor general. He returned to the University of Science and Technology (Elm-o-Sanaat) again to teach in 1997. In April 2003 Ahmadinejad was appointed mayor of Tehran by the capital's municipal council, which is dominated by the hard-line Islamic Iran Developers Coalition (Etelaf-e Abadgaran-e Iran-e Islami). In some of Ahmadinejad's public statements, he has appeared to identify himself as a Developer. He lives a very Spartan lifestyle and that's how he projected himself. As Mayor, he reversed many of the policies of previous moderate and reformist mayors, placing serious religious emphasis on the activities of the cultural centers by turning them into prayer halls during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. He also suggested the burial of the bodies of martyrs of the Iran-Iraq war in major city squares of Tehran. On 24 June 2005 Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected as Iran's sixth president. He swept to the presidential post with a stunning 17,046,441 votes out of a total of 27,536,069 votes cast in the runoff election. In the 2009 presidential election Ahmadinejad was nominated to run for the second term. In the presidential election of 2009, 39,165,191 ballots were cast on 12th June, according to Iran's election headquarters. Ahmadinejad won 24,527,516 votes, (62.63%). In second place, Mir Hossein Mousavi won 13,216,411 (33.75%) of the votes. The election drew unprecedented public interest in Iran. The election results remain in dispute as Mir Hossein Mousavi and his supporters who believe that electoral fraud occurred during the election. This popular belief ignited protests and demonstrations in the large cities with a united slogan of “Where is my vote”, which resulted in the birth of “Green Movement” of Iran. Finally Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei formally endorsed Ahmadinejad as President on 3 August 2009, and Dr. Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term on 5 August 2009 Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran have agreed to expand socio-economic cooperation and more particularly neutralize foreign interference in this part of the world. At the conclusion of a tripartite summit in Islamabad, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the regional cooperation will lead to an end to foreign interference, a reference to the US-led NATO military presence in Afghanistan. The Iranian President said that the nuclear weapon do not empower any state and must be eliminated from political relations. Howerver, Afghan President Hamid Karazi’s focus was to gain regional support for the Taliban talks, a reference to his demand to include Kabul in the talks between the US and Taliban. Islamabad asserted that it would lend its support to President Karazi in any future Taliban talks. The Taliban have so far refused to negotiate with Kabul describing Karzai administration as the puppet. The three neighboring countries also decided to step up their efforts to combat drug production and trafficking in Afghanistan, a particular source of concern for Pakistan. The summit also decided to enhance trilateral trade through facilitative measures like preferential tariff and free trade arrangements and barter trade. The three countries in their summit declaration sounded determined to ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of regional states. This is a clear reference to the frequent US drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal region that have killed large number of civilians since 2004. However, analysts believe more than any thing else, it depends on Islamabad if it is willing to scrap secret deals with Americans that allows them to carry out drone attacks in the tribal areas.

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 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

