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[hameedeh]

Outcomes of Iran's Resistance in Nuclear Issue
May 28, 2012

The following is an infographic about the achievements, outcomes and benefits of the Islamic Republic of Iran's resistance in the nuclear issue. The information has been extracted from 44 speeches delivered over the past 9 years (2004-2012) by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution.



Click on the graphic at the source to zoom in: http://english.khame...d=1637&Itemid=2

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader’s Message on Inauguration of 9th Majlis
May 27, 2012

The following is the full text of the message issued on May 27, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the occasion of the inauguration of the 9th Majlis. The message was read out to members of the 9th Majlis during the inauguration ceremony by Hojjatoleslam wal-Muslemin Mohammadi Golpayegani, the head of the Supreme Leader's office.



In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

By the will of the Wise and the Almighty God, the inauguration of the 9th round of legislation in the Islamic Republic is a powerful message that the Iranian nation sends to the contemporary world and registers permanent realities in the memory of nations. The victory of our national willpower over the enormous amount of enmities, the firm and solid structure of the system that originated from the Islamic Revolution, the unique and unparalleled role of religious faith and insight in shaping the path and destiny of a nation, and an accurate picture of a nation that has countered the argument for separation of religion from social life by introducing Islamic democracy not just through words but through strenuous struggle as well - these are among the significant and permanent realities.

The success of the Iranian nation in sending this enlightening and significant message to global public opinion is another blessing from the Almighty and All-Loving God who has always bestowed His assistance and guidance on our faithful and mujahid nation and has never abandoned our nation on this challenging path. We thank Almighty God with all our heart and soul and bow to His greatness in humility and gratitude.

I also deem it necessary to salute the great Iranian nation in gratitude, a nation that has determined the course of history. I deem it necessary to thank the people of Iran for their timely presence in the arena of this test [parliamentary elections], which was as always, the manifestation of their insight, self-confidence and accurate awareness of the conditions.

I also consider it my responsibility to express my gratitude to the officials of the Ministry of Interior and the Guardian Council who were in charge of holding this election, to the organizations that helped them, especially our national TV, to our security officials, and to the religious and political currents and personalities that played a role in this popular epic. I also deem it necessary to express my sincere gratitude to all the MPs of the 8th Majlis and its honorable Speaker and presiding board for the services they rendered during their term.

At the beginning of the 9th Majlis, the main recommendation to the honorable MPs is that they should only think about fulfilling their divine responsibility and their heavy duties as representatives of the people, a position which they have achieved thanks to the votes of the people, and that they should not allow their personal, group, tribal and local motives and their likes and dislikes to interfere with passing legislation which is the most important duty of the Majlis, with supervising implementation of the laws and with adopting positions that affect the general atmosphere of the country. Among these responsibilities, passing legislation is the most important duty. The laws must be effective, up-to-date and transparent. They must focus on providing the needs of the people and securing national interests. In "The Decade of Progress and Justice" all the laws should contribute to achieving these two general goals and by adopting a long-term view, the laws should be
as vast in scope as possible. Our national priorities should be specified and they should be given an appropriate position in legislation.

The Majlis is an essential pillar of the country and the Islamic Republic. All the things that are outstanding in the Islamic Republic should be reflected in the Majlis. Religious faith, courage, trying to be a pioneer, insistence on the principles of the Islamic Republic, resistance against the enemies, being up-to-date, innovation, national unity and cohesion, selfless efforts and bringing all the individual and communal capacities into the arena are the characteristics that define a successful parliament.

Genuine and sincere cooperation with the other branches of government and avoiding inexcusable conflicts are another important criterion that plays a determining role in national unity. This criterion has always been stressed by those who love the country: they have always announced that our national interests and the prestige of the Iranian nation in the eyes of the people of the world depend on this criterion. I have the same recommendation for the other branches of government and for all the individuals and organizations in charge. Everybody must consider the law as having the final say.

I have offered certain recommendations to the honorable MPs of the previous parliaments and I have reminded them to fulfill their divine obligation, which is their responsibility in this fleeting life and God in His impeccable justice will hold them responsible in the afterlife. I refer you honorable MPs to those sincere statements.

Finally, I offer my greetings and praise to the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.) and other divine prophets as well as to our Infallible Imams (a.s.) and to God's representative on earth (may my soul be sacrificed for him). I also offer my greetings to the immaculate souls of our martyrs and the pure soul of Imam Khomeini (r.a.). I pray to God to bestow success, guidance and assistance on all of you.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Sayyid Ali Khamenei
Khordad 7, 1391

Source: http://english.khame...=1636&Itemid=16

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader Warns Enemies Against Military Action
June 03, 2012



Speaking at Imam Khomeini's (r.a.) shrine, Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the Zionist regime's military threats against Iran are due to its fear and frustration, further stressing: "The leaders of the Zionist regime are well aware that they are more vulnerable today than any other time and that every misstep and every inappropriate move will come crashing on their heads like a thunderbolt."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the conditions of the west and America and added: "Because of its economic, financial and social problems, today the west is frustrated against its own people and it is just trying to save face."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the collapse of certain allies of America in Europe and the increasing hatred of nations towards America show that there is a serious crisis in the west. He reiterated that America is trying to divert attention towards Asia, Africa and the Middle East region by creating conflicts.

He added: "Today the Americans have turned to the experience and expertise of the English in creating religious and ethnic conflicts. For this reason, all nations, all religious scholars and all academic elites in the region - both Shia and Sunni - should take care not to contribute to the enemy's plots."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution described the actions of the west and the Americans as dim-witted and stressed: "In order to cover up their problems and divert attention from the crisis they are involved in, they magnify the nuclear issue of Iran and put it at the top of global issues and they deceitfully speak about nuclear weapons."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the efforts by the west and America will not produce any results.

His Eminence said that the enemies of the Islamic Revolution are afraid of the Iranian nation because it has made progress and turned into a role model for the nations of the region and the world. He added: "The efforts by the political communities of the world to magnify the threat posed by a nuclear Iran are based on nothing but a lie because they are afraid of an Islamic Iran, not a nuclear Iran."

Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the Iranian nation has shaken the foundations of the arrogant powers by proving that it is possible to achieve progress without relying on America and other global powers. "America and other global powers are trying to convince nations and political elite that progress is impossible without America's support, but the Iranian nation has proven the opposite and this is a great lesson for the nations of the world."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that over the past three decades the Iranian nation has set a record in national progress, but he cautioned: "If you feel satisfied with what you have achieved, you will definitely fail and regress. Therefore, it is necessary to continue making progress."

Addressing Iranian youth, students, government officials, religious scholars and outstanding personalities, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed: "We must continue moving towards the peaks of progress, especially in the arena of politics and science and technology, and in the arena of ethics and spirituality."

He added that nonstop movement towards the peaks of progress will render the enemies' sanctions ineffective. "The sanctions cannot stop the Iranian nation from moving forward. They will only deepen the Iranian nation's hatred of the west."

Ayatollah Khamenei added that when the Iranian nation achieves the peaks of progress, the enmities and malevolent hostilities will stop.

Elsewhere in his statements, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic have presented the world with a successfully tested paradigm of progress and national dignity. "Over the past 33 years, the Iranian nation has overcome all the political, military, security and economic plots that were designed and implemented with the aim of wiping out the Islamic Republic. And this truth is one of the most important signs of the progress that the Iranian nation has made."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that Iran's tangible influence on the regional and global developments is among other signs of the Iranian nation's undeniable progress. He added that even government officials and politicians of the Zionist regime and America have acknowledged Iran's power and influence.

Source: http://english.khame...d=1639&Itemid=2

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader’s Speech at Imam Khomeini’s (r.a.) Shrine
June 03, 2012

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on June 3, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the occasion of Imam Khomeini's (r.a.) 23rd demise anniversary. The speech was delivered to a large number of people at Imam Khomeini's (r.a.) shrine in Tehran.


In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Two Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet and the love of our hearts and the healer of our selves, Ab-al-Qassem Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his immaculate and pure household, chosen companions and those who follow them well until the Day of Judgment. And greetings be upon the one remaining with Allah on earth who will fill the earth with equity and justice, just as it was filled with oppression and injustice.

All-Wise Allah said in His Book:
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
And rely on the Mighty, the Merciful,
Who sees you when you stand up to pray,
And sees your movements among those who prostrate.
Surely He is the Hearing, the Knowing. [The Holy Quran, 26: 217-220]

We are thankful to Allah the Exalted who gave us another opportunity to gather at the shrine of this nation's great Imam and leader to renew our pledge of allegiance to His Eminence and review the lessons he taught us in order to enlighten our future path and guide our steps on the right path.

These days have coincided with the auspicious birthday anniversary of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) who was the father of the Islamic Ummah. Our people have named the 13th of Rajab "Father's Day". Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) was like a father to our nation and our country. He was the embodiment of kindness and compassion, and the emblem of charisma and honor: strength of fatherly character coupled with fatherly love. Besides, Imam Khomeini (r.a.) is the father of the current Islamic movement in the world of Islam. One of the main characteristics of Imam Khomeini's (r.a.) lifestyle - which I will briefly discuss today - was instilling the spirit of national honor into our nation. Discussing Imam Khomeini's (r.a.) great movement, which revived our national honor, is based on the realities of our society. It is not just an abstract discussion. What does honor mean? Honor means social and individual strength of character, which gives individuals and societies the power and strength to clear obstacles and confront challenges.

First of all, I would like to speak briefly about a Quranic issue. According to the Holy Quran, genuine and perfect honor belongs to God and to anybody who fights for a divine cause. In the confrontation between truth and falsehood and between the camp of God and the camp of Satan, honor belongs to those who fight for the camp of God. This is the logic of the Holy Quran. In Sura al-Fatir, God says, "Whoever desires honor, then to Allah belongs the honor wholly." [The Holy Quran, 35: 10] And in Sura al-Munafiqoon God says, "Honor belongs to Allah and His Messenger, and to the Believers, but the Hypocrites know not." [The Holy Quran, 63: 8] Honor belongs to God. It belongs to His Messenger and to believers. But hypocrites do not know this. They do not know where the source and origin of genuine honor is.

In Sura an-Nisa, speaking of those who connect themselves to sources of satanic power in order to gain honor and glory, God says, "Those who take the unbelievers for guardians rather than believers. Do they seek honor from them? Then surely all honor is for Allah." [The Holy Quran, 4: 139] In Sura ash-Shuara, there is a detailed discussion of the challenges that the great divine prophets - including Prophet Noah, Prophet Ibrahim, Prophet Hud, Prophet Saleh, Prophet Shuayb and Prophet Moses - were faced with, which conveys divine revelations and the message of God to the people. Wherever in the Sura God wants to speak about the victory of the camp of prophethood over the camp of kufr, He says, "Most surely there is a sign in this, but most of them do not believe. And most surely your Lord is the Mighty, the Merciful." [The Holy Quran, 26: 121-122] That is to say, the camp of monotheism overpowered the camp of kufr in spite of the fact that it was outnumbered and did not have the power, wealth and weapons that the camp of kufr enjoyed. And there is a divine sign in this and "most surely your Lord is the Mighty, the Merciful." After the Holy Quran recounts the story of the prophets throughout Sura ash-Shuara, at the end of the Sura He says, "And rely on the Mighty, the Merciful." [The Holy Quran 26: 217] God tells His prophets to rely on the Mighty and Merciful God who guarantees the victory of truth over falsehood. "Who sees you when you stand up to pray and sees your movements among those who prostrate." [The Holy Quran, 26: 218-219] God is watching us all the time: "Surely He is the Hearing, the Knowing." [The Holy Quran, 26: 220] Therefore, according to the Holy Quran, honor should be obtained from Allah the Exalted.

The honor of an individual or a society acts like a protective wall, like a solid fortress which is difficult for the enemies to penetrate, besiege and destroy, and protects one against the enemies. The more the layers of this honor, the more impenetrable the protective wall becomes, so much so that one is protected not only against one's political and economic enemies, but also against the main enemy of mankind, namely Satan. Superficial honor does not penetrate the deeper layers of one's being and therefore those who have superficial honor are defenseless against Satan.

There is a famous story that Alexander of Macedon was passing through a place and people were bowing down to him as a sign of respect. But a pious man who was sitting in a corner did not stand up to show his respect. Alexander was surprised and he ordered his soldiers to bring the man to him. Alexander asked him, "Why did you not bow down before me?" The man replied, "Because you are a slave of my slaves. Why would I bow down before you?" Alexander asked for an explanation and the man said, "You are a slave to your lust and wrath, and lust and wrath are my slaves. They are under my control."

Therefore, if self-respect permeates the deepest layers of one's being, one will not be affected by Satan, one will not be affected by human passions, one will not become a slave to lust and wrath. And Imam Khomeini (r.a.) was such a person. Throughout his studying and teaching years, throughout the time he was engaged in political activities and throughout the time he was managing the country, Imam Khomeini (r.a.) remained a manifestation of "rely on the Mighty, the Merciful." [The Holy Quran 26: 217] It was for this reason that he managed to do what was considered impossible. All the obstacles which were considered insurmountable became surmountable after he stepped into the arena. Not only was Imam Khomeini (r.a.) the embodiment of honor and spiritual power, but he also revived the spirit of honor among our people. This was the great achievement that our magnanimous Imam accomplished. I will come back to this point later on and I will explain it. Our nation rediscovered itself by relying on the sense of honor that it gained from Imam Khomeini (r.a.) and the Revolution. Our nation discovered itself and its capabilities. And this is the reason why we have seen many of the divine promises being fulfilled in front of our eyes over the past few decades. We have seen with our own eyes the kind of things that we would only read about in history books. Over these years, we have seen the arrogant powers being defeated by the oppressed. We have seen that the seemingly impressive castles of the arrogant powers are built on air. We have seen many such things.

I would like to highlight the issue of national honor and infer a point that I have in mind. Today is a momentous day. Today is the demise anniversary of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Today the memory of our magnanimous Imam is more alive than any other time. Today his auspicious legacy is in front of everybody's eyes in this country and in the world of Islam. Now I would like to highlight certain existential aspects of the movement Imam Khomeini (r.a.) started.

National honor and dignity. We Iranians have passed through different historical stages. At certain stages we had honor and glory, and at certain other stages we were humiliated. Over the two centuries that led to the Revolution, we went through a difficult, dark and humiliating era. Many people do not have historical information and many others treat history lightly. It is necessary to reflect on history. It is necessary to learn lessons from history. Over the two centuries that led to the Revolution, we went through a dark era of humiliation and the signs of this humiliation are numerous. Throughout this time, we were an isolated nation in the area of politics. We did not play a role in regional developments, let alone in global developments. Over this 200-year period, colonialism came into being. Colonial governments from different parts of the world came to our region and they occupied certain countries and enslaved certain nations. They plundered national sources of wealth. Over this 200-year period, the people and government of Iran stood by and watched the developments that were taking place. Sometimes they did not even learn about the developments, let alone trying to play a role in them. On the economic front, our conditions deteriorated on a daily basis. We were suffering from serious backwardness in the area of science and technology. We had accomplished no remarkable and presentable scientific achievement compared to the achievements of the scientific movement in the world. In our domestic policies, we were under the influence of the policies of foreigners. Our governments were under the control of colonial and domineering powers of the world. These colonial and domineering powers would impose their policies on our governments and they would make our governments work for them. And our governments and kings would not show any appropriate reactions, the kind of reactions that would make one feel proud.

Even in the area of safeguarding our territorial integrity and independence of our governments, we witnessed and experienced shameful weakness over the 200-year period. It was during the same period that the two disgraceful treaties - the Treaty of Torkmenchay and the Treaty of Gulestan - were signed and 17 Caucasian cities broke away from Iran. It was during the same period that they came and occupied Bushehr without facing the slightest resistance from our government and government officials. It was during the same period that a foreign government established a military base in Qazvin and threatened our central government with military invasion. They ordered our government to do certain things and to remove certain people from official positions, and they threatened that they would attack Tehran if their orders were not carried out. That is to say, they came as close as Qazvin and threatened Tehran with military invasion, and the central government in Tehran was trembling with fear. If it were not for a few competent people, our central government would have definitely complied with the orders of that foreign government. It was during the same period that the English government established the Pahlavi regime in Iran. They chose Reza Khan and crowned him. They legalized his rule and put him in charge of everything while they had full control over him. It was during the same period that the disgraceful Anglo-Persian Agreement of 1919 was signed, which would hand our national economy over to foreigners and would put the enemies of Iran in charge of our economy and politics. It was during this period that the Allied leaders of three countries came to Tehran and held a meeting without asking our central government for permission. They completely ignored our central government. Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin travelled to Tehran and held a meeting. They did not ask anybody for permission and they did not show any passports. Mohammad Reza Shah, who was the king of Iran at that time, was completely ignored. They did not go to see him. He was the one who went to see them and when he entered the room, they did not stand up. They ignored him. Notice the consequences of a central government's weakness, which affects the people. This is the worst kind of humiliation and weakness that a government and a nation can suffer. These things happened during the 200-year period.

