Leader: National Security of Paramount Importance, Violators will be punished

Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Commander-in-chief of armed forces, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, today morning presided over the graduation ceremony of cadets of the Islamic Republic Guards Corps (IRGC) at Imam Hussain (AS) University in Tehran.

In his address, after praising the relentless efforts of IRGC personnel in safeguarding the ideals of the Islamic Revolution, he turned to the issue of the presidential polls to be held on May 19.

The Leader stressed: "Depending on the public turnout, the elections can either be a source of grace and dignity for the country or a source of weakness and debility, resulting in problems for the country. If the people participate, in an orderly manner in the elections, and if they observe the ethical and Islamic borderlines, it will add to the glory of the Islamic Republic. But if they break the rules or cause misconduct, they will be pleasing the enemies with their words, and the elections will end to our detriment."

He stated that the enemy’s short-term goal is to undermine the country’s security and trigger chaos and sedition. He added: "The main goal is to destroy the Islamic Republic’s great source of pride in view of the fact that we have managed to create a safe haven in a region that is filled with unrests and a world of full of tension. They want to deprive Iran of such a blessing. If we prepare ourselves to combat the plots of insecurity and sedition, we can certainly frustrate the enemy."

Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out: "The enemy’s mid-term goal is targeting issues such as economy and the living conditions of the people; it is to make the economy stagnant so that employment and production remain at a low rate and become a calamity for the country, resulting in loss of hope for people in the Islamic Republic."

Ayatollah Khamenei warned that the main long-term goal of the enemy is to try to change the system of government in Iran. He said: "At one time they used to openly say the Islamic Republic should be destroyed; later they realized they cannot do so; so they came up with the slogan for change in what they call the Islamic Republic’s behaviour. I told the officials then that bear in mind their call for a “change of behaviour” is no different from changing the system! “Change of behaviour" means that we should distance ourselves from the path of Islam, the path of the revolution and the path of Imam Khomeini. Changing behavior means replacing the Islamic system of government."

He continued: "I advise the presidential candidates to make sure they observe these points in their campaign promises. Number One is economy. They should pay attention and firmly declare that they desire to make efforts to improve the economy of the country, since the livelihood of the people is a number one priority.

“The second point” said the Leader, “is that in their campaign promises and remarks they should specifically focus on national glory and independence of the Iranian nation. The Iranian nation is a revolutionary nation. The glory of the nation must be protected.”

He said: “The third point is national security and national peace; and they (presidential candidates) should avoid triggering religious, geographical, lingual, and ethnic differences that would benefit the enemy."

The Leader made it clear that anyone violating the country’s security during elections, “will be punished, since national security is of paramount importance.”

Courtesy: Khamenei.ir

SS/AS