Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in his meeting with a delegation of the people of Qom on Janu ary 9, the 41st anniversary of the uprising of the people of that holy city against the British-installed and American-supported Pahlavi regime, which lit the sparks of the Islamic Revolution, summed up the characteristics of the blundering and miscalculating US officials as “First Class Idiots”.
Ayatollah Khamenei continued: “The second point is: what is the outcome of such enmity? The outcome is that whoever has God’s support will win. This is because God is Omnipotent. If we are with God and take his path, then victory will be certain. There is no doubt about it. Sometimes, we showed negligence and we did not consequently earn a victory. This is because of our negligence and our poor performance. If we act and move correctly – our officials in one way and the people in another way – and if the movement is a correct movement, then Allah the Exalted will undoubtedly help: “God will certainly aid those who aid his cause” [The Holy Quran, 22: 40]. There is no doubt about this.
“Well, 40 years have passed. 40 years is not a long time. In the life of civilizations, the 40th-year anniversary is the beginning of the intellectual growth and movement. The 40th year does not represent old age, rather it is a period of blossoming and this blossoming will continue to prevail, God willing. We are witness to the grounds for this blossoming. Today, religious faith is thankfully good in our country. A firm determination is good among our people. Their presence and preparedness are at a good level. Religious and determined youth are not few in number. There are many. I know them. Of course, I do not know all of them, but there are thousands of young individuals in different corners of the country who are busy carrying out deep and intellectual tasks. They are young scientists with firm determination who are building and producing. They are busy innovating and creating throughout the country. They will build the future.
“They have good and strong faith. They trust and rely on God to a great extent and they are very hopeful about the future. Such young individuals exist among the people and they are not few in number. I said that there are thousands of them, but this number is only to the extent of my knowledge. There are tens of thousands of them. They are many. Our young ones are prepared and they have good insight. This emerges from the favor and grace of God. If Allah the Exalted did not want it to move forward, He would not have prepared the ground.
“Once—unfortunately, I do not remember the details—our magnanimous Imam wanted an explanation with regards to a task that had not been done properly. He said that Allah the Exalted wants this to be done: “When God’s Will decrees something, the instruments for that will be prepared” [Speaking in Arabic]. When the requirements for something are prepared, it becomes evident that Allah the Exalted wants it to be done. The requirements are the establishment of the Revolution and the formation of the Islamic Republic and the Islamic government. These are the requirements for creating an Islamic civilization befitting this era and this century. These are the requirements that Allah the Exalted has prepared. We should reach that point and by Allah’s favor, we will.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said: “Well, I have two issues to discuss: one is addressed to officials, politicians and the like; another is addressed to our dear people. I would like to say to government officials that first of all, you should appreciate the value of your positions. That you are busy carrying out responsibilities is a great blessing bestowed by God. That we have a responsibility and work for such goals, such a people and such a country, represents a great blessing bestowed upon us by God. They should appreciate the value of this blessing and they should be thankful [to Him]. Secondly, they should observe the requirements for this great blessing: they should be aware not to incline towards wrongful behavior, towards aristocracy, towards extravagance and towards everything which used to be common among the Godless despots’ officials. This is the duty of our government officials. The path is the path of Islam and of the Islamic government. We cannot act like Imam Ali (AS). We can, however, recognize it as a path toward which we can move. We should move in the light of that path.
“Courage and rationality: they represent another duty of the officials. They should be courageous. They should not back off in the face of other’s shouts and cries. They should not miss out on what is correct and necessary in the face of the nonsensical statements by officials of the US, Europe or other such governments. You know how irrelevant they speak. Their words are sometimes really like those of a clown. Some U.S. official wishes to boo us in the world and says that Iran should learn human rights from Saudi Arabia! What can be said to such a person? Can we give them any epithet other than “clowns”? Can we give them any other title? Neither the threats, nor the promises, nor the statements and signatures of this person-- and such individuals-- are credible. We should not take heed of them. We should tread the correct path in a courageous and rational manner. We cannot act on the basis of feelings. The management of a country is not possible with feelings. Feelings are, of course, truly necessary, but only to back up rationality. We should choose the path in a rational way and then, we should move forward with motivation and feelings.
“Another responsibility that our officials should pay attention to is identifying and appreciating the value of internal and domestic capacities. When we do not identify them, many of these capacities will remain idle, as has been the case, unfortunately. We do not know of many of our capacities – including the capacity of having these good young individuals. There are some loops in sections of these great executives and governmental organizations which can be undone by youth. They can undo these loops with their brilliant youthful thoughts and actions. They should appreciate the value of the young ones. They should refer to them and benefit from their viewpoints. We achieved success in most areas where we benefited from their viewpoints. They should appreciate the value of young individuals and of their ambitions. Youth are ambitious and there is nothing wrong with this. It is these ambitions which push a nation forward and liberate it from stagnation. They should not harbor any fear in their hearts about westerners either.