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on September 17, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with commanders and officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The meeting was held on the occasion of the 20th Congress of Officials and Commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful First, I would like to welcome you and second, I congratulate you on this auspicious Eid. You turned our day into an Eid with your presence and warm breath and with the good programs that you performed. I hope that, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, your hearts will always be happy. I hope that your hearts will always remember God and achieve loftier positions. I would like to say a few things about our great Imam and knowledgeable member of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household, Imam Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha (thousands of greetings and praise be upon him). In fact, we cannot understand the spiritual position of these holy personalities, let alone describe them in words. However, before our eyes and before the eyes of history, the lives of these great personalities are a practical, eternal and undeniable lesson. If, in certain cases, we take a look at the lives of the Imams (a.s.) and if we put great emphasis on their policies, the measures they took and their biographies, this does not mean that these are the most important parts of their lives. This is not the case. Their spiritual world, their effort to get close to God and the wisdom and love which radiated from their peerless hearts are other important parts of their lives. However, what is before our eyes is the lives of these great personalities and we should learn from them. Imam Ridha (a.s.) lived for almost 55 years. That is to say, he was born in the year 148 - the year when Imam Sadiq (a.s.) was martyred - and he was martyred in the year 203 of the Hijri calendar. The entire life of this great personality with all its greatness, depth and dimensions took place in this fairly short era. Nineteen, twenty years out of these 55 years constituted the era of the Imamate of this great personality. But if you take a look at this short era, you will see that it exerted a considerable influence on the world of Islam, it gave great depth to the true meaning of Islam and it helped people follow the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household and get familiar with their teachings. This is an extraordinary phenomenon and it is like a deep sea. When that Imam achieved Imamate, his close friends and his followers said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"What can Ali ibn Musa do in such an environment which is filled with Harun\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s oppression?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" There is a narration which says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Blood trickles from Harun\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s sword.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" These friends and followers used to say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"In such conditions, what can this young Imam do to continue the jihad of Shia Imams and to carry out the great responsibility which falls on his shoulders?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This is the beginning of the Imamate of Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha (a.s.). When you take a look, you will see that after the passage of 19, 20 years - when Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha was martyred and his Imamate ended - the ideas and thoughts of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household and the issue of commitment to the Imams were established, in the world of Islam, so firmly that the oppressive and dictatorial Abbasid regime could not confront it. Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha had done this. You have heard that De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel-e Khozayee went to Merv in Khorasan and composed and recited a number of well-known poems in praise of Imam Ridha for which he was rewarded. He stayed in Merv and other cities of Khorasan for a few days and then he went towards Baghdad, Kufa and other cities that he wanted to visit. In the middle of the way, some bandits attacked and looted the caravan on which De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel was travelling. The travelers sat and watched the looting of their property. The chief of the bandits was sitting on a rock and proudly watching the prisoners and captives of this caravan and the things which they had stolen and collected. De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel heard that the chief was whispering a poem. He listened and he realized that it was his own poem. It was one of the couplets of the qasida that he had recited one month or one month and a half ago in Merv: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I see that their property has been looted and divided among outsiders and wicked people.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Speaking in Arabic] In the middle of the way to Rey and Iraq, the chief of the bandits was reciting this poem from memory. De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel became happy. He stood up and said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Who has composed the poem that you are reciting?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" The chief said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"It belongs to De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel-e Khozayee.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Well, I am De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel-e Khozayee.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" When the chief saw that this person was De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel-e Khozayee, he stood up, held De\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'bel in his arms, kissed him and said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Because of the presence of this person in the caravan, give them back all their property.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" They gave them back all their property, respected them and helped them move towards their destination. Well, this is a small event in history, but it has a great significance. The poem which was composed in praise of Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha was recited and memorized, in Rey and Iraq, by a bandit after the passage of almost one month or one month and a half since the poem was composed. What does this mean? It means that the ground for promoting the position of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household and the auspicious name of Imam Ridha was so prepared that, in a short time, this poem - at that time, poetry was one of the most effective means of communication - spread rapidly by word of mouth until it was picked up by a bandit in the middle of a desert. This indicates the great movement which was launched during the Imamate of Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha in order to promote the school of thought of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household. During this time, the love of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household was shared by all individuals and the hearts of all people felt the presence and existence of the Imams in the Islamic community. The movement of the honorable children of the Imams towards Iran has a positive and meaningful dimension as well as a tragic dimension because of their martyrdom in the middle of the way to Iran. The reason for their movement towards Iran was the request of the people and their acceptance of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household. As you know, when we speak about the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household, we mean the school of thought which was established by the Imams and the Islamic concepts which they introduced. It means a deeply cultural and spiritual achievement and a great ideological feat. This is the movement of Imam Ridha (a.s.). According to the events that you know and have heard about, Ma\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'mun finally feels that he has to martyr Ali ibn Musa ar-Ridha (a.s.) - he had forced that great Imam to leave Medina in order to get close to him and he did not plan to kill Imam Ridha at first - contrary to what he had planned. The divine will and plan to bury a member of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household in this place, which was faraway from Medina, was exercised by the enemies of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (s.w.a.) household. This is divine wisdom and engineering. In order to reach lofty goals, one should carry out his responsibilities in such a way. Long-term outlooks should be adopted with such intention, motives and hopes. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has such a position. The issue is not that a new government was formed after the Revolution and that it has certain supporters and opponents and certain soldiers, guardians and armed forces. The issue is not this. It is beyond such things. The issue of the Islamic Revolution - which is protected by you members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps - is beyond such things. First of all, I would like to say a few things about the experience of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps over these many years. Then, I will raise the point which I had wanted to discuss with you dear brothers. The performance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps over the past 30-plus years has been brilliant. I am not saying this as a ceremonial gesture, like the words of praise which are uttered in many places. This is a fact. The performance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps represents the experience of our nation. That is to say, the depth of the personality and identity of the Iranian nation can be seen in this performance because the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps enters the arena with faith and belief. What kind of arena? The arena of jihad and resistance. It has built the strongest and the most intelligent military commanders. During the war, those who became designers- and as foreigners say \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"strategists\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"- while they were young and below thirty years old and had not received any military education. It was the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps who built them. It was this organization which created such a spiritual environment. It was the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps which founded such an organization on the basis of faith and belief. It has built a number of outstanding personalities whom our nation and our history will never forget. This is the art of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. These are the things which this organization has done in the area of war. Besides these, we can see that it has built and introduced the wisest, the strongest and the best managers in non-military areas. The list of people that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has introduced to the ruling organizations of the Islamic Republic is very long and glorious. This is the performance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. One of the important parts of the performance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is that it lives a revolutionary life and it preserves its revolutionary nature. That is to say, different events have not been able to make this strong and powerful organization deviate from the main and the right path. It has not changed its path just because life and the world have changed. These are the excuses that a number of people make. These people make excuses for compromising their principles and they justify their mistakes. Their excuse is that the world has changed, that everything has changed. Well, certain things do not change. Since the beginning of history until today, the virtue of justice and the tendency of human beings to seek justice have not changed. The fact that oppression is bad and national independence and national dignity are great virtues has not changed. These things and many other principles cannot be changed. The fact that the world has changed cannot give us an excuse to change our behavior, our ideals and our goals. When our ideals change, our path changes too. When our ultimate goal changes, then it is absurd to follow the previous path. In such circumstances, we should move towards achieving a new goal and we should follow a new path. One of the most important strong points of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is its resistance and steadfastness on this enlightened path. These are the points which I wanted to raise about the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Of course, one can say many things about this organization. We have said many things about it. Other people too have said many things. Of course, there are many points which have not been raised about this organization, but right now, I am not going to speak about this issue more than this. What is important is that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is the guardian of the Islamic Revolution. I do not want to say that this guardianship means the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should protect the Islamic Revolution in all arenas including scientific, intellectual, cultural and economic arenas. This is not what I mean. What I want to say is that as a living organism, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should know what it wants to protect and what this Revolution is. It is not necessary for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to engage in protection of the Islamic Revolution in political arenas, but it should gain a proper understanding of political arenas. Some people mix certain issues together. This should be clarified. It is not possible to describe a certain organization as the arm and the guardian of the Revolution, but make it ignore and close its eyes to different political orientations - while some of these orientations behave in a deviant way and become dependent on such and such a group and some of them do not. This is meaningless. Such an organization should know what it wants to protect. If we relegate the challenges that the Revolution is faced with to political and partisan challenges and to confrontation between certain people, this is negligence and carelessness. These are not the challenges that the Revolution is faced with. The main challenge of the Revolution is that it has introduced a new system for humanity. We are not saying that since the beginning, the Revolution addressed the entire humanity. This is not the case. At first, it was the Islamic Revolution of Iran and it only addressed issues which were related to Iran and fundamental changes in this country. However, the language and message of this Revolution could not naturally be confined to the borders of Iran. Through this Revolution, a message which was based on a universal and human truth was conveyed to the entire humanity. Anybody in the world who hears this message feels that they are attached to it. What is this message? If we want to describe the social and human function of this message in a phrase we should say that it is: confrontation with global arrogance. This is the message of the Revolution. Global arrogance is a system which divides the world into the oppressed and the oppressor. The logic of the Revolution, which is based on the logic of Islam, is \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Deal not unjustly, nor shall you be dealt with unjustly.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 2: 279] You should not oppress others and you should not let others oppress you. Who in the world is not happy about and interested in this message? This message is: neither oppress other people nor let them oppress you. This is the exact opposite of the current order in the world which was imposed after the emergence of the new industrial civilization and the prevalence of industrial tools and the culture of domination. Any organization in the world which is dependent on global arrogance is against this message. Those who like to achieve domination over other countries - that is to say, oppressive governments and economic networks which suck at the resources of other nations - are against this message because they are oppressors. The dependent governments which rule over poor or rich nations, which follow global arrogance, which have no power but which follow and obey these arrogant powers are also against this message. Such and such a government which completely implements the policies of arrogant powers such as America or England is naturally against the message of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[D]eal not unjustly, nor shall you be dealt with unjustly.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" The international, multinational or domestic organizations which loot people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s wealth are against this message. Those politicians who promote the three elements of war, poverty and decadence throughout the world are against this message. During the last two, three centuries, many of the wars which were waged were influenced by global arrogance. Global powers either waged a war against a certain country or made two other countries fight one another. They have done this for the sake of their own interests. Poverty too is the result of their policies. They are to blame for the situation that they have created in many poor countries where the people live in poverty and cannot benefit from their natural resources. With their political domination, these arrogant powers have prevented many countries from drawing on their own intellectual resources. You should read the book \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Glances at World History\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" written by Jawaharlal Nehru. In the chapter which is about the interference of the English in India, he says that the kind of industry and science which existed in India was not inferior to the one in Europe, England and the west. Rather it was superior to European science. Well, Nehru was both trustworthy and well-informed. When the English entered India, one of their plans was to prevent the domestic industry of India from developing. Well, India ended up watching tens of millions of people in that era and hundreds of millions of people in future eras suffer from hunger in the real sense of the word. The same is true of Africa. The same is true of many Latin American countries. So, not only does global arrogance wage wars but it also brings about poverty. The great treasure which has been accumulated on the peaks of wealth and which belongs to the richest individuals in the world reminds us of this hadith: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I have not seen any kind of wealth which was accumulated without someone\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s right being violated.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Derasat fi Nahjul Balaghah, page 40] When they loot the oil, agricultural products and tea resources of a country, when they take control of financial sectors of a country in a way that the people have no access to it and when they do not let the people in such a country have control over production, industry and other areas related to national progress, this country and nation becomes poor. So, they are responsible for war, poverty and decadence. They are responsible for the prevalence of decadence and fueling the fire of sexual desire - which is a natural process and which can be ignited in all individuals. Each of these issues requires a long and detailed discussion. Well, global arrogance promotes war, poverty and decadence and it does this by dividing the world into the oppressed and the oppressor. Islam - that is to say, the Islamic Revolution which is based on Islamic concepts - says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Deal not unjustly, nor shall you be dealt with unjustly.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" It rejects all these negative elements. This is the main challenge. This is the root of their enmity. This is why they fight the Islamic Revolution. Other issues are all excuses. We should adopt such an outlook on sanctions, domestic wars, coups d\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'état and other events which have taken place during the recent years such as the nuclear issue. Contrary to what everyone thought, our Revolution achieved victory. Then it formed a government which managed to prevail. This was while everyone in the world thought that the Islamic Republic would be destroyed in six months or in one or two years. Then they gave a generous figure and said that the Islamic Republic would be destroyed in three, four years. Contrary to what they thought, it became stronger on a daily basis and its \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"root is firm and its branches are in heaven, yielding its fruit in every season by the permission of its Lord\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 14: 24-25]. It has turned into a regional power and a country which is influential in major international issues. They are against this. They raise the issue of nuclear weapons. Well, we do not believe in nuclear weapons, not because of such and such people and not because of America and other countries. Rather, we are against nuclear weapons because of our belief. No one should have nuclear weapons. When we say that other countries should not have nuclear weapons, it means that we ourselves should not and will not have them. But, their problem is something else. If certain countries emerge which put an end to their exclusive right, they will have no problems with that. Of course, they do not want to give up their self-proclaimed right, but if this happens, they will not create uproar about it. But when it comes to Islamic Iran and the Islamic Republic, they create uproar. Why do they do this? It is because having such a capability and power is a source of support for the Islamic Republic which is based on \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[D]eal not unjustly, nor shall you be dealt with unjustly.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This is the main challenge. We should know and see this. With such an outlook, we should analyze and interpret the behavior of America, the west and such and such a country and orientation which is dependent on and attached to these powers. This is the Islamic Revolution. In the eyes of these enemies, no one is more hated than our magnanimous Imam who was an outstanding personality and who was like a shining sun. They looked at him with respect, but they also showed enmity towards him from the bottom of their hearts because he resisted and because he was perceptive and wise due to two unique characteristics that he enjoyed: complete wisdom and complete decisiveness. He put up resistance in a determined way and he was like a barrier in the way of their progress and in the way of the harm which they wanted to inflict. This was why they were his enemies. Of course, as I said, they looked at him with respect. They knew about his greatness, but the greater he was, the angrier they became. Today, the same situation exists. They show the same hatred towards anybody who is committed to these main values and principles - that is to say, values which determine the political identity of the Revolution such as \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"[D]eal not unjustly, nor shall you be dealt with unjustly\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". They hate anybody who realizes that the problems the enemies created for the Islamic Republic are based on this outlook and who takes this path by adopting such an outlook and showing such resistance. Of course, the world of diplomacy is the world of smiling. They smile and ask to negotiate with us. They themselves offer to negotiate with us. A few days ago, one of the western politicians was asked, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"You want to negotiate with Iran. This is while Iran is your enemy.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" He said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Well, negotiations should be conducted with the enemy, not other people.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" That is to say, they admit that they are the enemies of Iran and they say this openly. The reason for their enmity is not the behavior of certain people. Rather, the reason is the true nature and identity of the Islamic Revolution. Everything that they say should be analyzed, interpreted and identified from this perspective. We are not against proper and reasonable moves, whether in the world of diplomacy or in the world of domestic policies. I believe in the idea which was referred to as \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"heroic flexibility\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". Flexibility is necessary in many areas. It is very good and there is nothing wrong with it. But the wrestler who is wrestling against his opponent and who shows flexibility for technical reasons should not forget who his opponent is and what he is doing. This is the main condition. Our politicians too should know what they are doing, who they are faced with, who their opponent is and which area the opposing side wants to attack. They should pay attention to this point. Well, you are the guardians of the Islamic Revolution. The meaning of the guardian of the Islamic Revolution is not that you should be present in all arenas and you should have a responsibility in all areas. As it was reflected in the statements of the dear and honorable commander who delivered a speech today, you have a certain and clear responsibility. As he pointed out, it is an appropriate move to take a look on the scope of activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. I agree with what he said. But, first, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps should always know what it wants to do and what it wants to protect. Second, it should preserve its stability and steadfastness which is the main characteristic of the glorious identity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. It should not forget this. Everybody, at all levels, should pay attention to this point. I have repeatedly pointed out that what the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps does is based on spirituality. Spirituality does not contradict scientific progress, systematic organization, new methods and different scientific and practical innovations. We should not think that when we pay attention to spirituality, we should ignore the material aspects of life. This is not the case. During the early Islamic era, the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.), the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) and Muslims employed the best and the cleverest tactics in the arenas of war. In our own times too, revolutionary elements - whether the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Islamic Republic of Iran Army or other revolutionary elements - employed the cleverest tactics and methods during the Sacred Defense Era. Spirituality does not contradict the idea that we should pay attention to the material aspects of our work and the effective organization of things. This spirituality should be preserved because it is the essence of our work. The last point I want to raise is that, in my opinion, the future of the Islamic Revolution is a bright future. This is not a vain hope. I am saying this because we have taken everything into consideration. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is experience. Well, during the early years of the Revolution, we were in a terrible condition because of our lack of manpower, lack of material resources, lack of weapons, lack of executive experience and different other shortcomings. But, where are we now? Today, we benefit from a wealth of manpower, material resources, scientific and political progress and international dignity. Where were we 30-plus years ago and where are we now? All of our moves during the past 35 years were made while we were under pressure from the opposing side. That is to say, the wind was blowing in the opposite direction, but we managed to move forward. On the path that we were taking, there were fierce and adverse winds, but we managed to move forward. Is this experience not good? Is it not enough? Hostile orientations cannot confuse or stop a nation who is united, determined and religious and who knows what is wants to do. On the issue of the regional events which recently took place in the world of Islam, wherever Muslims suffered a loss, it was because they did not know what they should do. In these events, there was not a clear guideline and therefore such things happened. Of course, it will not remain like this. The event which happened in regional and Islamic countries - that is to say, Islamic Awakening - is an unprecedented phenomenon and it will play its part in these events. So, our experience is the first reason. Another reason is that we are moving forward with rationality and scientific precision. Our opposing side suffers from increasing weaknesses and internal contradictions because of the wrong way the infrastructures of this civilization are built. They are retreating. Of course, they do not need to admit that they are retreating and it is not necessary to visibly and clearly see this in their statements. This is the truth of the matter. When a people move things forward with precision and by finding the right way, they will definitely achieve the desired results. We have said that we should promote the idea of building the Islamic Republic from the inside. We have said that knowledge should develop and spread. We have said that domestic production should be the essence of our work. We have said that we should adopt a serious outlook on the issue of optimism about the domestic capabilities of the country. We have said that talents should develop and blossom. These things are the essence of our work. When a country moves forward by relying on its domestic capabilities, its manpower, its knowledge, its faith and its unity, it will certainly achieve the desired results. Therefore, we have no doubts that we have a bright future ahead of us. Whether this future arrives sooner or later depends on you and I. If laziness, negligence, selfishness, materialism and attachment to superficial things divert our attention and if we do something to cause our downfall - whether individual downfall or social downfall - then this future will be achieved later than expected. But it will definitely be achieved and this is because of the efforts and sacrifices which were made. Thankfully, in the arena of sacrifices too, you have been very active. You have put in a good performance and made brilliant moves in this arena. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, it will be the same in the future. I hope that God will make you benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). I hope that He will make you and us the guardians of Islam and the Islamic Revolution in the real sense of the word. I hope that He will associate the pure souls of our martyrs and the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam with His saints and with the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.). Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on July 23, 2014 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with students. The meeting was held on the eve of Quds Day. 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, Muhammad, and upon his immaculate household I thank Allah the Exalted because at this point in time our country is witness to a group of young, religious, enthusiastic, motivated, reasonable and thoughtful people. Today, our meeting was a very good meeting. This matter has two parts: one is related to the details of the statements that the friends madew in this meeting. Well, good and valuable statements were made. It is possible that this humble person agrees or disagrees with these statements. The issue of content is one part of the issue. In my opinion, the part that is important and praiseworthy is the enthusiastic and inquiring spirit of students. This showed itself in the statements of the students who delivered a speech. This is important. It is possible that some of the requests that these students made are reasonable and that some are not reasonable, achievable and acceptable. But the essence of this inquiring spirit and this motivation for wanting, thinking, suggesting and criticizing is perfect. Of course, one should observe morality, piety and religious obligations in all affairs. We should avoid unfair statements. We should avoid baseless and unsubstantiated statements. These points are important in their own respect, but what is of primary importance is that our young students should be inquiring, motivated, enthusiastic, present on the scene and attentive to the issues of the country. Well, let us spend a few minutes discussing some of the issues that the friends raised in the meeting. The first issue is what I just said. I became happy with the spirit that exists in our young students - most of whom are representatives of student groups - and I thank God because one can feel that they enjoy enthusiasm, new ideas, motivation and an inquiring spirit. I hope that by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, this spirit remains in you until you will be in charge of affairs because in the future, you will be officials in charge of affairs and you will be the managers of the country. I hope that by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, this spirit and this critical, inquiring, responsible and dutiful outlook remains in you. If this happens, the country will be saved. The friends in the meeting raised a number of issues which, in my opinion, are noteworthy and important. The issue of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"knowledge for the sake of knowledge without paying attention to its benefits for the country\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" - which was raised by a number of friends - is completely correct and we have repeatedly brought it up as well. Today, scientific work and endeavor in the country and in our universities and research centers is a lively, successful and praiseworthy endeavor. However, everyone should pay attention that knowledge is an introduction to action. Valuable knowledge is the kind of knowledge that helps the country and that is useful for solving its problems. Mere publication of our articles in, say, ISI journals and other such journals - even if they become a reference point - is not an ideal although it is praiseworthy in terms of knowledge. Scientific work should address the needs of the country. This was mentioned by the friends in this meeting as well and I would like to stress it. The officials and high-ranking managers in charge of higher education are present in this meeting. I hope that by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, they pay attention to this point. There was another point in the statements of the friends which was correct. I too would like to place emphasis on it. This point is the relationship between methods of economic management and the culture of society. The idea that we brought up the issue of cultural invasion in the 1370s while the invasion was economic is completely correct. We do not reject this, but our outlook on knowledge as an original and vital issue should receive everyone\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s attention at any level. At that time too, certain complaints were made about the methods of economic management. However, what was important and what is important today is our outlook on cultural orientations. Of course, we agree that the methods of economic management have certain effects on culture, but the opposite is true as well. An issue that was discussed as a peripheral issue - but that is not peripheral to me and that is an important issue - is the issue of youth\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s marriage [students laugh and make noises indicating support]. We knew that you would have such a reaction to this issue. The issue of youth\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s marriage is an important issue. I fear that this indifferent outlook towards the issue of marriage - unfortunately, this indifferent outlook exists more or less today - will have terrible consequences for the future of the country. You brought up the issue of military service, but in my opinion, the issue of military service is not a difficult issue. It is possible to think about and work on this issue. The solution for the problem of military service as an obstacle in the way of marriage is not that we shorten the term. We can adopt other methods for this problem, but it remains an issue. Motivation for marriage should turn into a practical measure. That is to say, marriage should be promoted. Allah the Exalted says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"If they are in poverty, Allah will give them means out of His grace\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 24: 32]. This is a divine promise. We should trust this promise as we trust other divine promises. Marriage and starting a family has not made and will not make individuals experience hard living conditions. This means that one does not necessarily go through rough times because of marriage- on the contrary- marriage may solve the problems of individuals. The academic environment is a good and appropriate environment for preparing the ground for marriage. In my opinion, youth themselves, their families and officials in charge of universities should think about and make a decision about the issue of youth\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s marriage. We should not allow the age of marriage - which has unfortunately gone up today, particularly among women - to continue going up. There are certain wrong notions and traditions that are highly problematic. These wrong traditions are an obstacle in the way of promoting marriage among youth. Therefore, they should be practically broken. In my opinion, you - who are young, inquiring and enthusiastic and you who suggest breaking many habits and traditions - you should break the wrong traditions that exist on the issue of marriage. This is another issue that I deem necessary to stress. Of course, it was common in the past for a number of well-intentioned matchmakers and religious individuals to act as intermediaries and to introduce eligible women and men to one another. In this way, they helped them get married. Such tasks should be carried out. There should really be a movement in society in this regard. Another point that was witnessed in the statements of the friends in the meeting - this point also existed in the questions that students asked me indirectly - is about the compatibility between the political positions of students or student groups, and the viewpoints of the Leadership. Before this meeting, students had been asked: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"What would you say if you were present in this meeting?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" We have received certain answers. They brought us a book that contained 100 - or even more - pages. This book is about the opinions of students. I saw in the book that this question has been posed. And in this meeting, it was posed in a different way. In my opinion, this is not a very good and reasonable question. It is not the case that all the positions that people from different social backgrounds - including students who are among the leading groups among the people - adopt should be a copy of the viewpoints that the Leadership puts forward. This is not the case. As Muslims and as religious and thoughtful individuals, you should take a careful look in order to perceive your responsibilities and to make your own analyses. I will expand on this later on. You should adopt a position and express your viewpoints about individuals, orientations, policies and governments. It is not the case that you should wait and see what position the Leadership adopts about such and such an individual, movement, measure and policy so that you adopt your position on the basis of this position. This will lock affairs up. The Leadership has certain responsibilities. If Allah the Exalted helps him and bestows His blessings on him, he will carry them out. You too have certain responsibilities. You should look at the scene and make your own decisions. However, the standard should be piety. The standard should be piety. Piety means exercising self-restraint in supporting or opposing someone and in criticizing or praising someone. You should observe piety. If it is observed, then both criticizing, and supporting and praising people is good no matter if it is an individual, an administration, a political orientation or a political event that you criticize or support. There is nothing wrong with this criticism and support. Of course, if this humble person expresses his viewpoint about an issue, it is possible that it influences the decision of those who have trust in him and who accept this viewpoint. However, this does not mean that individuals should be absolved of responsibilities and opinions. This is not what I mean. Everyone should take a look and carry out their responsibility. As I said, the standard is that piety should be observed. That is to say, if we make a criticism, if we support someone, if we approve of a movement and a policy or if we reject it, this should really be done out of a sense of responsibility and without engaging our personal interests and temptations. This is another point. One of the friends in the meeting said that students have lost sleep over a certain issue. If concerns make students be so sensitive, this is very good. Of course, we hope that you get enough sleep and go to sleep on time! The expression \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I have lost sleep over something\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" is a very good expression. If this is really the case, we become very happy. This feeling of worry and anxiety about different issues makes you look at issues with open eyes. As for what I have written down to discuss, it has two, three parts and I will discuss each part by paying attention to our time. First of all, we should consider students to be among those individuals who manifest the vigilant conscience of a people and a country. Of course, this is the truth of the matter. If students launch a movement in a society and if they make a move and a request, this shows the general orientation of that society. This is the case all over the world. Students are, in fact, among those groups of people who show the vigilant conscience and orientation of a nation. Therefore, students should pay attention to issues in a very wise way. They should know their conditions and their environment. They should know threats, opportunities, enemies and enmities. Of course, we do not expect students to forget about their lessons and different affairs in order to engage in political work only. This is not what we expect them to do. Rather, we expect them to look at issues with open eyes, with a clear outlook, with a sense of responsibility and with a high motivation. This is our expectation of students. Some of the issues that we are faced with today are issues related to our surrounding environment and to the region. Regional issues are not separate from the issues of the country. Today, one important and fundamental issue is the issue of Palestine and Gaza. Well, the issue of Gaza and the disasters that have befallen the people of Gaza today and that have a long history should receive our attention from two perspectives: one perspective is that this shows the truth of the Zionist regime. This is the Zionist regime. In my opinion, this is not the important part of the issue. The Zionist regime is a regime that has set itself the goal of showing blatant violence since the beginning of its illegitimate birth. They do not even deny this violence. They have set themselves the goal of clenching an iron fist. They say this everywhere and they are proud of it. This is their policy. Since the year 1948 - when this fake regime came into being officially - until today, they have been pursuing this policy. It is 66 years now that they have been pursuing this policy. Of course, it had committed many crimes in Palestine even before it was officially recognized and even before colonialists imposed it on the world and on the region. But during these 66 years, they did whatever they could as a government and as a political system. They committed any violent act that one can think a government can do to a people. And they have no scruples whatsoever. This is the truth of the Zionist regime. There is no cure for this except the annihilation of this regime. Annihilating the Zionist regime does not at all mean massacring the Jewish people in the region. The logical statement that our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) made - that Israel should be annihilated - is based on a human principle. We presented to the world the practical solution for this and no one could criticize it in a reasonable way. We said that a poll and a referendum should be conducted so that the people who live in, come from and belong to this region determine who should rule over it. We said that the people should resolve this issue. This is the meaning of annihilating the Zionist regime. This is the solution. This is a solution that is understandable and favored by today\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s standards of logic in the world. This is a practical solution. We even put forward a proposal to the United Nations and a number of international organizations in charge of such affairs. And this proposal was discussed by them. There is no cure for the problem that this savage and wolfish regime - whose policy is to behave towards people with iron fists, cruelty and savagery and that does not care about and deny killing people and children, attacking different regions and causing destruction - has created except its destruction and annihilation. If, by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, that day comes and if it is annihilated, then so much the better. But what is the cure as long as this fake regime survives? The cure is decisive and militant resistance against this regime. The Palestinians should display power in the face of the Zionist regime. No one should think that if it had not been for the missiles of Gaza, the Zionist regime would have stopped their incursions. This is not the case. Notice what they are doing in the West Bank. This is while there is no missile, weapon and gun in the West Bank. The only weapon that the people have there is stones. Notice what the Zionist regime is doing there. It is doing whatever it can. It destroys people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s homes, it destroys their gardens, it destroys their lives and it humiliates and belittles them. If it is necessary, it closes water on them and it blacks out electricity. The Zionists could not tolerate someone like Yasser Arafat who compromised with them. They besieged, humiliated, poisoned and destroyed him. It is not the case that if we do not display power in the face of the Zionists, they will tolerate and show mercy to people and observe their rights. This is not the case at all. The only cure that exists before the Zionist regime is annihilated is that the Palestinians manage to act in a powerful way. If they act in a powerful way, it is possible that the other side - which is this wolfish and violent regime - will retreat, as they are looking for a truce with all their power. This means that they have become desperate. They kill people and children and they show cruelty in an excessive way. But they are desperate as well. They are in dire straits and this is why they are after a truce. Therefore, we believe that the West Bank should become armed like Gaza. It is necessary to show power. Those people who are interested in the fate of Palestine should do whatever they can. This is what should be done: the people in the West Bank should become armed as well. The only thing that can alleviate the Palestinians\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' pains is to show power. Otherwise, if we act in a tame, subservient and obedient way, nothing that is to the advantage of the Palestinians will be done and the violence that this violent, malevolent and wolfish creature is showing will not decrease. Today, the responsibility of people all over the world is political support. There is no doubt about this. As you can see, there are popular movements in Islamic and even non-Islamic countries. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, the world will witness the loud and great voice of the people of Iran on Quds Day. God willing, on Quds Day, the people of Iran will show how motivated they are about Palestine. Of course, some people wanted to show the opposite of this with the slogan \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"neither Gaza nor Lebanon\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". They are wrong. The people of Iran believe in defending the oppressed: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Be an enemy of the oppressor and helper of the oppressed\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 47]. This is what the people of Iran want and by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, it will be shown. This is one perspective about the issue of Gaza. This is important and great emphasis should be placed on it. Today, western imperialist powers - that is to say, a few large, rich and powerful western powers which are headed by America and malevolent England behind it - have stood firm in order to defend this usurping, oppressive and cold-hearted regime. This is a very important issue. They are supporting it openly. What are they supporting? They are supporting a creator of disasters and no ordinary and fair-minded person can accept any indifference towards these crimes. A small area and a piece of land named Gaza is being attacked by airplanes, missiles, armies and tanks. They have used all kinds of munitions on these people. This is really an astonishing event. So many children are being killed, so many houses are being destroyed and people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s lives are being accompanied by so much bitterness, cruelty and torture. This is while these so-called gentlemen are supporting it. With what reason do they support this regime? They support it with the stupid reason that the President of America gives. He says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Israel has the right to ensure its own security\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". Well, do the Palestinians not have the right to ensure their security? Is it acceptable for a government to threaten the lives of a people who have been cruelly besieged by it and who show no reaction? Does anyone accept this? How will history judge this reason? The officials of these arrogant countries do not understand what they are doing - with these kinds of support - to their dignity and the dignity of their countries and regimes in history. They stand up with complete shamelessness and say that they support Israel. They do not at all point to the events that are happening in the region and to the disasters that this destructive and dangerous element is creating. This shows that today, the logic of liberal democracy - the logic and the intellectual system on the basis of which western countries are ruled and controlled - does not benefit from the slightest moral value. There is not any moral value and humane feeling in it. In fact, they are disgracing themselves. They are disgracing themselves in the face of the critical look of nations throughout the world, whether those who live in the present time or those who will live in the future. We should preserve this as an important experience for ourselves and we should know America. This is liberal democracy. This will and should influence our actions, our judgment and our behavior. This is the camp - that is to say, the government of the United States of America and its followers - that has stood up against the Islamic Republic today and that has challenged the Islamic Republic in different events. This is the truth about them. The truth about them is this: not only do they not show any sensitivity about the massacre of human beings and defenseless people but they also defend and support oppressors and perpetrators of appalling and great crimes - such as what is happening in Gaza today. This should be a standard for us. The people of Iran, our intellectual apparatus, our students and our broad-minded personalities should not forget this. This is America. This is western power and its intellectual basis - which is liberal democracy. Today, it is this intellectual basis that is confronting the Islamic system. Today, the politicians who are most indifferent to human rights are those who are in charge of managing these countries. They do not at all believe in human beings, human rights and human principles. Their behavior in Gaza and other such events is proving this. They do not at all believe in human rights, human dignity and respect, people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s votes and anything else. The only thing that they believe in is money and bullying. There is no other reason for their behavior. In my opinion, whatever comes out of their mouths about the issue of freedom, human rights and other such things is a travesty of freedom and human rights. Well, we are not saying this as a piece of advice to America, the President of America and American politicians. It is clear [that they do not listen]. We are saying this for ourselves so that when we want to carry out an analysis, make a judgment and adopt a measure, we understand who we are dealing with and who the people we are faced with are. We are saying this so that we know what exists at the bottom of their thoughts. We should determine our responsibilities. What is important is that we should have a correct analysis of the west\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s behavior in the present time. Their confrontation with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic movement and Awakening is part of their major polices. The major policy of global arrogance is enslaving nations and dominating their fate without paying the least attention to their interests and requests. This is the major policy of arrogance and we should pay attention to it. Anti-American, anti-western and anti-arrogance slogans in our country reflect this truth. Some people should not immediately jump to the conclusion that a biased or completely unreasonable task is being carried out as soon as they hear an anti-western or anti-American slogan. They should not think like this because this is not the case. This anti-western and anti-American outlook in the Islamic Revolution is based on a correct experience, outlook and calculation. On that day, I said to the executive officials and decision-makers of the country that the main goal of the enemy is to create disruption in our calculation system. When one\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s calculation system is disrupted, it produces wrong outputs out of correct inputs. That is to say, experiences will no longer be useful to it. When our calculation system does not function properly and correctly and when calculation is not carried out in the right way, experiences will no longer be beneficial. Notice how westerners and the leaders of the current western civilization have treated our country during the past 80, 90, 100 years. We have a long experience of receiving blows from the west. There are some people in the country - some western-oriented, westernized and westoxicated individuals - who witness these experiences in front of their eyes, but who do not learn a lesson from them. Well, they saw that westerners brought Reza Khan to power and helped him dominate the country. As a result of this, a bizarre Reza Khani dictatorship was established in the country by the English. They helped a thuggish and unreasonable person who was completely indifferent to the principles of the country. Afterwards during the 1320s, the same powers came and occupied Iran. In fact, they divided it among themselves in one sense. The same powers looted our oil and imposed cruel contracts on this country. The same powers launched the coup d\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'état of the 28th of Mordad and overthrew and destroyed a national government which originated from the votes of the people despite all its flaws. The same powers made our national oil movement deviate from its path and consequently, they once more dominated our natural and material sources. The same powers established Mohammad Reza\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s dictatorship in the country for a long time and they supported it with all their power. During the 30-plus-year rule of Mohammad Reza over the country, our material and spiritual sources of wealth were looted. They created a disastrous situation for our people. They kept them in poverty and ignorance, they promoted public corruption in all bases of the country and they truly destroyed the culture of the country, the people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s religion and everything. This was done with the support of the same western governments. They created as many obstacles as they could during their confrontation with the Iranian peoples\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' Revolution and great movement. They supported and defended Saddam Hussein although they did not approve of him. Because Saddam was against the Islamic Republic, they helped him as much as they could. Westerners, England, America and France provided him with chemical bombs and different kinds of military weapons. Well, these are our experiences. Westoxicated intellectuals do not benefit from these experiences and they do not analyze them correctly because their calculation system has been disrupted. One of the most important services of the Islamic Revolution was reviving true logic and reason in the country. The fact that you young students analyze regional issues, look at different events with complete precision, identify the enemy, analyze regional events and stand firm shows the reasonable life of a country. It was the Revolution that offered this to us, but today, some people still want to go back to prior conditions. The same westernized orientations - the ones that love the west, that humiliate our people and our achievements and that humiliate national culture and identity to the advantage of western powers - want the same powers to come again and to define and introduce standards for the affairs, culture and orientation of the country. Those who are working against the Islamic Republic under the flag of the bloody enemies of the people of Iran are people who are after dominating the same ignorance - calculational ignorance - and the same satanic temptation that once existed opposed to the rationality of this country. I advise the dear students to strengthen their studies - both on the issue of religious and political areas - as well their scientific work. You should try to strengthen your power of analysis. Of course, when I take a look at students\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' statements today, I witness good and outstanding points. This really requires our gratitude. It really requires that we thank God, but you should work on this as much as you can. Today, we did not have the time to discuss different issues of the country. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, we will discuss these issues in the other meetings that we will hold with students or other groups of people. Students should provide people with analyses on different issues of the country including social, economic and political issues. The people should be able to benefit from students\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' analyses. Students\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' power of analysis should be like this. This depends on studying. Therefore, students should study. It should not be the case that students\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' outlook is a purely emotional one. Your intellectual products should not only be based on tabloid issues. You should deeply study, think about and discuss issues. Many of the statements that the friends in this meeting discussed are statements that should be resolved in student meetings and in free discussions. I have written this down. The free debates that we brought up and that requires free discussions in academic environments can resolve and clarify many of the issues that the friends discussed in this meeting. Students should be able to find the pros and cons of every issue in their student discussions. Another point that I want to discuss is that competitive discourse in academic environments is a good thing provided that it is accompanied by tolerating the opposing views. One should not become surprised, angry and intimidated at the existence of opponents. None of these three feelings is acceptable in the face of opponents. If we become surprised at the existence of opponents, this means that we are overconfident about ourselves. This is the reason why we are surprised when someone is opposed to us, but there is no room for surprise. Well, every individual, every thought, every movement and every orientation has certain opponents. And it is not the case that we think those opponents are necessarily wrong. This is not the case. There are certain weak points and these weak points make some people oppose us. Therefore, the existence of opponents should not make us surprised, as it should not provoke our anger. We should not become angry at their opposition. Opposition is understandable and acceptable. We should not be intimidated either. Being afraid of the existence of opponents shows that we are not confident about the power and strength of our position. This should not be the case. We have a reason. We should strengthen and build up the bases of our reason and then we should enter the arena of competitive discourse and engage in discussion. The spirit of students should be like this. Therefore, academic environments should continue working with the same spirit that they thankfully enjoy today. They should tolerate one another, they should speak to one another, they should discuss different issues with one another and they should strengthen the bases. In practical areas, the basis of their work should be piety and in intellectual areas, the basis of their work should be observing Islamic limits, knowing the enemy and knowing the methods that he uses for showing his enmity. I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows success on all of you and preserves you youth for furthering the goals of the Revolution. I hope that He increases your achievements on a daily basis. I hope that by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, you youth create a good future for your Revolution and for your country. Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings.

Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Speech to Members of Ahlul Bayt World Assembly and Islamic Radio and Television Uni Print 17/08/2015 The following is the full text of the speech delivered on August 17, 2015 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with the participants of Ahlul Bayt World Assembly and the members of Islamic Radio and Television Union. 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. I would like to welcome the honorable participants and the dear brothers and sisters, the brothers and sisters from Ahlul Bayt World Assembly, the brothers and sisters from the Islamic Radio and Television Union and the honorable families of martyrs who are present in the meeting. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow His blessings on all of you. I would like to raise a few points about the Ahlul Bayt World Assembly and the Islamic Radio and Television Union. As for the Ahlul Bayt World Assembly, its significance originates from the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) household. Allah the Exalted says something - in a very explicit manner - about the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s household (a.s.) in the Holy Quran: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, you members of the Family, and to make you pure and immaculate\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 33: 33]. This description has been used for few groups of people in the Holy Quran. The Ahlul Bayt\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s understanding and knowledge lies in their divine purity. Well, this purity has many dimensions. If a group of people associate themselves with the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s household (a.s.), they should observe certain criteria. This is what we want to say: these groups should observe certain criteria. The efforts of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s household (greetings be upon them) revolved around these pivots- first, reviving the original teachings of Islam. They wanted to keep Islamic principles alive. Oppressive governments and taghuts always tried to destroy or change and distort Islamic teachings. One of the most important moves of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s household was to resist this attempt. They wanted to preserve and revive Islamic teachings. This was one of their tasks. Another task that the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s household (greetings be upon them) did was to implement divine laws. They did so whether during the time when they ruled or during the time when they were removed from government. Their efforts were focused on implementing divine laws in society. This was another task. Another task that they carried out was to engage in jihad in the way of God. You read in the ziarat of the Imams, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I testify that you strove [jihad] in the way of God, such a striving is due to him.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This means that they did not show any negligence in fighting in the way of God. They engaged in jihad in the way of God with all their power and capability. This was another task. An important part of this jihad - which is a separate chapter in itself - was fighting against oppression and oppressors. The lives of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s household (a.s.) were imbued with fighting against oppression and oppressors. The reason behind all those pressures and poisoning attempts and all that martyrdom was this- they fought against oppression and oppressors. This is the life of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s household. Now, we want to be their followers. Therefore, we should observe these things. These things should be observed. We should promote Islamic teachings. We should consider implementing divine laws as one of our goals. We should engage in jihad in the way of God with all our power. We should fight against oppressors. We should fight against and confront oppressors. This is our responsibility. Well, jihad is not confined to a military war. Jihad includes all kinds of fighting, ranging from cultural to political and economic fighting. All these kinds of fighting are included in jihad. Our minds should not only switch to a military war. Sometimes, it is possible that a military war breaks out, but jihad is not only this. In our opinion, today, the manifestation of jihad for us Muslims and followers of the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s household is fighting against the plots of arrogance in this Islamic region. Today, this is the greatest form of jihad. We should fight against the plots of arrogance. First, we should identify these plots and study the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s thoughts so that we know what he is going to do. After that, we should plan on how we want to fight against his goals. And this is not confined to defense. Fighting includes both defense and offense. Sometimes, it is necessary for us to adopt a defensive position and sometimes, it is necessary to adopt an offensive position. In both cases, the goal is fighting against the plans of arrogance - which is the main enemy - in the region. This fighting should take place in the entire Islamic region - particularly in this region which is West Asia. The Europeans insist on referring to this region as the Middle East region. In other words, they locate east on the basis of Europe. To them, a region is Far East, another is Middle East and another region is Near East. Because of the Europeans\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' arrogance, this region has been called, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the Middle East\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" from the beginning. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The Middle East\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" is a wrong name. This is West Asia. This is Asia - a large continent - and we are in West Asia. This region is a very sensitive region. It is a very important region in terms of strategy, military power, important underground resources and connection between three continents - Asia, Europe and Africa. It is an important region for which they have certain plans. We should see what these plans are and then we should confront them. This is jihad. The Holy Quran says to us, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And strive hard in the way of Allah, such a striving is due to Him\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 22: 78]. Today, this is jihad in the way of God. Hatching plots against the world of Islam and this region in particular is not a new development. Since many years ago - since 100 years ago: since World War I until today - this region has been exposed to many pressures by arrogant powers. One day, it was England, one day it was America and one day it was France. It is 100 years or more now that arrogant powers have been pursuing their goals here. However, these pressures, plans and plots have been reinforced since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. This is because the victory of Islam in an important, great and sensitive country like Iran was confusing for arrogance. In the beginning, they lost the power to analyze events. We used to pursue events and we were witness to this. In the beginning, they were confused. Later on, when they collected themselves, they began to exert pressure and the pivot of this pressure was the Islamic Republic of Iran. First, they focused their efforts on preventing this experience from being repeated in other countries. They were after this. This was why they thought of increasing pressures on Iran. It is 35 years now that we have gotten used to the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s pressures. The people of Iran have gotten used to pressures. It is 35 years now that we have been facing threats, sanctions, security pressures, different political plots and all kinds of pressures. This began with the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. However, after the emergence of Islamic Awakening - that began four, five years ago in North African countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and other African countries - the enemies increased their pressures. That is to say, the enemy became anxious and uneasy in the real sense of the word. They adopted many measures that are continuing in the present time. Of course, they think that they have suppressed Islamic Awakening, but this humble person believes that Islamic Awakening is not suppressible. Although they have adopted some measures, this movement exists and it will find its true position sooner or later. In any case, they have increased their efforts in the recent years. They have adopted many measures and they have brought new elements into the equation. The enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s plans are based on two things. First, I will tell you that when we say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" we do not refer to an imaginary and fictional creature. By \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" we mean global arrogance and arrogant powers: powers whose existence depends on dominating others, interfering in their affairs and possessing their financial and vital resources. These are arrogant powers or in other words, the leaders of global arrogance. We have a term in our political literature which is global arrogance. It means the division of the world into \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the oppressor\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" and \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the oppressed\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". This is global arrogance. Those who are the leaders of this system are enemies. If we want to give an example of who this enemy is in the outside world, we should refer to the regime of the United States of America. This regime is the epitome of global arrogance. Of course, others are part of global arrogance as well, but the clearest and the most obvious example is the regime of the United States of America. It knows nothing about human morality and it is not ashamed of committing any crime - of any nature. It covers these crimes, pressures and violent acts behind its smiles and its good and beautiful words. The manifestation of global arrogance is this regime. Therefore, when we say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", it means this. This enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s plan in the region is mainly based on two things. Of course, it has many branches, but these are the main two. One is creating discord and the second it exerting influence. This is the basis of the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s plan in the region. They want to create discord between governments and - after that - between nations which is more dangerous than discord between governments. They want to make peoples bear grudge against each other and establish biased groups with different names. One day, it was \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"pan-Iranism\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"pan-Arabism\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"pan-Turkism\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" and other such orientations and today, it is the issue of Shia and Sunni, takfirism and other such things. They create discord with anything they can. This is only item of their measures and they are working on it in a very serious way. Of course, the English were the first experts of this measure. They have expertise in creating religious discord. The Americans have learned this from them and they are working on it today with all their power. All the takfiri groups that you see are their handicraft. Of course, we have been saying this for several years, but some people had doubts. Today, the Americans themselves are acknowledging this. They are acknowledging that it was they who created DAESH, al-Nusra Front and other takfiri groups. A bunch of simple-minded - although sincere - Muslims were deceived by them. This is the important point. What is very instructive to us and what we should pay attention to is that sometimes well-intentioned individuals work inside the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s plan because of lack of vigilance. This has happened. One clear example of this is the issue of Syria. When taghuti governments were overthrown in Tunisia and Egypt with Islamic slogans, all of a sudden the Americans and the Zionists decided to use this formula for destroying resistant governments and countries. Therefore, they turned to Syria and as a result, a group of simple-minded and naïve individuals became the target of this plan. They made Syria reach the current situation. It is four, five years now that Syria has been experiencing this tumultuous situation and it is not clear when it will come to an end. This was what the enemy did and simple-minded individuals were incorporated in this plan. They filled in the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s puzzle. This happens in many cases. It was they who created takfiri groups. It was they who created thuggish and violent groups and set them on the Islamic Ummah. They pretend that this is a denominational war. I will tell you that the conflicts that they are trying to label as denominational conflicts in Iraq, Syria and other countries are not denominational at all. They are of a political nature. The war in Yemen is a political war, not a religious one. They falsely claim that the issue is about Shia and Sunni while this is not the case. Some of those people who are losing their children, women, infants and their hospitals and schools in Yemen under the bombardment of the Saudis are Shafi\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'i and some of them are Zaidi . So, the issue is not about Shia and Sunni. The conflict is a political conflict, the conflict between policies. Today, they are creating such a situation in the region. It was they who created discord. We should try to eliminate these differences and conflicts. We have said to everyone in an outspoken way that we extend the hand of friendship to all regional and Muslim governments. We have no problems with Muslim governments. Of course in the present time, our relations with many of our neighbors are already friendly and brotherly. The countries to the north, south, east and west of the Islamic Republic of Iran have good relations with us. Of course, some countries - near and far away - have certain differences with us. They behave in an obstinate way and show malevolence. This exists as well, but our principle is based on establishing good relations with neighboring countries, governments and - particularly - peoples. Our country has very good relations with peoples. Of course, we believe that we should be committed to principles. We say that principles should be preserved. It was with commitment to principles that our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) managed to achieve victory, preserve the Revolution and give stability to the Islamic Republic. He was committed to principles. One of these principles is \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"They are strong against unbelievers, compassionate amongst each other\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 48: 29]. This is one of the principles. We do not make peace with our enemies - with arrogance - and we do not show enmity towards our Muslim brothers, rather we behave in a friendly and brotherly manner towards them because we believe that we should be \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"strong against unbelievers, compassionate amongst each other.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This is the lesson of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.). This is the clear line of the Islamic Republic. In supporting the oppressed, we do not look, have not looked and will not look at the other side\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s religion and denomination. This is our magnanimous Imam\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (r.a.) guideline. Imam behaved towards Shia resistance in Lebanon in the same way that he behaved towards Sunni resistance in Palestine. He behaved towards them without any difference. We supported our brothers in Lebanon in the same way that we supported our brothers in Gaza without any difference. The former were Sunnis and the latter were Shias. The main issue for us is defending Islamic identity and supporting the oppressed. The main issue for us is the issue of Palestine which is the main issue for Muslims in the present time. This is the main issue for us. We behave in the same way towards our enemies. Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) fought against Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who was apparently a Shia. Likewise, he fought against Saddam Hussein who was apparently a Sunni. Of course, the former was not a true Shia and the latter was not a true Sunni either. Both of them were separate from Islam, but the former was apparently a Shia and the latter was apparently a Sunni. Imam (r.a.) fought against them in the same way. Therefore, the issue for us is not the issue of Sunni, Shia, denominational bias and other such things. The issue is the issue of Islam\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s principles: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Be an enemy of the oppressor and helper of the oppressed\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 47]. This is Islam\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s command. This is our path. This is our line. Intensifying discord in the world of Islam is forbidden. We are opposed to the behavior of some Shia groups, as it leads to discord. We have said outspokenly that we are opposed to insulting the holy beliefs of Sunnis. Some people from both sides intensify and fuel the fire of enmities. Many of them have good intentions, but they do not have foresight. Foresight is necessary. We should see what the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s plan is. The enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s first plan is creating discord and his second plan is exerting influence. They want to have decade-long influence in Islamic and regional countries. Today in the region, America does not enjoy the reputation that it did in the past and therefore, it wants to retrieve it. They have the same intention in our country. They have the same intention in Iran. They thought that they could use the nuclear negotiations to exert influence inside our country. Now, the fate of this nuclear agreement is not clear either in Iran or in America. It is not clear whether it will be approved or not in both countries. They wanted to use it as a means to exert influence in our country, but we blocked their path and we will definitely block their path in the future as well [audience chant \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Allahu Akbar\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"]. We will not allow the Americans to have economic or political influence in our country, nor will we allow them to have a political presence and cultural influence in our country. We will confront them with all our power which is thankfully great in the present time. The same is true of the region. In the region too, they want to exert influence, have an excuse to show their presence and pursue their goals. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor and grace, we will do our best to prevent this. Our policies in the region are the exact opposite of the Americans. The territorial integrity of regional countries is very important to us. The territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria is very important to us. On the contrary, they are after dismembering these countries. I have said before that the Americans are after dismembering Iraq, but some people expressed surprise. Recently, the Americans themselves have acknowledged that they are after dismembering Iraq. They want to dismembering Iraq. If they can, they want to dismember Syria as well. Their purpose of doing this is to create small and obedient countries, but by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor and grace, this will not happen [audience chant \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Allahu Akbar\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"]. We will defend the Resistance in the region. We will defend the Palestinian Resistance which is one of the most prominent chapters in the history of the Islamic Ummah throughout these years. We will defend this group. We will support anyone who fights against Israel, who condemns the Zionist regime and who approves of the Palestinian Resistance. We will offer all kinds of support, within the scope of our capabilities, to such people. We will offer all kinds of possible support to anyone who confronts the Zionist regime. We will support the Resistance. We will support the territorial integrity of countries. We will support all those individuals who resist the divisive policies of America. We confront all those people who create discord. We do not approve of the kind of Shia whose headquarters are in London [audience chant \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Allahu Akbar\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"] because it is not the kind of Shia that the Holy Prophet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s household (greetings be upon them) promoted. The kind of Shia that is based on creating discord and on clearing the road for the presence of the enemies of Islam is not real Shia, rather it is deviation. Shia is the epitome of original Islam and the Holy Quran. We will support all those people who help unity and we will oppose all those who act against unity. We will support all the oppressed. We will not leave the arena just because they say that we interfered in the affairs of Bahrain and other countries. We did not interfere at all, but we will support them. We feel for the oppressed people of Bahrain and Yemen. We pray for them and we will offer any kind of help we can. Today, the people of Yemen are really oppressed. They are destroying a country just because of some arrogant and political polices which are pursued in a foolish manner. They could have pursued political goals in a different manner, but they are pursuing them foolishly. The events of Yemen and many other events in the world of Islam - in Pakistan, Afghanistan and other such countries - are really painful for us. And these events are too many and they are really painful. The world of Islam should cure such problems with vigilance and foresight. As for the Islamic Radio and Television Union, I want to say that this union is very important. The task that you have begun - that is to say, establishing this union - is a very important task. Notice that in the present time, at least 70, 80 percent of the people in Muslim countries are committed to religious principles and beliefs. If you take a look at Islamic countries, you will see that the people are committed to and believe in their religion. To what extent are the radio and television networks in such countries - which should be the representatives of the people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s wishes and demands - committed to religion? There is a shocking gap and rift. Seventy, eighty percent of the people are religious, but radio and television networks in such countries do not move in a religious direction and they do not reflect the people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s demands. This is very strange. They reflect the same things that the dangerous media empire of arrogance wants. Today, arrogance has created a great media empire. They distort and cover up news and they tell lies. This way, they promote their policies. This is while they constantly say that they take an impartial position. The English radio claims that it is impartial, but they are lying. They are not impartial at all. They move in the exact direction of arrogant and colonialist policies - whether American or English policies. Audio and print media, news agencies and the complicated means of mass communication that exist today are all at the service of their policies. They are at the service of arrogance, Zionism and their goals. We should do something in the face of this dangerous empire and this large media mafia that is in the hands of American and Zionist capitalists and cartels. What you are doing is the beginning of a movement and therefore, it should be pursued and strengthened on a daily basis. You should bring your partners and colleagues into the arena as well. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, a good future is awaiting us. I will tell you that despite the boastful behavior of arrogance and the great efforts that arrogance and its allies and followers are carrying out in financial, military, political and security areas, the future belongs to Islam in the region and in the entire world of Islam. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, Islam\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s dignity and power will increase on a daily basis. Of course, it is necessary to show diligence. Thankfully, there are many mujahid men, women and youth in the entire world of Islam. Therefore, we should appreciate their value and we should use our slogans, our moves, our words and our activities in this direction. If we do so, Allah the Exalted will definitely help: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"If you help the cause of Allah, He will help you and make firm your feet\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [The Holy Quran, 47: 7]. 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

FM: Iran fully supports Lebanon, Syria Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has expressed Iran's full support for Lebanon and Syria in the event of any possible Israeli aggression. The Iranian government and nation is fully prepared to support the Lebanese and Syrian nations and governments in the face of a possible Israeli aggression, Mottaki said at a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Ali al-Shami in the Iranian capital Tehran on Sunday. The Iranian minister further added that the three countries are constantly exchanging views about Israel's war threats and said Iran will offer any assistance to Lebanon and Syria. Mottaki strongly condemned the recent aggression by Israeli forces near Lebanon's southern border, saying, "Moves by the Zionist regime and the recent aggressions showed its desperation rather than an indication of a will and decision to display its strength." "Iran reserves the right for the Lebanese government, nation and army to stop any aggression in their defense and put all ways to pursue the case through international circles on their agenda," he said. Mottaki further added that that the UN peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, failed to fulfill its duty and to prevent such aggressions. According to the Iranian minister, regional countries will not allow Israel's hit-and-run policies to continue. He noted that Iran and Lebanon enjoy common stance on regional and international issues and support the establishment of just systems in international relations.

Army Day is being celebrated in Iran. A parade early this morning (Monday) by troops from the country's ground, naval, and air forces was held to showcase their latest achievements. A large portion of a domestically-made air defense system was also expected to be displayed. The nation's Defense Minister has said military equipment upgrades are one of the key strategies of his office. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the soldiers before the march. He said the West is creating regional conflict, in order to sell arms, and called on nearby countries to remain vigilant. He also claimed the US wants to generate tension between Iranians and Arabs, to create a sectarian conflict. He added that regional security requires honest cooperation between nations in the Middle East. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian President, said, "The United States is not an honest friend, experience show remain vigilant."