Of course, there were certain exceptions among them. For example, a person like Amir Kabir was in power for three years, Mirza-e Shirazi managed to put an end to the tobacco issue by issuing a fatwa, religious scholars became involved in the Constitutional movement, or the movement for nationalization of the oil industry was launched in a certain era. All of these things were short-term remedies, some of which were complete failures, but weakness and humiliation were the main things that were imposed on our great nation, a nation that has the potential to change the course of history, a nation that enjoys great historical legacies.

The great Islamic Revolution changed the direction completely and turned a new page. As the leader of this Revolution, Imam Khomeini (r.a.) focused his efforts on reviving the spirit of national honor and restoring the sense of honor and dignity among our people. Our magnanimous Imam turned "we can" into a cultural norm and instilled it into the hearts and minds of the people. In fact he was promoting a Quranic cultural norm: "Faint not nor grieve, for you will overcome them if you are (indeed) believers." [The Holy Quran, 3: 139] Religious faith is a tool for achieving material improvement as well as other things. Religious faith brings about improvement and honor for nations. Imam Khomeini (r.a.) took the first step and led the movement. Then the people became motivated and determined and they started using their capacities. And the actions of the people and their presence on the scene prepared the ground for benefiting from divine blessings. This is a truly important point. God is generous with His blessings, but people will not benefit from His blessings as long as they do not develop the capacity for these blessings. Our people stepped into the arena and prepared the ground for benefiting from divine blessings. As a result, they benefited from divine guidance. They benefited from divine blessings and started a continuous movement - a movement towards honor, a progressive movement. Of course, sometimes we moved ahead at a fast pace and sometimes at a slow pace, but there were no pauses and stops.

If you pay attention to Imam Khomeini's (r.a.) revolutionary rhetoric, you will realize that the main emphasis is on the inner strength of the nation. The main emphasis is on acquiring a sense of pride by relying on one's inner strength. The point that we must pay attention to is that this is not a one-shot effort, rather it involved continuous work. Nations should confront the causes of decline and stagnation. There are certain factors that stand in the way of progressive individuals and nations. Some of these causes are within them and some others are created by their enemies. If we want to avoid stagnation, if we want to avoid humiliation, if we want to avoid regression, if we want to avoid the infernal conditions of the pre-Revolution era, we must not let our movement stop. This is where the issue of "progress" comes up.

We need to make constant progress. This national honor, this inner strength, this solid structure should be making constant progress. This decade has been named "The Decade of Progress and Justice". And progress embodies justice. Progress is not limited to material manifestations and it permeates all aspects of the existence of humankind. Progress embodies freedom, justice and ethical and spiritual improvement. All of these things are embodied by progress. Of course, progress embodies material and scientific progress as well. With his movement, Imam Khomeini (r.a.) put us on a certain path and we must continue that path. Any stops on this path will result in regression. A nation that has gained honor and is moving forward on the path of progress, if such a nation fails to appreciate these blessings becomes ungrateful, then it will become a manifestation of this holy ayah: "Have you not seen those who have changed Allah's favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition, into hell? They shall enter into it and an evil place it is to settle in." [The Holy Quran, 14: 28-29] The world will turn into hell for them and life will become bitter for them. If nations fail to resist and move forward, the hardships and gloom of the era of weakness and humiliation will return to them.

Today we have a living paradigm for national honor and progress, and progress itself is the result of national honor. As I said, this discussion is not just a theoretical and abstract discussion. We have a living paradigm in front of our eyes and that living paradigm is our nation and society, a successfully tested paradigm. The Iranian nation has stepped into the arena with this paradigm. I will mention a few examples of the progress that the Iranian nation has made and each of these manifestations require detailed explanation and examples.

One manifestation of the progress that the Iranian nation has made is overcoming the political, military, security and economic challenges that it has confronted over the past 33 years. The purpose behind creating these challenges was to wipe out the Islamic Republic. They had focused their efforts on the existence of the Islamic Republic. Our nation overcame all these challenges. In this arena the Iranian nation overwhelmed the east and the west at a time when the world was in the hands of the east and the west. And today the Iranian nation has managed to overwhelm the west in conditions that the world appears to have fallen into the hands of the misguided west.

Another manifestation of the progress that the Iranian nation has made is that our country is far more powerful today than the early years of the Revolution in terms of its political power and in terms of the role it can play in the regional and global developments. There is evidence that proves this point. Even our enemies admit this. One of the senior officials of the fake Zionist regime - which is the archenemy of the Iranian nation and the Islamic Revolution - admits that today there is a powerful movement that is working against their goals and that Iran has assumed leadership of this movement. This desperate and astonished politician admits that Imam Khomeini has established a camp behind their borders. Also a veteran American politician - whom we know very well - compares the America of 2001 with the America of 2011 in a meeting and asks which idiot has turned the America of the early 20th century into the America of 2011. That American politician also says that Iran has been fanning the flames of the developments that have led to the existing conditions. These statements mean that today the Iranian nation is playing a significant role in important regional and global developments with its resistance, honor and strength. And this is a sign of the progress we have made, which as I said, is in front of our eyes and is not just an abstract concept.

Another sign is the volume of construction services that have been rendered in our vast country. Today you can see construction services are being rendered in different corners of this country and these services keep increasing from one year to the next. This is one of the important signs of a nation's progress. One of the signs of progress is that our experts and self-made revolutionary youth are carrying out the most complicated projects in the country. They are building the most advanced industrial machines, engineering structures, steel companies and power plants, all by themselves. In the case of many of the things that are being done in our country, we do not at all need the presence of foreign experts. There was a day when we had to send for foreigners whenever we wanted to asphalt a road or build a bridge over it, but today our country is carrying out great projects, building massive engineering structures and doing complex things. And those who are shouldering these responsibilities are Iranian youth who have been raised and educated in a revolutionary environment.

Another sign - which has been repeatedly discussed on many occasions - is the rate of our scientific growth: the indexed publications of our scientists and the scientific rank of our country in the year 2011. They are all a source of pride for our country. And this is not our personal judgment. It is the judgment of prestigious scientific centers of the world. They say that the rate of our scientific growth is eleven times more than the global average and that the rate of our scientific growth increased by twenty percent in the year 2011, compared with the previous year. They are the ones who are saying these things. In certain areas, such as nuclear technology, nanotechnology, stem cell research, aerospace and biotechnology, our performance has been brilliant. The projects that are being carried out are brilliant projects which are few and far between in the world. Among all the countries in the world - including both the advanced and non-advanced countries - some of the projects we are involved in are being carried out in no more than 5, 10 or 15 countries. And we did not receive any scientific assistance from abroad. The doors of advanced scientific centers of the world are not open to our students. All these achievements have been made without assistance. Of course, I would mention in passing that the sanctions which have been imposed on us helped us most in this regard.

Islamic democracy is one of the signs and manifestations of our progress. It is necessary to pay attention to this point. It is a very important point. We have had exciting elections in the country. This has been the case with the different presidential elections in our country, particularly the tenth presidential election which was held three years ago. The same is true of our parliamentary elections. We have had nine terms of legislation in the country and all of these nine terms have started on the 7th of Khordad without being delayed one single day. Is this an insignificant achievement? Over the past thirty three years, nine parliamentary elections have been held in the country. Nine parliaments have been elected without being delayed one single day. No political, security or economic event and none of the enemy's threats have caused a delay of even one single day in the elections. All the previous parliaments have started their work on the 7th of Khordad.

Another sign is the revolutionary motives and slogans of the people. Notice how the anniversaries of revolutions are celebrated throughout the world. They just arrange a formal celebration: a group of political figures gather in one place and sometimes their armed forces march past them. In Iran each year the victory of the Revolution is celebrated enthusiastically by millions of people throughout the country on the 22nd of Bahman. And our celebrations become more enthusiastic and more impressive with every passing year. This shows that our nation is alive and that it is advancing its revolutionary goals.

The same is true of spiritual purification: we are making progress. When some people take a look, they just see certain superficial manifestations. Whenever they see a few youth or a few men and women doing something wrong, they make a general conclusion. This is wrong. Our people care about spirituality. These days one can go to the mosques of our universities and see what is going on in the itikaf ceremonies. From tomorrow our youth will hold itikaf ceremonies in our mosques. Apart from our great mosques which are open to the public, among the most crowded centers of itikaf ceremonies are the mosques of our universities. This shows that our people are moving towards spirituality. It is on the basis of these factors that we can say our nation and our country is making progress. Our country is making progress on all fronts and everybody is under the flag of Islam and in the shade of the divine call of our great Imam Khomeini (r.a.), the spiritual man and the righteous successor of the divine prophets who opened up this path in front of our nation.

Political communities and media outlets of the world are speaking about the danger of a nuclear Iran. They are claiming that a nuclear Iran is dangerous. I say that they are lying. They are trying to deceive people. What they are afraid of - and should be afraid of - is not a nuclear Iran: it is an Islamic Iran. It is an Islamic Iran that has shaken the foundations of the power of the arrogant powers. The people of Iran proved that a nation can achieve genuine progress without relying on America and the pretentious powers and even in spite of their hostilities. This is a lesson and they are afraid of this lesson. They want to convince nations and political elite that it is not possible to make progress without the help of America and outside America's sphere of influence. The people of Iran have proven that it is possible to achieve progress without America and even in spite of its hostilities. This is a great lesson and they are afraid of it.

Now I would like to say the last word in this regard. Dear people, dear youth, pious people of Iran, we set a record. We made progress. But if we feel satisfied with what we have achieved so far, we will be defeated. If we stop moving forward, we will regress. If we become overconfident and suffer from self-conceit, we will fall to the ground. If we - particularly we government officials - become self-centered and self-important, we will be kicked in the mouth. This is the way of the world. This is a divine law, a law of nature. We must not go after popularity. We must not go after worldly benefits. We must not go after aristocracy and luxuries. We government officials must remain true to our principles, just as our great Imam remained true to his principles. If we make mistakes, we will become manifestations of this holy ayah: "Have you not seen those who have changed Allah's favor for ungratefulness and made their people to alight into the abode of perdition, into hell? They shall enter into it and an evil place it is to settle in." [The Holy Quran, 14: 28-29]

On the path to progress, stopping is forbidden. Self-conceit is forbidden. Lack of vigilance is forbidden. Aristocracy is forbidden. Going after pleasure is forbidden. Thinking of accumulating material wealth is forbidden for government officials. It is these restrictions that can help us reach the peak. We are moving forward on the foothill. We have not reached the peak yet. We are far from it. The day the Iranian nation reaches the peak, the enmities will end. The day the Iranian nation reaches the peak, the malevolent hostilities and confrontations will end. We are far from that day. We need to continue our movement without stopping. I would tell our youth, our government officials, our students, our honorable scholars, those who can speak directly to the people and those who can affect the way the people think that we need to continue this movement towards progress without a pause - in the arena of politics, in the arena of science and technology and particularly in the arena of ethics and spirituality. We need to purify ourselves. We need to reform ourselves. We need to identify our shortcomings and try to eliminate them. If we do these things, the obstacles that the enemies put in our way will be ineffective. The sanctions are ineffective. The sanctions cannot stop the Iranian nation from moving forward. The only effect that these unilateral sanctions will have on the Iranian people is that they will deepen the hatred and enmity towards the west in the hearts of our people.

If you take a look at these uprisings and revolutions in the region, you will see that they are all about national honor. All of these revolutions - in Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and the countries that will flare up one day - have been motivated by a desire to restore national honor, social justice and freedom. And all of these revolutions are being carried out in the shade of Islam. When we speak about "Islamic Awakening", it is based on a logical basis and there is a wisdom to it. Muslim nations want justice. They want freedom. They want democracy. They want respect for human identity. They believe that only Islam can bring about these things, not any other school of thought. This is because other schools of thought have been tested and they have all failed. And it is not possible to achieve these lofty goals without an intellectual basis. That intellectual basis, which is in line with religious faith and beliefs of the regional nations, is embodied by Islam and Islamic Awakening. This is the true nature of these uprisings.

Westerners and the regional governments that are dependent on the west want to change the equation. They want to mislead public opinion. But their efforts are useless. Influential figures must take care not to be conned. Nations must take care not to be conned. Nations have made a great achievement. The political and social atmosphere of the religion has changed in essential ways. This is just the beginning. And this first step has changed the political atmosphere of the region. For example, in Egypt when the popular uprising reached a critical point, many of the westerners and many of the autocratic governments in the region tried to support Hosni Mubarak. They tried to save Mubarak and suppress the people, but now that the people have overwhelmed the government and achieved a victory, the same governments - the most autocratic governments and the governments that are absolutely powerless against the west - are speaking about the rights of the people and democracy. This means that today democracy has become so popular among the regional nations that even those who were not prepared to speak about the people and their rights have been forced to support democracy and the rights of the people in order to attract public opinion.

These revolutions are very important. I would like to put special emphasis on Egypt. Egypt is a great country. The Egyptian nation is an ancient nation. Egypt has been an essential part of the world of Islam, but it has been humiliated by its corrupt, mercenary and wretched rulers. They had turned Egypt into a strategic asset for the Zionist regime. They had turned Egypt and the great Egyptian nation into an asset for the fake Zionist regime. Could it get more humiliating than this? Now this asset has been lost. It is out of the reach of the occupiers of Palestine. Mubarak's regime ensured Israel's security for thirty years. They even decided to keep one and a half million Gazans in a big prison. One and a half million people were being bombarded by the evil Zionists, and Hosni Mubarak's regime had completely blocked their access to the essentials of life. History will not forget these things.

During the 22-day war, a Palestinian combatant said in an interview, "Nineteen days have passed since the beginning of the war, but we have not been able to bring in nineteen kilograms of wheat and flour from Egypt." They had blocked the ways of shipping foodstuff, medicine and other facilities in Rafah in order to lay a siege on one and a half million people, pressure them and make them go hungry, all in the interest of the Zionist regime. Now that regime has fallen. The Zionist regime feels naked [unprotected and vulnerable]. They are panicked and astonished. The statements about a military action which are quoted in the media from the leaders of the Zionist regime are indicative of the fact that they are desperate, terrified and confused. They know that in these conditions they are more vulnerable than any other time. Any misstep they take and any inappropriate move they make will strike them like a thunderbolt.

Westerners and the Americans, who have always provided unconditional support to the occupying regime, have more problems today than at any other time. Today the west is just trying to maintain appearances. They are suffering from financial, monetary, economic and social problems and they are helpless against their own people. Several European governments that used to support America have fallen. If the people are given the opportunity, they will eliminate all the signs of American arrogance in Europe with their presence and power. These are their conditions today. And the conditions of America are worst of all. Nations hate America. America is in a crisis. Of course, they want to shift this crisis to Asia. They want to shift it to Africa. They want to shift it to the Middle East. They want to cover up their weakness by causing problems in other countries. Among the things that they want to do is to turn the great popular uprisings in the region against the people. They want to keep the people busy with ethnic, religious and tribal conflicts. We need to be vigilant.

Today the Americans are using the experience of the English in creating sectarian conflicts between Shia and Sunni. The English are very skillful at creating enmity among different groups, especially between Shia and Sunni in the world of Islam. They have been doing this since several hundred years ago. The Americans are making use of their experience. When the issue of Palestine comes up, when the issue Egypt comes up, as soon as they are faced with the people, they use some trickery and immediately bring up the sectarian issue in one way or another. Everybody must stay vigilant. Sunni Muslims must stay vigilant. Shia Muslims must stay vigilant. Religious scholars must stay vigilant. Outstanding academic figures must stay vigilant. The people must stay vigilant. They should know what they are doing. They should be aware of the enemy's plots and machinations. They must not contribute to the enemy's plot. This is what they are doing today.

Of course, westerners - especially the Americans - make senseless moves. They magnify the nuclear issue in order to cover up their own problems. They dishonestly put the nuclear issue of Iran at the top of global issues. They deceitfully mention "nuclear weapons". They deceitfully magnify certain issues in their propaganda. Their goal is to divert minds and public opinion from the events that are happening in America and in Europe. Of course, they will not succeed.

Our view of the region is optimistic. Egypt is busy with its own domestic issues and this is the nature of revolutions. Certain events take place and the people have to deal with them. The Egyptian nation is busy with the events that are happening in Egypt. These events have created a vacuum. They have created an opportunity for certain countries to interfere in the regional issues the way the west and America like, to spend money on behalf of America, to make certain moves on behalf of America, to make certain trips and go here and there on behalf of America. But by Allah's favor, the countries that have carried out a revolution, especially the great Egyptian nation, will restore peace and stability and overcome the problems and machinations. The dictatorial regime was overthrown and by Allah's favor, its followers will be overthrown as well and nations will manage to fulfill their role.

Of course, I deem it necessary to openly say that as far as the regional developments are concerned, the people of Bahrain are being oppressed more than others. They have been truly oppressed. The people of Bahrain are being unjustifiably suppressed by their autocratic and dictatorial regime. Their protests are crushed in the most violent way. What do they want? They are just demanding the most basic needs of a human being in a democratic country. This is not too much to expect. They bring up the Shia-Sunni issue and say that they are Shia. It is not about the Shia-Sunni issue. It is about a nation, 70 percent of whose population happens to be Shia. Even if that 70 percent followed a different denomination and their rulers followed a different denomination than they currently do, nothing would have changed. It would not have made a difference. The people of Bahrain follow a specific denomination. They follow Shia Islam and the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household and they are faced with an autocratic government. The issue is not that the government follows one denomination and the people follow another denomination. The people of Iran decided to fight the Shah's regime, a regime whose officials appeared to be Muslims, Shia Muslims who would even go on pilgrimage to Imam Ridha's (a.s.) shrine. Therefore, it is not a Shia-Sunni issue. They turn the issue into a sectarian issue so that they can deny the rights of the people. But by Allah's favor, all the selfless efforts will achieve the desired results. We must stay vigilant and not let them fan the flames of ethnic, tribal and sectarian conflicts. This is our demand. This is our advice to all the sides that are involved in the issues.

