We have commented in updates on the Supreme Leader's Ramadan speech on Wednesday to senior Iranian officials, which seems to be an important signal that Iran will not enter any public talks on its nuclear programme with the US unless sanctions are withdrawn.An EA reader sends us the full text of the address, translated by the US Government's Open Source Center. That brings out some overlooked aspects of the speech. Note, for example, this passage comes before the Supreme Leader turns to the international situation:I and you who hold a responsibility and run some of the country's affairs, or have influence over certain social issues in the country, have a bigger obligation and greater responsibility to repent before God. We should be very careful. Sometimes an offence may take place in bodies under your or my supervision. If we have carried out this offence, we are responsible. If a violation has taken place because for example we have failed to make an announcement or recruit a certain person, or we have been negligent in dealing with these offences....
Later, after condemning those with "the mission to create political and factional discord" and just before reasserting the legitimacy of the 2009 election with "25 million" choosing President Ahmadinejad, Khamenei adds, "We have, among us, those whose faith is weak but also those who have strong beliefs. We have to compromise. We cannot repel those with weak faith and only pay attention to those who have strong beliefs."But perhaps the most intriguing paragraph comes close to the end of the speech, after the lengthy consideration the position vis-a-vis the US:I emphasize unity here. Unity and cooperation among the country's officials is an obligation. Deliberate objection to it is considered against the Shar'ia today, especially when it is done at higher levels.
Everyone should be careful. Enemies want to create a major issue out of trivial differences. You should not let that happen. It is not the case that any difference between two officials or two institutions is considered to be a disaster. After all, it is possible that the Majlis takes one approach in an area and the government takes a different view. They may have different tastes and opinions. This is not a disaster.
In the name of God, the most Merciful, the most Compassionate.
(Opening remarks in Arabic)
In prayers about the month of Ramadan, which appear in the Sahife-ye Sajjadiyeh (a book containing the prayers of the fourth Shi'a Imam) and other prayers exclusive to this month, some features and characteristics have been mentioned in regard each of which need to be elaborated upon.
In one case, this month has been mentioned as the month of repentance. I will say several sentences regarding this month of repentance. The phrase the "month of Islam" has been mentioned in the Sahife-ye Sajjadiyeh. In this case, the word "Islam" means the same thing mentioned in a holy verse (words rendered in Arabic) which talks about submitting one's heart and soul and giving in to the divine will, order and sharia.
In another case, this month has been described as a month in which there is a cleansing element which cleanses mankind. The word "cleanse" was also used as an infinitive which means a month of being cleansed from impurities.
The month of Ramadan has also been described as a month of purity. For example, when someone puts a valuable metal such as gold into a kiln in order to separate it from other metals with which it is mixed, it is called purification. In the case of Ramadan, it means to separate the pure human nature from impurities and the unclean. These are some of the descriptions and features used to describe this month.
As far as people are concerned, the month of Ramadan represents a month of the year in which people are praying and worshipping around the clock. In other words, Islamic laws provide an opportunity for us people who are surrounded and restricted by materialistic issues, to pray at prayer times at dawn, noon, afternoon, and evening. It is like a warning alarm and a kind of seclusion to brighten our heart and soul. This is what prayer does. Daily prayer times have been arranged in a way so that we are not drowned, and to escape from the imprisonment of materialism for a while, refresh ourselves and to think a little bit about morality. It has been arranged so that we don't drown in materialism.
It seems that throughout the year, the month of Ramadan creates such an opportunity for us. It allows the human spirit and divine spirit to breathe. This month of self-discipline is an opportunity for our spirit to escape for a while from the imprisonment of the materialist world surrounding us, to breathe and to become bright. The holy Islamic sharia has designed the month of Ramadan for such goals.
Well, it is an opportunity. Among the aforementioned features, all of which are important, I found the issue of repentance more attractive to discuss with you who are officials of this country. This is a month of repentance.