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

Iran's Secretary General of the High Council for Human Rights, Mohammad Javad Larijani has said that the recent claims by the International Atomic Energy Agency against Tehran are “laughable.” In his November 8 report on Iran's nuclear program, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano claimed that Iran had engaged in activities related to developing nuclear weapons before 2003, adding that these activities “may still be ongoing.” Based on the report, which Iran has called "unfounded and unbalanced," the IAEA Board of Governors on Friday passed a new resolution on the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities. The resolution voices "deep and increasing concern" over Tehran's nuclear program and also calls for Iran and the IAEA to intensify dialogue to resolve the dispute over the issue. Larijani made the remarks in a heated television debate aired on the American channel MSNBC. US president of the Council on Foreign Relations, Dr. Richard Haass, Mike Barnicle and John Mitchun were the other guests on the television debate. What follows is a rough transcription of the interview: MSNBC: Let's go to the heart of the matter when it comes to Iran, the headlines of the past week, the IAEA report found evidence of nuclear weapons program in Iran and you are quoted as saying that is “quite laughable.” Why sir? Larijani: The reason is very simple. There is no single evidence in that. These allegations which is aired again is based on a document which was put to us four years ago based on a laptop somewhere found by United States authorities. And at that time, four years ago, it has been discussed with the agency and the conclusion was that none of these allegations could be verified. So by a letter it has been closed- the whole issue. Then again it has been renewed and [let me] just give you an example. A good part of this so-called document which is on the laptop, for example lecture notes that somebody presented in Brussels or at some universities. Some of them are parts of some textbook as put together with pictures, formulas, so it is totally inconclusive. MSNBC: Let's back up. Before I send this to Richard Haass- are you saying it doesn't exist? There is no nuclear program? Larijani: Well we have a very extensive nuclear program but not to the direction of producing arms. Our nuclear project is very extensive, very advanced. We are number one in the Middle East but we are not pursuing the nuclear armament for two basic reasons. Number one there is a Fatwa by Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader and it is against the Islamic jurisprudence to build and use mass destructing weapons. It is Haram we call it, unlawful. And secondly, it doesn't add to our security. It is more liability than asset for us. Our military muscle is strong enough to repel or to deter any imminent threat and this is basically very important achievement. MSNBC: Richard Haass, put this into perspective for us. What the reports were saying and what this gentleman is saying. Haass: Well quite frankly it is impossible to take the Iranian denial seriously. They are preposterous. The International Atomic Energy Agency taking information from all the member states in the United Nations have put together a comprehensive and extraordinarily damning report. And what there is, is a pattern, not a single incident, a pattern over years of Iranian program to move in the direction of developing nuclear weapons. We see a procurement mechanism to gain access to all sorts of equipment, we see all sorts of undeclared efforts to produce nuclear material now up to 20 percent well on its way to what it needs to produce a weapon, most important there is now serious evidence about the Iranian testing of the implosive device that would actually be the heart of the nuclear weapon. So the idea that the Iranians have all these underground and undeclared facilities, that they have been misleading the International Atomic Energy Agency for years, the idea they're doing this- this oil rich country in order to produce electricity? If you believe that you seriously have to believe in the tooth fairy. MSNBC: Sir this doesn't sound like preposterous, little pieces of information that were roaming together randomly. Larijani: Well the whole scenes of allegation is produced and initiated by the United States. It seems there is a good machinery to produce perpetual allegation against Iran, it is not only one case. I am telling you exactly that there are no secret programs in our nuclear program and development. Iran's transparency is far ahead of United States, far ahead of UK, far ahead of France and incomparable to Israel which is a renegade state in the sense of NPT. Barnicle: So you allow inspectors to just come into Iran. Larijani: The inspectors are coming to Iran periodically, the cameras are there 24 hours. This is quite obvious. Haass: But the whole concept the way this works, just when you talk about inspectors, let's just be clear, I am sure if everyone watching this will understand, the entire international nuclear inspection effort depends upon the willingness of the country in question to cooperate fully. This is a gentlemen's agreement. They declare their facilities that are involved in the nuclear business then the inspectors come in and look at them. If they do not declare facilities the inspectors don't give a chance and the problem is this is a gentlemen's agreement in a world where not every country is a gentleman. So Iran quite frankly has undeclared facilities and undeclared programs which the inspectors had not had access to and the reason we only know about it is that member states, not simply the United States sir, but many, many member states of the United Nations have provided independent information to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which by the way you know and I know is not controlled by the United States. We have fundamental differences with this agency over the years including over Iraq. We had fundamental differences and we've also had differences over Iran where we the United States felt, this agency was not being nearly tough enough. So now they have come in with an extraordinarily damning report and Iranian officials can dismiss it. MSNBC: So if this is a gentlemen's agreement, the gentlemen certainly don't agree and sir, you seem very confident and almost as if it's funny it's interesting because we interviewed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about this about a year ago, off camera, and he too seemed very comfortable about his position which is similar to yours. And if you are so comfortable with your position about the lack of nuclear armament and the facilities that the IAEA is talking about, why not let inspectors completely come in? Open the door let them come in and see what you have. Larijani: Well the mechanism that the gentleman addressed is not complete because first of all there is no single secret installment or activity which is concealed from the agency. Secondly, two years ago we asked the agency tell us all the questions you have and he managed to put to us six groups of questions. The questions were raised by themselves not dictated by us. So one by one groups of inspectors came to Iran and we cleared them up and there is official letters from them this group has been finished then we moved to another one. Well it doesn't make sense that every morning somebody says we guess there is some secret things done there. There should be foundation for this allegation. What do you mean the door should be open? They should ask where do you want to inspect? Did they want to inspect my bedroom or other places? I mean it doesn't make sense. Barnicle: A few moments ago when you mentioned the nuclear programs of other nations I detected a definite edge in your voice when you mentioned the state of Israel. Do you fear an attack from the state of Israel on your nuclear facilities? Larijani: Well I am beyond the fear. What is the difference between us and Israel? Israel has a bomb, not a member of NPT; it doesn't disclose anything to agency, nothing wrong with it. You see what the double standard is in here. We are member of NPT, they periodically come to Iran, their cameras are there, we don't have the weapon then the whole pressure is put on us. No, not at all. We don't fear any attack from anyone. We take it serious in our calculation but we don't fear. There is a difference between that. Mitchum: Given your tone again Sir when you talk about Israel, just a second ago why shouldn't we suspect that there would be ambitions for Iran to join the club of which Israel is a part with the nuclear arms? Larijani: We are very advanced in the nuclear technology which is a matter of pride for us and that gentleman mentioned that we have plenty of gas and oil with all good calculations, the age of this is up to 20-25 period, 25 years from now. It means that if we don't have it, then we should beg in front of the Western countries to light our houses and we know how bad they are treating us in this area. We are right now very happy that we have the first power plant, we know how to make the fuel. We already have more than 25 percent share of sodalite and erudite they don't give us a bit of this fuel that we need, even the twenty percent that we needed for Tehran. Haass: It's important to keep in mind we are not talking about an established democracy that treats its own people with respect, we are talking about a country also that is the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. So this is obvious and understandable concern about what Iran is doing. Larijani: In terms of record I think United States of America is the largest and the greatest country supporting terrorism. The records of terrorist activity which is supported by the tax money of these people is enormous, I can go one by one. Barnicle: Wait a minute. This is a free country. And part of our gift is we have the liberty and the freedom to say anything and to sound foolish, to sound absurd, to sound smart. That's absurd saying that America is the biggest terrorist nation in the world. My question to you Sir is, you seem like a really nice guy, alright, why doesn't your country be a better neighbor? Larijani: We have fantastic relations with all of our neighbors... Barnicle: Really? [laughing] Larijani: Definitely, but the policy of demonizing Iran, a very important policy which is pursued in the region- well it has its own benefit. Barnicle But it's just in little things, like the American tourists cross the border, supposedly cross the border, you grab them, you scoop them, you hold them for months on end. Why? Larijani: This is a very simple question I answered before; suppose the security of your people... Barnicle You're here... Larijani: No, I'm here with visa- It's quite different. [Suppose] The security of the United States' people, on a patrol with Mexico elsewhere they pick 3 Iranians and ask them why are you here? They say well we are just walking in the desert. Well, with the whole hostility and suspicion which is between the two countries, you are in here to blow up somewhere definitely they will be put into jail for years if not in Guantanamo, they bring them somewhere else. It took a lot of time that we convince- I was working on this case because they were like me from ... Berkeley. I talked with their families, managed to contact between them and their families when they were arrested- for their families to come to Iran to take the suspicion away. This is very natural for security of people to suspect a cross bordering which is in the most volatile regional area of Iran- in which there is daily shooting over there. Barnicle Ok. They're going to blow up the desert. What is the root? What do you think is the root of Iranian paranoia towards the United States and towards many of its neighbors? What is the root of this paranoia? Is it the fear that we find out about your nuclear program? Larijani: We don't have any paranoia about our neighbors. We are very suspicious of American paranoia with us. The question is what is wrong with Iran that this persistent hostility... Barnicle: You have a track record of international terrorism. Larijani: This is not true. We are ourselves the victim of international terrorism- terrorism in the area. Let me ask you, who was helping Al-Qaida and Taliban for years while we were at war with them in Afghanistan? The United States of America. The money from the United States was pouring to Al-Qaida and Taliban- the idea was we should curb Iran by another religious front. Is it correct? Haass: No it's not correct. The United States did support the Mujahidin; obviously in order to get rid of the Soviet... to say that the United States supported Al-Qaida is again preposterous- the fact is that Iran is supporting terrorism in Lebanon, it's supporting groups like Hezbollah, groups like Hamas; it is involved in Iraq; it is involved in Afghanistan. Iran has basically become a regional power that is trying to destabilize many countries, trying to make them in some ways heavily influenced by Tehran and that is simply a fact of life- which again is one of the reasons the world is so concerned about Iranian nuclear program. How do we know Iran will not become even more aggressive? How do we know that nuclear materials will not end in the hands of a group like Hezbollah? What do we see about Iran's track record that would lead us to believe that Iran in any way would be responsible with nuclear material? This is a genuine concern and if you dismiss it as laughable Sir you are seriously underestimating not simply the American, not simply the Israeli, but I would suggest the world's concern over the direction your government is heading. Larijani: The disastrous thing is the blind policy of the United States in supporting carte blanche renegade Israel which is the source of all tension in the region. If you call Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist groups- they are fighting to be given the permission to live. What about Israel? Israel is involved in government sponsored terrorism. Kills anybody who thinks that it's not correct and deprives millions of people from basic tenures of life. 60 years of atrocity in that area is supported carte blanche by the US, this is even against the basic interests of that nation- they don't know it. Mitchum:Sir do you recognize the right of Israel to exist? Larijani: We recognize the rights of Jews, Christians and Muslims to live together in peace and tranquility- to create a racist regime in the middle of a land put the others out is like creating a small colony for the blacks and leave the rest for the whites. Mitchum: Thank you for the answer. Barnicle: The answer is no. Larijani: No, the answer is not no. We respect any decision by Palestinians. We are not in a position to tell them what kind of state they [should] have. But they should be given the chance to decide. MSNBC:This has been fascinating and a great picture window into the choices that Americans make when they're choosing their president and also a sense of what our Secretary of State and what our diplomats have to confront in dealing with when they're going out into the world and working with other countries. It is extremely complicated and often conversations feel like they're going in circles because it's very hard to develop a common understanding or even a place where you can start engaging and I think this was an example of that. Mohammad Javad Larijani, thank you for coming on the show this morning.

[15 June 2012] Asia ministerial conference held in Kabul - English

http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=103321&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=14&s1=1 S. Nasrallah: EU Decision Means Involvement in any Israeli Aggression Eslam al-Rihani Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said on Wednesday that the latest EU decision regarding Hezbollah will only doom to failure, advising the European states to soak their paper in water and drink it, for the Resistance will remain vital and victorious by the will of Allah Almighty. Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan NasrallahDuring his speech at the annual Iftar ceremony held by the Women\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Committee of Islamic Resistance Support Association of Hezbollah, Sayyed Nasrallah noted that the resistance has its own presence and influence in the regional equations, and has been always a concern at the Lebanese, Arab, regional and international levels, whether positively or negatively. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"A positive interest from those who believe in the resistance, pin their hopes on it and consider it to be a source of pride, and negative interest from those who consider it a source of threat for their occupation and hegemony,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he said. His eminence indicated that the Resistance is not on the margin and there is always attempts to eliminate and crush it, whether militarily, politically, morally or culturally, expressing beliefs that such decisions have no more than psychological effects. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The most important for the Lebanese Resistance is to get the support of its people and to express their will, pride and view in defending their land and their sovereignty.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Resistance has gained credibility among people in Lebanon and the Arab and Islamic world and in many places of the world due to its sacrifices and steadfastness because it did not back down, retreat or get defeated and also due to its achievements and field victories.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Resistance has changed the game rules and dropped projects and liberated captives, dignity and sovereignty of Lebanon. It also imposed a leading position for Lebanon in the region and will remain a solid fork in the eye of the Zionists and those who want Lebanon to get worse,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" his eminence added. Touching on the EU member-states\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' decision that blacklisted what they dubbed \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'the military wing\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' of Hezbollah, Sayyed Nasrallah said that the decision has been announced in the media without issuing a formal statement to unfold its motives, evidence and logic. His eminence noted that the EU official statement will be issued within days, and the party will see then whether it will hold any argument or logic to be discussed, pointing out that the historical course of the European states confirms that their stance is not subjected to any values. Thanking all presidents, leaders, personalities and institutions that rejected the EU decision and condemned it, his eminence stated that the party wasn\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t surprised by the decision but the leadership has expected it since the previous period. Iftar 2013Hezbollah Secretary General went on to say that the Zionists have expressed that the decision was the result of diplomatic efforts they exerted, recommending some of those who rejoiced in Lebanon to hide their joy a little bit so they wouldn\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t express the same state of happiness as the Israelis. Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated that the EU countries have insulted themselves and their principles, interests and sovereignty when they submitted to the Israelis and Americans, stating that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"EU countries should know they are giving legal cover for Israel to launch any war on Lebanon because Israel can claim it is waging war on the terrorists.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"These countries make themselves a full partner in the Israeli aggression on Lebanon, on the Resistance and on any target for the resistance in Lebanon.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" The Lebanese Resistance leader asked why the military wing of Israeli army wouldn\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t be put on the list of terror? While the EU \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"repeatedly admits that Israel occupies Arab land and does not implement international resolutions since tens of years, and the whole world witnessed the Israeli massacres.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" He also voiced that the EU stance is subjected to the interests and pressures, not to the values and principles, where its effects are nothing more than psychological. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"In this country, resistance fighters fought the Israeli occupation and have endured a lot of pressure and sacrificed martyrs. Then you come to those who are the sons of this people and say they are terrorists. This is a very bad abuse for the fighters, for their people, and for their successive governments that were supporting the Resistance by their ministerial statements,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he said. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"This is bad for Lebanon and the Lebanese government and people and not only for Resistance fighters,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he added, stressing that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"this will not undermine our morale.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Addressing the European states, Sayyed Nasrallah said: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We are nationalists even in holidays. You can retake the visas you were granting for us. We do not have money in Europe. We do not have commercial or trade projects in Lebanon or abroad. therefore, this decision has no effects in this regard.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Yesterday, European delegates in Lebanon tried to say that the decision will not affect relations with Lebanon,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" recalling that some in the March 14 bloc are working to frustrate the people and descend walls on their hopes. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"This decision aims at making us bow, to force us to step back and to be afraid. But I tell you that all you will get is failure and frustration,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" his eminence told the European Union. Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan NasrallahIn the same context, Hezbollah Secretary General said that those who think that the resistance, which confronted in such days the strongest army in the region over 33 days, will be undermined by a silly decision is either will be subjugated by this decision are either delusional or ignorant. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"This decision will not be able to achieve any of its goals and we invite them (EU states) to correct this mistake because it will not lead to result,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he stressed. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Dip it (the decision) in water and drink it,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he added to the EU. Touching on the local situation, Sayyed Nasrallah said that the other camp in Lebanon will not be able to exploit the decision in their domestic political calculations, or to isolate the party and form a cabinet without it. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"A government without Hezbollah will not be formed, not because we are eager for it but for other things.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" His eminence jokingly suggested that Hezbollah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s ministers in the next government will be of the military wing of the party. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"So do not bet on exploiting the decision internally,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he told the Lebanese political rivals. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We call for the formation of a political government that preserve Lebanon and play in the heart of the storms moving around us.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Resistance will remain and will be victorious by God\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Will,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah concluded.

Hezbollah Secretary General, his Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a speech on Friday, August 16th, 2013, marking the 7th anniversary of the July 2006 Victory of the Islamic Resistance against the Israeli army. Sayyed Nasrallah to Takfiris: We will Capture You, We will Put an End to Terror Sara Taha Moughnieh Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah delivered a speech on Friday, during a ceremony celebrating the seventh anniversary of victory in the July 2006 war. Sayyed NasrallahHis eminence started his speech with a greeting to the martyrs and wounded who fell only one day before the celebration in the terrorist blast which hit Ruwais street in the Southern Suburb of Beirut. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I pray for the recovery of all the wounded from the large and dangerous terrorist attack, and I offer my condolences to the families of martyrs who fell, and to all those who were affected physically, mentally, spiritually, and on the material level yesterday. We highly appreciate, admire, and respect the patience of people and the citizens of Dahieh who held responsibility, and were conscious, disciplined, and civilized,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he said. As he expressed gratitude for all those who stood in solidarity and denounced this painful event, Sayyed Nasrallah condemned the silence of some countries, considering that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"days will prove that they support terrorism, murder, and crime taking place in our region\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". July 2006 victory put an end to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Greater Israel\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" project Sayyed Nasrallah initiated his statement with words about the victory, pointing out that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the celebration was arranged to take place in Aita Al-Shaab, because it overlooks occupied Palestine, and its air is Palestinian air. Hence, you are smelling the air of occupied Palestine, and you are gathering only a stone\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s throw away from the enemy.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" His eminence further stressed that Aita\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s significance was with its symbolic representation, especially with its good hearted and firm people, its brave heroes, its martyrs, and liberated captives. Sayyed Nasrallah talked about the faithfulness of the resistance fighters who were located in Aita Al-Shaab, referring to the devoutness of those men to the path of Master of Martyrs, Imam Hussein (pbuh). July 2006 victory celebrationHe also paid gratitude to the citizens of this village, who returned to their land just hours after ceasefire in 2006, and built tents over the ruins of their houses, to sit in them. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Your historic victory in the 25th of May 2000 defeated the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"greater Israel\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" project, because the Israeli army, which failed to stay in Lebanon, the weakest Arab country, cannot build a state from the Nile to Furat. Then the 14th of August 2006 victory , defeated Israel\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s project of being a great country, which dominates and imposes its decisions on the region and on Iran,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. Hezbollah Secretary General added that the July 2006 victory also proved that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"this organized popular resistance, which is embraced by its people, is capable of forming real defense, at a time when the country does not have the capacities and technologies which the attacking enemy has, and the evidence on that was presented in the July war.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah warned the Israeli enemy that the resistance will not allow one Israeli soldier to set a foot in the Lebanese territories, indicating that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"we will not be tolerant in defending our villages, lands, and people.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" He further addressed the Israelis, saying: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The era of Israeli military tourism on the borders with Lebanon, and inside the Lebanese territories is over, with no return.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Response to Dahieh blast is by duplicating number of fighters in Syria In another context, Sayyed Nasrallah tackled the recent assaults on Dahieh, specifically Thursday\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s tragic attack which left over 20 killed and hundreds wounded. He indicated that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"targeting people and citizens in Dahieh and other places is nothing new. When the enemy failed, it always resorted to hitting people, even those who had no relation with the resistance. The history of Israeli wars in Qana, Dahieh, Sheyah, and other places in July war is a clear witness on that. The enemy takes such action because it knows that this is our point of weakness when it fails in confronting us militarily.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"This is a point of pride for us, as it points out that the relation between the resistance and the people is an emotional, humanitarian, moral, and spiritual relation, and that both are one. The resistance had never acted like it was an imported resistance, like some fighters act these days, hence they don’t care about people. Not at all, as throughout the past years, the resistance had never performed a military or resistance operation without taking into consideration the responses, and protecting people, until April Accord came out to protect them,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. From this point, his eminence considered that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"when there is a resistance, and people whom it shares their feelings, and suffers from their pains, this is a point of power on one hand, and a point of weakness on the other, which the enemy uses. What happened yesterday was an attack on people. It wasn’t an assassination. There wasn’t any Hezbollah official or location targeted, but the side which committed the massacre in Dahieh wanted to leave behind the largest number of casualties among people.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" He stated that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the bomb weighted over 100 KGs, and at this location in specific, like the case in Bir Al-Abed explosion, the goal was only to kill people.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Sayyed NasrallahHezbollah secretary general asserted that the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"massacre comes in the context of a wide and open battle which has been taking place since tens of years… as long as there is a group resisting and refusing to surrender to the American-Zionist will, then naturally, this group and its environment will bare this responsibility.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah assured that the rockets that hit Baalbak and its neighborhoods in the last few weeks were fired by armed Syrian groups, adding that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"rockets on Hermel, Majdal Anjar, Zahle, and Dahieh were targeting us, and the large explosion on the 9th of August targeted our people and environment. Yet we did not make a quick response… we did not accuse anyone.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" However, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"after Bir Al-Abed blast, some Lebanese parts claimed that Hezbollah planted the explosive as a pretext to ignite the situation. This is defamation and unjust, as you cannot find anyone who would love these people, and kiss the soil under the feet of these people like Hezbollah and its leadership does… This is how you work, but not how Hezbollah does.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" His eminence pointed out that during investigations about these assaults, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the first assumption was that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Israel\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" was behind them, while the second was the terrorist groups who have declared war on Hezbollah long before the latter entered Al-Qusayr, and the third assumption was that some other side interfered to escalate the situation with Israel, or to create internal sedition and sectarian strife.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"After over 30 days on Bir Al-Abed explosion, and after the intelligence\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s arrests and our investigations, we have reached the result, and the names of those who planted the explosive on Hermel road are now known, and one of them is under arrest… as for the names of those involved in Bir Al-Abed blast, they are now 99.99% known,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he revealed. Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that investigations have not yet revealed that the committers were operational agents of Israel. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"They are rather affiliated with a certain Takfiri line… some of them are Lebanese, some are Syrians, and some are Palestinians.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" His eminence assured that intelligence apparatuses have informed Hezbollah about certain sides preparing booby-trapped cars to send them to Dahieh, emphasizing that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"all our measures in Dahieh were in response to the official apparatuses\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' information.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" On this point, Sayyed Nasrallah stated that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"these (Takfiri) groups work for Israel, and undoubtedly, US and some regional countries\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' intelligences are operating these sides.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" He highlighted that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"yesterday they put (explosives) in Dahieh, but who knows where they could put them tomorrow? Neither Israel nor Takfiris care if they were in Dahieh or somewhere else. Those kill Sunnis just like they kill Shiites, they kill Christians just like they kill Muslims, and they bomb mosques just like they bomb churches.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" As his eminence asserted that Takfiri groups could plant booby-trapped cars anywhere in Lebanon, he warned officials, politicians, security apparatuses, and all the Lebanese that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"yesterday\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s explosion was under control and the situation was under control, but if these explosions continue, Lebanon will be on the verge of Abyss. Therefore, responsible actions must be taken for Lebanon to confront this threat\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated that the right precautionary measures should be taken and the government as well as its apparatuses must hold their responsibilities, if not to prevent suicide attacks, as this is impossible, then at least to minimize losses, stressing \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the importance of finding the sides sending explosives-laden cars and arresting them… as well as the importance of not giving any political or security cover to these groups.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah further emphasized \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the importance of abandoning sectarian incitements, so that the conflict remains political.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Addressing people who were affected by Thursday\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s terror attack, Hezbollah leader said: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We are aware of your patience, courage and faith, and the biggest exam was in July war… They want to harm your determination and faith, but we are certain of your faith and these aims will fail. What we fear is that those murderers drag you to uncalculated reactions which would lead to sedition and the destruction of the country…\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"(Those killers) neither have a nation nor a religion, and they are not Sunnis. They killed Sunnis even more than they killed Shiites. They seek to create a fight between the Lebanese and the (Palestinian refugee) camps. These murderers are a group of terrorists and the owners of a destructive project in the whole region, not just in Lebanon. In Iraq, there is clear evidence about the western, regional, and Israeli intelligences operating the murderers there,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he added. In conclusion, Sayyed Nasrallah called on his people to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"stay patient and send a clear message that exploding and killing will not affect our morale, and it will not throw us in the trap of sedition. This is the responsibility of everyone in Lebanon, because if this situation continues, it could reach the verge of ambyss.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" His eminence also addressed the murderers, saying: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"If you work for Israel, we know you and we will capture you if the state neglected that. Yet he indicated that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"we are not a substitute for the state, but in any field the state does not hold its responsibility in, we will hold this responsibility.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"If you claim you are defending the Syrian people and punishing Hezbollah over its intervention in Syria, I tell you two things: You, the Takfiri groups are the harshest killers of the Syrian people. You even kidnapped and killed Christian priests who supported the opposition. You kill children and explode mosques.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"As for us, we fight with our values. We have never killed a captive, while you prosecute captives in daylight. We have never killed citizens, and in some of our battles, a larger number of martyrs fell in order to protect citizens, and all what is said about massacres committed by us are lies and fabrications.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Criticizing the fabrications of some Arab media stations, he assured that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the world will witness that we have only fought Takfiri groups in Syria.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Finally, Sayyed Nasrallah said: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"One of our responses to such explosions is: If we had 1000 fighters in Syria, they will become 2000, and if we had 5000, they will become 10 000, and if the battle with those terrorists required that I go with all Hezbollah to Syria, we will all go for the sake of Syria and its people, Lebanon and its people, Palestine and Al-Quds, and the central cause.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We put an end to the battle, and we set a time for this battle to end, and as we triumphed in all our wars with Israel, if you wanted us to enter a fierce battle with you, I assure to everyone that we will triumph against Takfiri terror. The cost of the battle will be high, but the least cost is being slaughtered like ewes and waiting for the murderers to come into our house.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Source: http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=106457&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=14&s1=1

