Leader urges “Boosting Production” in new Iranian year

Tehran, March 21, IRNA – The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in his message on the advent of the new Iranian year called 'boosting Production' as the pivotal issue of the new year.

The following is the full text of the message issued on March 21, 2019, by Ayatollah Khamenei—the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution—on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

O’ the Conqueror of hearts and sights

O’ the Planner of night and day

O’ the Transformer of power and conditions

Transform our condition to the best of conditions!

I thank God for ordaining that I may congratulate the dear Iranian nation on this year’s Nowruz, which coincides with the auspicious birth anniversary of the Commander of the Faithful and Imam of the Pious (a.s.).

Dear compatriots, may this eid be an auspicious one for you. I hope that all of you will pass this year with happiness, with physical health, with joyful hearts and with increasing worldly and spiritual achievements, God willing.

I especially wish to congratulate the esteemed families of the martyrs, the dear disabled war veterans and their families. And I would like to send abundant greetings to the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam [Khomeini] and to the pure souls of the martyrs.

We experienced an eventful year. In the year that passed, the Iranian nation shone brightly in the true sense of the word. The enemies devised many plans. They had many plots for the Iranian nation. However, the solidity and insight of the nation and the determination of the youth foiled their plans. In the face of the harsh and – according to their own words – ‘unprecedented’ sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe, the Iranian nation gave a solid and powerful response both in the arena of politics and in the arena of the economy.

In the arena of politics, the manifestation of that response was the great 22nd of Bahman rally [February 11] and the people’s positions throughout the year. As for the people’s position in the economic confrontation, it was manifested through an increase in scientific and technical innovations, a substantial increase in the number of knowledge-based companies and an increase in infrastructural and fundamental products of the country, an example of which is the inauguration of different phases of the South Pars gas field just a few days ago and before that, the inauguration of the large Bandar Abbas Refinery and other such tasks.

Therefore, the people managed to show their power, their grandeur and their greatness in the face of the enmity and malevolence of the enemies and thereby - thank God - increase the reputation of our nation, our Revolution and our Islamic Republic.

The main problem of the country continues to be economic problems. Especially in recent months, people’s livelihood problems have increased. Part of these problems is related to inefficient management in the area of economic matters, which should definitely be compensated for. Certain plans and measures have been devised. By Allah’s favor, these measures should be implemented throughout this year – the year that begins from this moment: the year 1398 – and the people should feel the impact.

What I would like to mention in this regard is that the country’s urgent and serious matter and its priority in the present time is the issue of the economy. Regarding the economy, the issues that we have are many: the issue of the decrease in the value of the national currency is an important matter. The same is true of people’s purchasing power. The same condition exists regarding factories, their lowered capacity and the closing down of some of them. These are the problems. Based on research and having benefitted from the viewpoints of experts, one concludes that the key to all these problems is the expansion of national production.

I named the year 1397, “The Year of Support for Iranian Products”. I cannot say that this slogan was fully implemented, but what I can say is that it was well received to a great extent, and in many cases, the people welcomed and acted on it. This will certainly exert its influence. This year, the issue of production is of great importance. I would like to make the issue of production the pivot of our activities. By Allah’s favor, in my new year’s speech, I will explain what I mean by ‘production’. If production is boosted, it can solve livelihood problems, it can ensure the country’s independence from foreigners and from the enemies, it can eliminate unemployment and it can solve the problems related to the decrease in the value of the national currency to a great extent.

That is why I believe that the issue of production is a pivotal issue this year. Therefore, the slogan I have chosen for this year is: “The Year of Boosting Production”. Everyone should try to do what they can to boost production in the country. By Allah’s favor, from the beginning to the end of the year, this notion should be completely tangible in the country. If this happens, we hope that the solution to economic problems will be achieved, God willing.

I wish to send my heartfelt peace and greetings to the Imam of the Time (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). I plead for the prayers of that noble personality for you dear people and I ask Allah the Exalted to bestow happiness and bliss on the Iranian nation and all those nations who celebrate Nowruz.

Greetings be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings!