I hope that Allah the Exalted helps and He definitely will. Undoubtedly the future will be better than the past for Muslim nations, for Islam, for Muslims and for the Iranian nation.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Source: http://english.khame...d=1640&Itemid=4

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader Meets with MPs of 9th Majlis
June 13, 2012



Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution met this morning with the MPs of the ninth Majlis. Speaking at the meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei said, "In fulfilling its important and essential duties, the Majlis should have the characteristics of being alive, active and vibrant and it should also be healthy in terms of different political, ethical and financial dimensions."

His Eminence said that sense of responsibility, pure intentions, reliance on God and trying to satisfy God are the main requirements for the success of the efforts by the Majlis. He added: "If this perspective and this spirit prevail, by Allah's favor, all the paths will be opened up in front of us and all the problems will be resolved."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that relying on the endless power of God is the secret behind the power and progress of the Islamic Republic, further adding: "In the chaotic materialistic world, the Islamic Republic has stood up to defend divine and human values, and by understanding this issue, the MPs should consider strengthening one's relationship with God as the true secret behind achieving success."

His Eminence said that the enmity of the arrogant powers towards the Islamic Republic is due to the plundering nature of the domineering powers. He added: "Some people sarcastically tell us not to pitch the world against the Islamic Republic. But this is a thoughtless comment because putting forth religious rule and religious democracy has naturally provoked global pharaohs to confront the Islamic Republic."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the Majlis as an essential pillar of the Islamic Republic and said that the Majlis should be vibrant and healthy.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that good legislation and appropriate supervision are the most important factors that show the vibrancy of the Majlis.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that active political involvement in national, regional and global developments is another sign of the vibrancy of the Majlis.

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the regional developments and added: "Today the region is in turmoil and the conditions of this important region, which is considered the heart of the world, are extraordinary."

He reiterated: "If our MPs adopt appropriate positions on the regional developments at the right time, they will definitely influence public opinion in the region and in the countries that play a significant role in the regional developments."

Elsewhere in his statements, His Eminence called on the MPs of the ninth Majlis to avoid leveling allegations against different people.

Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted the necessity of unity and solidarity, further adding: "Unity does not mean that there should be no differences of opinion. Nobody is afraid of differences of opinion, but it should be completely clear that in spite of differences of opinion, government officials are moving forward hand in hand on the path of improving the country and achieving the goals of the Revolution."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that discord is a sign of weakness and added that as far as differences of opinion are concerned, problems should be settled by referring to the law or the Guardian Council.

Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out that all the sides that are involved in an issue speak about the necessity of avoiding discord. "But instances of discord can be seen sometimes and all our government officials and organizations should preserve and strengthen unity and solidary."

At the end of his statements, Ayatollah Khamenei said that there are bright future prospects for the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic. He expressed hope that Iran will make good progress and achieve tangible results in administration of justice.

Source: http://english.khame...d=1641&Itemid=2

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader: Enemies Should Learn from Their Past Failures
June 18, 2012



Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution met this morning with a group of government officials and ambassadors of Islamic countries on the occasion of Mab'ath. Speaking at the meeting, His Eminence said that the enemies of the Islamic Republic should learn a lesson from their past failures against the Iranian nation. "Our enemies do not want to learn from their past experiences. They should know that obstinacy, arrogance, self-importance and unreasonable expectations will not get them anywhere against the Iranian nation."

His Eminence referred to the crimes committed by the bullying powers in the regional countries and added that the domineering powers do not have any respect for humanity.

Referring to the economic problems of Europe and the world, he said: "Today solving the problems of the people is not an issue for Europe. They are only trying to solve the problems of capitalists and owners of banks."

Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated: "The cause of all these problems is the system of hegemony, the existence of two poles: those who dominate and those who are dominated. If the domineering powers did not exist, the system of hegemony would be annihilated. Similarly, if those who are dominated refused to give in to domination, the system of hegemony would fall apart."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the bullying powers of the world are making constant efforts to control and derail the regional revolutions. He added: "Nations should make use of the divine blessing of wisdom and thinking. They should trust themselves and their power. They should trust God."

He stated that if nations stand up against the arrogant powers and resist, they will definitely achieve victory. He referred to the Iranian nation as an example of a nation that has stood up against the global powers.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the arrogant powers have formed a unified front against the Islamic Republic in order to prevent it from becoming a role model for resistance and progress.

Stressing the necessity of unity in the world of Islam, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the enemies of Islam are trying to turn Shia and Sunni against each other. He criticized those who foment discord in the Muslim world and stressed: "Acting in line with the wishes of the intelligence services of America and Israel, those who believe neither in Shia Islam, nor in Sunni Islam, nor in the essence of Islam express concerns about the spread of Shia Islam."

Source: http://english.khame...d=1644&Itemid=2

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader’s Speech to Government Officials and Ambassadors of Islamic Countries
June 18, 2012

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on June 18, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with government officials and ambassadors of Islamic countries. The meeting was held on the occasion of Mab'ath.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

I would like to congratulate the esteemed people who have attended this splendid meeting - especially the guests who come from other countries and the honorable ambassadors of Muslim countries - on this great Eid. I would also like to congratulate the people of Iran who founded their movement on Mab'ath and made efforts to reach the great goals of the Last Prophet's (s.w.a.) be'that. They took the trouble and thankfully they were given what Allah the Exalted has promised. Allah the Exalted has promised victory, progress and happiness for nations that follow this path and His promises are unbreakable. I also congratulate the Islamic Ummah on this great Eid. After decades of experimenting with different schools of thought, today the Islamic Ummah has developed a tendency towards Prophet Muhammad's (s.w.a.) religion. After Muslim intellectuals, opinion-makers and pioneers experienced different western and eastern schools of thought, claims and -isms for many years and realized their futility and failure, today the Islamic Ummah has turned to the essence and goals of be'that. Today is an auspicious day for them and we hope all human beings benefit from the blessings of be'that.

What I am trying to say is that there are different aspects to be'that. The beams of light that have emanated from be'that are more than a few. But today humanity needs two things that have their roots in be'that. One is promotion of thinking and the other is moral purification. If these two things are ensured, the old wishes of humanity will be fulfilled, justice will be ensured, happiness will be ensured, material welfare will be ensured. The main problem lies in these two areas.

The Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) says, "I was appointed as Prophet to perfect moral virtues." Also, the Holy Quran says, "He it is Who raised among the inhabitants of Mecca a Messenger from among themselves, who recites to them His communications and purifies them." [The Holy Quran, 62, 2] After mentioning purification in the ayah, the Holy Quran continues, "... and teaches them the Book and the Wisdom." This is a lofty goal: purifying human beings, cleansing hearts, improving commitment of humanity to ethics and saving human beings from moral problems, ethical weaknesses and human passions. This is a goal.

The issue of thinking is also an essential issue and it is not particular to the Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.). All prophets were sent to revive the power of thinking among human beings. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) says in a sermon in Nahjul Balaghah, "Then Allah sent His Messengers and series of His prophets towards them to get them to fulfill the pledges of His creation, to recall to them His bounties, to exhort them by preaching, to unveil before them the hidden treasure of wisdom." Prophets were sent to uncover the treasure of wisdom which is hidden in human beings.

Human beings have a great capacity for thinking. When we do not think, when we do not study, when we do not reflect on the divine signs, when we do not reflect on our history, on the different events that have happened to humanity, on the past afflictions and on the causes of great victories that nations have achieved, we deprive ourselves of the spiritual treasure that Allah the Exalted has bestowed on us. "Then Allah sent His Messengers and series of His prophets towards them to get them to fulfill the pledges of His creation, to recall to them His bounties, to exhort them by preaching, to unveil before them the hidden treasure of wisdom." Today humanity needs these two things.

Human communities need to think. They need to find out the causes of human afflictions. There is no doubt about the fact that there is oppression and about the fact that double standards are prevalent in the policies of the domineering powers of the world. It is obvious to everybody that human communities are exposed to clear oppression. Everybody can clearly see that the domineering powers are oppressing defenseless nations. A superpower travels thousands of kilometers and imposes its hegemony on a poor and defenseless country in our region. They turn wedding ceremonies into funerals. Their helicopters shower the people with death. They demolish houses. And nobody is allowed to protest. They do not even apologize. This is the situation of the world. This is the case with advanced countries as well. Take a look at the economic issues of the world and you will see that the situation of the advanced countries is not different. Solving the problems of the people is not an issue for Europe. They are only trying to solve the problems of capitalists, owners of banks and those who have enormous wealth: today this is what they are concerned about. The domineering powers are not concerned about humanity. These are some of the realities that exist in the world. Human beings should think and try to find out the causes of these problems. The cause of these problems is the system of hegemony, the existence of two poles: those who dominate and those who are dominated. If the domineering powers did not exist, the system of hegemony would be annihilated. Similarly, if those who are dominated refused to give in to domination, the system of hegemony would fall apart. And in this regard, the responsibility lies on the shoulders of nations, especially on the shoulders of outstanding political and cultural personalities.

When the satans who are affiliated with the arrogant powers notice a truly popular liberation movement in one corner of the world, they focus all their efforts on turning that movement against itself or changing its main characteristics. You see what is happening in our region today. The people carry out revolutions in order to put an end to their dependence on America, in order to deliver themselves from the hegemony of Zionism, in order to express hatred towards the existence of this cancerous tumor in the heart of Islamic countries. In response, all political, security and financial organizations of the arrogant powers and their followers start to counter the popular movement. This is the issue.

Nations should stand on their own feet. They should make use of the divine blessing of thinking. They should have faith in themselves. They should have faith in their power. They should have faith in God. They should show that they trust God. Allah the Exalted has promised to support those who support His cause. "And surely Allah will help him who helps His cause." [The Holy Quran, 22: 40] Allah the Exalted has stressed this. If nations stand up and resist, they will definitely achieve victory. Our nation is a living example in this regard. The enemy uses thousands of tools and propaganda techniques to hide the truth from the people of the world, but the truth is what we can see. Over the past 33 years and since the first day, our Revolution, our nation and our dear country have been the target of their attacks and plots. People with different political tendencies have come to power since then: they have disagreed on hundreds of issues, but all of them have shared the tendency to confront and harm the Islamic Revolution and the tendency to use different methods to push aside this living role model which is in front of Muslims. The same is still true today. They have joined hands to push the Iranian nation out of the scene. I would tell you with absolute certainty that they will completely fail in their efforts.

Of course, victory is impossible without selfless efforts, without taking action, without taking risks. Allah the Exalted has not promised victory to those who fail to take action. And piety alone is not enough. We need to make selfless efforts as well and we need to be patient. "And certainly we would bear with patience your persecution of us." [The Holy Quran, 14: 12] This is what divine prophets would say to their enemies. They would tell their enemies that they would resist, and they did so. In spite of all that suppression, today the logic of divine prophets has spread to all parts of the world. The logic of divine prophets prevailed, but the logic of pharaonic people did not. And this prophetic orientation and movement will spread on a daily basis. It is necessary to be patient. It is necessary to resist. Our people showed that they are resistant. Our enemies do not want to understand this. They do not want to learn from their past experiences. They should know that obstinacy, arrogance, self-importance and unreasonable expectations will not get them anywhere against the Iranian nation. Our nation is standing firm. Our nation has identified the path and the goal. Our nation has identified its capacities.

The lesson that we have learnt from the Holy Quran and Islam is resistance, selfless efforts and unity - the joining of hearts and hands. And this is not particular to our nation. The entire world of Islam should be united. Today you see that causing sectarian conflicts between Shia and Sunni is one of the points that our enemies stress strongly. In line with the wishes of the intelligence services of America and Israel, those who believe neither in Shia Islam, nor in Sunni Islam, nor in the essence of Islam announce that they are concerned about the spread of Shia Islam. What do you know about Shia Islam? What do you know about Sunni Islam? You do not even believe in religion. Today the policy of the arrogant powers and their intelligence services is to make us fear each other. They are trying to make Shia and Sunni fear each other. They are trying to cause conflicts. The only way to defeat the enemies is to think and unite, to make hearts get closer to each other, to join hands. "He it is Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, that He might cause it to prevail over all religions." [The Holy Quran, 9: 33] And by Allah's grace, this will happen. Allah the Exalted in His grace will make the goals, commands and plans of this be'that prevail over all the plots of the enemy.

I hope Allah the Exalted bestows increasing blessings on you, on the Iranian nation and on the Islamic Ummah. I hope He associates the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) - who opened up this path in front of us and guided us towards it - with His saints, divine prophets and the infallible Imams.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Source: http://english.khame...d=1645&Itemid=4

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader Meets with Judiciary Officials
June 27, 2012



In a meeting with judiciary officials, Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed the need for cooperation among the three branches of government and added: "Today the bullying powers of the world have reached the conclusion that they should do everything in their power in order to deal a blow to the Islamic Republic, in order to harm the Islamic Republic."

His Eminence said that the current wave of Islamic Awakening in the world is because of the Islamic Republic's influence over public opinion in the world of Islam. He reiterated: "Every important scientific work you do, every social or political achievement you make, every great social movement that is started in the country including vibrant elections, every resistance that you put up against the bullying of the arrogant powers and is reflected in the world of Islam - each and every one of these great achievements are an incentive for nations to go after independence on the basis of Islam."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed: "All the uproar that they have caused - in the case of human rights, in the case of nuclear energy and in other cases - is because they are determined to confront the Islamic Republic. They call themselves ‘the international community'. They are not the international community. They are just a few bullying powers. It is just America and a few other powers that follow America in different corners of the world."

Ayatollah Khamenei said the main goal of the sanctions that are imposed on Iran by the arrogant powers of the world is to frustrate the people of Iran and to create a rift between the people and government of Iran. "Of course, by Allah's grace, they will be defeated on this front as well. They do not know our people. They do not know our government officials."

He stressed: "This plot has been exposed to the people. The people know that the enemy's goal is to make them tired. For this reason, the people are more active in different arenas. And our government officials are also working. Our government officials are doing their best to confront the efforts of the enemy."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that America is making comprehensive efforts to besiege the Islamic Republic, further adding: "It is they themselves who have been besieged. They are suffering from different problems. Today Europe and America are suffering from basic and insoluble problems. Their problems are truly insoluble. Their conditions are different from those of ours. Thankfully we have everything."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that Iran's government officials are trying their utmost to foil the plots of the enemy. "In such conditions, it is necessary and obligatory for all organizations of the country to join hands in order to counter these concerted efforts by the enemy."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution called on the three branches of government to cooperate with each other and said that any divergence would harm the country. "Everybody must cooperate with each other. Everybody must help each other. The executive branch, the Majlis and judiciary are all on the same side. They are in the same camp: the camp of defending Islam, the camp of defending the honorable Iranian nation, the camp of defending national independence, the camp of defending the identity of the Revolution."

At the end of his statements, Ayatollah Khamenei said that Allah the Exalted will definitely help those who fight for a divine cause. "Allah the Exalted has promised this, and His promises are inviolable."

Source: http://english.khame...d=1649&Itemid=2

[ateef]

Good Work Sister....Peace Be With You...

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader Meets Participants of International Conference on Women and Islamic Awakening
July 11, 2012



In a meeting with more than a thousand outstanding Muslim women from 85 countries who had participated in the International Conference on Women and Islamic Awakening, Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the conference is a good opportunity for women throughout the world of Islam to become acquainted with each other. He urged the participants to use the conference as a tool to launch an effective and permanent movement to revive the [Islamic] identity of Muslim women.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the west has been making comprehensive efforts over the past 100 years to isolate Muslim women from their Islamic identity, further stressing: "The efforts by outstanding women of the world of Islam to revive this identity are the greatest service to the Islamic Ummah. This is because sense of identity, awareness and insight among Muslim women will have a major effect on Islamic Awakening and the dignity and honor of the Islamic Ummah."

Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the western view of women as insulting and stated: "Westerners consider women as a product and an instrument that men can benefit from and they have employed all their instruments and facilities to reach this goal, but in a hypocritical move, they have named this degenerate, flawed and misleading view "freedom", just as they choose deceptive names like freedom, human rights and democracy for crimes such as murder, plundering national sources of wealth, military operations and the waging of wars."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the Islamic view of women is the opposite of the western view and stressed that Islam brings about dignity and growth for women by giving them an independent identity.

Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the successful experiences of faithful Iranian women in different scientific, political and managerial areas and added: "In an Islamic environment, a woman achieves scholarly, personal, ethical and political growth and she is a pioneer in essential social issues, but she remains a woman."