Hezbollah Secretary General, his Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a speech on Friday, August 16th, 2013, marking the 7th anniversary of the July 2006 Victory of the Islamic Resistance against the Israeli army. Sayyed Nasrallah to Takfiris: We will Capture You, We will Put an End to Terror Sara Taha Moughnieh Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah delivered a speech on Friday, during a ceremony celebrating the seventh anniversary of victory in the July 2006 war. Sayyed NasrallahHis eminence started his speech with a greeting to the martyrs and wounded who fell only one day before the celebration in the terrorist blast which hit Ruwais street in the Southern Suburb of Beirut. \\\\\\\"I pray for the recovery of all the wounded from the large and dangerous terrorist attack, and I offer my condolences to the families of martyrs who fell, and to all those who were affected physically, mentally, spiritually, and on the material level yesterday. We highly appreciate, admire, and respect the patience of people and the citizens of Dahieh who held responsibility, and were conscious, disciplined, and civilized,\\\\\\\" he said. As he expressed gratitude for all those who stood in solidarity and denounced this painful event, Sayyed Nasrallah condemned the silence of some countries, considering that \\\\\\\"days will prove that they support terrorism, murder, and crime taking place in our region\\\\\\\". July 2006 victory put an end to \\\\\\\"Greater Israel\\\\\\\" project Sayyed Nasrallah initiated his statement with words about the victory, pointing out that \\\\\\\"the celebration was arranged to take place in Aita Al-Shaab, because it overlooks occupied Palestine, and its air is Palestinian air. Hence, you are smelling the air of occupied Palestine, and you are gathering only a stone\\\\\\\'s throw away from the enemy.\\\\\\\" His eminence further stressed that Aita\\\\\\\'s significance was with its symbolic representation, especially with its good hearted and firm people, its brave heroes, its martyrs, and liberated captives. Sayyed Nasrallah talked about the faithfulness of the resistance fighters who were located in Aita Al-Shaab, referring to the devoutness of those men to the path of Master of Martyrs, Imam Hussein (pbuh). July 2006 victory celebrationHe also paid gratitude to the citizens of this village, who returned to their land just hours after ceasefire in 2006, and built tents over the ruins of their houses, to sit in them. \\\\\\\"Your historic victory in the 25th of May 2000 defeated the \\\\\\\"greater Israel\\\\\\\" project, because the Israeli army, which failed to stay in Lebanon, the weakest Arab country, cannot build a state from the Nile to Furat. Then the 14th of August 2006 victory , defeated Israel\\\\\\\'s project of being a great country, which dominates and imposes its decisions on the region and on Iran,\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. Hezbollah Secretary General added that the July 2006 victory also proved that \\\\\\\"this organized popular resistance, which is embraced by its people, is capable of forming real defense, at a time when the country does not have the capacities and technologies which the attacking enemy has, and the evidence on that was presented in the July war.\\\\\\\" In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah warned the Israeli enemy that the resistance will not allow one Israeli soldier to set a foot in the Lebanese territories, indicating that \\\\\\\"we will not be tolerant in defending our villages, lands, and people.\\\\\\\" He further addressed the Israelis, saying: \\\\\\\"The era of Israeli military tourism on the borders with Lebanon, and inside the Lebanese territories is over, with no return.\\\\\\\" Response to Dahieh blast is by duplicating number of fighters in Syria In another context, Sayyed Nasrallah tackled the recent assaults on Dahieh, specifically Thursday\\\\\\\'s tragic attack which left over 20 killed and hundreds wounded. He indicated that \\\\\\\"targeting people and citizens in Dahieh and other places is nothing new. When the enemy failed, it always resorted to hitting people, even those who had no relation with the resistance. The history of Israeli wars in Qana, Dahieh, Sheyah, and other places in July war is a clear witness on that. The enemy takes such action because it knows that this is our point of weakness when it fails in confronting us militarily.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"This is a point of pride for us, as it points out that the relation between the resistance and the people is an emotional, humanitarian, moral, and spiritual relation, and that both are one. The resistance had never acted like it was an imported resistance, like some fighters act these days, hence they don’t care about people. Not at all, as throughout the past years, the resistance had never performed a military or resistance operation without taking into consideration the responses, and protecting people, until April Accord came out to protect them,\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. From this point, his eminence considered that \\\\\\\"when there is a resistance, and people whom it shares their feelings, and suffers from their pains, this is a point of power on one hand, and a point of weakness on the other, which the enemy uses. What happened yesterday was an attack on people. It wasn’t an assassination. There wasn’t any Hezbollah official or location targeted, but the side which committed the massacre in Dahieh wanted to leave behind the largest number of casualties among people.\\\\\\\" He stated that \\\\\\\"the bomb weighted over 100 KGs, and at this location in specific, like the case in Bir Al-Abed explosion, the goal was only to kill people.\\\\\\\" Sayyed NasrallahHezbollah secretary general asserted that the \\\\\\\"massacre comes in the context of a wide and open battle which has been taking place since tens of years… as long as there is a group resisting and refusing to surrender to the American-Zionist will, then naturally, this group and its environment will bare this responsibility.\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah assured that the rockets that hit Baalbak and its neighborhoods in the last few weeks were fired by armed Syrian groups, adding that \\\\\\\"rockets on Hermel, Majdal Anjar, Zahle, and Dahieh were targeting us, and the large explosion on the 9th of August targeted our people and environment. Yet we did not make a quick response… we did not accuse anyone.\\\\\\\" However, \\\\\\\"after Bir Al-Abed blast, some Lebanese parts claimed that Hezbollah planted the explosive as a pretext to ignite the situation. This is defamation and unjust, as you cannot find anyone who would love these people, and kiss the soil under the feet of these people like Hezbollah and its leadership does… This is how you work, but not how Hezbollah does.\\\\\\\" His eminence pointed out that during investigations about these assaults, \\\\\\\"the first assumption was that \\\\\\\"Israel\\\\\\\" was behind them, while the second was the terrorist groups who have declared war on Hezbollah long before the latter entered Al-Qusayr, and the third assumption was that some other side interfered to escalate the situation with Israel, or to create internal sedition and sectarian strife.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"After over 30 days on Bir Al-Abed explosion, and after the intelligence\\\\\\\'s arrests and our investigations, we have reached the result, and the names of those who planted the explosive on Hermel road are now known, and one of them is under arrest… as for the names of those involved in Bir Al-Abed blast, they are now 99.99% known,\\\\\\\" he revealed. Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that investigations have not yet revealed that the committers were operational agents of Israel. \\\\\\\"They are rather affiliated with a certain Takfiri line… some of them are Lebanese, some are Syrians, and some are Palestinians.\\\\\\\" His eminence assured that intelligence apparatuses have informed Hezbollah about certain sides preparing booby-trapped cars to send them to Dahieh, emphasizing that \\\\\\\"all our measures in Dahieh were in response to the official apparatuses\\\\\\\' information.\\\\\\\" On this point, Sayyed Nasrallah stated that \\\\\\\"these (Takfiri) groups work for Israel, and undoubtedly, US and some regional countries\\\\\\\' intelligences are operating these sides.\\\\\\\" He highlighted that \\\\\\\"yesterday they put (explosives) in Dahieh, but who knows where they could put them tomorrow? Neither Israel nor Takfiris care if they were in Dahieh or somewhere else. Those kill Sunnis just like they kill Shiites, they kill Christians just like they kill Muslims, and they bomb mosques just like they bomb churches.\\\\\\\" As his eminence asserted that Takfiri groups could plant booby-trapped cars anywhere in Lebanon, he warned officials, politicians, security apparatuses, and all the Lebanese that \\\\\\\"yesterday\\\\\\\'s explosion was under control and the situation was under control, but if these explosions continue, Lebanon will be on the verge of Abyss. Therefore, responsible actions must be taken for Lebanon to confront this threat\\\\\\\". Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated that the right precautionary measures should be taken and the government as well as its apparatuses must hold their responsibilities, if not to prevent suicide attacks, as this is impossible, then at least to minimize losses, stressing \\\\\\\"the importance of finding the sides sending explosives-laden cars and arresting them… as well as the importance of not giving any political or security cover to these groups.\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah further emphasized \\\\\\\"the importance of abandoning sectarian incitements, so that the conflict remains political.\\\\\\\" Addressing people who were affected by Thursday\\\\\\\'s terror attack, Hezbollah leader said: \\\\\\\"We are aware of your patience, courage and faith, and the biggest exam was in July war… They want to harm your determination and faith, but we are certain of your faith and these aims will fail. What we fear is that those murderers drag you to uncalculated reactions which would lead to sedition and the destruction of the country…\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"(Those killers) neither have a nation nor a religion, and they are not Sunnis. They killed Sunnis even more than they killed Shiites. They seek to create a fight between the Lebanese and the (Palestinian refugee) camps. These murderers are a group of terrorists and the owners of a destructive project in the whole region, not just in Lebanon. In Iraq, there is clear evidence about the western, regional, and Israeli intelligences operating the murderers there,\\\\\\\" he added. In conclusion, Sayyed Nasrallah called on his people to \\\\\\\"stay patient and send a clear message that exploding and killing will not affect our morale, and it will not throw us in the trap of sedition. This is the responsibility of everyone in Lebanon, because if this situation continues, it could reach the verge of ambyss.\\\\\\\" His eminence also addressed the murderers, saying: \\\\\\\"If you work for Israel, we know you and we will capture you if the state neglected that. Yet he indicated that \\\\\\\"we are not a substitute for the state, but in any field the state does not hold its responsibility in, we will hold this responsibility.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"If you claim you are defending the Syrian people and punishing Hezbollah over its intervention in Syria, I tell you two things: You, the Takfiri groups are the harshest killers of the Syrian people. You even kidnapped and killed Christian priests who supported the opposition. You kill children and explode mosques.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"As for us, we fight with our values. We have never killed a captive, while you prosecute captives in daylight. We have never killed citizens, and in some of our battles, a larger number of martyrs fell in order to protect citizens, and all what is said about massacres committed by us are lies and fabrications.\\\\\\\" Criticizing the fabrications of some Arab media stations, he assured that \\\\\\\"the world will witness that we have only fought Takfiri groups in Syria.\\\\\\\" Finally, Sayyed Nasrallah said: \\\\\\\"One of our responses to such explosions is: If we had 1000 fighters in Syria, they will become 2000, and if we had 5000, they will become 10 000, and if the battle with those terrorists required that I go with all Hezbollah to Syria, we will all go for the sake of Syria and its people, Lebanon and its people, Palestine and Al-Quds, and the central cause.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"We put an end to the battle, and we set a time for this battle to end, and as we triumphed in all our wars with Israel, if you wanted us to enter a fierce battle with you, I assure to everyone that we will triumph against Takfiri terror. The cost of the battle will be high, but the least cost is being slaughtered like ewes and waiting for the murderers to come into our house.\\\\\\\" Source: http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=106457&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=14&s1=1

Hezbollah Secretary General, his Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a speech on Friday, August 16th, 2013, marking the 7th anniversary of the July 2006 Victory of the Islamic Resistance against the Israeli army. Sayyed Nasrallah to Takfiris: We will Capture You, We will Put an End to Terror Sara Taha Moughnieh Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah delivered a speech on Friday, during a ceremony celebrating the seventh anniversary of victory in the July 2006 war. Sayyed NasrallahHis eminence started his speech with a greeting to the martyrs and wounded who fell only one day before the celebration in the terrorist blast which hit Ruwais street in the Southern Suburb of Beirut. \\\\\\\"I pray for the recovery of all the wounded from the large and dangerous terrorist attack, and I offer my condolences to the families of martyrs who fell, and to all those who were affected physically, mentally, spiritually, and on the material level yesterday. We highly appreciate, admire, and respect the patience of people and the citizens of Dahieh who held responsibility, and were conscious, disciplined, and civilized,\\\\\\\" he said. As he expressed gratitude for all those who stood in solidarity and denounced this painful event, Sayyed Nasrallah condemned the silence of some countries, considering that \\\\\\\"days will prove that they support terrorism, murder, and crime taking place in our region\\\\\\\". July 2006 victory put an end to \\\\\\\"Greater Israel\\\\\\\" project Sayyed Nasrallah initiated his statement with words about the victory, pointing out that \\\\\\\"the celebration was arranged to take place in Aita Al-Shaab, because it overlooks occupied Palestine, and its air is Palestinian air. Hence, you are smelling the air of occupied Palestine, and you are gathering only a stone\\\\\\\'s throw away from the enemy.\\\\\\\" His eminence further stressed that Aita\\\\\\\'s significance was with its symbolic representation, especially with its good hearted and firm people, its brave heroes, its martyrs, and liberated captives. Sayyed Nasrallah talked about the faithfulness of the resistance fighters who were located in Aita Al-Shaab, referring to the devoutness of those men to the path of Master of Martyrs, Imam Hussein (pbuh). July 2006 victory celebrationHe also paid gratitude to the citizens of this village, who returned to their land just hours after ceasefire in 2006, and built tents over the ruins of their houses, to sit in them. \\\\\\\"Your historic victory in the 25th of May 2000 defeated the \\\\\\\"greater Israel\\\\\\\" project, because the Israeli army, which failed to stay in Lebanon, the weakest Arab country, cannot build a state from the Nile to Furat. Then the 14th of August 2006 victory , defeated Israel\\\\\\\'s project of being a great country, which dominates and imposes its decisions on the region and on Iran,\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. Hezbollah Secretary General added that the July 2006 victory also proved that \\\\\\\"this organized popular resistance, which is embraced by its people, is capable of forming real defense, at a time when the country does not have the capacities and technologies which the attacking enemy has, and the evidence on that was presented in the July war.\\\\\\\" In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah warned the Israeli enemy that the resistance will not allow one Israeli soldier to set a foot in the Lebanese territories, indicating that \\\\\\\"we will not be tolerant in defending our villages, lands, and people.\\\\\\\" He further addressed the Israelis, saying: \\\\\\\"The era of Israeli military tourism on the borders with Lebanon, and inside the Lebanese territories is over, with no return.\\\\\\\" Response to Dahieh blast is by duplicating number of fighters in Syria In another context, Sayyed Nasrallah tackled the recent assaults on Dahieh, specifically Thursday\\\\\\\'s tragic attack which left over 20 killed and hundreds wounded. He indicated that \\\\\\\"targeting people and citizens in Dahieh and other places is nothing new. When the enemy failed, it always resorted to hitting people, even those who had no relation with the resistance. The history of Israeli wars in Qana, Dahieh, Sheyah, and other places in July war is a clear witness on that. The enemy takes such action because it knows that this is our point of weakness when it fails in confronting us militarily.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"This is a point of pride for us, as it points out that the relation between the resistance and the people is an emotional, humanitarian, moral, and spiritual relation, and that both are one. The resistance had never acted like it was an imported resistance, like some fighters act these days, hence they don’t care about people. Not at all, as throughout the past years, the resistance had never performed a military or resistance operation without taking into consideration the responses, and protecting people, until April Accord came out to protect them,\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. From this point, his eminence considered that \\\\\\\"when there is a resistance, and people whom it shares their feelings, and suffers from their pains, this is a point of power on one hand, and a point of weakness on the other, which the enemy uses. What happened yesterday was an attack on people. It wasn’t an assassination. There wasn’t any Hezbollah official or location targeted, but the side which committed the massacre in Dahieh wanted to leave behind the largest number of casualties among people.\\\\\\\" He stated that \\\\\\\"the bomb weighted over 100 KGs, and at this location in specific, like the case in Bir Al-Abed explosion, the goal was only to kill people.\\\\\\\" Sayyed NasrallahHezbollah secretary general asserted that the \\\\\\\"massacre comes in the context of a wide and open battle which has been taking place since tens of years… as long as there is a group resisting and refusing to surrender to the American-Zionist will, then naturally, this group and its environment will bare this responsibility.\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah assured that the rockets that hit Baalbak and its neighborhoods in the last few weeks were fired by armed Syrian groups, adding that \\\\\\\"rockets on Hermel, Majdal Anjar, Zahle, and Dahieh were targeting us, and the large explosion on the 9th of August targeted our people and environment. Yet we did not make a quick response… we did not accuse anyone.\\\\\\\" However, \\\\\\\"after Bir Al-Abed blast, some Lebanese parts claimed that Hezbollah planted the explosive as a pretext to ignite the situation. This is defamation and unjust, as you cannot find anyone who would love these people, and kiss the soil under the feet of these people like Hezbollah and its leadership does… This is how you work, but not how Hezbollah does.\\\\\\\" His eminence pointed out that during investigations about these assaults, \\\\\\\"the first assumption was that \\\\\\\"Israel\\\\\\\" was behind them, while the second was the terrorist groups who have declared war on Hezbollah long before the latter entered Al-Qusayr, and the third assumption was that some other side interfered to escalate the situation with Israel, or to create internal sedition and sectarian strife.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"After over 30 days on Bir Al-Abed explosion, and after the intelligence\\\\\\\'s arrests and our investigations, we have reached the result, and the names of those who planted the explosive on Hermel road are now known, and one of them is under arrest… as for the names of those involved in Bir Al-Abed blast, they are now 99.99% known,\\\\\\\" he revealed. Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that investigations have not yet revealed that the committers were operational agents of Israel. \\\\\\\"They are rather affiliated with a certain Takfiri line… some of them are Lebanese, some are Syrians, and some are Palestinians.\\\\\\\" His eminence assured that intelligence apparatuses have informed Hezbollah about certain sides preparing booby-trapped cars to send them to Dahieh, emphasizing that \\\\\\\"all our measures in Dahieh were in response to the official apparatuses\\\\\\\' information.\\\\\\\" On this point, Sayyed Nasrallah stated that \\\\\\\"these (Takfiri) groups work for Israel, and undoubtedly, US and some regional countries\\\\\\\' intelligences are operating these sides.\\\\\\\" He highlighted that \\\\\\\"yesterday they put (explosives) in Dahieh, but who knows where they could put them tomorrow? Neither Israel nor Takfiris care if they were in Dahieh or somewhere else. Those kill Sunnis just like they kill Shiites, they kill Christians just like they kill Muslims, and they bomb mosques just like they bomb churches.\\\\\\\" As his eminence asserted that Takfiri groups could plant booby-trapped cars anywhere in Lebanon, he warned officials, politicians, security apparatuses, and all the Lebanese that \\\\\\\"yesterday\\\\\\\'s explosion was under control and the situation was under control, but if these explosions continue, Lebanon will be on the verge of Abyss. Therefore, responsible actions must be taken for Lebanon to confront this threat\\\\\\\". Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated that the right precautionary measures should be taken and the government as well as its apparatuses must hold their responsibilities, if not to prevent suicide attacks, as this is impossible, then at least to minimize losses, stressing \\\\\\\"the importance of finding the sides sending explosives-laden cars and arresting them… as well as the importance of not giving any political or security cover to these groups.\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah further emphasized \\\\\\\"the importance of abandoning sectarian incitements, so that the conflict remains political.\\\\\\\" Addressing people who were affected by Thursday\\\\\\\'s terror attack, Hezbollah leader said: \\\\\\\"We are aware of your patience, courage and faith, and the biggest exam was in July war… They want to harm your determination and faith, but we are certain of your faith and these aims will fail. What we fear is that those murderers drag you to uncalculated reactions which would lead to sedition and the destruction of the country…\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"(Those killers) neither have a nation nor a religion, and they are not Sunnis. They killed Sunnis even more than they killed Shiites. They seek to create a fight between the Lebanese and the (Palestinian refugee) camps. These murderers are a group of terrorists and the owners of a destructive project in the whole region, not just in Lebanon. In Iraq, there is clear evidence about the western, regional, and Israeli intelligences operating the murderers there,\\\\\\\" he added. In conclusion, Sayyed Nasrallah called on his people to \\\\\\\"stay patient and send a clear message that exploding and killing will not affect our morale, and it will not throw us in the trap of sedition. This is the responsibility of everyone in Lebanon, because if this situation continues, it could reach the verge of ambyss.\\\\\\\" His eminence also addressed the murderers, saying: \\\\\\\"If you work for Israel, we know you and we will capture you if the state neglected that. Yet he indicated that \\\\\\\"we are not a substitute for the state, but in any field the state does not hold its responsibility in, we will hold this responsibility.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"If you claim you are defending the Syrian people and punishing Hezbollah over its intervention in Syria, I tell you two things: You, the Takfiri groups are the harshest killers of the Syrian people. You even kidnapped and killed Christian priests who supported the opposition. You kill children and explode mosques.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"As for us, we fight with our values. We have never killed a captive, while you prosecute captives in daylight. We have never killed citizens, and in some of our battles, a larger number of martyrs fell in order to protect citizens, and all what is said about massacres committed by us are lies and fabrications.\\\\\\\" Criticizing the fabrications of some Arab media stations, he assured that \\\\\\\"the world will witness that we have only fought Takfiri groups in Syria.\\\\\\\" Finally, Sayyed Nasrallah said: \\\\\\\"One of our responses to such explosions is: If we had 1000 fighters in Syria, they will become 2000, and if we had 5000, they will become 10 000, and if the battle with those terrorists required that I go with all Hezbollah to Syria, we will all go for the sake of Syria and its people, Lebanon and its people, Palestine and Al-Quds, and the central cause.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"We put an end to the battle, and we set a time for this battle to end, and as we triumphed in all our wars with Israel, if you wanted us to enter a fierce battle with you, I assure to everyone that we will triumph against Takfiri terror. The cost of the battle will be high, but the least cost is being slaughtered like ewes and waiting for the murderers to come into our house.\\\\\\\" Source: http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=106457&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=14&s1=1