Repentance means stop treading the wrong path, doing wrong things, having a wrong thought. By inabah (Arabic, religious term) we mean referring to God, going back to God. The nature of repentance and inabah has a meaning within itself. When we say come back from the wrong path, it means you should recognize the wrong path. This is very important. As we go on we usually ignore our mistakes and wrongdoings. We don't pay attention to our weak points. By us, I mean us as individuals and a society, our nation, our party, our wing. The nature of anything associated with an individual human being is usually not paid attention to. Therefore, others should inform us of our flaws. If we would be aware of our shortcomings and reform them then there would be no need for others to tell us about them. The first step for repentance and inabah is to pay attention to the root of the flaws and find out what we are doing wrong, where our mistake, fault, sin source from. We should start with ourselves and then social circles. But first we should evaluate ourselves to see find out about our mistakes. This is everyone's duty, ordinary individuals like us who can have many flaws, faults and sins and even outstanding people, God's pious human beings and even the prophets. The same is true with them. They needed repentance, too. There is a story associated with the prophet of Islam (Mohammad), peace be upon him and his household. This hadith (narration from Prophet Mohammad) has been narrated by Sunnis and Shi'is both. It quotes the prophet, saying (Arabic): "My heart is filled with fog and clouds- (he explains) the same way that a cloud covers the sun and the moon and creates darkness and covers that bright reflection- and I repent 70 times per day." The prophet, that divine spirit, that pure nature (used to repent). There is another narration where Imam Sadeq (sixth Shi'i imam), peace be upon him, has said the prophet used to repent 70 times per day without having committed any sins. The prophet is innocent, why would he repent? Late Fayz, has said: (Arabic) In streets, markets and routine life the prophet could neglect something for a second. What may happen in our life all the time could have happened to him for a moment. He could have been busy with some permissible deed and, therefore, subject to repentance. Therefore, this (repentance) is not just for us. It's for everyone.
In other words, I and you who hold a responsibility and run some of the country's affairs, or have influence over certain social issues in the country, have a bigger obligation and greater responsibility to repent before God. We should be very careful. Sometimes an offence may take place in bodies under your or my supervision. If we have carried out this offence, we are responsible. If a violation has taken place because for example we have failed to make an announcement or recruit a certain person, or we have been negligent in dealing with these offences, (Words rendered in Arabic) So, one can conclude that during the month of Ramadan we should do our utmost to correct our behaviour. We should correct our mind, words, and deeds. We should identify our faults and eliminate them.
What should this correction be based on? This should be based on piety. (Words rendered in Arabic meaning that fasting should be for piety) So, these attempts we make during the month of Ramadan should serve to improve piety. I have made a note here about what I would like to say about piety. When we speak about piety, a person starts thinking about observing the Sharia laws such as praying, payment of the religious taxes, and not to lie. Of course, all of these are important. However, piety has also other aspects which we usually neglect.
The prayer "Sharif" is about those aspects of piety. The prayer goes like this (prayer in Arabic). It asks God to dress him/her with clothes of the pure and adorn her/him with virtues of the pious. What is this dress of the pure? It explains (words in Arabic): The clothes of the pure means spreading justice and (words in Arabic) swallowing anger and (words in Arabic) putting out fires, fires that start between the members of a society. This means piety.
(Words in Arabic) Try to gather individuals, who are from your tribe but have been isolated. This is one of the aspects of piety which is mentioned in the Sharif prayer. It is a very important prayer. I believe all officials should read this prayer and pay attention to its meaning. It is very educational. (Words in Arabic) And also instead of spying and fanning flames, and causing discord, one should bring reconciliation among Muslim brothers. This means piety.
Note that these are our today's issues. These are all our issues, spreading justice, and that includes administrative justice, judicial justice, economic justice, justice in selecting, justice in allocating resources and opportunities between groups, geographical justice. These are very important issues. These are all our needs. Spreading justice is the most important aspect of piety. This aspect holds a higher position than fasting on a hot summer day.
A story says: When a ruler, the ruler could be any on you with authority over your lives, administers justice for one day, he has in fact prayed for 70 years. These are very important issues. They highlight the importance of justice and just behaviour. To swallow your anger: here we are talking about when you are with friends. (Verse in Arabic) Anger against enemy has been approved in the Koran. Anger against an enemy, who is against you and your identity, is considered a holy act. However, showing anger among the pious and towards those, whom we ought to treat in a Muslim fashion, is harmful. Making decisions, talking and working when angry, is harmful and is usually accompanied with mistakes. unfortunately, this is how many of us behave. To stop this anger, which causes deviation and mistakes in thought and action, is one of the aspects of piety.
