Leader addresses nation on Teachers', Workers' Day

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a live televised speech touching on the most important domestic and international issues.

At the beginning of his Sunday speech, Ayatollah Khamenei first elaborated on the spiritual status of Imam Ali (AS), son-in-law and the first infallible successor of Prophet Muhammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), whose martyrdom anniversary is on Tuesday, 21st of the blessed month of Ramadan (4th of May), noting that the most important characteristics of the Imam included strict justice, courage, wisdom, as well as taking care of the oppressed people who are usually wronged by the society.

He noted that those who proclaim to be true followers of Imam Ali (AS) must get as close as possible to his spiritual characteristics, especially his zeal to administer justice.

Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed out that Imam Ali (AS) achieved martyrdom, after being struck a fatal sword blow on his head by a renegade two days earlier while engrossed in the ritual morning prayer in the Mosque of Kufa.

The Leader then took note that in our own times in the Islamic Republic, there have been many people who treaded the path of Imam Ali (AS) to seek martyrdom.

As an example he mentioned the martyred Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ Quds Force, as one of the true followers of Imam Ali (AS), saying that when enemies threatened to kill him, he reacted by saying “they are threatening me with something which I eagerly seek.”

The Leader also talked about the National Teachers’ Day, which marks the martyrdom anniversary of Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari, who was martyred by the terrorist outfit called Forqan, soon after the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

He noted that Martyr Motahhari, as one of the main thinkers of the Islamic Revolution, spent his time on studying all schools of thought, and strove to give answers to questions posed by his young audience, both at the university and at the seminary of Qom.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the most important task of teachers is to transfer their trove of knowledge to the next generations and also pay attention in safeguarding the thoughts and ideas of their young audience.

“Therefore, we can say that teachers are the officers of the country’s vanguard,” he said.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that teachers are now playing a more prominent role, because there have been few junctures in history when “our young people have been exposed to such relentless cultural onslaught.”

The Leader emphasized that teachers, along with workers, enjoy a lofty and important status in the society and therefore the society and people should recognize this, adding that in addition to recognizing their lofty status, efforts must be made to solve the livelihood problems with which teachers are facing, especially under conditions created by the new coronavirus pandemic.

Reflecting on the Workers’ Day, the Leader emphasized the point that the workers enjoy a lofty status in Islam, which prompted Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) to kiss their hand.

“One of the most important roles in an independent economy is played by workers... because an independent economy depends on domestic production, which in turn depends on workers,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Leader mentioned that the Islamic Republic’s enemies did their best to pit workers against the Islamic establishment, but the workers never stopped backing the Islamic Republic and played their prominent role in this regard.

He added that one of the most important ways to support the country’s domestic production is to support the labor force.

“We must note that supporting workers is actually supporting the national wealth, because if workers are supported, they promote national wealth, which will make any country proud,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Leader also said that special attention should be also paid not only to the livelihood and economic problems of workers but also to their professional training.

“The issue of job security is a form of labor support, meaning that workers should not be concerned that they would lose their job ... and they should enjoy job security and know that their employment is guaranteed.”

He also mentioned that various administrations should take advantage of all available potentialities to create new jobs, both because of its economic outcomes and social effects, including boosting vibrancy of people in the society.

Regarding the shutting down of Iranian factories, Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized, “Those who shut down a factory for their own personal benefits, are knowingly or unknowingly doing an act of treason against their own country’s independence and production.”

The Leader then called on the executive officials and relevant ministries to take necessary action to deal with those who want to shut down production units and factories on any grounds.

He also said the best way to nullify the illegal sanctions imposed on Iran by the Western countries, especially the United States, is to boost domestic production in true sense of the word, noting that this will first render sanctions inefficient and then will make enemies to remove them.

On the issue of the upcoming elections, the Leader said, “When people take part in elections [in multitudes], no power can harm the country.”

Ayatollah Khamenei also cautioned against the efforts made by the enemies to discourage people by casting doubts on various aspects of elections, including the governing bodies and especially the Guardian Council.

He mentioned that despite some efforts made in a number of past elections to influence the voting process and the poll results, none of those efforts were important enough to affect the final result of the polls.

Ayatollah Khamenei added that those who want to run for the election must believe in the basic principles of the Islamic establishment and do not cast doubt on them.

The Leader said that unfortunately, some remarks made by certain officials in the run-up to the presidential election reflected previous statements made by enemies of the Islamic Republic, especially those statements, which were made to undermine Quds Force and its martyred commander, Lt. Gen. Soleimani.

“Some of these remarks are repetition of the US [officials’] remarks. Suppose that Americans have been angry with Iran’s [regional] influence for many years. They were angry with Martyr Soleimani for this reason and this is why they martyred him.”

“We must not say something that would bring to mind the idea that we are repeating their (enemies) remarks, both about the Quds Force and about Martyr Soleimani himself.”

“A country’s plans include military, scientific, cultural and diplomatic plans, and their totality makes up a country’s policy. It’s meaningless for one sector to negate the other and this is a big error, which must not be committed by the officials of the Islamic Republic,” he said.

Ayatollah Khamenei also emphasized that the Quds Force has been the main force preventing diplomatic apparatus from following a passive diplomacy in the West Asia region.

“This force carries out the policy of the Islamic Republic. The Western countries persistently want the foreign policy of Iran to come under their flag. They have been wanting this for years. Iran was under the Western domination both in later years of the Qajar dynasty and under the Pahlavi regime. The [Islamic] Revolution freed Iran of their dominion and now they are trying to restore that dominion. Therefore, when the Islamic Republic establishes ties with China, they become upset, [and] when it establishes relations with Russia, they become upset” the Leader said.

“I know many cases in which when high-ranking officials of neighboring countries wanted to visit Iran, the Americans were opposed. We cannot step back in the face of their demand. We must act forcefully.”

He added nowhere in the world the foreign ministry sets a country’s foreign policy outlines, but there are higher authorities that set the main lines of a country’s foreign policy and the foreign ministry just carries out those policies.

“We must not talk in a way as if we do not accept the country’s policies and in doing so, make our enemies happy,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Leader also advised hopefuls running for the election to avoid of giving promises they cannot keep.

SS