His Eminence said that the western view of women has resulted in the breakup of the family and an increase in the number of abandoned children in western societies. He added: "The west will be harmed most on this front and it will collapse as a result of the social consequences."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that from an Islamic point of view, men and women enjoy the same human characteristics and added: "Allah the Exalted has bestowed different physical characteristics on men and women. And each of them plays a particular role in the growth and transcendence of mankind, but women's role is more important."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the most important responsibility of outstanding Muslim women is to highlight the role of women from an Islamic point of view. Referring to the essential role that Iranian women have played after the Islamic Revolution, he said: "Women play a determining role in social developments, in revolutions and in Islamic Awakening because wherever women take part in a social movement with awareness, the progress and victory of that movement is guaranteed and this truth makes it absolutely necessary to preserve and strengthen women's presence in the developments of Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and other parts of the world of Islam."

Ayatollah Khamenei described Islamic Awakening as an amazing and unparalleled movement and stressed that it can change the course of history.

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution praised the Muslim nations that have carried out a revolution and added: "The arrogant powers - headed by America and Zionism - are astounded by this great movement and they are trying their best to curb this movement and ride its waves."

His Eminence said that the arrogant powers try to discourage the people of the regional countries from continuing their presence and keep them busy with internal conflicts in order to curb Islamic Awakening. He stressed: "If Muslim nations resist in the face of this plot and continue their presence on the scene, they will definitely defeat the arrogant powers because the sword of all the arrogant powers is blunt and ineffective against the people's presence and piety."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the enemies of Islam and Iran have been hatching plots since the victory of the Islamic Revolution and added: "There is a lot of western hype these days, but they do not understand that with the sanctions they have imposed over the past 30 years, they have vaccinated the Iranian nation against any sanctions."

Ayatollah Khamenei added: "Sanctions do not harm us. The people of Iran resisted. They resisted in the face of the enemy's machinations by sacrificing their wealth, their life and the life of their loved ones. Today we are a hundred times more powerful and more advanced than we used to be thirty years ago."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the advances that Iran has made in different areas and addressing outstanding Muslim women throughout the world of Islam, he said: "Today faithful Iranian women are proudly present in different areas of progress. The educated and outstanding women of our country are among the most pious and revolutionary Iranian women. The west is trying to distort this truth with thousands of propaganda tools."

Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the failed efforts by the west to discourage the Islamic Republic from supporting the Palestinian nation and stressed that the Islamic Republic will continue supporting the Palestinian nation and other Muslim nations.

He added: "By Allah's favor, we will stand by the Palestinian nation. We will stand by the Muslim nations that have carried out a revolution. We will stand by the oppressed people of Bahrain. We will stand by all those who are opposed to America and Zionism. We are standing firm and we support them. And in this regard we will not take the interests of any individual or any power into consideration."

Source: http://english.khame...d=1650&Itemid=2

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader's Speech to Participants of International Conference on "Women and Islamic Awakening"
July 11, 2012

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on July 11, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with participants of the international conference on "Women and Islamic Awakening" in Tehran.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

First of all, I would like to welcome all you dear brothers and sisters, my dear daughters, outstanding ladies from different Islamic countries. Consider our country as your own home. I hope Allah the Exalted makes this conference and this meeting auspicious for the Islamic Ummah.

I believe this gathering is of paramount importance. The gathering of outstanding ladies from across the world of Islam is more important than an ordinary conference on Islamic Awakening. This is because such gatherings provide outstanding ladies throughout the world of Islam with an opportunity to become acquainted with each other and this is very important. It is a hundred years that the west has been trying to impose western culture and lifestyles on women in Muslim communities by relying on its money, power, weapons and diplomacy. Efforts have been made over the past one hundred years to isolate Muslim women from their identity. All instruments of power and propagation have been employed to achieve this goal. Money, propaganda, weapons, different deceptive material tools, the sexual instinct - they have employed all these things to isolate Muslim women from their Islamic identity. Today making efforts to restore this identity to Muslim women is the greatest service that you can render to the Islamic Ummah, Islamic Awakening and Islamic dignity. And this gathering can be a long and effective stride in this direction. Do not limit yourselves to sitting down together and exchanging views for a few days. Make this meeting a prelude to a great and permanent movement, one that has the potential to affect the world of Islam. Islamic Awakening and Islamic dignity will be strongly affected by women's awakening, women's sense of identity, women's awareness and insight. This is the first point that I wanted to discuss in this meeting.

Some of the ladies made certain suggestions in their informative and carefully planned speeches. We support efforts to pursue these suggestions.

Regarding the Islamic view of women, there is an essential point that I would like to discuss. This Islamic view is the opposite of the western view of women. The western view of women is an insulting view. They call it "freedom", but it is not in fact freedom. Over the past two, three decades, westerners have chosen beautiful names for their crimes. Whenever they committed murder, whenever they plundered a country, whenever they enslaved people, whenever they confiscated other nations' sources of wealth, whenever they imposed wars on nations and whenever they committed other crimes, they chose deceptive and beautiful names for their actions: liberation, human rights, democracy and other such things. Describing the western attitude towards women as "freedom" is a lie. It is not freedom. The basis of western culture is that women should be presented in society as a product, an object that men can benefit from. Promoting immodest clothing is a step in this direction. Over the past 100, 200 years violence against women has been on the rise. There has been no decrease in this regard. Sexual freedom and unprincipled sexual behaviors in the west have not curbed sexual desires, which are natural and instinctive. In the past they used to promote the idea that men and women should be allowed to have free relationships with each other so that their sexual desires are diminished. Later on it became clear that what happens is the opposite. The more men and women are allowed to have free relationships with each other in society, the more the resulting situation increases sexual desires. Today westerners do not feel ashamed of promoting homosexuality as a value. This makes any dignified human being blush, but they do not feel ashamed. The western view of women is a degenerate, flawed, misleading and wrong view. The Islamic view of women brings about dignity, honor, growth and an independent identity for women. This is our claim and we can prove it with very compelling reasons.

In an Islamic environment, a woman achieves scholarly growth. She achieves personal growth. She achieves ethical growth. She achieves political growth. She becomes a pioneer in the most essential social issues. Yet she remains a woman. Being a woman is an advantage, a source of pride. Isolating women from womanly environments and characteristics will not bring about any honor for women. Housekeeping, raising children and taking care of one's husband must not be considered a source of disgrace for women. Western culture made the family collapse. Today one of the great problems of the western world is the breakup of the family and the increase in the number of abandoned children. The west will suffer from the consequences. Social developments build up over time. The west will be harmed most by this problem and the flashy materialistic civilization of the west will collapse along the fault lines of this problem.

Islam regards women as dignified. Men and women share the same human characteristics. A human being is a human being before being a man or a woman. People are equal as far as their human nature is concerned. This is the Islamic view. Allah the Exalted has bestowed certain physical characteristics on men and women. Both men and women play a role in creation, in the growth and transcendence of humanity and in the course of history, but women's role is more important than men's role. The most important duty of human beings is to help humanity survive through reproduction. And in this regard, the role of women is not comparable with the role of men. This is why the home environment is important. This is why the family is important. This is why imposing restrictions on the sexual instinct is important. This is the view that should be adopted on Islamic issues and sharia. The west, which has strayed away from the right path, calls these things "limitations", and calls its misleading bondage [of women] "freedom". These are among tricks that the west has played.

Today one of the most important responsibilities that you should shoulder as outstanding ladies is to delineate and highlight the role of women from an Islamic perspective. The greatest service to human and Islamic societies is to help women develop their human characteristics. This movement should be launched. Of course, it has already started, but it should be strengthened. It should become widespread. This movement will definitely achieve victory. This is one of the essential things that should be done.

The next point is related to the role of women in social developments - in revolutions, in the great wave of Islamic Awakening. I would say if women do not take part in the social movement of a nation, that movement will not reach any results. It will not succeed. [Audience shout "Allahu Akbar"] If women take part in a movement with awareness and insight, that movement will continue at a fast speed. In this great wave of Islamic Awakening, women play an unparalleled role and it is necessary for them to continue this role. It is women who prepare and encourage their husbands and children to step into the most dangerous arenas. We have clearly witnessed the significance of the role women played during the time we were fighting taghut in Iran and after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. If our women had not fought in the battlefields during the eight-year war which was imposed on us, if they had not been present in different national arenas, we would not have achieved victory in that difficult test. Our women helped us achieve victory. The mothers and wives of our martyrs and war veterans created an atmosphere with their patience in which our youth and men were encouraged to have a determined presence. And this atmosphere spread to every part of the country. As a result, the general atmosphere of our country was filled with selflessness and self-sacrifice, and we achieved victory. This is the case today with the world of Islam - in Egypt, in Tunisia, in Libya, in Bahrain, in Yemen and in every other place. If women strengthen and continue their presence on the front lines, they achieve victories one after another. There is no doubt in this regard. [Audience shout "Allahu Akbar"]

The next point is about the essence of the issue of Islamic Awakening. This great event has happened in the world of Islam. It started in Tunisia and developed into a great movement in Egypt. Later on it spread to other countries. It is an amazing and unprecedented event. It is a great event in our history. It is not an ordinary event. This event can change the path of the world. It can put an end to the oppressive domination of the arrogant powers and Zionism over the world of Islam, which has continued for many years. It can unite the Islamic Ummah, providing that it continues. The Islamic movements have accomplished certain achievements, but they are threatened with certain failures and problems. It is necessary to identify and prevent these problems. Fortunately Muslim nations of North Africa had a brilliant performance. The movement is a great movement and thankfully it has been successful as well, but pay attention to the fact that the west - headed by America and Zionism - have stepped into the arena with all they have and they will continue their efforts in a more determined way so that they can curb this movement and ride its waves. Nations should be vigilant. They [westerners] were taken off-guard. They could not predict what was going to happen and this was a divine plan. "And they planned and Allah (also) planned, and Allah is the best of planners." [The Holy Quran, 3: 54]

In the case of the issue of Lebanon, the victory of the Lebanese resisting youth over the well-equipped Zionist army also took them off-guard. They were also taken off-guard 33 years ago by the Islamic Revolution in Iran. It is necessary to continue these surprises. They were taken by surprise in these events and they could not predict and prevent what was going to happen, but they are making preparations. One of the things that they are trying to do is to undermine the motivation of the people. The youth of the world of Islam - including men, women and outstanding personalities throughout the world of Islam, particularly in the countries that have carried out a revolution - should know that if they stay present on the scene and resist, they will definitely achieve a victory over the arrogant powers in spite of all the facilities that they enjoy. [Audience shout "Allahu Akbar"] All the instruments of power that the arrogant powers enjoy are ineffective against the presence and religious faith of the people. Take care not to lose this religious faith as a result of discord, as a result of the enemies' efforts to keep young and old people and pious and impious individuals busy with different things in one way or another. The unity of the people on the basis of religious and Islamic slogans is the only thing that can help these nations move forward. We have had long and continued experiences in this regard.

My dear sisters, my dear children, we have been faced with hostilities by the arrogant powers for thirty three years. Today they have created global hype about the sanctions they have imposed on Iran. They do not understand that they have been vaccinating us against sanctions for thirty years. We have been under sanctions for thirty years. We have been vaccinated against sanctions. Sanctions do not harm us. The people of Iran stood firm. The people of Iran sacrificed their lives, their wealth and the lives of their loved ones in order to resist in the face of the enemy's machinations. Today we are a hundred times more powerful and advanced than we used to be thirty years ago. [Audience shout "Allahu Akbar"] As far as science, politics, economy, managing the affairs of the country and the insight of the people are concerned, today we are far more advanced than we used to be during the early days of the Revolution. And the people of Iran have achieved this while being faced with hostilities by the enemies.

Today Muslim women in Iran are proud and dignified. They use thousands of propaganda tools in order to distort this truth, the truth has remained intact: today our educated women are the most pious and revolutionary people in our country. Today our women, our educated women, our young women are active in the most advanced laboratories and scientific and scholarly centers. [Audience shout "Allahu Akbar"] Our pious and revolutionary youth are among the most active women in political, scientific and managerial areas. They are highly educated and they think critically. The advances that the Iranian nation has achieved are due to resistance. If the people of a country resist for the sake of God and in the way of God, Allah the Exalted will help them. This is a divine promise. And divine promises are inviolable. [Audience shout "Allahu Akbar"]

The organizations affiliated with the arrogant powers did everything in their power in order to discourage the Islamic Republic from supporting Palestine. We stood firm in the case of the Palestinian issue. They tried to magnify sectarian and ethnic issues. The Islamic Republic stood by its Muslim brothers who followed different Islamic denominations, including Shia and Sunni Islam and different other Islamic denominations. The Islamic Republic is, and will be, present wherever there is an Islamic movement, wherever efforts are made to defend the Islamic identity, wherever efforts are made to defend the oppressed. America, Zionism and the corrupt political network of the arrogant powers have not been able to defeat the Islamic Republic and they will not be able to do so in the future either. [Audience shout "Allahu Akbar"] By Allah's favor, we stood by the Palestinian nation. We stood by the Muslim nations that carried out a revolution. We stood by all those who are opposed to America and Zionism. We are standing firm and we support them and we will not take the interests of any individual or any power into consideration in this regard. [Audience shout "Allahu Akbar"]

What Allah the Exalted has bestowed on us and on other Muslim nations is divine mercy and blessings. We should act in a way that we stay qualified for divine mercy, and we should ask Allah the Exalted to bestow on us what brings about divine mercy and blessings. And by Allah's favor, this is what will happen.

Try to appreciate this movement by Muslim ladies and this opportunity that has been provided for you to become acquainted with each other from across the world of Islam. Use this opportunity to launch a great movement among members of the Islamic Ummah, and by Allah's favor, the movement you start will result in greater victories.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Source: http://english.khame...d=1652&Itemid=4

[hameedeh]

Leader slams West silence on Myanmar Muslim massacre

Sat Jul 21, 2012 5:50PM



Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has condemned Western silence on the Myanmar violence against the Muslim community of the country.

Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the exploitation of human beings by Western civilization, which is based on materialism and devoid of any morality and spirituality, and said, “A clear example of the West’s false claims about ethics and human rights is the silence of these claimants [of human rights] on the massacre of thousands of Muslims in Myanmar.”

The Leader said that over the few past centuries the West civilization has brought nothing but corruption and exploitation to human societies.

Ayatollah Khamenei was addressing a group of Qur’an scholars and teachers on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.

The Leader pointed out that dignity, welfare, progress, ethics and victory over enemies will only be achieved through practicing Qur’anic teachings.

According to recent reports, Muslims in Myanmar are in a tragic human plight. Reports say 650 of the nearly one million Rohingya Muslims have been killed as of June 28 during clashes in the western region of Rakhine. This is while 1,200 others are missing and 90,000 more have been displaced.

The UN has described Rohingya Muslim community as the Palestine of Asia and one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

They are deprived of basic rights including education and employment and are subject to forced labor, extortion and other coercive measures.

The government of Myanmar refuses to recognize Rohingyas, who it claims are not natives and classifies them as illegal migrants, although they have lived in the country for generations.

Source: http://www.presstv.i...nce-on-myanmar/

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader Meets Government Officials
July 24, 2012



In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution met Thursday evening with government officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Speaking at the meeting, which was also attended by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, His Eminence referred to the challenges that the Islamic Republic has faced since the victory of the Islamic Revolution - including the assassinations, the ethnic conflicts, the imposed war, the sanctions, the events that took place in Tir 1378 and the post-election turmoil in 1388 - and stated: "The massive capacities and capabilities of the Iranian nation helped the Islamic Republic to successfully confront all these challenges and to become more powerful at every stage."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the enemies of the Islamic Revolution are trying to show that the Iranian nation has reached a dead end, further adding: "They openly say that it is necessary to force the Iranian government officials to revise their calculations by intensifying pressures and sanctions, but looking at the existing realities causes us not only to avoid revising our calculations, but it also causes us to continue the path of the Iranian nation with more confidence."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution mentioned examples of the existing realities, saying: "One of the realities that should not be ignored is the opposition of a few arrogant governments to the Islamic Republic and their increasing and complex pressures on the Islamic Republic."

His Eminence added: "Relying on their powerful propaganda machine, these few arrogant governments that enjoy political, economic and media capabilities, are pretending to be the international community."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution added: "Of course, these few bullying governments have their own followers, but if America stops supporting them, they are nothing and they are not even taken into consideration in global calculations."

His Eminence added: "Another reality is that the enmity of these few arrogant governments towards the Islamic Republic is rooted in the essence of the Islamic system, but they are pretending that their confrontation with the Iranian nation is because of the nuclear issue and human rights."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution reiterated: "Of course, considering the absolutely dismal track record of America, Zionism, England and the other arrogant powers in human rights, nobody believes their lies."

Ayatollah Khamenei added: "The truth is that the Islamic Revolution of the Iranian nation freed this important country from the clutches of the arrogant powers and it caused increasing motivation and awakening in the world of Islam. For this reason, by harming the Islamic Republic, they are trying to teach others a lesson so that they do not follow the Islamic Republic as their role model."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the challenges faced by the Islamic Republic are not new and added: "At a certain stage, Iranian ships used to be targeted in the Persian Gulf and our oil terminals and industrial centers were being bombarded by the enemy, but today the ill-wishers of the Islamic Republic do not have the courage to even approach Iran."