Some people have the mission to create political and factional discord, and I can see it happening in our country. Some people want to create conflict among various individuals and factions and cause friction among members of different factions. They want to create conflict, they enjoy doing it.
This goes against piety. Piety means curbing destruction in the realm of humanity, ethics and spirituality, just as you would in the material domain. And also, (Verse in Arabic), maximum absorption and minimum repulsion. Of course, the criteria are values and principles. Not all humans are at the same level when their faith is concerned. We have, among us, those whose faith is weak but also those who have strong beliefs. We have to compromise. We cannot repel those with weak faith and only pay attention to those who have strong beliefs. We should also consider the weak. Those who regard themselves as strong believers should make allowances for those who are not. They should not repel them. They should try to bring to their senses those who, are part of the society but have been isolated due to neglect. They should advise them, direct them, show them the path and bring them back.
These are fundamental issues. Now, this is called piety and these are ways of repenting. However, the interesting point is that fasting in the month of Ramadan is a collective activity. it is not an individual activity. In other words, we are all fasting, we are all involved and we, the Islamic ummah, are all sitting at the Iftar (fast-breaking) table. Imagine what would happen in the world of Islam and in the country, if we all regarded ourselves the addressees of the book and tradition and listened to and acted upon the advice that was given.
We must appreciate this month. And that means that we should repent and purge ourselves.
Well, this is the main thing I wanted to say in this meeting.
As far the country's current affairs are concerned, the President gave a very detailed, good and useful report. If we intend to make a correct analysis of the country's current situation, we have to start by saying that there Islamic Iran is faced with an old opposing front which was created by a certain group. It's an old front. These struggles, quarrels and fronts have existed for the past 32 years. It's nothing new.
Of course, the front which is opposing us has changed. But we haven't changed. We are still using the same words, have the same ideals and going down the same path. We have found a path which we are quickly going down. We have indicated our goals. They were outlined very clearly from the very beginning in the Imam's (Khomeini) comments. We are making progress as much as we can. But the other front has undergone changes. Some people have left or joined it.
Two phenomena can be seen in the current lineup. One is that our opposing front is weaker than before. I mean that the front opposing us has got weaker and weaker. The second phenomenon is that the front we have created is getting stronger. These two phenomena can be proved. It's not a slogan. It's based on realities. I would like to make a short point about the front opposing us.
What does the opposing front mean? In its propaganda, this front calls itself the world community. This is a big lie. They don't represent the world community at all. They are a few countries. The main axis of this front is the Zionist regime and the United States of America. The rest either follow their (the US and Israel's) policies, feel obligated to follow them, or are very weak countries who can't do anything. Many of them do not agree with the two main axes (US and Israel). This isn't the case only today and it has been the case over past years. Forget about the claims because the reality is what I'm saying.
Now, based on what criterion do we believe these two government or entities to be our main enemies in the opposing front? What is the nature of this opposition? There are two kinds of opposition. One is fundamental antagonism and another is superficial antagonism. Superficial antagonism is when two countries have differences over their borders, trade issues and some policies.
Fundamental antagonism is opposition to the existence of something. This means that two countries who don't recognize each other's existence. This is how we feel about the Zionist regime. We don't recognize that regime's existence. We believe it to be a fake regime which has been imposed and is like a deadly disease which the Middle East region doesn't need. Without a doubt, this disease will be destroyed. I mean there is no doubt that it will not remain. At any rate, we are against it (Israel's) existence and identity. That regime is also against the existence of the Islamic system. They would like Iran to be ruled by a monarchist system. But they hate the Islamic system. This is what fundamental animosity means.
