The Supreme Leader of the Islamic
Revolution-- Ayatollah Khamenei-- began his speech by referring to the
upcoming Arbaeen march and asserted: The very important days come after
Ashura: the days of the saga of Lady Zeinab.
The Leader of the Revolution addressed the
audience on the coming of the Arbaeen and said: Arbaeen is around the
corner. Our nation, the Iraqi nation and many people from other nations
are making the arrangements for the great saga of Arbaeen.
Ayatollah Khamenei mentioned that the
Iranian and Iraqi nations are preparing themselves for the magnificent
Arbaeen march of millions of believers and added: On days like these
days the roads from Karbala, Kufa, Levant (Shaam) towards Medina were
the path on which the glorious saga of Lady Zeinab (a.s.) and Imam
Sajjad (a.s.) along with other captives of Ashura unfolded with their
luminous movement: these personalities managed to make the message of
Ashura eternal-- make it perpetual and immortal.
He went on to say: On these days, we, too,
feel a stronger bond with those magnanimous martyrs in our hearts.
Ayatollah Khamenei described the Arbaeen march of millions as: The
Arbaeen saga is a wonderful phenomenon which has unfolded-- by the Grace
and Mercy of God-- at a time when the World of Islam most needed such
epic.
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic
Revolution offered a summary of the points he was to deliver to the 100
thousand gathering and maintained: The gist of my speech today
represents 1st, Iran’s majesty; 2nd, Islamic Republic’s sovereignty; and
3rd Iranian nation’s invincibility. These are not only some superficial
slogans, like the slogans some others chant. These are facts that
Iran’s enemies wish the Iranian people don't recognize, or ignore them
and think otherwise about themselves and their country. But these facts
are too obvious to be denied.
Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the greatness of the Iranian nation is
nothing new and has been there for centuries, adding: As for the topic
of Iran’s majesty, not just in the present time—rather, Iran's majesty
is a historical matter through eras. Our dear country has managed to
stand out proudly among Muslim nations—and in some epochs, among all
nations in the world—on arenas of science, philosophy, politics, arts
and humanities. This is true in our era, and at the historical eras,
except for the 200 years preceding the Islamic Revolution-- that is,
during the Qajar and Pahlavi regimes-- when Iran’s majesty was damaged
during these reigns.
“On the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic,” Ayatollah Khamenei held,
“it suffices to point out that it saved Iran from the domination of UK
and U.S.; a domination that had begun in early 19th century and
arrogant, merciless foreigners ruled over country's every matter.”
He went on to say: For the first time in the recent century, the Islamic
Republic could prevent dissolution of the country in a war. For the
first time, the Iranian nation during the 8-year imposed war, managed to
disappoint the extensive front of the enemy, and maintain the country’s
territorial integrity.
Ayatollah Khamenei described the Iranian nation as undefeatable and
asserted: I pointed out to the invincibility of the Iranian nation—which
is, of course, because of Islam. This invincibility can be observed in
the nation's victory during the Sacred Defense against Saddam's invasion
and their resistance against enemies' conspiracies during 40 years.
Some pretend that the youth are
problematic for the country! I, instead, believe that they are the
solution to the problems, not a problem.
Ayatollah Khamenei praised the role the
youth of the country can play in the progress and development of the
nation and said: The tip of the arrow of the huge popular movement is
you, the youth. The experienced elderly, if not tired and exhausted, can
guide and lead; but the youth are the engine for movement; similarly,
it was so in the past.
The Leader of the Revolution pointed out
to the many roles the youth have effectively played since the revolution
and held: During forty years of struggles—during the fights against the
separatists at the early years following the revolution, while making
efforts for building infrastructures, in fighting against the treachery
of terrorism during the early 80’s, in the fight against invaders during
8 years of Sacred Defense against Saddam’s invasion, in efforts for
reconstructing the country after the war, in cultural fights of the
90’s—it was the youth who managed to change the tough situation in favor
of the revolution. In the academic efforts since the early 2000’s, in
combats against the Takfiri terrorism in the 2010’s and today, in
intellectual and practical fights for resolving economic problems, again
it is the youth who act and save the day.
The leader of the revolution assured the gathering of the 100 thousand
Basij members of the ongoing progress of the nation, asserting: you
should not think that the path ahead is a highway with no obstacles; no!
The path to progress is ahead of us, but it is a rough path with
twists. There are obstacles. The enemy is fully active in opposing us.