Hezbollah Secretary General, his Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a speech on Friday, August 16th, 2013, marking the 7th anniversary of the July 2006 Victory of the Islamic Resistance against the Israeli army. Sayyed Nasrallah to Takfiris: We will Capture You, We will Put an End to Terror Sara Taha Moughnieh Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah delivered a speech on Friday, during a ceremony celebrating the seventh anniversary of victory in the July 2006 war. Sayyed NasrallahHis eminence started his speech with a greeting to the martyrs and wounded who fell only one day before the celebration in the terrorist blast which hit Ruwais street in the Southern Suburb of Beirut. \\\\\\\"I pray for the recovery of all the wounded from the large and dangerous terrorist attack, and I offer my condolences to the families of martyrs who fell, and to all those who were affected physically, mentally, spiritually, and on the material level yesterday. We highly appreciate, admire, and respect the patience of people and the citizens of Dahieh who held responsibility, and were conscious, disciplined, and civilized,\\\\\\\" he said. As he expressed gratitude for all those who stood in solidarity and denounced this painful event, Sayyed Nasrallah condemned the silence of some countries, considering that \\\\\\\"days will prove that they support terrorism, murder, and crime taking place in our region\\\\\\\". July 2006 victory put an end to \\\\\\\"Greater Israel\\\\\\\" project Sayyed Nasrallah initiated his statement with words about the victory, pointing out that \\\\\\\"the celebration was arranged to take place in Aita Al-Shaab, because it overlooks occupied Palestine, and its air is Palestinian air. Hence, you are smelling the air of occupied Palestine, and you are gathering only a stone\\\\\\\'s throw away from the enemy.\\\\\\\" His eminence further stressed that Aita\\\\\\\'s significance was with its symbolic representation, especially with its good hearted and firm people, its brave heroes, its martyrs, and liberated captives. Sayyed Nasrallah talked about the faithfulness of the resistance fighters who were located in Aita Al-Shaab, referring to the devoutness of those men to the path of Master of Martyrs, Imam Hussein (pbuh). July 2006 victory celebrationHe also paid gratitude to the citizens of this village, who returned to their land just hours after ceasefire in 2006, and built tents over the ruins of their houses, to sit in them. \\\\\\\"Your historic victory in the 25th of May 2000 defeated the \\\\\\\"greater Israel\\\\\\\" project, because the Israeli army, which failed to stay in Lebanon, the weakest Arab country, cannot build a state from the Nile to Furat. Then the 14th of August 2006 victory , defeated Israel\\\\\\\'s project of being a great country, which dominates and imposes its decisions on the region and on Iran,\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. Hezbollah Secretary General added that the July 2006 victory also proved that \\\\\\\"this organized popular resistance, which is embraced by its people, is capable of forming real defense, at a time when the country does not have the capacities and technologies which the attacking enemy has, and the evidence on that was presented in the July war.\\\\\\\" In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah warned the Israeli enemy that the resistance will not allow one Israeli soldier to set a foot in the Lebanese territories, indicating that \\\\\\\"we will not be tolerant in defending our villages, lands, and people.\\\\\\\" He further addressed the Israelis, saying: \\\\\\\"The era of Israeli military tourism on the borders with Lebanon, and inside the Lebanese territories is over, with no return.\\\\\\\" Response to Dahieh blast is by duplicating number of fighters in Syria In another context, Sayyed Nasrallah tackled the recent assaults on Dahieh, specifically Thursday\\\\\\\'s tragic attack which left over 20 killed and hundreds wounded. He indicated that \\\\\\\"targeting people and citizens in Dahieh and other places is nothing new. When the enemy failed, it always resorted to hitting people, even those who had no relation with the resistance. The history of Israeli wars in Qana, Dahieh, Sheyah, and other places in July war is a clear witness on that. The enemy takes such action because it knows that this is our point of weakness when it fails in confronting us militarily.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"This is a point of pride for us, as it points out that the relation between the resistance and the people is an emotional, humanitarian, moral, and spiritual relation, and that both are one. The resistance had never acted like it was an imported resistance, like some fighters act these days, hence they don’t care about people. Not at all, as throughout the past years, the resistance had never performed a military or resistance operation without taking into consideration the responses, and protecting people, until April Accord came out to protect them,\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. From this point, his eminence considered that \\\\\\\"when there is a resistance, and people whom it shares their feelings, and suffers from their pains, this is a point of power on one hand, and a point of weakness on the other, which the enemy uses. What happened yesterday was an attack on people. It wasn’t an assassination. There wasn’t any Hezbollah official or location targeted, but the side which committed the massacre in Dahieh wanted to leave behind the largest number of casualties among people.\\\\\\\" He stated that \\\\\\\"the bomb weighted over 100 KGs, and at this location in specific, like the case in Bir Al-Abed explosion, the goal was only to kill people.\\\\\\\" Sayyed NasrallahHezbollah secretary general asserted that the \\\\\\\"massacre comes in the context of a wide and open battle which has been taking place since tens of years… as long as there is a group resisting and refusing to surrender to the American-Zionist will, then naturally, this group and its environment will bare this responsibility.\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah assured that the rockets that hit Baalbak and its neighborhoods in the last few weeks were fired by armed Syrian groups, adding that \\\\\\\"rockets on Hermel, Majdal Anjar, Zahle, and Dahieh were targeting us, and the large explosion on the 9th of August targeted our people and environment. Yet we did not make a quick response… we did not accuse anyone.\\\\\\\" However, \\\\\\\"after Bir Al-Abed blast, some Lebanese parts claimed that Hezbollah planted the explosive as a pretext to ignite the situation. This is defamation and unjust, as you cannot find anyone who would love these people, and kiss the soil under the feet of these people like Hezbollah and its leadership does… This is how you work, but not how Hezbollah does.\\\\\\\" His eminence pointed out that during investigations about these assaults, \\\\\\\"the first assumption was that \\\\\\\"Israel\\\\\\\" was behind them, while the second was the terrorist groups who have declared war on Hezbollah long before the latter entered Al-Qusayr, and the third assumption was that some other side interfered to escalate the situation with Israel, or to create internal sedition and sectarian strife.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"After over 30 days on Bir Al-Abed explosion, and after the intelligence\\\\\\\'s arrests and our investigations, we have reached the result, and the names of those who planted the explosive on Hermel road are now known, and one of them is under arrest… as for the names of those involved in Bir Al-Abed blast, they are now 99.99% known,\\\\\\\" he revealed. Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that investigations have not yet revealed that the committers were operational agents of Israel. \\\\\\\"They are rather affiliated with a certain Takfiri line… some of them are Lebanese, some are Syrians, and some are Palestinians.\\\\\\\" His eminence assured that intelligence apparatuses have informed Hezbollah about certain sides preparing booby-trapped cars to send them to Dahieh, emphasizing that \\\\\\\"all our measures in Dahieh were in response to the official apparatuses\\\\\\\' information.\\\\\\\" On this point, Sayyed Nasrallah stated that \\\\\\\"these (Takfiri) groups work for Israel, and undoubtedly, US and some regional countries\\\\\\\' intelligences are operating these sides.\\\\\\\" He highlighted that \\\\\\\"yesterday they put (explosives) in Dahieh, but who knows where they could put them tomorrow? Neither Israel nor Takfiris care if they were in Dahieh or somewhere else. Those kill Sunnis just like they kill Shiites, they kill Christians just like they kill Muslims, and they bomb mosques just like they bomb churches.\\\\\\\" As his eminence asserted that Takfiri groups could plant booby-trapped cars anywhere in Lebanon, he warned officials, politicians, security apparatuses, and all the Lebanese that \\\\\\\"yesterday\\\\\\\'s explosion was under control and the situation was under control, but if these explosions continue, Lebanon will be on the verge of Abyss. Therefore, responsible actions must be taken for Lebanon to confront this threat\\\\\\\". Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated that the right precautionary measures should be taken and the government as well as its apparatuses must hold their responsibilities, if not to prevent suicide attacks, as this is impossible, then at least to minimize losses, stressing \\\\\\\"the importance of finding the sides sending explosives-laden cars and arresting them… as well as the importance of not giving any political or security cover to these groups.\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah further emphasized \\\\\\\"the importance of abandoning sectarian incitements, so that the conflict remains political.\\\\\\\" Addressing people who were affected by Thursday\\\\\\\'s terror attack, Hezbollah leader said: \\\\\\\"We are aware of your patience, courage and faith, and the biggest exam was in July war… They want to harm your determination and faith, but we are certain of your faith and these aims will fail. What we fear is that those murderers drag you to uncalculated reactions which would lead to sedition and the destruction of the country…\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"(Those killers) neither have a nation nor a religion, and they are not Sunnis. They killed Sunnis even more than they killed Shiites. They seek to create a fight between the Lebanese and the (Palestinian refugee) camps. These murderers are a group of terrorists and the owners of a destructive project in the whole region, not just in Lebanon. In Iraq, there is clear evidence about the western, regional, and Israeli intelligences operating the murderers there,\\\\\\\" he added. In conclusion, Sayyed Nasrallah called on his people to \\\\\\\"stay patient and send a clear message that exploding and killing will not affect our morale, and it will not throw us in the trap of sedition. This is the responsibility of everyone in Lebanon, because if this situation continues, it could reach the verge of ambyss.\\\\\\\" His eminence also addressed the murderers, saying: \\\\\\\"If you work for Israel, we know you and we will capture you if the state neglected that. Yet he indicated that \\\\\\\"we are not a substitute for the state, but in any field the state does not hold its responsibility in, we will hold this responsibility.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"If you claim you are defending the Syrian people and punishing Hezbollah over its intervention in Syria, I tell you two things: You, the Takfiri groups are the harshest killers of the Syrian people. You even kidnapped and killed Christian priests who supported the opposition. You kill children and explode mosques.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"As for us, we fight with our values. We have never killed a captive, while you prosecute captives in daylight. We have never killed citizens, and in some of our battles, a larger number of martyrs fell in order to protect citizens, and all what is said about massacres committed by us are lies and fabrications.\\\\\\\" Criticizing the fabrications of some Arab media stations, he assured that \\\\\\\"the world will witness that we have only fought Takfiri groups in Syria.\\\\\\\" Finally, Sayyed Nasrallah said: \\\\\\\"One of our responses to such explosions is: If we had 1000 fighters in Syria, they will become 2000, and if we had 5000, they will become 10 000, and if the battle with those terrorists required that I go with all Hezbollah to Syria, we will all go for the sake of Syria and its people, Lebanon and its people, Palestine and Al-Quds, and the central cause.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"We put an end to the battle, and we set a time for this battle to end, and as we triumphed in all our wars with Israel, if you wanted us to enter a fierce battle with you, I assure to everyone that we will triumph against Takfiri terror. The cost of the battle will be high, but the least cost is being slaughtered like ewes and waiting for the murderers to come into our house.\\\\\\\" Source: http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=106457&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=14&s1=1

Hezbollah Secretary General, his Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a speech on Friday, August 16th, 2013, marking the 7th anniversary of the July 2006 Victory of the Islamic Resistance against the Israeli army. Sayyed Nasrallah to Takfiris: We will Capture You, We will Put an End to Terror Sara Taha Moughnieh Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah delivered a speech on Friday, during a ceremony celebrating the seventh anniversary of victory in the July 2006 war. Sayyed NasrallahHis eminence started his speech with a greeting to the martyrs and wounded who fell only one day before the celebration in the terrorist blast which hit Ruwais street in the Southern Suburb of Beirut. \\\\\\\"I pray for the recovery of all the wounded from the large and dangerous terrorist attack, and I offer my condolences to the families of martyrs who fell, and to all those who were affected physically, mentally, spiritually, and on the material level yesterday. We highly appreciate, admire, and respect the patience of people and the citizens of Dahieh who held responsibility, and were conscious, disciplined, and civilized,\\\\\\\" he said. As he expressed gratitude for all those who stood in solidarity and denounced this painful event, Sayyed Nasrallah condemned the silence of some countries, considering that \\\\\\\"days will prove that they support terrorism, murder, and crime taking place in our region\\\\\\\". July 2006 victory put an end to \\\\\\\"Greater Israel\\\\\\\" project Sayyed Nasrallah initiated his statement with words about the victory, pointing out that \\\\\\\"the celebration was arranged to take place in Aita Al-Shaab, because it overlooks occupied Palestine, and its air is Palestinian air. Hence, you are smelling the air of occupied Palestine, and you are gathering only a stone\\\\\\\'s throw away from the enemy.\\\\\\\" His eminence further stressed that Aita\\\\\\\'s significance was with its symbolic representation, especially with its good hearted and firm people, its brave heroes, its martyrs, and liberated captives. Sayyed Nasrallah talked about the faithfulness of the resistance fighters who were located in Aita Al-Shaab, referring to the devoutness of those men to the path of Master of Martyrs, Imam Hussein (pbuh). July 2006 victory celebrationHe also paid gratitude to the citizens of this village, who returned to their land just hours after ceasefire in 2006, and built tents over the ruins of their houses, to sit in them. \\\\\\\"Your historic victory in the 25th of May 2000 defeated the \\\\\\\"greater Israel\\\\\\\" project, because the Israeli army, which failed to stay in Lebanon, the weakest Arab country, cannot build a state from the Nile to Furat. Then the 14th of August 2006 victory , defeated Israel\\\\\\\'s project of being a great country, which dominates and imposes its decisions on the region and on Iran,\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. Hezbollah Secretary General added that the July 2006 victory also proved that \\\\\\\"this organized popular resistance, which is embraced by its people, is capable of forming real defense, at a time when the country does not have the capacities and technologies which the attacking enemy has, and the evidence on that was presented in the July war.\\\\\\\" In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah warned the Israeli enemy that the resistance will not allow one Israeli soldier to set a foot in the Lebanese territories, indicating that \\\\\\\"we will not be tolerant in defending our villages, lands, and people.\\\\\\\" He further addressed the Israelis, saying: \\\\\\\"The era of Israeli military tourism on the borders with Lebanon, and inside the Lebanese territories is over, with no return.\\\\\\\" Response to Dahieh blast is by duplicating number of fighters in Syria In another context, Sayyed Nasrallah tackled the recent assaults on Dahieh, specifically Thursday\\\\\\\'s tragic attack which left over 20 killed and hundreds wounded. He indicated that \\\\\\\"targeting people and citizens in Dahieh and other places is nothing new. When the enemy failed, it always resorted to hitting people, even those who had no relation with the resistance. The history of Israeli wars in Qana, Dahieh, Sheyah, and other places in July war is a clear witness on that. The enemy takes such action because it knows that this is our point of weakness when it fails in confronting us militarily.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"This is a point of pride for us, as it points out that the relation between the resistance and the people is an emotional, humanitarian, moral, and spiritual relation, and that both are one. The resistance had never acted like it was an imported resistance, like some fighters act these days, hence they don’t care about people. Not at all, as throughout the past years, the resistance had never performed a military or resistance operation without taking into consideration the responses, and protecting people, until April Accord came out to protect them,\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. From this point, his eminence considered that \\\\\\\"when there is a resistance, and people whom it shares their feelings, and suffers from their pains, this is a point of power on one hand, and a point of weakness on the other, which the enemy uses. What happened yesterday was an attack on people. It wasn’t an assassination. There wasn’t any Hezbollah official or location targeted, but the side which committed the massacre in Dahieh wanted to leave behind the largest number of casualties among people.\\\\\\\" He stated that \\\\\\\"the bomb weighted over 100 KGs, and at this location in specific, like the case in Bir Al-Abed explosion, the goal was only to kill people.\\\\\\\" Sayyed NasrallahHezbollah secretary general asserted that the \\\\\\\"massacre comes in the context of a wide and open battle which has been taking place since tens of years… as long as there is a group resisting and refusing to surrender to the American-Zionist will, then naturally, this group and its environment will bare this responsibility.\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah assured that the rockets that hit Baalbak and its neighborhoods in the last few weeks were fired by armed Syrian groups, adding that \\\\\\\"rockets on Hermel, Majdal Anjar, Zahle, and Dahieh were targeting us, and the large explosion on the 9th of August targeted our people and environment. Yet we did not make a quick response… we did not accuse anyone.\\\\\\\" However, \\\\\\\"after Bir Al-Abed blast, some Lebanese parts claimed that Hezbollah planted the explosive as a pretext to ignite the situation. This is defamation and unjust, as you cannot find anyone who would love these people, and kiss the soil under the feet of these people like Hezbollah and its leadership does… This is how you work, but not how Hezbollah does.\\\\\\\" His eminence pointed out that during investigations about these assaults, \\\\\\\"the first assumption was that \\\\\\\"Israel\\\\\\\" was behind them, while the second was the terrorist groups who have declared war on Hezbollah long before the latter entered Al-Qusayr, and the third assumption was that some other side interfered to escalate the situation with Israel, or to create internal sedition and sectarian strife.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"After over 30 days on Bir Al-Abed explosion, and after the intelligence\\\\\\\'s arrests and our investigations, we have reached the result, and the names of those who planted the explosive on Hermel road are now known, and one of them is under arrest… as for the names of those involved in Bir Al-Abed blast, they are now 99.99% known,\\\\\\\" he revealed. Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that investigations have not yet revealed that the committers were operational agents of Israel. \\\\\\\"They are rather affiliated with a certain Takfiri line… some of them are Lebanese, some are Syrians, and some are Palestinians.\\\\\\\" His eminence assured that intelligence apparatuses have informed Hezbollah about certain sides preparing booby-trapped cars to send them to Dahieh, emphasizing that \\\\\\\"all our measures in Dahieh were in response to the official apparatuses\\\\\\\' information.\\\\\\\" On this point, Sayyed Nasrallah stated that \\\\\\\"these (Takfiri) groups work for Israel, and undoubtedly, US and some regional countries\\\\\\\' intelligences are operating these sides.\\\\\\\" He highlighted that \\\\\\\"yesterday they put (explosives) in Dahieh, but who knows where they could put them tomorrow? Neither Israel nor Takfiris care if they were in Dahieh or somewhere else. Those kill Sunnis just like they kill Shiites, they kill Christians just like they kill Muslims, and they bomb mosques just like they bomb churches.\\\\\\\" As his eminence asserted that Takfiri groups could plant booby-trapped cars anywhere in Lebanon, he warned officials, politicians, security apparatuses, and all the Lebanese that \\\\\\\"yesterday\\\\\\\'s explosion was under control and the situation was under control, but if these explosions continue, Lebanon will be on the verge of Abyss. Therefore, responsible actions must be taken for Lebanon to confront this threat\\\\\\\". Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated that the right precautionary measures should be taken and the government as well as its apparatuses must hold their responsibilities, if not to prevent suicide attacks, as this is impossible, then at least to minimize losses, stressing \\\\\\\"the importance of finding the sides sending explosives-laden cars and arresting them… as well as the importance of not giving any political or security cover to these groups.\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah further emphasized \\\\\\\"the importance of abandoning sectarian incitements, so that the conflict remains political.\\\\\\\" Addressing people who were affected by Thursday\\\\\\\'s terror attack, Hezbollah leader said: \\\\\\\"We are aware of your patience, courage and faith, and the biggest exam was in July war… They want to harm your determination and faith, but we are certain of your faith and these aims will fail. What we fear is that those murderers drag you to uncalculated reactions which would lead to sedition and the destruction of the country…\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"(Those killers) neither have a nation nor a religion, and they are not Sunnis. They killed Sunnis even more than they killed Shiites. They seek to create a fight between the Lebanese and the (Palestinian refugee) camps. These murderers are a group of terrorists and the owners of a destructive project in the whole region, not just in Lebanon. In Iraq, there is clear evidence about the western, regional, and Israeli intelligences operating the murderers there,\\\\\\\" he added. In conclusion, Sayyed Nasrallah called on his people to \\\\\\\"stay patient and send a clear message that exploding and killing will not affect our morale, and it will not throw us in the trap of sedition. This is the responsibility of everyone in Lebanon, because if this situation continues, it could reach the verge of ambyss.\\\\\\\" His eminence also addressed the murderers, saying: \\\\\\\"If you work for Israel, we know you and we will capture you if the state neglected that. Yet he indicated that \\\\\\\"we are not a substitute for the state, but in any field the state does not hold its responsibility in, we will hold this responsibility.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"If you claim you are defending the Syrian people and punishing Hezbollah over its intervention in Syria, I tell you two things: You, the Takfiri groups are the harshest killers of the Syrian people. You even kidnapped and killed Christian priests who supported the opposition. You kill children and explode mosques.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"As for us, we fight with our values. We have never killed a captive, while you prosecute captives in daylight. We have never killed citizens, and in some of our battles, a larger number of martyrs fell in order to protect citizens, and all what is said about massacres committed by us are lies and fabrications.\\\\\\\" Criticizing the fabrications of some Arab media stations, he assured that \\\\\\\"the world will witness that we have only fought Takfiri groups in Syria.\\\\\\\" Finally, Sayyed Nasrallah said: \\\\\\\"One of our responses to such explosions is: If we had 1000 fighters in Syria, they will become 2000, and if we had 5000, they will become 10 000, and if the battle with those terrorists required that I go with all Hezbollah to Syria, we will all go for the sake of Syria and its people, Lebanon and its people, Palestine and Al-Quds, and the central cause.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"We put an end to the battle, and we set a time for this battle to end, and as we triumphed in all our wars with Israel, if you wanted us to enter a fierce battle with you, I assure to everyone that we will triumph against Takfiri terror. The cost of the battle will be high, but the least cost is being slaughtered like ewes and waiting for the murderers to come into our house.\\\\\\\" Source: http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=106457&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=14&s1=1