As far as the US is concerned, the United States' approach toward the Islamic system is one based on non-recognition. We have fully realized this over the years. Of course, they themselves call for a change of behaviour. The change of behaviour they want - and which they don't always necessary emphasize on - is in fact a negation of identity. It means that the main behaviours which are based on Islam have to change. Our approach toward America is one based on which we negate its arrogant nature. The American regime and government should be like other governments. As far as we are concerned, we reject the US' arrogant nature and the fact that it is a superpower dominating the world. We don't accept such a thing. This is fundamental antagonism.
This fundamental opposition may sometime be active or passive. This fundamental opposition may also exist with other countries in the world, but in a passive form for various reasons.
The opposition between these two governments (Iran and the USA) is an active one. This is a word on the opposition front. This opposition front is weakening. If we compare its (America's) economic, political and social status as well as its influence and presence in the world with 30 years ago, we will realize that it has weakened greatly.
There are some points that I have written here. First, our opposing front lacks popular support in the world, i.e. you do not find any country in the world where its people would support the regime of the United States or the usurping Zionist regime. They do not enjoy popular support.
Even countries whose governments support them (the USA and Israel) with zeal, people oppose them (the USA and Israel). It is interesting that many of these people are non-Muslims. Today, you saw in newspapers that the head of the Zionist regime had gone to visit a European country, and the people - according to the news - had gathered in thousands asking him (head of Israel) to get lost and leave the country. The same applies everywhere. Wherever they go, they face the same situation, i.e. they do not enjoy popular support. The status of the Zionist regime is clear. But the American regime, despite all its political influence and use of force is still unpopular among nations.
Apart from all this, they are hated by nations. The front opposing us is not just unloved, but is also hated. Their flags and pictures are burned and their dummies are stepped on. This is their situation. They (Americans) have a bitter experience of their military operations. America has a bitter experience of its operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. They have failed. Concerning the Palestinian issue, the political efforts by America has led nowhere. They have failed. The Zionists' failure during the 33-day war (against Lebanon) and their attack against Gaza is clear to everyone.
Our opposing front is in a bad economic situation. Despite all their efforts, they did not succeed in overcoming their economic recession. They say that they have made progress. But the truth is that nothing positive has yet been done and they are under economic pressure. Their measures including injection of large amounts of money into financial institutions have not yet been effective and they are still in an adverse economic situation.
They have failed in their Middle East policies in Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon. Their grave mistakes have made their governments incapable of decision-making. They are in a state of confusion. The Americans truly do not know what to do in Afghanistan today. They have differences among themselves. They cannot make a decision that would surely be in their interest. If they leave Afghanistan, they will face scandal and misery. If they stay in Afghanistan, they may fail and become miserable again. The same is more or less true in the case of Iraq.
Iraq is similar. They do not know what to do in the case of Iraq. They interfere and make attempts but they do not get anywhere. Their officials' self-confidence has sharply slumped as compared to the past. Compare today's America (reception interrupted for two minutes)
I do not claim that we have reached the level of advanced countries in terms of scientific progress. No. The point is we are accelerating forward. This is great news for a nation. If we continue to make progress at the same pace, in no time our nation and youth will achieve expected levels of advancement. The same is true about progress in technology and development in the country.
Certain statistics were presented by the esteemed president here. These are correct figures. Great works are being done in the fields of construction, industry, energy, transportation and other fields. Compared to 30 years ago, when we started, and even 20 years ago, a great progress has been made. However, the country has not just made progress in material fields. The same is true in social and spiritual fields. Iran enjoys high spirits. Our youth have great incentives.
The political arena is active. When there is an election, 40m people take part in it and 25m people choose (the president). These are important phenomena. Yes, bitter incidents took place following the elections based on their own reasons. Each incident was caused for certain reasons. But, the presence of people (at the polling stations) is a great issue and important development. Our opponents expected that 30 years after the revolution --- and after 30 elections --- people would gradually lose interest and enthusiasm in the elections. However, the election as a serious event was welcomed by the public. This is progress.
Iran enjoys great support among Islamic countries. Our senior officials face the excitement and sensation of people in whatever country they travel to. The same does not apply to other countries. This is not particular to this time. The same has been true since the revolution. Wherever the officials of the country -- including the president- - travelled, they were welcomed by people. Some of the countries that they travelled to did not have any commonality with us in terms of language, race, and geographical location.