Ascent of Iran

By JOHN CHERIAN

Iran has gained geopolitically from the U.S.-triggered turmoil in West Asia, and its arc of influence has been expanding considerably.

IT has been obvious to observers of the West Asian scene for some time that the United States’ game plan for regime change in Syria has backfired spectacularly. The Syrian government has re-established control over the most populous parts of the country. The U.S. is making a last-ditch effort to carve out an independent Kurdish enclave in Syria encompassing the oil and gas rich parts of the country. But the Syrian government is confident of reclaiming the last remaining occupied parts despite the continuing U.S. military presence on its territory. The Turkish forces have captured the city of Afrin in northern Syria from U.S.-backed Kurds. The U.S. and Turkey, which are both part of the formidable North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), seem to be at loggerheads now. What is emerging on the ground is the consolidation of the tactical alliance between Turkey, Russia and Iran to thwart the U.S.-backed plans to create a Kurdish state in the region.

But the country that has gained the most geopolitically from the U.S.-triggered turmoil in the region is Iran. Before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iran’s influence in the region was comparatively limited. Saddam Hussein’s Iraq continued to view Iran as a rival. Iran had no direct land links with its only ally in the region, Syria. It had to use a circuitous route to supply arms to the Hezbollah militia, its important non-state ally, in Lebanon. The U.S. invasion of Iraq resulted in the kind of regime change that Iran was dreaming of since its eight-year-long war with Iraq in the 1980s. That the U.S. would inadvertently deliver the coup d’grace on its behalf was indeed a dream come true for Iran.

The ouster of the Baathist regime was a cherished ambition of the Iranian government after Saddam Hussein tore up the 1975 Algiers Accord on the sharing of the Shatt al-Arab waterway and launched his ill-advised invasion of Iran in 1980 at the prompting of the U.S. and its Gulf allies. That war, which resulted in the death of more than a million people in both countries, ended in a stalemate, but a once prosperous and powerful Iraq paid a bigger price. Iran was much more resilient and much better in withstanding the machinations of the West than its erstwhile enemy Iraq.

The Shia factor 

The geostrategic blunders made by the West played a big part in Iran bouncing back on the world stage and expanding its sphere of influence in the region. The ouster of Iraq’s Sunni-dominated secular Baathist regime was key to Iran’s resurgence. Despite the best efforts of Washington, it was a pro-Iranian Shia-dominated government that has been winning elections in Iraq since 2004. More than 60 per cent of the Iraqi population is Shia. Most of the Iraqi politicians who have held office since the ouster of the Baathist regime had lived in exile in Iran and have strong connections with the clerical leadership in Tehran and the Iranian city of Qom. With the Iraqi government now in friendly hands, Iran could establish a land route to Lebanon via Syria.

The Syrian government, led by another wing of the Baath Party, has sided with Iran from the early days of the Islamic Revolution. It is not a mere coincidence that the Hezbollah has become more powerful since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. The Hezbollah showed the world in 2006 that it could put up a fight against the Israeli army, the most potent in the region.

It was Iran’s prompt dispatch of a 2,000-strong militia force in 2014 that helped Iraq stem the military onslaught of the Daesh (Islamic State). Baghdad was under threat after the elite units of the Iraqi Army fled, abandoning the cities of Tikrit, Fallujah and Mosul.

Many senior Iranian army officers, including three generals, and hundreds of Iranian fighters have lost their lives in the battlefields of Iraq and Syria since the beginning of the decade. The demand of former U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, earlier in the year that Iraq send back the Iran-backed paramilitary units was promptly rejected by Prime Minister Haider al Abadi. The Iraqi leader said that the presence of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces was essential for the region at this juncture. Iraq today depends on Iran for virtually everything, except oil. Most of Iraq’s foodstuff and consumer items are imported from Iran. Iran’s use of its “soft power” has also been deft. Its cultural influences extend from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean region. The Shia bonding is an important factor though the Iranian government makes it a point to emphasise the importance of non-sectarian Islamic linkages. The encouragement extended by the Iranian government to festivals such as Nowruz (the traditional Iranian New Year) is an illustration of this. Nowruz has been celebrated since the time of Zoroaster and is observed in many central Asian countries.