We should go through this path while surpassing the obstacles. This
requires some conditions:
The first step, for being able to take this road, is to recognize and
understand the presence of the enemy. As long as we don’t know the enemy
is there, we won’t build defensive bases to protect us.
The second stage represents confidence and persistence in resistance.
Weak, unconfident, opportunist people have nothing to show in this way.
The third stage is about recognizing the area of the invasion. In which
area is our war with the enemy taking place? We should identify that
appropriately. We should understand the enemy’s threats. We should know
where the enemy will first target. All the people must have a clear
understanding of the realm of the fights.
Ayatollah Khamenei urged the nation to
develop more knowledge of the country’s capabilities in the face of
enemies’ propaganda against Iran and stated: If you have an accurate
understanding of the country’s facts, the enemy will be at loss. The
enemies try to mislead the Iranian nation by presenting distorted
images. Enemies present distorted images of Iran, of themselves and the
region to pretend they are in power; while they're not in a powerful
stance.”
He slammed U.S. President’s naïve thoughts on Iran, thinking the Islamic
Republic would soon collapse and compared his words on Iran to those of
U.S. footmen in Iran 40 years ago. He remarked: Another extremely
distorted image which is presented by them is their image of the Islamic
Iran. Recently I heard that the President of the United States has said
to some European leaders that, wait for two to three months; in two to
three months the Islamic Republic will come to its end. Hearing that, we
were reminded of the words that 40 years ago-- four decades ago-- were
uttered by the same people who served the U.S. like footmen, inside
Iran; they bid one another wishful thinking by saying, wait for some six
months and the Islamic Republic will fall. Six months would pass by and
then they would say, wait for one more year, it will come to an end.
The Leader of the Revolution touched on a Persian proverb that describes
wishful thinking to demean the fancies of the Western leaders to
witness the fall of Iran, stating: Today, forty years have passed by and
the delicate sapling has grown into a thick tree. Yet, this miserable
man bids himself and his European counterparts wishful thinking that,
wait for two to three months. This reminds me of the folklore poem:
Camel's dream of cotton seeds;
they see themselves eating sometimes a mouthful, sometimes seed by seed.
Ayatollah Khamenei acknowledged problems exist, but that the real
shortcoming—which Iran is free of—is to feel having reached a dead-end,
saying: Surely, we have economic problems; we have an oil economy, which
is a major shortcoming. In our culture, we don’t learn and teach to
save on resources; wasting resources is a shortcoming. We admit we have
these shortcomings, but the real shortcoming goes beyond these. The real
shortcoming is feeling stuck; which we don’t have it, thanks be to God.
We don’t have a dead end [in the affairs of our country]. The real
shortcoming is this. The real shortcoming is that the youth of our
country think there is no solution, but to rely on enemies.
Ayatollah Khamenei draw an analogy between
media soft war and chemical weapons used in warfare to stress the
significant hazard media manipulation of information poses on nations.
He observed: Currently, the enemy is using the media tools to influence
our public opinion. Media tools are important tools, and in the hands of
the enemies, they are dangerous tools. Media tools are analogized to
chemical weapons in military wars. Chemical weapons don’t destroy tanks
or equipment, but they eliminate humans, purging the power to use the
tools. Media tools work in the same way. TV, cyberspace and social
networks are used against our public opinion today.
He then urged officials and public opinion practitioners to heed to the
matter, asserting: Those who are responsible in this area, should give
careful attention. I also insisted on this fact in other meetings,
saying ‘these media must not turn into a means for the enemy so they can
easily use their chemical weapons against our people.” The officials
must understand their duty and act seriously.
The leader of the Islamic Revolution reassured the crowd and the nation
that Iran is on its way towards progress and development; he
articulated: Based on the information I have on the status of the
country, I firmly declare that this nation and the new generation has
decided not to be humiliated again, not to follow foreign powers and
enemies; the new generation has decided to make Iran attain the peak of
honor and dignity. And they have the capability to do it.
Ayatollah Khamenei finally avowed: The crowd of 100,000 here is a
reminder of the crowd of 100,000 for whom I made a speech here in the
late 1980s; once my speech was done, they left for the war fronts and
brought about great victories for the country. And you dear youth, God
willing, will be victorious and successful in the fields of science and
economic movement, and entrepreneurship, in the fields of individual and
teamwork as well as efforts in the field of social and cultural
networking, in the required fire-at-will zones of action, and everywhere
else.