His Eminence said that the increased capabilities and confidence of the Islamic Republic in the face of the threats is another reality and stressed: "Another reality is that the opposing camp - led by America and Zionism - has grown far weaker than the past."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed: "The increased vulnerability of the Zionist regime after the events and revolutions that took place in the region, the defeats that the Zionist regime suffered during the 33-day war in Lebanon and the 22-day war in Gaza, America's destiny in Iraq, the increasing and unending problems of America in Afghanistan and America's failure in its Middle Eastern policies are clear examples of the increasing weakness of the opposing camp."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the crisis that has afflicted western enemies of the Islamic Republic is another reality. He added: "The serious threat of economic crisis in the European Union and the eurozone, instability in several European countries, the fall of several European governments, the substantial budget deficit in America and the 99 percent movement are important events that must not be ignored."

His Eminence stressed: "The economic problems of western countries are essentially different from the economic problems of our country because our problems are like the problems of a group of climbers who are continuously moving towards the peak, but the west is like a bus that is trapped under an avalanche."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the developments in the region and in North Africa are among the existing realities, adding: "The increased capabilities of the Islamic Republic are another crucial reality."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the population control policies and stressed the need for revising these policies. He reiterated: "In the early 1370s, implementing these policies was correct for specific reasons at that time, but it was a mistake to continue the same policies in the following years."

Ayatollah Khamenei stressed: "Scientific and expert studies show that if the population control policies are continued, we will gradually suffer from aging and population decline. Therefore, our government officials should seriously revise the population control policies. And the owner of media outlets and those who speak to the public - especially the clergy - should take action to raise public awareness in this regard."

His Eminence said that Iran's retreat and flexibility against the enemy will only make the enemy more insolent.

Ayatollah Khamenei added: "At a time when our government officials used to flatter the west and America in their statements, the person who was the personification of evil decided to label the Islamic Republic of Iran as axis of evil."

His Eminence said that Iran retreated in the nuclear issue at a certain stage, adding: "At that stage, because of the cooperation with westerners and the retreats that were made, the enemies advanced so much that I had to step in personally."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution added: "At that time, westerners became so insolent that even when our government officials became satisfied with only three centrifuges, the westerners expressed their opposition even to that, but today we have eleven thousand centrifuges that are active in the country."

Ayatollah Khamenei stressed: "If those retreats had continued, today there would be no nuclear advances and no scientific dynamism and innovation in the country."

His Eminence said that sanctions will prove ineffective in the face of intelligent resistance. He described the economic sanctions as temporary and added: "This is because continuing these sanctions for a long time is not in the interest of western countries."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the sanctions that have been imposed on the Islamic Republic will only benefit America and the Zionist regime, further stressing: "The other countries have either been forced to go along with sanctions or they are just doing it as a ceremonial gesture. And these conditions will not continue."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that 20 countries have been exempted from the oil sanctions imposed on Iran and added that certain western countries are making efforts to circumvent the sanctions. He stated that these are signs which show it is impossible to continue the current conditions. "All these realities show that it is necessary to continue the path of resistance by relying on God, taking more risks and having judgment and wisdom."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that economic matters are very important for the country and its progressive movement. He stressed: "The purpose of the enemy's economic pressures in the present situation is to undermine our national growth and welfare and to create problems for the people in order to make them disappointed and isolate them from the Islamic Republic."

Ayatollah Khamenei added: "Over the past few years, it has been clear that the enemy has focused its machinations on the economy of the country. For this reason, the slogans of the recent years - such as "Reforming the Norms of Consumption", "Intensified Effort and Labor", "Economic Jihad" and "National Production and Supporting Iranian Labor and Capital" - were introduced in order to create an economic system and organize our national movement in the economic arena."

His Eminence said that one way to counter the economic sanctions is to build an economy of resistance and explained: "Putting the people in charge of our economy by implementing the general policies specified in Article 44 of the Constitution, empowering the private sector, decreasing the country's dependence on oil, managing consumption, making the best of the available time, resources and facilities, moving forward on the basis of well-prepared plans and avoiding abrupt changes in the regulations and policies are among the pillars of an economy of resistance."

Regarding the need to manage consumption, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed: "Today moderation in consumption is a jihad-like movement and all governmental and non-governmental organizations and all the people should seriously avoid extravagance and try to consume domestically produced products."

At the end of his statements, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed the issue of unity and solidarity in the country. Addressing government officials, he said: "Fortunately the people of Iran are united and you should safeguard this unity by staying away from pointless disputes and announcing these disputes through the media."

His Eminence stressed: "If officials from the three branches of government level accusations against each other, it will be very harmful. And our government officials should know that such actions will not give them any prestige among the people."

Ayatollah Khamenei added: "The truth is that problems exist, but it is wrong to blame them on each other. Rather, it is necessary to solve them through unity and judgment, and this is definitely possible."

Source: http://english.khame...d=1654&Itemid=2

[hameedeh]

Pressures and problems unable to weaken Iranians’ resolve: Leader



The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei addresses researchers, specialists and innovators on Sunday, July 29. [2012]

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has noted that pressures exerted on the Iranian nation by foreign powers will not be able to weaken the resolve of the nation.

“The Iranian nation is determined to reach its marked point through [strong] determination and resolve,” the Leader said in a meeting with researchers, specialists and innovators on Sunday.

Ayatollah Khamenei added that Iran is incessantly progressing and there is no insurmountable obstacle or deadlock on the way of its march ahead.

“The Iranian nation is in the middle of the scene, and problems and pressures fall short of [influencing] decision, resolve and ideals of this nation,” the Leader said.

The Leader noted that taking the economy of resistance seriously is one of the main ways of passing the current fateful juncture.

“The economy of resistance is not a slogan, but a reality which should be realized,” Ayatollah Khamenei added.

“One of the best manifestations and most effective components of the economy of resistance is knowledge-based companies which can make the economy of resistance more sustainable,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Leader added that true economic growth hinges on the generation of wealth through science and knowledge.

“If knowledge-based companies are taken seriously and their qualitative and quantitative growth is supported, the country will achieve true prosperity by generating wealth through [promotion of] science,” the Leader said.

Source: http://www.presstv.i...ressure-leader/

[hameedeh]

Major speech includes advice about the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Supreme Leader’s Speech to Government Officials
July 24, 2012

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on July 24, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with government officials.

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 Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his immaculate, pure and chosen household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.

I welcome all the dear brothers and sisters, the honorable officials from different organizations of the country. I would also like to thank our honorable President for the good report that he presented to all of us.

At the beginning of my speech, I would like to stress the need for appreciating the opportunity that has been provided by these days and nights. We need to make the best of these hours and these auspicious days and nights by strengthening our heartfelt relationship with the world of spirituality and with the Hidden World. We need to make the best of these days and nights by praying to the Almighty God in a humble and solemn way, by strengthening our bond with the honorable members of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household. This is the basis of all the good deeds that a pious human being can do, a pious human being who struggles for the sake of truth and justice.

If we fail to make use of these hours and the opportunity that has been provided for us, we will regret it one day. "And warn them of the day of intense regret, when the matter shall have been decided, and they are (now) in negligence and they do not believe." [The Holy Quran, 19: 39] These opportunities are lost because of negligence and disbelief, and this negligence will cause regret the day when we will be questioned about every hour and minute of our life, every move we have made and every word we have said. Then it will be too late to do anything: "The matter shall have been decided." The day we will fully understand what we have done, everything will have been decided.

In his noble book "Muraqibaat", the late Hajj Mirza Javad Agha Maleki (may God bestow paradise on him) has written a few sentences about the nights of Qadr. I wrote down those sentences before this meeting. Of course, what he said is true of all times, but as far as these sentences are concerned, what he had in mind was the nights of Qadr. "Know for sure that you neglected a virtue like this and ruined it with your negligence." If we are negligent and miss these opportunities, then "you saw on the Day of Judgment what those who tried, achieved with that [virtue]". On the Day of Judgment when your actions will appear in front your eyes in a spiritual form, you will see that you failed to do a particular good deed that you could have done, that you failed to make a particular comment that could have benefited others, that you failed to take the step that would have benefited those who were in need. You will see what a great reward Allah the Exalted bestows on those who took the trouble and did these small things. On that day, we will realize that we have deprived ourselves of the great reward. When you witness what a great reward is given to the person who did that particular good deed, the person who took that particular step and the person who carried out that particular religious obligation, you will say, "You suffer the regret of the Day of Regret." Then you will regret what you have done. And what great regret! One starts thinking, "I wish I had done that. I wish I had taken that step. I wish I had said that. I wish I had refused to do or say that." Hajj Mirza Javad Agha Maleki says that the regret of "the Day of Regret" is not like ordinary feelings of regret. Even in this world, sometimes people fail to do what might benefit them and later on they regret it. But there is a huge difference between feelings of regret in this world and in the next. He says, "Surely this makes the great fire and chastisement insignificant to them." This feeling of regret is so strong and painful that it makes hell fire insignificant. In other words, the feeling of regret flows into one's being like molten lead. "And you call out on that day with those in loss and regret: 'Lest a soul should say: O woe to me, for what I fell short of my duty to Allah.' [The Holy Quran, 39: 56]" Then he says, "And regret will not benefit you." And on that day, feelings of regret will be useless.

You enjoy the blessing of life and many of you enjoy the blessing of youth as well. Thankfully, all of you or the majority of you enjoy physical and intellectual dynamism and capabilities. You can work. You can benefit from these blissful hours. You can benefit from these nights, these duas, these munajat, these night vigils and these midnight prayers. Sometimes a small thing brings about such a great reward that one cannot believe it because of being trapped in the maze of materialistic frameworks. "And they do not believe." But it is a fact. One opportunity has been provided for you by the month of Ramadan and the other opportunity is the opportunity to render services. You are shouldering certain responsibilities and you have the opportunity to render services. You have the opportunity to manage things. You have the opportunity to work. It is necessary to make the best of these opportunities. Make use of the time and the different facilities that are available to you. You will be given certain spiritual and material rewards for any move you make in this Islamic system and in this Islamic and divine country in order to help the country make progress. And on the Day of Judgment when one sees some people receiving these rewards and realizes that one will be deprived of them, one will have this sense of regret. This is what I wanted to say and I believe it is the main part of my speech today. Personally I need to follow this advice more than you do. I hope Allah the Exalted gives this opportunity to all of us.

What I have been planning to say in today's meeting is that the capabilities and capacities of the Iranian nation in safeguarding the Revolution are so great and important that one might even say their importance is not less than the importance of the Revolution itself. Over the past 33 years, the Iranian nation has managed to safeguard this great achievement well. Take a look at the revolutions that have taken place in the region over the past one and a half years. If you consider these revolutions from a general point of view, you can say whether they are moving in the right direction or not. The enemies and the arrogant powers - particularly the Zionist regime, the US government and other western governments - are making certain efforts to ride and derail these revolutions. Notice what big challenges these revolutions are faced with.

When one pays attention to these challenges, one realizes what a great achievement has been accomplished in our country: this Revolution has been kept on the right path and it is moving towards the ideals. It has not been derailed from the path of the values and ideals, and it has continued its progressive movement. This is while our Revolution has been faced with increasing challenges and threats. Since the first day, the challenges that our Revolution and our country have been faced with have grown more complex over time. There have been assassinations. There have been ethnic conflicts. There has been a war. There have been sanctions. There has been a siege on us. The more we moved forward, the more complex their threats became. All these things were caused by the enemies and opponents of the Islamic Republic. The events that took place in Tir 1378 and the events that happened in 1388 were among the different kinds of threats that our Revolution, our country and our nation have been faced with. Our nation confronted all these things and it is moving forward on its path in a steadfast way. These are the things that we need to keep in mind today and in the future. They will help us on difficult paths. They will help us clear difficult turns and passes.

What one witnesses in this 33-year movement and in the lesson that the Revolution and our magnanimous Imam taught us, is that the great ideals and wishes that are promoted by Islam have not been ignored in this 33-year movement. In the meantime, attention has also been paid to the realities of our society and the world at large. This helped this movement continue: that is to say, idealism combined with realism. They promoted the idea that realism and idealism are inconsistent. They wrote and spoke about it. One can still hear in different corners that idealism is not consistent with realism, with the realities that exist in society and in the world. They have confused idealism with fantasy. What we want to pursue and what we insist on is that there is no contradiction between realism and idealism, between seeing the realities that exist in society and in the world and pursuit of the great ideals and wishes that the people of Iran have in mind. If we manage to combine idealism with realism, this would operationally translate into combining judgment with selfless struggle. Then we can engage in selfless struggle and our selfless struggle will be within a well-thought-out framework. And this requires public awareness, awareness among our government officials and unity of hearts and tongues in all arenas.

Some people pretend that idealism is not consistent with realism. We strongly reject this. Many of the ideals of our society are the realities that exist in our society. Our people want national dignity. They want to lead a pious life. They want to play a role in running our national affairs and managing our country, and this is democracy. They want to make progress. They want to have political and economic independence. These are the demands of our people. These demands are the realities of our society and they are completely in line with idealism. These things are not analyses. They are not fantasies. They are not a figment of our imagination. They are realities that exist in our society. It is these things that a pious and alive society is after. Such a society wants national dignity. It wants independence. It wants progress. It wants international honor. These are the demands of our people and they are in line with our ideals. And these demands are among the undeniable realities of our society. Therefore, realities can be at the service of ideals. They can be in line with ideals. Enumerating the ideals without paying attention to the existing realities and the reasonable mechanisms for achieving those ideals, is fantasy and it would reduce the ideals to empty slogans. However, if government officials pursue the ideals in a logical and dignified way and the people cooperate with them, then the realities of our society will be in harmony with the ideals. This is an essential pillar for our national movement.

I would like to briefly discuss some of the realities that exist in our society. There are certain realities and if we do not include them in our calculations, we will definitely make mistakes in judgment. We will also make mistakes in choosing our path. It is necessary to see these realities. Of course, none of the realities that I am speaking about are analyses. All of them are obvious realities that lie in front of our eyes. I would not hesitate to say that when we want to have idealism coupled with realism - that is to say, when we want to see the realities and regulate our movement on the basis of these realities - we should take care not to fall into some possible pitfalls. There are certain pitfalls. One pitfall is illusion: considering as real things that are not real. The enemies who have formed the opposing camp against our country, our nation and our Revolution, are trying to make unreal things look real. They are trying to make certain things appear obvious realities to us, things that are not real. We should take care not to fall for the unreal "realities" that they build for us. For example, if we think that we are more powerful or less powerful than we really are, we will make mistakes. Similarly, if we think that the enemy is more powerful or less powerful than he really is, we will make mistakes in our calculations. These are some of the areas where the enemy's plotters step in. You see that in the widespread propaganda by our enemies, efforts are made to show that our national capabilities are less than they really are. And they also try to make the enemy look more powerful than they really are. This is one of the pitfalls. If we overestimate the enemy and fear him more than we should, we will definitely make mistakes in our calculations. We will follow the wrong path. This is one of the pitfalls.

As far as seeing the realities is concerned, one of the pitfalls is related to our inner self. Sometimes being attached to different things is crippling. Our attachment to different things cause us to consider unreal things real, things that are in fact mistakes which our inner self impose on us because of laziness or being attached to material issues.

One of the pitfalls is to think that it is possible to achieve one's ideals without paying the price. We used to witness such things during the time of revolutionary activities as well. There were certain people who believed in the goals of the revolutionary activities, but they were not prepared to make any sacrifices and pay the price. There are still such people. They think that they should be able to achieve the goals without paying the price. Therefore, whenever it comes to paying the price, they back down, which in some cases cause them to make mistakes in their calculations and to fail to follow the path they should follow when they are faced with the enemy.

Another pitfall is to see some of the realities and ignore the rest. This also causes mistakes. It causes mistakes in calculation. It is necessary to see and consider all the realities.

Now I would like to mention a number of these realities. I am not claiming that I will mention all the realities of the country in this meeting, but this is a start which can open our eyes to the different realities that exist in our country. What is our situation? Where are we? What do we have? What do we lack? My own judgment is that these realities are very promising. When we put these realities together and look at them, we feel that the Iranian nation is moving on a path towards its lofty ideals. There are challenges on this path, but it is not a dead end. It is passable. The goal of the camp that is opposed to the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution is to convince people that our path is a dead end. They themselves say that they should do certain things, mount certain pressures on us and impose a siege and sanctions in order to make the officials of the Islamic Republic revise their calculations. I say that considering the realities not only convinces us not to revise our past calculations but it also makes us more confident in the righteousness of the path we have been following and the path the Islamic Revolution has opened up in front of us.

One of the realities that exist in the country is the existence of sanctions and threats, and the Islamic Republic is reminded of this reality more than the previous years. Our country is faced with a showdown with a few arrogant powers and governments. As I have repeatedly said before, the opposing camp is not the global community. It is not all governments. It is not all nations. The opposing camp consists of only a few governments, but they have a powerful media system. What we should acknowledge is the power of their media and propaganda. The Americans and westerners are truly powerful in these areas. What we acknowledge is that they are powerful in propaganda and media campaigns and in terms of the power to distort whatever they want to distort. Today they are seriously promoting this and speaking about it using all their propaganda and media power. And it is a fact that a few governments use their media capabilities to pretend that they are the global community. And they are lying. They are not the global community. This is a reality.