Hezbollah Secretary General, his Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a speech on Friday, August 16th, 2013, marking the 7th anniversary of the July 2006 Victory of the Islamic Resistance against the Israeli army. Sayyed Nasrallah to Takfiris: We will Capture You, We will Put an End to Terror Sara Taha Moughnieh Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah delivered a speech on Friday, during a ceremony celebrating the seventh anniversary of victory in the July 2006 war. Sayyed NasrallahHis eminence started his speech with a greeting to the martyrs and wounded who fell only one day before the celebration in the terrorist blast which hit Ruwais street in the Southern Suburb of Beirut. \\\\\\\"I pray for the recovery of all the wounded from the large and dangerous terrorist attack, and I offer my condolences to the families of martyrs who fell, and to all those who were affected physically, mentally, spiritually, and on the material level yesterday. We highly appreciate, admire, and respect the patience of people and the citizens of Dahieh who held responsibility, and were conscious, disciplined, and civilized,\\\\\\\" he said. As he expressed gratitude for all those who stood in solidarity and denounced this painful event, Sayyed Nasrallah condemned the silence of some countries, considering that \\\\\\\"days will prove that they support terrorism, murder, and crime taking place in our region\\\\\\\". July 2006 victory put an end to \\\\\\\"Greater Israel\\\\\\\" project Sayyed Nasrallah initiated his statement with words about the victory, pointing out that \\\\\\\"the celebration was arranged to take place in Aita Al-Shaab, because it overlooks occupied Palestine, and its air is Palestinian air. Hence, you are smelling the air of occupied Palestine, and you are gathering only a stone\\\\\\\'s throw away from the enemy.\\\\\\\" His eminence further stressed that Aita\\\\\\\'s significance was with its symbolic representation, especially with its good hearted and firm people, its brave heroes, its martyrs, and liberated captives. Sayyed Nasrallah talked about the faithfulness of the resistance fighters who were located in Aita Al-Shaab, referring to the devoutness of those men to the path of Master of Martyrs, Imam Hussein (pbuh). July 2006 victory celebrationHe also paid gratitude to the citizens of this village, who returned to their land just hours after ceasefire in 2006, and built tents over the ruins of their houses, to sit in them. \\\\\\\"Your historic victory in the 25th of May 2000 defeated the \\\\\\\"greater Israel\\\\\\\" project, because the Israeli army, which failed to stay in Lebanon, the weakest Arab country, cannot build a state from the Nile to Furat. Then the 14th of August 2006 victory , defeated Israel\\\\\\\'s project of being a great country, which dominates and imposes its decisions on the region and on Iran,\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. Hezbollah Secretary General added that the July 2006 victory also proved that \\\\\\\"this organized popular resistance, which is embraced by its people, is capable of forming real defense, at a time when the country does not have the capacities and technologies which the attacking enemy has, and the evidence on that was presented in the July war.\\\\\\\" In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah warned the Israeli enemy that the resistance will not allow one Israeli soldier to set a foot in the Lebanese territories, indicating that \\\\\\\"we will not be tolerant in defending our villages, lands, and people.\\\\\\\" He further addressed the Israelis, saying: \\\\\\\"The era of Israeli military tourism on the borders with Lebanon, and inside the Lebanese territories is over, with no return.\\\\\\\" Response to Dahieh blast is by duplicating number of fighters in Syria In another context, Sayyed Nasrallah tackled the recent assaults on Dahieh, specifically Thursday\\\\\\\'s tragic attack which left over 20 killed and hundreds wounded. He indicated that \\\\\\\"targeting people and citizens in Dahieh and other places is nothing new. When the enemy failed, it always resorted to hitting people, even those who had no relation with the resistance. The history of Israeli wars in Qana, Dahieh, Sheyah, and other places in July war is a clear witness on that. The enemy takes such action because it knows that this is our point of weakness when it fails in confronting us militarily.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"This is a point of pride for us, as it points out that the relation between the resistance and the people is an emotional, humanitarian, moral, and spiritual relation, and that both are one. The resistance had never acted like it was an imported resistance, like some fighters act these days, hence they don’t care about people. Not at all, as throughout the past years, the resistance had never performed a military or resistance operation without taking into consideration the responses, and protecting people, until April Accord came out to protect them,\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. From this point, his eminence considered that \\\\\\\"when there is a resistance, and people whom it shares their feelings, and suffers from their pains, this is a point of power on one hand, and a point of weakness on the other, which the enemy uses. What happened yesterday was an attack on people. It wasn’t an assassination. There wasn’t any Hezbollah official or location targeted, but the side which committed the massacre in Dahieh wanted to leave behind the largest number of casualties among people.\\\\\\\" He stated that \\\\\\\"the bomb weighted over 100 KGs, and at this location in specific, like the case in Bir Al-Abed explosion, the goal was only to kill people.\\\\\\\" Sayyed NasrallahHezbollah secretary general asserted that the \\\\\\\"massacre comes in the context of a wide and open battle which has been taking place since tens of years… as long as there is a group resisting and refusing to surrender to the American-Zionist will, then naturally, this group and its environment will bare this responsibility.\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah assured that the rockets that hit Baalbak and its neighborhoods in the last few weeks were fired by armed Syrian groups, adding that \\\\\\\"rockets on Hermel, Majdal Anjar, Zahle, and Dahieh were targeting us, and the large explosion on the 9th of August targeted our people and environment. Yet we did not make a quick response… we did not accuse anyone.\\\\\\\" However, \\\\\\\"after Bir Al-Abed blast, some Lebanese parts claimed that Hezbollah planted the explosive as a pretext to ignite the situation. This is defamation and unjust, as you cannot find anyone who would love these people, and kiss the soil under the feet of these people like Hezbollah and its leadership does… This is how you work, but not how Hezbollah does.\\\\\\\" His eminence pointed out that during investigations about these assaults, \\\\\\\"the first assumption was that \\\\\\\"Israel\\\\\\\" was behind them, while the second was the terrorist groups who have declared war on Hezbollah long before the latter entered Al-Qusayr, and the third assumption was that some other side interfered to escalate the situation with Israel, or to create internal sedition and sectarian strife.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"After over 30 days on Bir Al-Abed explosion, and after the intelligence\\\\\\\'s arrests and our investigations, we have reached the result, and the names of those who planted the explosive on Hermel road are now known, and one of them is under arrest… as for the names of those involved in Bir Al-Abed blast, they are now 99.99% known,\\\\\\\" he revealed. Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that investigations have not yet revealed that the committers were operational agents of Israel. \\\\\\\"They are rather affiliated with a certain Takfiri line… some of them are Lebanese, some are Syrians, and some are Palestinians.\\\\\\\" His eminence assured that intelligence apparatuses have informed Hezbollah about certain sides preparing booby-trapped cars to send them to Dahieh, emphasizing that \\\\\\\"all our measures in Dahieh were in response to the official apparatuses\\\\\\\' information.\\\\\\\" On this point, Sayyed Nasrallah stated that \\\\\\\"these (Takfiri) groups work for Israel, and undoubtedly, US and some regional countries\\\\\\\' intelligences are operating these sides.\\\\\\\" He highlighted that \\\\\\\"yesterday they put (explosives) in Dahieh, but who knows where they could put them tomorrow? Neither Israel nor Takfiris care if they were in Dahieh or somewhere else. Those kill Sunnis just like they kill Shiites, they kill Christians just like they kill Muslims, and they bomb mosques just like they bomb churches.\\\\\\\" As his eminence asserted that Takfiri groups could plant booby-trapped cars anywhere in Lebanon, he warned officials, politicians, security apparatuses, and all the Lebanese that \\\\\\\"yesterday\\\\\\\'s explosion was under control and the situation was under control, but if these explosions continue, Lebanon will be on the verge of Abyss. Therefore, responsible actions must be taken for Lebanon to confront this threat\\\\\\\". Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated that the right precautionary measures should be taken and the government as well as its apparatuses must hold their responsibilities, if not to prevent suicide attacks, as this is impossible, then at least to minimize losses, stressing \\\\\\\"the importance of finding the sides sending explosives-laden cars and arresting them… as well as the importance of not giving any political or security cover to these groups.\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah further emphasized \\\\\\\"the importance of abandoning sectarian incitements, so that the conflict remains political.\\\\\\\" Addressing people who were affected by Thursday\\\\\\\'s terror attack, Hezbollah leader said: \\\\\\\"We are aware of your patience, courage and faith, and the biggest exam was in July war… They want to harm your determination and faith, but we are certain of your faith and these aims will fail. What we fear is that those murderers drag you to uncalculated reactions which would lead to sedition and the destruction of the country…\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"(Those killers) neither have a nation nor a religion, and they are not Sunnis. They killed Sunnis even more than they killed Shiites. They seek to create a fight between the Lebanese and the (Palestinian refugee) camps. These murderers are a group of terrorists and the owners of a destructive project in the whole region, not just in Lebanon. In Iraq, there is clear evidence about the western, regional, and Israeli intelligences operating the murderers there,\\\\\\\" he added. In conclusion, Sayyed Nasrallah called on his people to \\\\\\\"stay patient and send a clear message that exploding and killing will not affect our morale, and it will not throw us in the trap of sedition. This is the responsibility of everyone in Lebanon, because if this situation continues, it could reach the verge of ambyss.\\\\\\\" His eminence also addressed the murderers, saying: \\\\\\\"If you work for Israel, we know you and we will capture you if the state neglected that. Yet he indicated that \\\\\\\"we are not a substitute for the state, but in any field the state does not hold its responsibility in, we will hold this responsibility.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"If you claim you are defending the Syrian people and punishing Hezbollah over its intervention in Syria, I tell you two things: You, the Takfiri groups are the harshest killers of the Syrian people. You even kidnapped and killed Christian priests who supported the opposition. You kill children and explode mosques.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"As for us, we fight with our values. We have never killed a captive, while you prosecute captives in daylight. We have never killed citizens, and in some of our battles, a larger number of martyrs fell in order to protect citizens, and all what is said about massacres committed by us are lies and fabrications.\\\\\\\" Criticizing the fabrications of some Arab media stations, he assured that \\\\\\\"the world will witness that we have only fought Takfiri groups in Syria.\\\\\\\" Finally, Sayyed Nasrallah said: \\\\\\\"One of our responses to such explosions is: If we had 1000 fighters in Syria, they will become 2000, and if we had 5000, they will become 10 000, and if the battle with those terrorists required that I go with all Hezbollah to Syria, we will all go for the sake of Syria and its people, Lebanon and its people, Palestine and Al-Quds, and the central cause.\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"We put an end to the battle, and we set a time for this battle to end, and as we triumphed in all our wars with Israel, if you wanted us to enter a fierce battle with you, I assure to everyone that we will triumph against Takfiri terror. The cost of the battle will be high, but the least cost is being slaughtered like ewes and waiting for the murderers to come into our house.\\\\\\\" Source: http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=106457&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=14&s1=1

Hezbollah Secretary General, his Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a speech on Friday, August 16th, 2013, marking the 7th anniversary of the July 2006 Victory of the Islamic Resistance against the Israeli army. Sayyed Nasrallah to Takfiris: We will Capture You, We will Put an End to Terror Sara Taha Moughnieh Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah delivered a speech on Friday, during a ceremony celebrating the seventh anniversary of victory in the July 2006 war. Sayyed NasrallahHis eminence started his speech with a greeting to the martyrs and wounded who fell only one day before the celebration in the terrorist blast which hit Ruwais street in the Southern Suburb of Beirut. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I pray for the recovery of all the wounded from the large and dangerous terrorist attack, and I offer my condolences to the families of martyrs who fell, and to all those who were affected physically, mentally, spiritually, and on the material level yesterday. We highly appreciate, admire, and respect the patience of people and the citizens of Dahieh who held responsibility, and were conscious, disciplined, and civilized,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he said. As he expressed gratitude for all those who stood in solidarity and denounced this painful event, Sayyed Nasrallah condemned the silence of some countries, considering that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"days will prove that they support terrorism, murder, and crime taking place in our region\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". July 2006 victory put an end to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Greater Israel\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" project Sayyed Nasrallah initiated his statement with words about the victory, pointing out that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the celebration was arranged to take place in Aita Al-Shaab, because it overlooks occupied Palestine, and its air is Palestinian air. Hence, you are smelling the air of occupied Palestine, and you are gathering only a stone\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s throw away from the enemy.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" His eminence further stressed that Aita\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s significance was with its symbolic representation, especially with its good hearted and firm people, its brave heroes, its martyrs, and liberated captives. Sayyed Nasrallah talked about the faithfulness of the resistance fighters who were located in Aita Al-Shaab, referring to the devoutness of those men to the path of Master of Martyrs, Imam Hussein (pbuh). July 2006 victory celebrationHe also paid gratitude to the citizens of this village, who returned to their land just hours after ceasefire in 2006, and built tents over the ruins of their houses, to sit in them. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Your historic victory in the 25th of May 2000 defeated the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"greater Israel\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" project, because the Israeli army, which failed to stay in Lebanon, the weakest Arab country, cannot build a state from the Nile to Furat. Then the 14th of August 2006 victory , defeated Israel\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s project of being a great country, which dominates and imposes its decisions on the region and on Iran,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. Hezbollah Secretary General added that the July 2006 victory also proved that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"this organized popular resistance, which is embraced by its people, is capable of forming real defense, at a time when the country does not have the capacities and technologies which the attacking enemy has, and the evidence on that was presented in the July war.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah warned the Israeli enemy that the resistance will not allow one Israeli soldier to set a foot in the Lebanese territories, indicating that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"we will not be tolerant in defending our villages, lands, and people.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" He further addressed the Israelis, saying: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The era of Israeli military tourism on the borders with Lebanon, and inside the Lebanese territories is over, with no return.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Response to Dahieh blast is by duplicating number of fighters in Syria In another context, Sayyed Nasrallah tackled the recent assaults on Dahieh, specifically Thursday\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s tragic attack which left over 20 killed and hundreds wounded. He indicated that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"targeting people and citizens in Dahieh and other places is nothing new. When the enemy failed, it always resorted to hitting people, even those who had no relation with the resistance. The history of Israeli wars in Qana, Dahieh, Sheyah, and other places in July war is a clear witness on that. The enemy takes such action because it knows that this is our point of weakness when it fails in confronting us militarily.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"This is a point of pride for us, as it points out that the relation between the resistance and the people is an emotional, humanitarian, moral, and spiritual relation, and that both are one. The resistance had never acted like it was an imported resistance, like some fighters act these days, hence they don’t care about people. Not at all, as throughout the past years, the resistance had never performed a military or resistance operation without taking into consideration the responses, and protecting people, until April Accord came out to protect them,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah added. From this point, his eminence considered that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"when there is a resistance, and people whom it shares their feelings, and suffers from their pains, this is a point of power on one hand, and a point of weakness on the other, which the enemy uses. What happened yesterday was an attack on people. It wasn’t an assassination. There wasn’t any Hezbollah official or location targeted, but the side which committed the massacre in Dahieh wanted to leave behind the largest number of casualties among people.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" He stated that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the bomb weighted over 100 KGs, and at this location in specific, like the case in Bir Al-Abed explosion, the goal was only to kill people.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Sayyed NasrallahHezbollah secretary general asserted that the \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"massacre comes in the context of a wide and open battle which has been taking place since tens of years… as long as there is a group resisting and refusing to surrender to the American-Zionist will, then naturally, this group and its environment will bare this responsibility.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah assured that the rockets that hit Baalbak and its neighborhoods in the last few weeks were fired by armed Syrian groups, adding that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"rockets on Hermel, Majdal Anjar, Zahle, and Dahieh were targeting us, and the large explosion on the 9th of August targeted our people and environment. Yet we did not make a quick response… we did not accuse anyone.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" However, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"after Bir Al-Abed blast, some Lebanese parts claimed that Hezbollah planted the explosive as a pretext to ignite the situation. This is defamation and unjust, as you cannot find anyone who would love these people, and kiss the soil under the feet of these people like Hezbollah and its leadership does… This is how you work, but not how Hezbollah does.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" His eminence pointed out that during investigations about these assaults, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the first assumption was that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Israel\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" was behind them, while the second was the terrorist groups who have declared war on Hezbollah long before the latter entered Al-Qusayr, and the third assumption was that some other side interfered to escalate the situation with Israel, or to create internal sedition and sectarian strife.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"After over 30 days on Bir Al-Abed explosion, and after the intelligence\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s arrests and our investigations, we have reached the result, and the names of those who planted the explosive on Hermel road are now known, and one of them is under arrest… as for the names of those involved in Bir Al-Abed blast, they are now 99.99% known,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he revealed. Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that investigations have not yet revealed that the committers were operational agents of Israel. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"They are rather affiliated with a certain Takfiri line… some of them are Lebanese, some are Syrians, and some are Palestinians.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" His eminence assured that intelligence apparatuses have informed Hezbollah about certain sides preparing booby-trapped cars to send them to Dahieh, emphasizing that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"all our measures in Dahieh were in response to the official apparatuses\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' information.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" On this point, Sayyed Nasrallah stated that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"these (Takfiri) groups work for Israel, and undoubtedly, US and some regional countries\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' intelligences are operating these sides.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" He highlighted that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"yesterday they put (explosives) in Dahieh, but who knows where they could put them tomorrow? Neither Israel nor Takfiris care if they were in Dahieh or somewhere else. Those kill Sunnis just like they kill Shiites, they kill Christians just like they kill Muslims, and they bomb mosques just like they bomb churches.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" As his eminence asserted that Takfiri groups could plant booby-trapped cars anywhere in Lebanon, he warned officials, politicians, security apparatuses, and all the Lebanese that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"yesterday\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s explosion was under control and the situation was under control, but if these explosions continue, Lebanon will be on the verge of Abyss. Therefore, responsible actions must be taken for Lebanon to confront this threat\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated that the right precautionary measures should be taken and the government as well as its apparatuses must hold their responsibilities, if not to prevent suicide attacks, as this is impossible, then at least to minimize losses, stressing \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the importance of finding the sides sending explosives-laden cars and arresting them… as well as the importance of not giving any political or security cover to these groups.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Sayyed Nasrallah further emphasized \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the importance of abandoning sectarian incitements, so that the conflict remains political.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Addressing people who were affected by Thursday\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s terror attack, Hezbollah leader said: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We are aware of your patience, courage and faith, and the biggest exam was in July war… They want to harm your determination and faith, but we are certain of your faith and these aims will fail. What we fear is that those murderers drag you to uncalculated reactions which would lead to sedition and the destruction of the country…\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"(Those killers) neither have a nation nor a religion, and they are not Sunnis. They killed Sunnis even more than they killed Shiites. They seek to create a fight between the Lebanese and the (Palestinian refugee) camps. These murderers are a group of terrorists and the owners of a destructive project in the whole region, not just in Lebanon. In Iraq, there is clear evidence about the western, regional, and Israeli intelligences operating the murderers there,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he added. In conclusion, Sayyed Nasrallah called on his people to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"stay patient and send a clear message that exploding and killing will not affect our morale, and it will not throw us in the trap of sedition. This is the responsibility of everyone in Lebanon, because if this situation continues, it could reach the verge of ambyss.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" His eminence also addressed the murderers, saying: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"If you work for Israel, we know you and we will capture you if the state neglected that. Yet he indicated that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"we are not a substitute for the state, but in any field the state does not hold its responsibility in, we will hold this responsibility.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"If you claim you are defending the Syrian people and punishing Hezbollah over its intervention in Syria, I tell you two things: You, the Takfiri groups are the harshest killers of the Syrian people. You even kidnapped and killed Christian priests who supported the opposition. You kill children and explode mosques.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"As for us, we fight with our values. We have never killed a captive, while you prosecute captives in daylight. We have never killed citizens, and in some of our battles, a larger number of martyrs fell in order to protect citizens, and all what is said about massacres committed by us are lies and fabrications.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Criticizing the fabrications of some Arab media stations, he assured that \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"the world will witness that we have only fought Takfiri groups in Syria.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Finally, Sayyed Nasrallah said: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"One of our responses to such explosions is: If we had 1000 fighters in Syria, they will become 2000, and if we had 5000, they will become 10 000, and if the battle with those terrorists required that I go with all Hezbollah to Syria, we will all go for the sake of Syria and its people, Lebanon and its people, Palestine and Al-Quds, and the central cause.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We put an end to the battle, and we set a time for this battle to end, and as we triumphed in all our wars with Israel, if you wanted us to enter a fierce battle with you, I assure to everyone that we will triumph against Takfiri terror. The cost of the battle will be high, but the least cost is being slaughtered like ewes and waiting for the murderers to come into our house.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Source: http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=106457&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=14&s1=1

Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a speech on Monday evening, September 23rd, 2013, to address some of the most recent local and regional developments. His eminence first talked about the deployment of Lebanese Army forces in the Southern Suburb of Beirut (Dahiyeh) in order to protect the area from any potential threats. Sayyed Nasrallah thanked the efforts of the government and the army, and he asked that people cooperate with the Lebanese Army at various checkpoints. The Secretary General also addressed some claims alleging that Hezbollah had supposedly received over a ton of chemical weapons from the Assad regime in Syria, Sayyed Nasrallah assured that these claims are indeed false and ridiculous. His eminence then moved on to clarify some claims about Hezbollah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s communications network in Zahle. He also spoke about the formation of the Lebanese government. On the regional level, Hezbollah called on various key players who have been fueling the crisis in Syria, such as Saudi Arabia and the GCC, Egypt, and Turkey, to reconsider their stance sooner rather than later. His eminence rejected Saudi claims about Hezbollah having \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"occupied\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Syria. Finally, Sayyed Nasrallah made some important comments regarding the long-forgotten cause of Bahrain. The Secretary General assured that He is not surprised at the recent actions of the Bahraini regime, which placed the Lebanese Resistance on a terrorist organizations\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' list. He said that this is merely due to the fact that Hezbollah supported the popular uprising in Bahrain against the Al-Khalifa regime in February 2011. Sayyed Nasrallah emphasized that Hezbollah still supports the demands of the Bahraini people, whose patience and peacefulness has surprised even him. He said that the Bahraini people has had to withstand all kinds of torture and repression at the hands of the Bahraini regime, which also called in foreign (Saudi) forces to help quell the revolution and crush the people. His eminence added that the regime has unlawfully withdrawn Bahraini scholars\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' nationalities, and imprisoned a large number of them. This oppressive regime has also detained and imprisoned hundreds of activists since over two years, and it imprisons even women and children, subjecting them to torture and despicable forms of maltreatment. The regime has also torn down mosques and other religiously sacred sights, and yet the international community has remained silent. Sayyed Nasrallah rejected claims of foreign interference in the popular uprising, and urged the international community, and more specifically Islamic peoples and scholars to publicly oppose what is going on in Bahrain.