“They [authorities] should pay special attention to the people’s livelihood problems. Today, this is the most important task and this is the top priority. This is because the enemy is focused on it: on the livelihood problems of underprivileged classes. The problems which befall underprivileged classes in terms of livelihood are among the most fundamental tasks for the officials of the country and executive officials – primarily, executive officials. This is the most important task. Domestic resources may not be enough, but one can see that there are some individuals and some orientations inside the country which are swallowing these resources in an oppressive manner.”
The Leader said: “Illegal dealing activities and the monopolies that exist in regards to financial issues, business and the like are obstacles in the way of the progress of the country. We constantly stress the importance of domestic production, but such and such a dealer – involved in importing - creates obstacles in different ways because it is against his interests and as a result, one sees that the task will not produce results. Attending to the people’s livelihood problems does not only mean distributing money. Looking at the harmful and dangerous units and stopping them is an important issue as well. I have pointed this out in a detailed manner to the officials of the country in our meetings with them and I will point it out again as well. These are the issues that I discuss with officials.
“As for addressing the people, first of all, our dear people should help the officials. Everyone should help. When there is talk of strengthening domestic production and promoting domestic products, an important part of this is related to the people. Domestic producers, consumers of domestic products, and salespeople who sell domestic products can all be influential. The quality of production and of distribution are important points. Well, we named this year, “The Year of Producing Iranian Products” and we emphasized on Iranian products. It is the end of the year now. How much work has been done in this regard? Of course, some tasks have been carried out, but how much progress have we made? We should move forward in these areas. The people can help in this regard. They can cooperate in good deeds.
“One of the tasks that the people can perfectly do at the service of the country is the presence at the scenes of the Revolution. Another task that the people can do is confronting and opposing the enemy’s effort to spread rumors. Today, one of the methods that the enemy employs in an active way is spreading rumors with the purpose of agitating the people and making them oppose one another, level accusations against this and that and pitting them against each other. Of course, this will not happen, by Allah’s favor, but this is their goal anyway. The people should be vigilant and aware.
“They invite the people to confront the Revolution and the government with complete shamelessness while these are people on whom the government is reliant. If the people had not been a source of support for the government, this event of such significance would not have occurred and moved forward. They are so brazen that they make – in other words, they encourage and provoke – them confront the government. The people should stand up against this piece of propaganda and they should move against it. Today, youth are active in cyberspace. Cyberspace can become an instrument for slapping the enemies in the face.”
Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out: “As for sanctions, well, sanctions exert certain pressures on nations and countries. U.S. officials themselves say gleefully that the sanctions that they have launched against the Iranian nation are “unprecedented in history.” Well, they are unprecedented in history and by Allah’s favor, the failure of the US on this matter will be unprecedented in history, too. The people, the administration and officials – all of them – can do something to make these sanctions end in our advantage to a hundred percent.
“During the war, we were under sanctions as well. They would not even sell us personal weapons. Once I said, that they would not even sell us barbed wire, but the same deprivations caused domestic talents to work, as a result of which we have reached a point today where we are the first in the region and ahead of everyone else, by Allah’s favor. This was achieved thanks to sanctions. Otherwise, if we had bought everything that we needed from the first day, if they had given them to us easily by taking our money, we would not have thought of building them on our own and reaching this point. This is the case on all matters.
“Our youth say to me – and they prove it: it is not just a mere claim – that there is no piece and component that the country needs and that we cannot build. We can build everything on our own and they are right. We tried that on certain cases and we witnessed that they are right. We have such human capacity. We should do something to turn sanctions into an instrument for blossoming and for reaching the peaks of innovation and work in the country. We should do something to have no need of others’ products and make others need ours. This is something that can be done.
“By Allah’s favor, we will move past issues resulting from sanctions and economic problems. Of course, they create certain problems. In the present time, there are certain problems, but they are typical of the beginning of the work. If the administration and the people resist, show vigilance and work hard and unwaveringly, we will surely come out of this phase victorious, as we emerged victorious out of the imposed war. Saddam was leveled to earth and he was sent to hell while the Islamic Republic continued to blossom. Our enemies too – the ones who are acting against us in the US, Europe, and the West – will go to hell as well, and the Islamic Republic will prevail, God willing.
“God’s mercy be upon the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam [Khomeini] for he was the one who opened this path to us. We should not forget Imams’ words of advice and his testament. God’s mercy be upon his pure soul and upon the pure souls of our dear martyrs who sacrificed their lives on this path. God’s mercy be upon those who have engaged in jihad [selfless endeavor] on this path until today. And God’s mercy be upon you dear people of Qom.”
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