We are faced with a few arrogant governments and powers. They have a number of followers who are also opposed to us, but their existence is not independent and they do not have any power. If superpowers like America stopped supporting them, they would be nothing. They would not even be considered in global and international equations. However, they are currently following America, the Zionist regime and the global Zionist network. This is a reality. It is in front of our eyes. This reality has developed since the beginning of the Revolution. Its intensity has not decreased, rather it has increased. And they have joined hands to magnify this reality. This is among the pitfalls I mentioned earlier. They try to magnify this reality and make it look as grave and bitter as possible. We acknowledge the pressures and the sanctions, and these pressures and sanctions are backed up with their economic capabilities, political capabilities, security capabilities and other such capabilities, particularly their media capabilities. This is a reality.

Another reality that should be seen together with this reality is that they pretend this showdown is because of such issues as the nuclear issue and the issue of human rights, and this is a lie. The fact that these claims are false is one of the realities. This is not just a claim that we make. Today there is nobody in the world who believes that America is after human rights and the rights of nations or that the Zionist regime - which commits genocide and murders children - is after establishing democracy in other countries. The track records of America, the Zionist regime and the few powers that have deployed their forces against the Islamic Republic are abysmal in terms of the issue of human rights, in terms of supporting the rights of nations and human beings. Does sixty years of genocide in Palestine not qualify as violation of human rights? Does providing the usurping Zionist regime with atomic weapons not undermine global peace? Can those who did these things claim to be supporters of global peace? Does providing a person like Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons not qualify as violation of human rights? The kind of things that have been done by the Americas, westerners and the English in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Afghanistan, Iraq and other parts of the world - do these things leave any room for claims of supporting human rights? Therefore, their claim that they are opposed to the Islamic Republic because of the issue of human rights, is a lie. Similarly, their claim that they are opposed to the Islamic Republic because of nuclear weapons, is also a lie. In the beginning, we announced it as a guess, but later on it became clear during international negotiations and interactions that they know the Islamic Republic is not after nuclear weapons. They believe and acknowledge that the Islamic Republic is not after nuclear weapons and this is the truth, yet they bring up the issue of nuclear weapons. Therefore, the claim that these pressures, these sanctions, these sieges, these enmities and these hostilities are due to the issue of nuclear weapons and technology, is a lie. The fact that this claim is false is also a reality.

The truth is that their opposition is because of the essence of the Revolution and the existence of the Islamic Republic. They were ruling the region without any worries. They had full control over a country like Iran, with its rich resources and numerous facilities. They used to do whatever they wanted. They used to make whatever decisions they wanted. They used to make the best of the facilities of our country in order advance their own goals. But now they have been deprived of all these things. This is not the only reason. Our movement has motivated the world of Islam and today we can see the signs in North Africa, in the Middle East and in all countries. This is what they are angry about. The Islamic Republic is the focus. They want to harm the Islamic Republic and make it a lesson for others. This is their real motive. And this is another reality.

Another reality is that the challenges the Islamic Republic is currently faced with are not new. And this is not an analysis: it is a fact. Everybody can see this. There was a day when our ships and oil tankers used to be targeted in the Persian Gulf. There was a day when they used to bombard the oil terminal in Khark Island. There was a day when the enemy used to drop bombs on all our industrial centers. These are the things that we have witnessed with our own eyes. We have experienced these things before: they are not new to us. Today they do not have the courage to even approach the Islamic Republic, which is another reality and I will speak about it later on. There was a day when they had this courage and they used to come and harm us. They used to attack us. The war with Saddam Hussein was not just a war that had been waged on us by one government. It was an international war against us. Therefore, the challenges that exist - the threats they make, the claims they make, the things they mention and magnify - are not new to the Islamic Republic. And this is another reality.

Another reality is that the Islamic Republic has cleared all these hardships and difficult turns. Have we not? Did we stop moving forward? Did they manage to harm the Islamic Republic? Did they manage to undermine the ideals and principles of the Islamic Republic? They did not. And this is another reality. These realities should always be in front of our eyes.

Another reality is that we managed to make progress even under threat. Over these years, we have made progress in all areas. We have made progress in sophisticated scientific areas. We have made advances in the technologies that our country needed. We have made outstanding advances in the area of medicine, transportation, housing, water supply and constructing roads. Mr. President presented some of the statistics in today's meeting. In spite of all these pressures, the country has made constant progress over these years. In the area of certain important, exclusive and unique sciences - such as laser technology, nanotechnology, stem cells and nuclear industry - we have made constant advances. The Islamic Republic has made these advances in spite of all the threats it has been faced with, including sanctions, military threats and different security, political and other measures. And this is another reality. It is not an analysis. It is among the things that are in front of our eyes. And you dear government officials know these things better than the people.

Another reality is that compared with the early years after the Revolution, the country has become far more powerful in confronting the challenges and threats. Compared with the early days, today we are much more powerful in confronting the threats. We have become more confident and thankfully our reliance on Allah the Exalted has not decreased. Also, our tangible capabilities have increased compared to the past. The global powers are doing everything in their power. They admit that they are stuck, that they have not been able to make headway.

Another reality is that the opposing camp has grown weaker over these years. If we think of America and the Zionist regime as the two main representatives of the opposing camp and consider western countries as their followers, it is obvious that they have grown weaker. Today the Zionist regime is far weaker than 20, 30 years ago. The events that took place in North Africa and Egypt substantially weakened the Zionist regime. The Zionist regime suffers from domestic problems and it also suffers from endless problems outside its borders. And today's America is not the America of the time of Reagan. They have declined a lot. You know what happened to them in Iraq, and their condition has been growing worse on a daily basis in Afghanistan. They have failed in their Middle Eastern policies. They were defeated in the 33-day war, which was waged by their agents, the Zionist regime. In the 22-day war on Gaza, their Zionist agents did not manage to do anything against a million-something defenseless people. These are very important realities. Therefore, they have grown weak. They have grown far weaker than 20, 30 years ago. And this is another reality.

Another reality is that the regimes which are opposed to the Islamic Republic are in crisis. The few arrogant western governments and their allies are in crisis. With the economic crisis that exists in Europe, the European Union is in serious danger. The euro-zone is in serious danger. In a way, the same is true of America: a large budget deficit, massive debt, pressure from the people and the anti-Wall Street movement or what they call "the 99 percent movement". These are important events. Of course, the conditions of Europe are worse than those of America. A few Europeans governments have already fallen. Currently several European countries are suffering from instability.

Their problems are different from our problems. The economic problems and the economic crisis in Europe are different from the economic problems that we may encounter. Our problems are like the problems of a group of climbers who are moving forward on a particular path. It is a difficult path and of course there are problems. Sometimes they need water. Other times they need food. Sometimes they have to deal with certain problems. Other times they encounter certain obstacles. But the important point is that they are climbing up the mountain. Our problems are of this nature. The situation of Europeans is like the situation of a bus that is trapped under an avalanche. For many years, they unknowingly prepared the ground for these problems. The class distinctions, the domination of usury mechanisms over economic issues, the increasing power of powerful people, the influence of the money-minded Zionists - these things have caused problems for them. This is an avalanche that has struck them. Therefore, their problems are very different from our problems. And this is another reality.

Another reality is the events that have taken place in North Africa and in our region. In certain places, these events have resulted in regime change. In certain other places, these events have not resulted in regime change, but there is a possibility that they will.

Another reality is the increased power of the Islamic Republic. We are a powerful country. We are a wealthy and powerful country. In terms of natural resources, we are one of the top countries in the world. In terms of certain natural resources, we rank first in the world. In terms of combined oil and gas resources, we rank first in the world. Our combined oil and gas resources are more than any other country in the world. In terms of essential resources and mines, our country is very rich. In terms of manpower, we have a population of 75 million people, and population is a very important factor.

I would like to take this opportunity to say that the young, dynamic and educated population of this country has been one of the important factors behind the progress of our country. You can see the role of our educated, aware, dynamic and energetic youth in the statistics that are presented. We should revise our population control policy. This policy was correct during a certain period, and certain goals had been specified for it. According to the studies carried out and reported by expert and scholarly individuals, we reached the goals of our population control policy in the year 1371. We should have changed the policy after 1371. We made a mistake. We did not change it. Today we need to make up for this mistake. We should not let the predominance of youth disappear in our population, thereby destroying the beautiful population pattern of our country. And according to expert studies, this beautiful pattern will be destroyed if we continue like this. These are not opinions: they are based on scholarly, accurate and expert work. Today our youth form a major portion of our population, but if we continue like this, the predominance of youth will disappear and we will gradually suffer from aging. And after the passage of a few years, the population of our country will decrease because population aging is accompanied by a decrease in birth rate. They specified a time and they showed to me that at that time our population will be less than it currently is. These are dangerous things. Our government officials should seriously consider and follow up these things. It is necessary to revise our population control policy and to do the right thing. Issues such as population growth are among the important issues, and it is really necessary for our government officials - and not just our administrative officials - our clergy and those who speak to the public to raise public awareness in this regard. They should end these conditions in the country - namely, having only one or two children. Imam Khomeini (r.a.) said that we should have a population of 150-200 million people. He was right: we need to reach that number.

Another reality is that whenever we showed flexibility towards the enemy and used certain justifications to retreat, the enemy adopted bolder positions against us. For example, at one point we said that we should not give the enemy an excuse and at another point we said that we should dispel the enemy's suspicions against ourselves. The day the statements of our government officials were contaminated with flattery for the west and western culture, they labeled us "axis of evil". And who did this? The person who was the embodiment of evil. The previous US President - the embodiment of evil - labeled Iran "axis of evil". When did this happen? At a time when we used to repeatedly flatter the west, America and others in our statements. This is how they are. Regarding the nuclear issue, at a time when we cooperated with them and backed down - this really happened although we learnt a lesson from it - they advanced so much that I said in this Hussayniyyah that if they continued like that, I would have to step in personally. And that was what I did. I had to step in. These things are not my responsibility.

Our retreats emboldened them. There was a day when our government officials would be satisfied if they allowed us to have 25 centrifuges in the country, but they said it was not possible. Our government officials became satisfied with having 5 centrifuges, but they still said it was not possible. Then our government officials became satisfied with 3 centrifuges, but again they said it was not possible. According to the report you heard today, we have eleven thousand centrifuges in the country. If we had continued those retreats, if we had continued that flexibility, we would have achieved none of these nuclear advances. It would have undermined the scientific vibrancy that has developed in the country over the past few years - this scientific movement, these youth, these innovations, these inventions and the different advances we have made in various areas. This is because first, they might have found a problem with every one of these things and second, the nuclear industry of a country is the symbol of that country's progress. And this is another reality.

Another reality is that if the country judiciously resists these pressures by the enemy - particularly, the sanctions and other such things - not only will their technique prove ineffective, but also it will be impossible for them to repeat such things in the future. This is because we are going through a phase, a stage. The country will go through this stage. The threats they make and the sanctions they impose will benefit nobody other than America and the Zionist regime. The others stepped into the arena because of their coercion, pressure and other such things, or they did so as a ceremonial gesture. It is obvious that such things as coercion and pressure cannot continue. These things will only continue for a while. One of the signs is that they were forced to exempt twenty countries from the oil embargo and similar sanctions. And the other countries which were not exempted do not want to cooperate and they are as eager as we are, if not more, to find a solution. Therefore, it is necessary to resist. These are tangible realities. None of the things that I said are abstract analyses. They are things that we can witness.

Apart from these realities, there is another reality: we have not yet managed to create the necessary Islamic characteristics in ourselves as far as work and other such areas are concerned. We are suffering from a feeling of lethargy. This is among the legacies of the eras of autocracy and dictatorship in our country. When a country is ruled by a dictator, the people of that country become lazy and potentialities are not utilized. This is a legacy from the eras of autocracy. We should shake off this feeling of lethargy. The ability to take risks does not exist in all parts of our society. It is necessary to take risks while relying on Allah the Exalted and on competent management. Everybody should be prepared to take risks.

This is why I said our conditions are like the conditions of Badr and Khaybar. Being in the conditions of Badr and Khaybar means that we are faced with threats and challenges, but that we have not reached a dead end. In the Battle of Badr, the Muslims had very few resources, but they achieved a victory. The resources of the opposing side were several times more than the resources that the Muslims enjoyed. In certain areas, the resources of the camp of Islam were not comparable with the enemies' resources. In the Battle of Khaybar, the Muslims were faced with certain difficulties. They went and besieged the place for a long time. The enemy was resisting strenuously. However, the Muslims achieved a victory in the end. There are challenges, but there are also sufficient capacities and potentialities to deal with these challenges. This is the meaning of conditions of Badr of Khaybar. If we manage to bring our capacities into the arena, if we manage to decrease the number of our weaknesses, we will make progress.

There is another point that I would like to add in the limited time that we have. Dear brothers and sisters, dear government officials, we should look at the issues of our country from this perspective: the ideals should be in front of our eyes and the encouraging realities should also be in front of our eyes. As for the negative realities - some of which are not realities and are only passed off as realities - we should not make mistakes. We should not underestimate the enemy's power. We should not suffer from negligence. This is an essential issue. Work hard on this issue and try to find a solution, the way a mathematician works on a mathematical problem. Imagine that you are a talented mathematician and that this issue is a mathematical problem. This is the way you should confront different issues. Fortunately one can see that this spirit exists in different organizations of the country. It is necessary to look at the issue of economy from this perspective.

A few years ago, I proposed the idea of "economy of resistance". All those who were aware of the different issues we were faced with could guess that the enemy's goal was to pressure the economy of the country. It was clear from their machinations that they wanted to focus their efforts on the economy of our country. Our economy is an important target for them. The enemy's goal was to focus on our economy, work against our national growth, undermine efforts to create employment opportunities, disrupt and jeopardize our national welfare, create problems for the people, make the people disappointed and isolate them from the Islamic Republic. This is the goal of the enemy's economic pressure and this was obvious at that time. One could witness it.

On the first day of the year 1386, I said during a speech at Imam Musa ar-Ridha's (a.s.) holy shrine that the enemies were following up the issue of economy. One can assume that the annual slogans were systematic efforts to create a complete economic system: reforming the norms of consumption, the issue of preventing extravagance, the issue of intensified effort and labor, the issue of economic jihad and finally national production and supporting Iranian labor and capital. My purpose was not to invent temporary slogans that would be discarded after a while. The slogans can organize the general movement of the country in the economic arena. They can help us move forward. This is the path we should follow.

The issue of economy is an important issue. Economy of resistance is important. Of course, an economy of resistance has certain requirements. Putting the people in charge of economy is among the requirements of an economy of resistance. The policies that have been specified in Article 44 of the Constitution can introduce a transformation, and it is necessary to introduce this transformation. Of course, certain things have already been done, but it is necessary to make more efforts. It is necessary to strengthen the private sector. The private sector should be encouraged to engage in economic activities and our banking system, governmental organizations and the organs that can help - such as the Majlis and the judiciary - should help the people step into the arena of economy. Minimizing our dependence on oil is another requirement for an economy of resistance. This dependence is an evil legacy from a hundred years ago. If we manage to make use of all the opportunities that exist today and try to replace oil with other lucrative economic activities, we will have made the most important move regarding our economy. Today knowledge-based industries are among the things that can fill this gap to a large extent. There are various capacities in the country which can be utilized to fill this gap. We should focus our efforts on this area and move towards minimizing our dependence on oil.

The issue of managing consumption - that is to say, moderate consumption and avoidance of extravagance - is one of the pillars of an economy of resistance. Our governmental and private organizations as well as our people and families should pay attention to this issue. This is indeed an instance of jihad. Today moderate consumption and avoidance of extravagance is undoubtedly a jihad-like move against the enemy. One can claim that this will receive the same reward as jihad in the way of God.

Another aspect of the issue of moderate consumption and managing consumption is that we should use our domestically produced products. All governmental organizations should pay attention to this point. All governmental organizations affiliated with the three branches of government should try their best to avoid consuming foreign products. And our people should also prefer domestically produced products to famous foreign brands. Some people go after different foreign brands only to show off. The people themselves should prevent consumption of foreign products.

I believe that plans which are centered around an economy of resistance are workable. Rationing gasoline, which was mentioned in the meeting, was successful. If we had not implemented the gasoline rationing plan, today our gasoline consumption would have exceeded a hundred million liters a day. They managed to control this. Today our gasoline consumption is at a very good level. The conditions should be such that we do not need foreign countries at all, and thankfully this is the case. They were planning to impose sanctions on gasoline. Economy of resistance made their gasoline sanctions ineffective. The same is true of all the other things needed in the country. The targeted subsidy plan is also a measure to shape our national economy. These things can boost production and employment, and it can also bring about welfare. These are factors that can boost our national production and economic growth. They can also bring about honor for the country. By increasing production, a country can achieve genuine power and international honor. It is necessary to increase production.

Making the best of the available time, resources and facilities. It is necessary to make the best of the available time. Fortunately one can see that projects which used to take many years to be completed are currently completed by certain companies in two years, in eighteen months. It is necessary to strengthen this [characteristic] in the country.

Moving forward on the basis of plans is one of the essential things. Erratic decisions and changing the regulations are among the things that harm an economy of resistance as well as national resistance. Both the executive branch and the Majlis should pay attention to this point. They should not let our economic policies be plagued by needless and erratic changes.