Nevertheless, people gather and express their respect (to Iranian senior officials). The Islamic Republic of Iran enjoys the same level of support -- if not more -- with world people. We have great hope for the future. We never expected to achieve this level of development in such a short time. With the grace of God Almighty, our youth today do things in the field of science and technology that were unimaginable to those who planned for the future of the country 20 to 25 years ago. This has been achieved today. This increases our hope in the future.
We have successful experience in political fields. Contrary to the opposing front which has failed in the Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan and various regions, we have had successful experience wherever we have gone to. Iran has even been successful wherever it felt that it was duty bound to go. This is confessed by everyone. This is why our opponents are very unhappy.
One of our successes is in the fact that our opponents are captured in the hatred of the world. Therefore, two phenomena are outstanding, i.e. the image of our opponents is descending and ours is ascending. You may present a correct analysis for everything in the country when you approach the affairs from this angle.
We think, analyse, and plan based on this line up. The enemy does the same. The enemy sits and plans on how to treat the Islamic Republic of Iran. It plans for every eventuality from both defensive and offensive perspectives. We have our own planning against the enemy. We should learn all this. We should proceed together in practice, as it has been so thus far.
I will give you a quick idea of what the enemy does. Its plans are as follows: economic pressure, military threat, and psychological war in order to influence public opinion inside the country and at the international level. These are what they are doing, i.e. creating political disruptions and sabotage inside the country. Undoubtedly, there are certain centres inside the country that are inspired by the enemy. They do certain things under the inspiration and guidance of the enemy. Satans refer to their masters to be guided (previous sentence in Arabic).
Along with all these activities, the Americans do not give up the slogan of negotiations. They have imposed sanctions against Iran, issued resolutions, imposed unilateral sanctions and threatened Iran militarily, at the same time they constantly say that they are ready to talk with Iran.
The strategies of the enemy are not new. We should bear in mind that none of these measures are unprecedented. Sanctions have been imposed on Iran for 30 years. Threats of military action have existed during all rounds (of presidencies) before this one. I'll explain to you and I am aware of them more than anyone else.
During Clinton's presidency, as I recall, the threat of military action was so strong that the esteemed president of the time used to tell me that we should be mindful not to allow the developments in the country be destroyed by a military attack. This meant that there was a significant possibility of attack at the time.
During the presidency term, before the ninth round, (the eighth presidency term) military threats were sometimes so severe and repetitive by the enemy that the officials used to get very fearful. We held meetings, we have many memories of those days, I have made notes about those days.
Military threats have always existed. It was not the case that threats were never made. Propaganda against Iran existed since the beginning of the Revolution. They levelled accusations against Iran over anything they could. They made accusations against Imam (Khomeini), people, communities and Friday prayers. All were subject to accusations and insults in the world by using the massive facilities that they had at their disposal. This is not limited to today. Threats exist now, but threats were no less in the past, in some cases they were even more severe.
Sabotage inside the country is not limited to today. In the year 1382 (2003) after the Iraq issue, and the occupiers' attack on Iraq, if you remember there was mayhem inside the country for a few days. For some reason they came out...(Pauses and changes tack) The black lady (Condoleezza Rice), the advisor to the American President at the time, who then became the American Secretary of State, explicitly announced that America supports any uprising or unrest in Iran. She explicitly announced this.
They were hopeful and thought that something was happening in Tehran. This goes back to 1382, but even before then, similar incidents took place. In 1388 (2009) similar incidents also took place, everyone remembers them now and witnessed what happened.
The threats that exist today are nothing new. I want to say a word regarding each and every one of these instances.
But concerning negotiations and what is said about it, the offer of talks is nothing new to Iran; and Iran has always rejected talks. There is a clear reason for this, and that is that talks under threat and pressure cannot be called talks. If one side intends to act like a superpower, threatening the other side, putting it under pressure, and imposing sanctions on it --- and showing an iron hand --- and at the same time offering talks, this cannot be called talks. We will not hold such talks with anybody. This is how America has always called for talks.