رہبر مسلمین آیت اللہ العظمی سید علی خامنہ ای کا پیغام حج - Rehbar Ayatullah Sayyed Ali Khamenei Ka Payghame Hajj - Urdu Leader\\\\\\\'s annual Hajj message in full Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, delivered a message to this year’s hajj pilgrims. The following is the full text of the message: 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 the Master of Prophets and Messengers and upon his immaculate and pure household and chosen companions. The arrival of the hajj season should be regarded as the great Eid of the Islamic Ummah. The great opportunity which these precious days provide for Muslims throughout the world is like a miraculous elixir. If the value of such days is appreciated and if we benefit from such days in an appropriate way, many of the maladies of the world of Islam will be cured. Hajj is the bubbling spring of divine blessings. Each and every one of you happy pilgrims has gained the opportunity to cleanse your hearts and souls with these religious practices, which are full of warmth and spirituality, and to collect many blessings for your entire life by using this source of mercy, dignity and power. In this divine arena of self-edification you can express your humility before Allah the Merciful, carry out the responsibilities which have fallen on the shoulders of Muslims, show enthusiasm and dynamism in the affairs of the world and in your religious duties, offer mercy and forgiveness when you interact with Muslim brothers, demonstrate your courage and determination in the face of difficult events, become hopeful about divine assistance in all arenas and, finally, build your human character the way Muslims should. When you are ornamented with these precious resources and when you have benefitted from them, then you can offer yourselves as gifts to your country, your nation and the Islamic Ummah. More than anything else, the Islamic Ummah needs individuals who can utilize thoughts and actions as well as faith, sincerity and purity, who can show resistance in the face of the spiteful enemies as well as exercising self-purification and piety. This is the only way for the liberation of the great Muslim community from the problems which have been created, either by the enemy, or as a result ofthe lack of determination, faith and foresightamong Muslims. Muslims have suffered from these things for a very long time. Without a doubt, the present era is an era of awakening, one in which Muslims can find their true identity. This truth can be easily discovered through the challenges which Muslims are faced with. It is exactly in such conditions that our determination- which is based on faith, reliance on God, foresight and wisdom- can help Muslim nations achieve victory against these challenges and bring about a dignified and honorable fate for Muslims. The opposing camp which cannot tolerate Islamic Awakening and the dignity of Muslims has entered the arena with all its power and it is using all kinds of psychological, military, security, economic and propaganda tools to suppress Muslims, make them inactive and busy them with trivial things. Taking a general look at the conditions of West Asian countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and countries surrounding the Persian Gulf, and North African countries such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and a number of other countries- reveals many truths. The existence of civil wars, religious and denominational prejudices and political instabilities, the prevalence of cruel terrorism, the emergence of extreme groups and orientations- which like savage tribes in history, cut open the chests of human beings and rip their hearts out with their teeth- the emergence of armed mercenaries who kill women and children, cut off the heads of men and rape women and who do such horrible and disgusting crimes in the name of religion are all the products of the satanic and arrogant plots of foreign intelligence services and their regional agents. Such plots are implemented in countries in which the ground is prepared before-hand and as a result, they create a disastrous situation for these nations and peoples. In such conditions, it is clear that one cannot expect Muslim nations to remedy their material and spiritual shortcomings and to achieve security, welfare, scientific progress and international dignity which are the results of achieving awakening and finding one’s true identity. These disastrous conditions can abort the progress of Islamic Awakening, destroy the mental awareness which has been created in the world of Islam, drag Muslims- once more- towards stagnation, isolation and decline and consign to oblivion important and fundamental issues such as the liberation of Palestine and other Muslim nations from the transgressions of the USA and Zionism. The most important cure for this situation can be summarized in two key phrases, both of which are among the clearest lessons of hajj: First: unity and brotherhood of Muslims under the flag of monotheism. Second: knowing the enemy and confronting his plans and methods. Strengthening the spirit of brotherhood and cooperation is a great lesson of hajj. During hajj, even quarrelling and arguing with others is forbidden. During hajj, wearing the same clothes, following the same practices, making the same moves and behaving in a kind way,all mean equality and brotherhood for all those who believe in and rely on monotheism. This means that Islam strongly rejects any idea and belief which views a number of Muslims and believers in Ka’bah and monotheism as people who are outside the circle of Islam. Theseorientationswhich are based on takfirism, which have become playthings in the hands of the treacherous Zionist politicians and their western supporters- commit serious crimes and shed the blood of Muslims and innocent people, and the people who claim to be religious, who call themselves clerics and who fuel the fire of fitna between Shia and Sunni and otherdenominations- should know that the hajj pilgrimage will thwart their claims. I, like many Islamic scholars and sympathetic personalities in the Islamic Ummah, announce that any statement or action which fuels the fire of discord among Muslims, any insult to the sacred beliefs of each one of the Muslim denominations and any act of takfirism against Islamic denominations equals serving the camp of atheism and polytheism and betraying Islam. All of these things are haraam. Knowing the enemy and its methods is the second important factor. First, we should not forget about the existence of a spiteful enemy. Performing the ritual of the stoning of the jamarat during hajj is a symbolic sign of this awareness. Second, we should not make a mistake in knowing the main enemy, who in the present time is global arrogance and the criminal Zionist network. Third, we should properly identify the methods of this hostile enemy which is creating discord among Muslims, promoting moral and political corruption, threatening and tempting outstanding personalities, exerting economic pressures on all nations and arousing doubts about Islamic beliefs. Moreover, we should identify their agents and those who are, knowingly or ignorantly, dependent on them. Arrogant governments, headed by the USA, conceal their true character with the help of comprehensive and advanced propaganda tools. By claiming that they support human rights and democracy, they deceive public opinion in different countries. They speak about the rights of all nations while each day Muslim nations feel- with their bodies and souls- the fire of discord more than the past. For decades, the oppressed Palestinian nation has been receiving strikes as a result of the crimes of the Zionist regime and its supporters. In the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, terrorism - which originates from the policies of global arrogance and its agents in the region - has ruined the lives of the people. Syria has come under the attack of arrogant powers and their regional agents because of supporting anti-Zionist orientations and it has experienced a bloody civil war. In Bahrain and Myanmar, Muslims have been ignored and their enemies are supported. Other nations are threatened by the USA and its allies with military attacks, economic sanctions and different acts of sabotage. Taking a general look at all these countries can reveal to all people throughout the world the true face of these leaders of global arrogance. Political, cultural and religious personalities throughout the world of Islam should consider it their responsibility to draw everyone’s attention to these facts. This is the moral and religious responsibility of all of us. North African countries, which are unfortunately suffering from deep domestic conflicts today, should pay attention to this responsibility more than other countries. They should pay more attention to the issue of knowing the enemy and its plots and methods. The continuation of these conflicts among nationalist orientations and Muslims’ negligence about the threat of domestic wars in such countries is a great danger. The loss that may be inflicted on the Islamic Ummah because of such events will not be quickly compensated for. Of course, we have no doubts that the people who have risen against global arrogance and who have become the embodiment of Islamic Awakening in such countries will not, by Allah’s favor, allow time to go back so much so that the era of the corrupt, dependent and dictatorial rulers starts again. However, ignorance about the role of arrogant powers in creating discord and bringing about destructive interference will create a difficult situation for such countries and will cause a very long delay in achieving an era of dignity, security and welfare. We believe, from the bottom of our hearts, in the capability of nations and in the power, faith, determination and foresight which Allah the Omniscient has offered to the masses of the people. For more than three decades, we have seen this in the Islamic Republic with our own eyes and we have experienced it with all our hearts and souls. Our determination is an invitation forall Muslim nations, to this experience of their brothers in this dignified and indefatigable country. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow peace on Muslims and to foil the plots of the enemies. I ask Him to accept your hajj pilgrimage and bestow physical and spiritual health on you. I ask Him to provide you pilgrims of the House of God with an overflowing supply of spiritual blessings. Greetings be upon you and Allah’s Mercy Sayyid Ali Khamenei

رہبر مسلمین آیت اللہ العظمی سید علی خامنہ ای کا پیغام حج - Rehbar Ayatullah Sayyed Ali Khamenei Ka Payghame Hajj - Urdu Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s annual Hajj message in full Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, delivered a message to this year’s hajj pilgrims. The following is the full text of the message: 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 the Master of Prophets and Messengers and upon his immaculate and pure household and chosen companions. The arrival of the hajj season should be regarded as the great Eid of the Islamic Ummah. The great opportunity which these precious days provide for Muslims throughout the world is like a miraculous elixir. If the value of such days is appreciated and if we benefit from such days in an appropriate way, many of the maladies of the world of Islam will be cured. Hajj is the bubbling spring of divine blessings. Each and every one of you happy pilgrims has gained the opportunity to cleanse your hearts and souls with these religious practices, which are full of warmth and spirituality, and to collect many blessings for your entire life by using this source of mercy, dignity and power. In this divine arena of self-edification you can express your humility before Allah the Merciful, carry out the responsibilities which have fallen on the shoulders of Muslims, show enthusiasm and dynamism in the affairs of the world and in your religious duties, offer mercy and forgiveness when you interact with Muslim brothers, demonstrate your courage and determination in the face of difficult events, become hopeful about divine assistance in all arenas and, finally, build your human character the way Muslims should. When you are ornamented with these precious resources and when you have benefitted from them, then you can offer yourselves as gifts to your country, your nation and the Islamic Ummah. More than anything else, the Islamic Ummah needs individuals who can utilize thoughts and actions as well as faith, sincerity and purity, who can show resistance in the face of the spiteful enemies as well as exercising self-purification and piety. This is the only way for the liberation of the great Muslim community from the problems which have been created, either by the enemy, or as a result ofthe lack of determination, faith and foresightamong Muslims. Muslims have suffered from these things for a very long time. Without a doubt, the present era is an era of awakening, one in which Muslims can find their true identity. This truth can be easily discovered through the challenges which Muslims are faced with. It is exactly in such conditions that our determination- which is based on faith, reliance on God, foresight and wisdom- can help Muslim nations achieve victory against these challenges and bring about a dignified and honorable fate for Muslims. The opposing camp which cannot tolerate Islamic Awakening and the dignity of Muslims has entered the arena with all its power and it is using all kinds of psychological, military, security, economic and propaganda tools to suppress Muslims, make them inactive and busy them with trivial things. Taking a general look at the conditions of West Asian countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and countries surrounding the Persian Gulf, and North African countries such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and a number of other countries- reveals many truths. The existence of civil wars, religious and denominational prejudices and political instabilities, the prevalence of cruel terrorism, the emergence of extreme groups and orientations- which like savage tribes in history, cut open the chests of human beings and rip their hearts out with their teeth- the emergence of armed mercenaries who kill women and children, cut off the heads of men and rape women and who do such horrible and disgusting crimes in the name of religion are all the products of the satanic and arrogant plots of foreign intelligence services and their regional agents. Such plots are implemented in countries in which the ground is prepared before-hand and as a result, they create a disastrous situation for these nations and peoples. In such conditions, it is clear that one cannot expect Muslim nations to remedy their material and spiritual shortcomings and to achieve security, welfare, scientific progress and international dignity which are the results of achieving awakening and finding one’s true identity. These disastrous conditions can abort the progress of Islamic Awakening, destroy the mental awareness which has been created in the world of Islam, drag Muslims- once more- towards stagnation, isolation and decline and consign to oblivion important and fundamental issues such as the liberation of Palestine and other Muslim nations from the transgressions of the USA and Zionism. The most important cure for this situation can be summarized in two key phrases, both of which are among the clearest lessons of hajj: First: unity and brotherhood of Muslims under the flag of monotheism. Second: knowing the enemy and confronting his plans and methods. Strengthening the spirit of brotherhood and cooperation is a great lesson of hajj. During hajj, even quarrelling and arguing with others is forbidden. During hajj, wearing the same clothes, following the same practices, making the same moves and behaving in a kind way,all mean equality and brotherhood for all those who believe in and rely on monotheism. This means that Islam strongly rejects any idea and belief which views a number of Muslims and believers in Ka’bah and monotheism as people who are outside the circle of Islam. Theseorientationswhich are based on takfirism, which have become playthings in the hands of the treacherous Zionist politicians and their western supporters- commit serious crimes and shed the blood of Muslims and innocent people, and the people who claim to be religious, who call themselves clerics and who fuel the fire of fitna between Shia and Sunni and otherdenominations- should know that the hajj pilgrimage will thwart their claims. I, like many Islamic scholars and sympathetic personalities in the Islamic Ummah, announce that any statement or action which fuels the fire of discord among Muslims, any insult to the sacred beliefs of each one of the Muslim denominations and any act of takfirism against Islamic denominations equals serving the camp of atheism and polytheism and betraying Islam. All of these things are haraam. Knowing the enemy and its methods is the second important factor. First, we should not forget about the existence of a spiteful enemy. Performing the ritual of the stoning of the jamarat during hajj is a symbolic sign of this awareness. Second, we should not make a mistake in knowing the main enemy, who in the present time is global arrogance and the criminal Zionist network. Third, we should properly identify the methods of this hostile enemy which is creating discord among Muslims, promoting moral and political corruption, threatening and tempting outstanding personalities, exerting economic pressures on all nations and arousing doubts about Islamic beliefs. Moreover, we should identify their agents and those who are, knowingly or ignorantly, dependent on them. Arrogant governments, headed by the USA, conceal their true character with the help of comprehensive and advanced propaganda tools. By claiming that they support human rights and democracy, they deceive public opinion in different countries. They speak about the rights of all nations while each day Muslim nations feel- with their bodies and souls- the fire of discord more than the past. For decades, the oppressed Palestinian nation has been receiving strikes as a result of the crimes of the Zionist regime and its supporters. In the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, terrorism - which originates from the policies of global arrogance and its agents in the region - has ruined the lives of the people. Syria has come under the attack of arrogant powers and their regional agents because of supporting anti-Zionist orientations and it has experienced a bloody civil war. In Bahrain and Myanmar, Muslims have been ignored and their enemies are supported. Other nations are threatened by the USA and its allies with military attacks, economic sanctions and different acts of sabotage. Taking a general look at all these countries can reveal to all people throughout the world the true face of these leaders of global arrogance. Political, cultural and religious personalities throughout the world of Islam should consider it their responsibility to draw everyone’s attention to these facts. This is the moral and religious responsibility of all of us. North African countries, which are unfortunately suffering from deep domestic conflicts today, should pay attention to this responsibility more than other countries. They should pay more attention to the issue of knowing the enemy and its plots and methods. The continuation of these conflicts among nationalist orientations and Muslims’ negligence about the threat of domestic wars in such countries is a great danger. The loss that may be inflicted on the Islamic Ummah because of such events will not be quickly compensated for. Of course, we have no doubts that the people who have risen against global arrogance and who have become the embodiment of Islamic Awakening in such countries will not, by Allah’s favor, allow time to go back so much so that the era of the corrupt, dependent and dictatorial rulers starts again. However, ignorance about the role of arrogant powers in creating discord and bringing about destructive interference will create a difficult situation for such countries and will cause a very long delay in achieving an era of dignity, security and welfare. We believe, from the bottom of our hearts, in the capability of nations and in the power, faith, determination and foresight which Allah the Omniscient has offered to the masses of the people. For more than three decades, we have seen this in the Islamic Republic with our own eyes and we have experienced it with all our hearts and souls. Our determination is an invitation forall Muslim nations, to this experience of their brothers in this dignified and indefatigable country. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow peace on Muslims and to foil the plots of the enemies. I ask Him to accept your hajj pilgrimage and bestow physical and spiritual health on you. I ask Him to provide you pilgrims of the House of God with an overflowing supply of spiritual blessings. Greetings be upon you and Allah’s Mercy Sayyid Ali Khamenei

Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, delivered a message to this year’s hajj pilgrims. The following is the full text of the message: 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 the Master of Prophets and Messengers and upon his immaculate and pure household and chosen companions. The arrival of the hajj season should be regarded as the great Eid of the Islamic Ummah. The great opportunity which these precious days provide for Muslims throughout the world is like a miraculous elixir. If the value of such days is appreciated and if we benefit from such days in an appropriate way, many of the maladies of the world of Islam will be cured. Hajj is the bubbling spring of divine blessings. Each and every one of you happy pilgrims has gained the opportunity to cleanse your hearts and souls with these religious practices, which are full of warmth and spirituality, and to collect many blessings for your entire life by using this source of mercy, dignity and power. In this divine arena of self-edification you can express your humility before Allah the Merciful, carry out the responsibilities which have fallen on the shoulders of Muslims, show enthusiasm and dynamism in the affairs of the world and in your religious duties, offer mercy and forgiveness when you interact with Muslim brothers, demonstrate your courage and determination in the face of difficult events, become hopeful about divine assistance in all arenas and, finally, build your human character the way Muslims should. When you are ornamented with these precious resources and when you have benefitted from them, then you can offer yourselves as gifts to your country, your nation and the Islamic Ummah. More than anything else, the Islamic Ummah needs individuals who can utilize thoughts and actions as well as faith, sincerity and purity, who can show resistance in the face of the spiteful enemies as well as exercising self-purification and piety. This is the only way for the liberation of the great Muslim community from the problems which have been created, either by the enemy, or as a result ofthe lack of determination, faith and foresightamong Muslims. Muslims have suffered from these things for a very long time. Without a doubt, the present era is an era of awakening, one in which Muslims can find their true identity. This truth can be easily discovered through the challenges which Muslims are faced with. It is exactly in such conditions that our determination- which is based on faith, reliance on God, foresight and wisdom- can help Muslim nations achieve victory against these challenges and bring about a dignified and honorable fate for Muslims. The opposing camp which cannot tolerate Islamic Awakening and the dignity of Muslims has entered the arena with all its power and it is using all kinds of psychological, military, security, economic and propaganda tools to suppress Muslims, make them inactive and busy them with trivial things. Taking a general look at the conditions of West Asian countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and countries surrounding the Persian Gulf, and North African countries such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and a number of other countries- reveals many truths. The existence of civil wars, religious and denominational prejudices and political instabilities, the prevalence of cruel terrorism, the emergence of extreme groups and orientations- which like savage tribes in history, cut open the chests of human beings and rip their hearts out with their teeth- the emergence of armed mercenaries who kill women and children, cut off the heads of men and rape women and who do such horrible and disgusting crimes in the name of religion are all the products of the satanic and arrogant plots of foreign intelligence services and their regional agents. Such plots are implemented in countries in which the ground is prepared before-hand and as a result, they create a disastrous situation for these nations and peoples. In such conditions, it is clear that one cannot expect Muslim nations to remedy their material and spiritual shortcomings and to achieve security, welfare, scientific progress and international dignity which are the results of achieving awakening and finding one’s true identity. These disastrous conditions can abort the progress of Islamic Awakening, destroy the mental awareness which has been created in the world of Islam, drag Muslims- once more- towards stagnation, isolation and decline and consign to oblivion important and fundamental issues such as the liberation of Palestine and other Muslim nations from the transgressions of the USA and Zionism. The most important cure for this situation can be summarized in two key phrases, both of which are among the clearest lessons of hajj: First: unity and brotherhood of Muslims under the flag of monotheism. Second: knowing the enemy and confronting his plans and methods. Strengthening the spirit of brotherhood and cooperation is a great lesson of hajj. During hajj, even quarrelling and arguing with others is forbidden. During hajj, wearing the same clothes, following the same practices, making the same moves and behaving in a kind way,all mean equality and brotherhood for all those who believe in and rely on monotheism. This means that Islam strongly rejects any idea and belief which views a number of Muslims and believers in Ka’bah and monotheism as people who are outside the circle of Islam. Theseorientationswhich are based on takfirism, which have become playthings in the hands of the treacherous Zionist politicians and their western supporters- commit serious crimes and shed the blood of Muslims and innocent people, and the people who claim to be religious, who call themselves clerics and who fuel the fire of fitna between Shia and Sunni and otherdenominations- should know that the hajj pilgrimage will thwart their claims. I, like many Islamic scholars and sympathetic personalities in the Islamic Ummah, announce that any statement or action which fuels the fire of discord among Muslims, any insult to the sacred beliefs of each one of the Muslim denominations and any act of takfirism against Islamic denominations equals serving the camp of atheism and polytheism and betraying Islam. All of these things are haraam. Knowing the enemy and its methods is the second important factor. First, we should not forget about the existence of a spiteful enemy. Performing the ritual of the stoning of the jamarat during hajj is a symbolic sign of this awareness. Second, we should not make a mistake in knowing the main enemy, who in the present time is global arrogance and the criminal Zionist network. Third, we should properly identify the methods of this hostile enemy which is creating discord among Muslims, promoting moral and political corruption, threatening and tempting outstanding personalities, exerting economic pressures on all nations and arousing doubts about Islamic beliefs. Moreover, we should identify their agents and those who are, knowingly or ignorantly, dependent on them. Arrogant governments, headed by the USA, conceal their true character with the help of comprehensive and advanced propaganda tools. By claiming that they support human rights and democracy, they deceive public opinion in different countries. They speak about the rights of all nations while each day Muslim nations feel- with their bodies and souls- the fire of discord more than the past. For decades, the oppressed Palestinian nation has been receiving strikes as a result of the crimes of the Zionist regime and its supporters. In the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, terrorism - which originates from the policies of global arrogance and its agents in the region - has ruined the lives of the people. Syria has come under the attack of arrogant powers and their regional agents because of supporting anti-Zionist orientations and it has experienced a bloody civil war. In Bahrain and Myanmar, Muslims have been ignored and their enemies are supported. Other nations are threatened by the USA and its allies with military attacks, economic sanctions and different acts of sabotage. Taking a general look at all these countries can reveal to all people throughout the world the true face of these leaders of global arrogance. Political, cultural and religious personalities throughout the world of Islam should consider it their responsibility to draw everyone’s attention to these facts. This is the moral and religious responsibility of all of us. North African countries, which are unfortunately suffering from deep domestic conflicts today, should pay attention to this responsibility more than other countries. They should pay more attention to the issue of knowing the enemy and its plots and methods. The continuation of these conflicts among nationalist orientations and Muslims’ negligence about the threat of domestic wars in such countries is a great danger. The loss that may be inflicted on the Islamic Ummah because of such events will not be quickly compensated for. Of course, we have no doubts that the people who have risen against global arrogance and who have become the embodiment of Islamic Awakening in such countries will not, by Allah’s favor, allow time to go back so much so that the era of the corrupt, dependent and dictatorial rulers starts again. However, ignorance about the role of arrogant powers in creating discord and bringing about destructive interference will create a difficult situation for such countries and will cause a very long delay in achieving an era of dignity, security and welfare. We believe, from the bottom of our hearts, in the capability of nations and in the power, faith, determination and foresight which Allah the Omniscient has offered to the masses of the people. For more than three decades, we have seen this in the Islamic Republic with our own eyes and we have experienced it with all our hearts and souls. Our determination is an invitation forall Muslim nations, to this experience of their brothers in this dignified and indefatigable country. I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow peace on Muslims and to foil the plots of the enemies. I ask Him to accept your hajj pilgrimage and bestow physical and spiritual health on you. I ask Him to provide you pilgrims of the House of God with an overflowing supply of spiritual blessings. Greetings be upon you and Allah’s Mercy Sayyid Ali Khamenei

Iran\'s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Tehran pursues a policy of peaceful coexistence and closer ties with its neighbors. During his meeting with Oman\'s Sultan Qaboos, Zarif emphasized that Iran holds great respect for Oman as a neighboring country, and is prepared for the expansion of bilateral relations. The top diplomat also called on Saudi Arabia to work together with Iran toward achieving regional stability. For his part, the Omani king said there are proper grounds to expand ties with Iran. Zarif entered Oman after visiting Kuwait on the second leg of his regional tour. He is now in Qatar and may also visit Saudi Arabia.

Foreign-backed militants continue their attacks on residential areas in Syria. The insurgent shelling of the Meridian district of the northern city of Aleppo killed several civilians on Wednesday. They also captured the area of Adra, northeast of the capital Damascus. More than 20 civilians, mostly Alawites, are said to have been killed in the militant attack there. This is while, Kurdish People\'s Protection Units have recaptured the north-eastern village of Tweineh, near al-Hasakah city, following clashes with militants of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front. In recent days, some regional and international leaders have warned of growing extremism in Syria. This, as insurgents fighting the Syrian government enjoy the logistical and financial supports of Western and some regional Arab countries.