Another issue is the issue of unity and solidarity. Fortunately our people are united. This is a very important achievement and it is necessary to safeguard it. We should not let unity be undermined. The occasional disagreements among our government officials - which are aired without any good reason - harm national unity. Some people become supporters of this and some others become supporters of that. They start opposing and blaming each other. Some people blame the executive branch. Others blame the legislative branch. Yet others blame the judiciary. They blame each other for the problems. This is among the harmful things. And our honorable friends, the esteemed government officials of the country, should know that blaming this and that person for our problems will not bring about any honor and prestige for them among the people. There are certain problems and it is necessary to solve them. And we have the capability to solve them. We are not incapable of solving our problems. As I said, these are the realities in the country which are revealing themselves to us.

I hope by the blessedness of this month and these hours, Allah the Exalted bestows His blessings on our honorable nation and our government officials. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, help the people of Iran and our government officials to fully benefit from the blessings of this month. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, help the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic to defeat their enemies on all fronts. Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household, suppress and overpower the ill-wishers of the holy Islamic Republic and the honorable Iranian nation. Dear God, cleanse our hearts of impure motives and feelings. Dear God, make us benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). Help us qualify for the prayers of that honorable Imam. Dear God, make what we said, what we did and what we heard serve Your cause and accept them from us out of Your generosity.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Source: http://english.khame...d=1655&Itemid=4

[ali lilani]

we Pakistani followers of the supreme leader of the islamic revolution ,,,wali amer muslameen hazrat  ayatullah ali khamenai are paying SOLUTES &  much  proud  of his-highness on  his  vision,,his abilities,,his leadership qualities,his TAQWA,,his relly on Allah,,and his  timely guidence to the humanities specially to irani nation......we also solute to irani nation on thier continious efforts on following the SUPREEME LEADER....thx to SISTER HAMEEDEH on her efforts,,,may Allah  provide  her  more TOUFIQAATS......

welldone sister HAMEEDEH,,,,its  really a noble JOB  you  are doing....

we need urdu translation on  very next day of the speech of wali amr muslemins rehbere muazzam .....

[hameedeh]

ali lilani, on 06 August 2012 - 09:18 PM, said:

....thx to SISTER HAMEEDEH on her efforts,,,may Allah  provide  her  more TOUFIQAATS......

welldone sister HAMEEDEH,,,,its  really a noble JOB  you  are doing....

we need urdu translation on  very next day of the speech of wali amr muslemins rehbere muazzam .....

Thank you, but I am not the translator. I just copy and paste the messages, letters, speeches and news here.
Others sometimes post before I do. Anyone can help keep this Sayyid Ali Khamenei topic going. InshaAllah

The Islamic websites that I use for this topic:

The English section of Khamenei.IR http://khamenei.ir/
The English section of Leader.IR http://www.leader.ir/
The English section of AhlulBayt News Agency, ABNA. http://www.abna.ir/default.asp
The Iran news section at Press TV. http://www.presstv.i...on/3510201.html

The major speeches are very long and sometimes take 2-4 weeks to translate to English.
You can check those first three websites for other languages, too. ws

[Replicant]

This time last week, I was praying Zuhr and Asr 10 rows behind him!

[hameedeh]

West economic woes stem from Capitocracy: Leader
Tue Aug 7, 2012 8:6AM GMT



Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the West’s economic problems stem from the essence of the capitalist system, which is the proclivity for wealth over other matters.

“The increasing current economic problems and pressures in the West and Europe stem from the nature of the capitalist system, namely the Capitocracy,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on Monday.

The Leader made the remarks in a meeting with a group of Iranian student activists.

Ayatollah Khamenei also elaborated on the ‘resistance economy’ in Iran, saying, “The resistance economy does not mean defensive measures and building a fence around oneself; rather, the resistance economy is an economy which prepares the ground for the progress and flourishing of a nation even in times of pressure and sanctions.”

The Leader referred to the anti-Iran rhetoric of adversaries that "have targeted the Iranian people’s resolve and thoughts" so that “Iranians change their calculations and reach the conclusion that continuing resistance against the global arrogance and bullies is not to their benefit.”

Ayatollah Khamenei advised the country’s soft-war strategists to counter the enemies’ attempts by comprehending their ways and means.

The Leader also stressed the importance of preventing the socialist views from dominating economic thoughts.

“If the policies related to the Article 44 [of the Iranian Constitution] are implemented within the determined framework in which they were explained, they will definitely not end in a despicable capitalism playing a central role in the country's macro-level decision making,” noted the Leader.

Ayatollah Khamenei added that the economic outlook in the country must be based on justice and the issue does not run counter to the policies of the Article 44.

Ayatollah Khamenei further pointed out that the policies of the Article 44 of the Constitution complement the justice-based economy.

Source: http://www.presstv.i...om-capitocracy/

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader Meets Outstanding University Students
August 06, 2012



In a meeting with outstanding university students from across the country, Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed the need for political tolerance among students and stated: "There is no contradiction between being firmly committed to values and principles and observing the principle of tolerance with non-intellectual people in different areas, especially political issues."

In response to the criticism that student organizations, websites and weblogs are subject to certain judicial actions, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said: "Of course, the judiciary has its own reasons in this regard and if those reasons were discussed, some of the doubts would probably be eliminated. However, I also believe that it is wrong to strongly respond to a young student who expresses a strong opinion."

His Eminence referred to a justice-based view of economy and stated: "The economic view in the country should be justice-based and this issue is not in conflict with the policies of Article 44 of the Constitution [regarding privatization of the economy]."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution added: "If the policies of Article 44 of the Constitution were implemented in the specified way, definitely they will not result in the kind of capitalism that has been criticized and capitalism will not become the pivot of our large-scale national decisions."

His Eminence added: "The increasing economic problems in the west and Europe have been caused by the nature of capitalism, namely the rule of capital."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that it is necessary to guard against the domination of the socialist view over economic thoughts, further adding: "If the policies of Article 44 of the Constitution were implemented within the specified framework, they will definitely complement justice-based economy."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that an economy of resistance is different from an offensive economy and added: "If an accurate academic explanation were presented in this regard, it might complement economy of resistance."

He reiterated: "An economy of resistance does not require adopting defensive measures and building a defensive wall around oneself. Rather, an economy of resistance is a kind of economy that prepares the ground for the growth and blossoming of a nation, even under threats and sanctions."

In response to whether criticism would help advance the enemies' goals, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed: "I do not at all believe in avoiding criticism. On the contrary, I always insist that the student movement should preserve its critical attitude."

His Eminence added: "However, it is necessary to pay attention to the point that criticisms should be expressed in a way that they do not advance the enemy's goal."

Elsewhere in his statements, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated that contradictions between expert opinions and the views of the Leader do not constitute opposition to Vilayat.

His Eminence stressed: "Accurate expert work - regardless of the result - is valid for the person who is involved in the work and it must not be considered as opposition to the Islamic Republic."

Ayatollah Khamenei also urged students to develop a relationship with the student organizations that are involved in Islamic Awakening.

In response to a comment by one of the students regarding inactivity of the Supreme Cyberspace Council, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that it is wrong to expect results from the council in the short run. "This is because such things take several years."

Discussing his expectations of student organizations and environments, Ayatollah Khamenei said: "University is a dynamic movement that is full of energy and if this energy is released and managed, it will completely guide the country."

He added that universities can fulfill all the expectations by relying on the vibrancy and confidence that have been intensified by the Revolution.

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that idealism is an essential expectation and added: "Idealism in science means going after scientific peaks and this goal makes careful studying a necessity."

Addressing Iranian students throughout the country, His Eminence reiterated: "Today studying, acquiring knowledge, research and hard work is a kind of jihad for students."

Afterwards, Ayatollah Khamenei explained spiritual idealism and stressed the need for commitment to religious values.

He criticized the view that universities are anti-religion environments and added: "This reactionary view, which is completely wrong, dates back to the time when universities were first established in Iran several decades before the Revolution and efforts were made by certain people to build a self-loathing westernized intellectual generation."

Ayatollah Khamenei rejected this view and reiterated: "University is an environment for religion, ethics, purity and spirituality. And the expectation is that universities should be such that anybody who enters university becomes more committed to religion and ethics."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution discussed the requirements of idealism and added: "Idealism must not be confused with belligerence. It is possible to be firmly committed to values and principles without belligerence."

His Eminence said that it is necessary to control one's emotions and to refuse to make decisions when one is emotionally provoked. He added: "Student organizations have had an active and praiseworthy presence in different social and political issues over the past 2, 3 years, but over the same period of time, there have been cases in which student organizations have adopted certain incorrect decisions and measures on the basis of pure and noble feelings of students. This is because decisions should be based on careful and accurate research, not on emotions."

In order to delineate the line between idealism and emotions, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the opposition of the Islamic Republic to the autocratic regimes in the region and reiterated: "In spite of the clear positions of the Islamic Republic, it is wrong to oppose traditional and conventional diplomatic work in this regard."

His Eminence reiterated: "There is no contradiction between idealism of student organizations and observing our national interests, observing the law and exercising managerial judgment. That is to say, it is possible to be young, emotional and idealistic and at the same time act in a way that this does not conflict with the managerial issues and our national interests."

Ayatollah Khamenei added: "It is necessary to pay attention to the depth and meaning of idealism and to adopt decisions and measures while avoiding extremism and taking the realities and interests into consideration. It is also necessary to remember that idealism means being committed to principles, values and ideals and influencing the opposing side while refusing to be influenced by it."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that it is necessary for student organizations to be involved in different issues of the country and added: "Intellectual presence is possible through cultural activities in student media and presenting one's positions and views. And physical presence of student organizations is possible through adopting correct decisions to arrange student gatherings."

His Eminence said that as far as student gatherings are concerned, decisions that are based on emotions will have negative consequences. In order to avoid these consequences, he suggested: "It is necessary for student organizations to establish a center for adopting decisions and taking action. In different issues, through consultation and wisdom, they should reach a unified conclusion about a particular decision or action and all students should be committed to the decision that is made. In this way, decisions and actions that are based on emotions will not be blamed on student organizations."

Ayatollah Khamenei urged all Iranian students throughout the country to avoid speaking about what they do not know. "I ask you to be seriously committed to avoidance of backbiting, slandering and saying what you are not sure about, just as you are seriously committed to praying and fasting."

Ayatollah Khamenei also urged students to pay attention to the enemy's goals in the soft war and said: "I believe that you are the commanders of the soft war. For this reason, I stress that you should pay careful attention to the main goal that the enemy is pursuing through the soft war, namely convincing our people and government officials to revise their calculations."

His Eminence said that the enemy has focused its attacks on the hearts, minds, thoughts and willpower of the people. He reiterated: "They are openly saying that they should convince us to revise our calculations and to convince us that continuing our resistance against the arrogant powers and bullying powers of the world will not benefit us. The commanders of the soft war should understand and counter the enemy's goals in the correct way."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that in order to counter the enemy's goal in the soft war, it is necessary to increase one's knowledge. Addressing Iranian students, he said: "Do not limit your understanding and knowledge to what is written on websites, weblogs and other such places, rather try to improve your knowledge on a daily basis by relying on the Holy Quran and the writings of Shahid Motahhari and our great religious scholars and knowledgeable young seminarians."

Ayatollah Khamenei described optimism as essential and stated that increasing one's religious knowledge, developing insight into the realities of the country, fair criticism and constant and balanced supervision are among the fundamental responsibilities of student organizations. "These things should be accompanied by lenience and rationality and they should also be free from extremism."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that considering the realities of the country fills one's heart with hope.

Source: http://english.khame...d=1659&Itemid=2

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader to address NAM summit in Tehran
Mon Aug 6, 2012 10:13AM GMT

The 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member states will be held between August 26 and August 31 in the Iranian capital.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei will address the Tehran NAM summit.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also expected to take part in the event.

Iran will assume the rotating presidency of the movement for three years during the Tehran summit.

NAM, an international organization with 120 member states and 21 observer countries, is considered as not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.

Source: http://www.presstv.i...nam-invitation/

[hameedeh]

World in transition toward new power balance: Ayatollah Khamenei
Sun Aug 12, 2012 6:36PM GMT



Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the world is in transition toward a “new political, economic and social structure and geometry,” which involves a balance in power.

“The direction of the future world developments is … toward the transfer of the general powers and capabilities of some parts of world nations to other parts,” Ayatollah Khamenei noted in a meeting with academics and researchers on Sunday.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the sweeping wave of Islamic Awakening across the region and the failure of the West, led by the US, to dominate West Asia are two signs of the coming new world order.

“America’s unsuccessful leap for dominating this important and sensitive region, which became evident in the cases of Iraq and Afghanistan, is one of the other signs of the deep changes that the world is facing.”

“Europe’s status quo, which will finally bring it down, stems not from tactical or strategic errors but from a fundamental flaw in worldview,” the Leader added.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the decline of the US is the fourth sign, indicating that the world is witnessing a transition into a new state.

“As a leading power in wealth, science as well as military and non-military technology, the US had a very good public image among the nations; however, today, this country not only does not have that credit, but has turned into the symbol for bullying, oppression, interference in other nations' affairs and warmongering.”

Ayatollah Khamenei added that the Iranian nation plays a very important and sensitive role in this transitional phase.

“Contrary to the infertile West, the Islamic Republic has new and wave-inducing suggestions for the human community in various political, administrative, ethical, cultural, social and economic spheres,” the Leader said.

“Iran, its elites and officials resist the Western threats, warmongering, assassinations, mass killing, and divisive [policies] and this reality has conferred a special prominence on this country.”

Source: http://www.presstv.i...balance-leader/

[hameedeh]

Supreme Leader’s Speech to Professors
August 12, 2012

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on August 12, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with professors.



In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Dear brothers and sisters, welcome. This is a very valuable and pleasant meeting and the atmosphere is spiritual. Last night was the last Night of Qadr. Hands were extended to God in prayer, tears were shed, hearts became tender, and by Allah's favor massive provisions of spirituality were provided for this country, for our pious people and for you dear people who have attended this meeting.

I deem it necessary to express my respect for you honorable professors because of your scholarly position, because of the role that our esteemed professors play in the progress of the country. The primary purpose of this symbolic meeting is to show respect for knowledge, knowledgeable people and professors. Of course, we will definitely make use of the comments which were made by the friends and we hope that what was said in this meeting will be used in large-scale decisions in the country. The points which were made in the meeting were enlightening and very good, and I express my gratitude for those points. However, the primary purpose behind arranging this meeting was to show respect for knowledge, knowledgeable people and scholars.

Today's meeting has been attended by the esteemed families of the martyred nuclear scientists - Shahid Ali-Mohammadi, Shahid Shahriari, Shahid Rezaeinejad and Shahid Ahmadi-Roshan - and I would like to welcome them in particular. The memory of these martyrs will never be wiped off from the minds of our people or the history of our country.

There were very good points in the statements which were made by the brothers and sisters, and I wrote down some of the points. The majority of the things which were mentioned and stressed by the friends are the same concerns that I have. And I am happy to see that the intellectual current in our universities has been directed towards these main concerns. The issue of preparing plans and investing in research and fundamentals, both in humanities and in experimental sciences - which was highlighted by some of the friends - is among my concerns and it is necessary to take care of it. The issue of forming a relationship between industry and university has been among my recommendations. Good points were made in this regard and it became clear that good things have been done as well. Some of the friends made essential points about the need to establish a department for major industries and to specify the value of labor. The issue of scholarly articles and ISI citation indexing was among the points which were made in this meeting. This issue is among my concerns, among the things that I speak about. It is necessary for the high-level managers and decision-makers who are in charge of scholarly issues of the country to sit down together and think about this issue and find the appropriate solutions, some of which were discussed in the meeting. The need to prepare plans for implementing excellent ideas is among the things that I always highlight. The ideas which were put forth in this meeting were very good ideas, but it is often necessary to prepare plans for operationalizing them. This is one of the things that should be done in universities. For example, "ethics-based economy" which was mentioned by one of the friends is a very good idea. It is absolutely correct, but what are the ways in which it can be implemented. As for the need to form a relationship between university and industry - which has been discussed extensively over the past years and fortunately good measures have been adopted in this regard - there are certain shortcomings. What are the executive solutions for these shortcomings? This issue is among our needs and I ask our esteemed scholarly professors to work it.

In any case, I am grateful for the comments which were made by the friends. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Rahbar for his competent management and efforts. I ask the friends who work for my office, the President's office or our ministries - the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and the Ministry of Health - to work on the points which were raised by the professors in this meeting. They should sit down together and think about these points. It is necessary to make the best of this meeting in order to move forward.

What I want to say is that today nobody can deny the fact that the world is entering a new stage. You can witness this. If there is enough time to discuss all the points that I have in mind, I will present a general outline and then I will pose a question. Finally, I will offer a few recommendations regarding universities.