We have two short-term experiences. One was talks over Iraq. During my public speech, I said that we accept to take part in the talks. The officials then held the negotiations. The other was during previous governments. The Americans sent a message to us and said that they had an important security issue to discuss with us. The (Iranian) government accordingly sent a delegation and held two to three rounds of talks.
These are our experiences of talks (with the Americans). According to our experience, when the Americans are unable to present a logical reasoning, they start bullying the other side. Since bullying has no effect on the Islamic Republic, they unilaterally announce that the talks are over. What sort of talks are these. We have this experience too. The same happened in both cases.
Concerning the first case, I could already anticipate from the quality of the talks what the conclusion would be. I used to receive reports of the meetings. When they held two to three meetings, I told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to stop the talks. But before they could take their move, the Americans unilaterally stopped the talks. This is how they are.
Therefore, while the esteemed president and others say that we are always ready for talks, this is true but not with America. (People chanting: "God is Great, Khamene'i is the leader, death to those who are against the vali-e faqih, death to America, Britain, hypocrites, atheists and Israel).
The reason is that, contrary to an ordinary negotiator, America does not enter the talks as an honest interlocutor. It enters the talks like a superpower, and we will not negotiate with a superpower-looking figure.
They (Americans) should forget this superpower attitude. They should put threats aside. They should put sanctions aside. They should not consider a specific objective and final for talks. I announced this a few years ago in Fars, in Shiraz while addressing the public. I said we have not sworn not to hold any talks forever. It's because of such issues that we do not hold talks. They are not negotiators. They want to bully. (For example) just like (the story where) a rascal who liked honey and went to a shop and asked how much was a jar of honey. He said 100 tumans. Then he squeezed the guy's (shopkeeper's) hand hard and the poor shopkeeper got scared and said whatever you say. He said 30 tumans and the shopkeeper agreed. This is not a negotiation. This is not making a deal. If they can squeeze others' hands to make them change 100 tumans to 30 tumans, it doesn't mean the Islamic Republic would accept such a thing. It (Iran) will not accept these pressures. It (Iran) will respond to all pressures in its own way. (Crowd chanting slogans)
They should not use bullying. They should come down the rotten ladder of superpower attitude and then there won't be a problem. But as long as they are doing so, it would be impossible (to hold talks).
Now, regarding the nuclear issue. One of the concerns is the nuclear issue. Fuel production cycle is our right. We will not give up this right and will not stop. This is our right. We want to produce fuel hopefully. We need thousands of megawatts of nuclear fuel. Nuclear power plants should be established and the fuel for these plants should be produced domestically. The country won't manage its affairs if we are to depend on foreign countries to feed these power plants. We have to produce it domestically.
Therefore, it is our right and we will pursue it. In response to this they say Iran need nuclear fuel and we would provide it, we will set up an international bank for it and provide it. This is nonsense. These are meaningless and unreasonable words. Regarding the 20-per cent fuel swap, their level of honesty became clear. We needed 20-per cent (enriched) fuel for this small power plant. This is something normal. They do this around the world. We had bought it some ten, 16 years ago. There is no problem. As soon as they realized Iran needed it, they started playing games and turning this into an issue.
In my opinion this was a big mistake by the USA and the West. They made a mistake by acting so regarding the 20-percent fuel issue. First, by doing so they encouraged us to pursue the 20-percent fuel. We didn't want to. We didn't have the intention of producing 20-percent fuel. The 3.5-percent (enriched fuel) was enough for us. But by doing so they encouraged us, they forced us, they made us understand that we had to go for 20 percent and we did so. This was their first mistake. Their second mistake was that they proved it to the entire world and made it clear that the USA and others who can produce this fuel are not trustable for relying on them for fuel. Because as soon as it would be needed they will list their claims and demands and say you have to fulfil those to get the fuel. This is not a deal. Therefore, regarding the nuclear issue they don't have anything to say. They don't have any logic. We have found the path and we are moving forward and hopefully we will continue the same path.