The world is currently in a state of change. Global structures are changing. If we wanted to find a parallel for current conditions of the world in the recent past - in the past couple of centuries - the conditions of the world after the first world war would be a good parallel. Of course, change is happening in the opposite direction. After the first world war, the political and economic structure of the world changed dramatically. Or before that, during the time Europeans started colonialism, new conditions were created in the world and the general structure of the world changed. The transformations that can be witnessed today are of this nature, a change in the general structure of the world. Of course, the change that is taking place is happening in the opposite direction, in the direction of a balance between the powers and general capabilities of the east and those of the west or between one group of nations and the rest of the nations. It is clear that we are moving towards a transformation. What are the signs of this transformation? I would like to provide a few examples.

One sign is Islamic Awakening. Throughout our history, we have never witnessed such conditions in Islamic countries. There is a general sense of identity and awakening, not only among the people of one country, but also among the people of different Islamic countries. We have never had this before. This is a new development. This is a sign, a sign of change. There are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world. There are tens of countries which are mainly populated by Muslims and these Muslim countries are located in sensitive parts of the world. For this reason, this awakening is not an ordinary event: it is indicative of a change in the new structure, map and system of the world.

Another sign is the failed campaign of the west - led by America - to further spread its hegemony over our region. They started a campaign, but their campaign was unsuccessful. The events that happened in Iraq and Afghanistan did not happen abruptly. Those events did not take place as a result of a prompt and abrupt decision. No, everything had been fully planned and the goal was to spread full western hegemony over every part of this region under the leadership of America.

Of course, I insist on calling this region "West Asia", not "Middle East". The terms "Far East", "Near East" and "Middle East" are not correct. Far from where? From Europe. Near to where? To Europe. This implies that Europe is the center of the world. Anywhere that is far from Europe should be called "Far East", anywhere that is close to Europe should be called "Near East" and anywhere that is in between should be called "Middle East": this is a definition that was presented by Europeans themselves, but this is not acceptable to us. Asia is a continent. It has an eastern part, a western part and a middle part. We are in the western part. Therefore, our region should be called "West Asia", not "Middle East".

Another sign is the efforts to have complete domination over this sensitive region. Why is this region sensitive? The reason is that first of all, there are massive resources in this region, resources that the west needs. And energy resources are a priority for the west. Second, an Islamic wave has always been expected in this region. They always vaguely expected this Islamic wave, especially after the Islamic Revolution and the emergence of the Islamic Republic. And this was because they wanted to take control of this wave. Therefore, simultaneous domination over the valuable resources of the region and the Islamic wave forced them to start a campaign to occupy this region, but they failed in the middle of the way, just like somebody who gathers all his strength to jump across a canal but does not make it and falls into the canal. This is a sign of change.

Another sign is the events that are currently happening in Europe. The uncertain future that has cast a shadow over the wealthy countries in Western Europe is a very important event. The economic problems are not because of tactical errors, so we cannot say that they made the wrong tactical move at a certain stage which led to these consequences. No, this is not the cause. The cause is more fundamental. They made fundamental errors. What is happening today is due to fundamental errors in the west's philosophical and intellectual perspective of the world and mankind, errors in world view. Of course, unlike tactical errors, the consequences of such errors do not reveal themselves quickly. Unlike tactical errors, the consequences of such errors do not reveal themselves in the middle term. The consequences of such errors reveal themselves in the long term. These errors are revealing themselves after the passage of two, three centuries. And know that these errors will bring them down.

Another sign of this fundamental change in the map of the world is that America's credibility is declining. As the top country in the world in terms of wealth, science, technology and military power, America enjoyed credibility for several decades and this credibility increased America's influence. During the early decades of the second half of the 20th century, America's credibility had reached its peak. This was the case in our country as well. An elected government like the government of Dr. Mosaddeq would run away from England and seek protection from America. Such things would increase America's credibility. This was the case in the entire world. Today this credibility has completely disappeared. That is to say, America is condemned in the world. The American government does not enjoy widespread credibility among the people of any country. "Death to America" is not just a slogan that is particular to the Iranian nation. This slogan is chanted in many other countries as well. A government that supports oppression, war, accumulation of weapons, domination of nations, bullying and interference in the affairs of all countries has acquired such a bad reputation and this is another sign. Therefore, change in the world is inescapable. There are other signs as well, but I will not discuss them in this meeting. This is one point.

The second point is that it cannot be denied that our country enjoys a special position in this change, in this event, in this long story. We are not just a bystander in this matter. Our country enjoys a special position. What are the factors that give us this special position?

First of all, Islamic Awakening started in our country. Everybody is saying this. Everybody understands this. Everybody knows this. What we call "Islamic Awakening" started in our country over thirty years ago. Lives were sacrificed, selfless efforts were made, and Islamic Awakening reached its lofty goal - namely the establishment of the Islamic system.

Second, the Islamic Republic has been founded on a firm system whose foundations are faith, rationality and affection. At the foundation of this firm system, the faith of the people and government officials, rationality and affections play a role. God willing, I will mention some examples of this rationality if there is enough time. Such a firm system has been built and I do not know of any other system in the world which is similar to this system: a system that simultaneously relies on the faith of the people, on ideological principles, on rationality and on strong emotions.

Third, a major portion of the wealth that the west is trying to plunder is in our country. For a hundred years, the western world has been feeding on this wealth - namely, energy resources, oil and gas. A few years ago in a meeting in this Hussayniyyah, I presented details and statistics and said that we make up around one percent of the world population, but that we enjoy more than one percent of the essential resources that sustain human life on earth. Apart from oil, we enjoy two, three, five, seven percent of the global sources of essential metals. Moreover, our sources of manpower and our capacities are far more than this. Our country enjoys capacities that exceed the global average. Therefore, we are living in a country that enjoys such enormous natural and human resources, resources which are needed by the west. Today you see that they are after our talented youth, our outstanding people. They identify each and every one of our outstanding professors, students and elites and they try to take them away. We are suffering from certain weaknesses and they successfully use these weaknesses to their advantage. In any case, this shows the existence of this wealth in our country. This is another factor which shows that our country enjoys a special and sensitive position in this global change.

Fourth, the Islamic Republic is intellectually productive, as opposed to the inability of the west to produce novel ideas. After the introduction of humanism and the schools of thought which rely on humanism, after the introduction of the philosophies that originate from western humanism, the west was no longer intellectually productive and it no longer produces novel ideas for humanity and human life. We have new things to say about issues related to human spirituality, social issues related to humanity and issues related to government. When we say we have novel things to say, it does not mean that the world will accept our novel ideas once we present them. It only means that our novel ideas will create a new intellectual current, a new wave in the world. Today we have presented "religious democracy" in the area of political matters. We have presented "spirituality-based civilization" in the area of general social issues. We have proposed "human dignity" in different areas. We have put forth the idea that religion and life are intertwined. These are novel ideas which have never been put forth in the world previously. Even before the era of materialism and western humanism, even before secular ideas had gained ground, religion was not intertwined with life. Not at all. It is true that in certain parts of the world, the clergy were in power - the rule of the church. In the context of the long and complicated history of Europe, there was a war between the church and governments. But in any case, the church was also in power. This does not mean that the life of the people was intertwined with religion or that the laws and regulations for the life of the people were extracted from religion. There was no such thing in the west. There was no such thing in Islamic countries either, except during the early years after the introduction of Islam. This is a novel idea that we are presenting to the world. We are saying that religion is intertwined with life. What is life? Life is politics, different activities, trade, economy and everything else. This is a novel idea that we are presenting to the world.

The fifth point and the factor which gives our country a special position is remaining steadfast in the face of the common methods that the west uses to advance its goals. The west has been using certain methods during the time it has had political domination over the world. You have witnessed these methods many times: they make threats, they wage wars, they assassinate, they kill, they bribe and they foment discord. These are the well-known methods the west has been using over the two, three hundred years of its domination. Iran, the Islamic Republic, the Iranian nation and outstanding Iranian personalities showed steadfastness in the face of these methods. Their threats have proven ineffective. Their efforts to foment discord - which is a very important issue - have proven ineffective. They have not been able to take control of the general movement of the Iranian nation. Well, this is the special position that our country enjoys.

Therefore, it cannot be denied that the world is on the verge of a transformation or that it is going through a transformation. And the fact that our country enjoys a special position is also undeniable.

A question comes to mind: do our universities and Islamic seminaries have a responsibility in the face of the events that are taking place in the world? I ask you honorable professors, esteemed scholars and outstanding personalities of the country to pay attention to this point. Can our universities and Islamic seminaries afford not to specify a responsibility for themselves in such important and sensitive conditions? Can our universities and Islamic seminaries afford to stand by and watch? Let alone, God forbid, play a role in supporting the camp that has deployed its forces against the camp of truth.

It appears to me that it is necessary for our universities and Islamic seminaries to shoulder a heavy responsibility in these conditions. The primary responsibility to help Iran and the Iranian nation to achieve success at this critical and sensitive stage lies on the shoulders of our scholars. Our universities also play a very important role in this transformation. Our universities can help our country and our nation become a winner in this transformation. They can also do the opposite. I believe that our universities have a very sensitive and great responsibility to play in this regard.

What our friends spoke about in their speeches are very good and necessary. Of course, there have been very good advances. The friends who spoke in today's meeting mentioned certain positive points. They also mentioned certain negative points, but they did not explain. We are suffering from certain negative points: in the area of managing scholarly matters, in the area of different plans which are made on the basis of the knowledge that is produced in our universities, in different parts of our country and our society. It is necessary to eliminate these shortcomings. These shortcomings can be eliminated by universities themselves. Universities can play a role in this area as well. Today our government officials, our ministers, our executive officials and many of our officials who work for the legislative and judiciary branches of government are university graduates. They come from academic environments. They are professors. Intelligent and goal-oriented relationships can help our experts improve things in the country and eliminate the existing shortcomings. On the one hand, this is a responsibility that lies on the shoulders of universities and on the other hand, it lies on the shoulders of government officials and managers. Today I have the opportunity to speak to you university people, and I will remind our managers of their responsibility at the right time. By Allah's favor, my recommendations will prove effective.

A fallacy might be proposed in this regard. Sometimes they propose certain fallacies, fallacies about the impartial nature of science. They say, "Do not mix up science with politics because science is impartial." Yes, science is impartial at the level of discovering realities. When science wants to discover a material or spiritual truth about the world, naturally it cannot do so with prejudgments. It must go ahead and explore without prejudgments. Here, science is impartial. But when science wants to be at the service of a certain orientation, it is not at all impartial. In the modern world, science is not impartial. Those who sometimes yell at the Islamic Republic and pious academics and say, "You made science political and gave it an orientation" - the same people put science at the service of colonialism, at the service of dominating nations, at the service of shackling different countries. It was science that gave rise to colonialism. If they did not have science at their disposal, they could not have colonized all those countries and accumulated all those weapons. The large number of wars that westerners, Europeans and finally Americans imposed on the world and on peoples, the large number of human beings who were killed in the process in the remote parts of Asia, in Africa and in Latin America - they did all these things through science. Science was put at the service of oppression. It was put at the service of the arrogant powers. It was put at the service of hegemony. Why did science fail to serve justice? Why did science fail to serve values? Why did science fail to serve the spread of the message of Islam, namely the message of freedom and happiness for mankind?

Another fallacy - which I do not want to explain in detail - is to divide the scientific apparatus of the country into governmental and non-governmental and to use labels such as "government-affiliated organization", "government-affiliated student" and "government-affiliated professor" as an insult. One can see that foreigners are promoting these things and they are also reflected inside the country. I believe these labels are not an insult: they are an honor. A student who supports his divine and Islamic government, an organization that helps such a government, a professor who helps the Islamic system as an ideological principle should feel proud. What is really insulting is when a professor, a student or an organization serves America and Zionism. This is a source of disgrace. If a person is accused of being at the service of America, Zionism and the opponents of our national independence and dignity, this is truly a source of disgrace for him. It is an insult. But it is not at all an insult when a student, a professor or an organization is described as "government-affiliated". Being government-affiliated is not bad. It is a source of honor. Being government-affiliated means being affiliated with the Islamic system.

The culture of hard work and selfless struggle for the camp of truth should be promoted in universities. The culture of spirituality and ethics, or as one of the gentlemen said, art in the sense of liberation, pride and values: this was among the points which were mentioned by the friends and it is completely correct. It is necessary to promote this culture in universities. In this regard, the role that professors play is very important. And this is the same thing as acting the commanders of the soft war which I have mentioned many times. I have repeatedly said that university professors are the commanders of the soft war.

I would like to offer one last recommendation on establishing a national system for innovation. Currently there is a vacuum in this area, which has prevented the comprehensive scientific plan from being implemented the way it should have been. We do not have a national system for innovation, namely a network of activities and chain interactions among scientific organizations of the country at large, medium and small scales, both in scientific environments and outside these environments. It is necessary to have such interactions, which may be referred to as the national system for innovation. And the function of this national system is to manage, observe and evaluate knowledge and innovation. This is a necessity today and I believe our government officials and managers should think about this issue.

Dear God, make what we heard and what we said serve You and Your cause. Dear God, help each and every one of us play a role - on the basis of our capabilities and position - in the victory of the camp of truth over the camp of falsehood. Dear God, make the holy heart of the Imam of the Age and the immaculate soul of the Last Prophet satisfied with our people, our nation, our scientists and those who struggle on this path. Associate the immaculate souls of our dear martyrs, our martyred nuclear scientists, with Your saints.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings

Source: http://english.khame...d=1661&Itemid=4

[hameedeh]

Leader calls for massive turnout on International Quds Day
Wed Aug 15, 2012 8:28PM GMT



Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has called for an enthusiastic participation in demonstrations marking International Quds Day.

During a meeting with hundreds of veterans from the Iraq-Iran war on Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei said that a high turnout on Quds Day would give a crushing response to the enemies of Islam and Palestinians.

The Leader described the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the formation of the Israeli regime as the root of evil in the Middle East.

“Had this conspiracy not taken place, these wars, divisions, and interventions by colonialists and oppressors would not have occurred,” the Leader stated.

Ayatollah Khamenei urged Muslims to counter attempts made by Israel and its allies to push the issue of Palestine into oblivion, describing the Islamic Revolution in Iran as a major “historical obstacle” against the enemy plot to smother the Palestinian cause.

The Leader condemned enemy schemes to create sectarian divisions among Muslims as part of the effort to avert attention from the West’s silence and support for the decades-long occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that liberating Palestine from the grip of Israel and its allies is a religious duty for all Muslims across the world.

In August 1979, late founder of the Islamic Republic Grand Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini declared the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as International Quds Day, and called on Muslims across the world to mark the annual occasion by holding street rallies.

Millions of people around the world pour into the streets on this day in a show of support for the people of Palestine, and to call for an end to Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Source: http://www.presstv.i...ds-day-turnout/

[hameedeh]

Leader condoles with quake-stricken people of Azerbaijan
Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:49AM GMT



Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has expressed condolences to the bereaved families of the victims of two powerful earthquakes that rocked northwestern Iran.

Ayatollah Khamenei urged the country’s officials and the Iranian nation to make efforts to ease the pain of the quake-stricken people of Azerbaijan.

On Saturday, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the city of Ahar, near the provincial capital Tabriz, 60 kilometers (37 miles) northeast of Tabriz at a depth of 9.9 kilometers (6.2 miles).

Another quake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale jolted Varzaqan and Haris, which are located near Ahar, 11 minutes later at a similar depth. The epicenter of the quake was 49 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Tabriz.

At least 306 people have been killed and over 3,037 others injured, according to the ministry of health.

Four villages have reportedly been completely destroyed by the earthquake and about 60 others have been partially destroyed.

Thousands of people were forced to remain outdoors as at least 20 aftershocks rocked the area.

A number of countries have offered their condolences to the Iranian nation and government over the deadly incidents.

Turkey, Pakistan, Russia, Syria, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States expressed sympathy with the Iranians over the quakes.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Pope Benedict XVI also voiced sympathies.

The Swiss government also announced readiness to provide humanitarian aid to the quake-stricken people.

Source: http://www.presstv.i...uakehit-people/

Leader urges quick reconstruction of quake-hit areas in NW Iran
Thu Aug 16, 2012 4:58PM GMT

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has called for the quick reconstruction of areas struck by two powerful earthquakes in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.

Speaking at the East Azarbaijan Governor's Office in Tabriz on Thursday, Ayatollah Khamenei praised the quality of relief operations in quake-hit regions as unique, and urged local authorities to continue providing quake-stricken people with their basic needs - including heaters, blankets and drinking water - in order to restore tranquility and serenity to those hit by the calamity.

Source: http://www.presstv.i...quakehit-areas/

Leader visits quake-hit regions in northwest Iran
Thu Aug 16, 2012 12:29PM GMT



The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has visited the quake-stricken regions in Iran's northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.

During the Thursday visit, Ayatollah Khamenei extended his condolences to those who had lost their loved ones in Saturday's twin earthquakes.

The Leader said the Iranian nation sympathizes with the inhabitants of the quake-stricken regions.

Iranians are a united people and it is this unity that has made them strong, Ayatollah Khamenei added.

The Leader stated that the officials are tasked with a heavy duty for reconstructing the quake-hit areas and strengthening them against earthquakes, while advising people in quake-hit province to help the officials with their task.

“If people in these [quake-hit] districts cooperate and empathize with one another, this incident can become a springboard and change the appearance of this region,” Ayatollah Khamenei added.

Thousands of tents have already been set up to shelter those displaced by the quakes.

Source: http://www.presstv.i...northwest-iran/