Regarding the military threat! It is not very like them to make such a stupid mistake. But if there were to be such a threat, everyone should know that the scope of such a confrontation will not be limited to our region. It will spread further. (Crowd chanting slogans)
On the issue of the anti-Iranian campaign launched by America, I think that the enemy is taking the most unfair action. This is while the Americans are the worst violators of human rights themselves. That is the reality of it. When they are pursuing their interests, the lives of innocent human beings will become worthless for them. When it comes to them, they become demanding. When the occupiers attacked Iraq and Basra, they used 10-tonne bombs, the Americans, themselves called them the mother of all bombs, 10 tonnes! They killed many civilian people, women and children in Basra and elsewhere. In the same days, a few American pilots were arrested, the Bathist Iraqi regime interviewed them on TV, the Americans' loud cries were raised saying that this was against international regulations and POWs should not be interviewed like this.
They have double-standards and judgments, they are the biggest violators of democracy. In many countries the Americans have disrupted the obvious democratic election results, for example in Gaza and the Hamas government. There are other examples of this which happened in the past that I do not want to mention here. They are worst of all, but that is how it is.
What needs to be acknowledged is that these attacks and enmities are not new and the Islamic Republic of Iran has certain policies against them. As for sanctions, fortunately officials have adopted very strong and appropriate policies. I asked the respected president for the economic ministers to come and provide a report. They provided me with a report on the measures they have taken against the UN Security Council resolution i.e. the sanctions and then the unilateral sanctions by America and Europe.
Their decisions are very appropriate, and hopefully the decision by the officials is to turn sanctions into opportunities. In fact, the situation needs to be turned into opportunities. We need to increase domestic production and strengthen it. We need to get used to the consumption of domestic products, and improving the quality of our products. Of course, in this case, the government officials and lawmakers have a heavy responsibility. Regarding the management of imports, I advised the government officials and stress it now, too. I don't say that imports should be stopped all together, because imports are necessary in some areas, but they should be properly managed. In some areas imports should be banned and in other areas they should be allowed. Imports should be carried out through management. Of course, the respected government officials said that the laws which have been ratified by the Majlis do not allow us to stop imports.
I ask them to solve this issue; if in fact there are laws which stop the government preventing imports, they should amend this law so that imports can be managed. Domestic products should be increased, wise policies should be adopted on many issues, policy is very important, applying wisdom when making decisions is extremely important, decisions should be wise and brave. Wisdom should not be interpreted as a sign of fear, and retreat. Wisdom should be accompanied by bravery.
Prophets were also the wisest human beings. One of the anecdotes of the prophet (of Islam) says: (words in Arabic) no prophet has been chosen by God before he reached the highest level of wisdom. Even if the same prophet, has carried out the most Jihad acts, struggle and took most risks. I mean bravery should be accompanied by wisdom, determination, no hesitation, and with consideration to the horizons. At the same time unity and sympathy should be maintained as well.
I emphasize unity here. Unity and cooperation among the country's officials is an obligation. Deliberate objection to it is considered against the Shar'ia today, especially when it is done at higher levels.
Everyone should be careful. Enemies want to create a major issue out of trivial differences. You should not let that happen. It is not the case that any difference between two officials or two institutions is considered to be a disaster. After all, it is possible that the Majlis takes one approach in an area and the government takes a different view. They may have different tastes and opinions. This is not a disaster.
Which of the Revolution's main figures, supporters and enemies predicted 40 years ago that such a thing (Revolution) would happen in the country? Such a major incident! Such a high act! Who could have guessed? But it happened due to our reliance on Almighty God, strong determination, not fearing death, not fearing failure. We could have progress in the name of God and by reliance on God. It will be the same hereafter.
Dear God, bestow your kindness and blessings upon the great imam's (Ayatollah Khomeyni's) spirit who put us on this path (Crowd chanting amen). God, give the dear martyrs the best of ranks (Crowd chanting amen). God, help the Iranian nation achieve its big goals and wishes (Crowd chanting amen). God, cut the enemy's arm off this nation and this country (Crowd chanting amen). God, bestow your blessings and good wishes upon all those who serve the system and the people sincerely (Crowd chanting amen).
Friday, August 20, 2010 at 16:45 
Will Mariam Sail to Gaza?: As Palestine Today reported Thursday that an aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip had departed from Algeria, the organizers of the Lebanese ship Mariam said that they plan to set sail from Lebanon on Sunday.
