Leader’s guidelines for nation’s continued progress in the year 1398 (1)
Mar 27, 2019 11:59 UTC
Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in his public speech on Nowrouz (New Year Day) on March 21, the start of the calendar year 1398 solar hijri, delivered at the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad in the presence of tens of thousands of pilgrims and viewed live by millions throughout Iran, took stock of major developments over the year with full confidence of Iran’s progress in all fields including defence, cyber, and aerospace technology despite US sanctions.
He cautioned officials against misplaced trust in the European Union (EU), which is merely beating around the bush and has practically, though unannounced, abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA) regarding Iran’s peaceful use of nuclear energy and the right to engage in international trade and financial transactions.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the European signatories of the nuclear deal, that is, Germany, France, and Britain, have failed to respect Iran’s economic interests; “they have always stabbed Iran in the back and proved they cannot be trusted.”
“This mechanism set by the Europeans is like a bitter joke,” he said, referring to INSTEX or The Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges, a so-called channel cited by the EU for non-dollar trade with Iran to get around the US sanctions.
The Leader made it clear: “We need to take Iran to a point that the enemies understand that they cannot threaten Iran. I am confident America’s sanctions will make Iran self-sufficient.”
Stay with us for part one of a 3-part details of the Leader’s memorable New Year Speech.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, welcomed by the huge gathering of Nowrouz pilgrims with vociferous chants of God’s Majesty (Allah-o-Akbar) and reaffirmation of the nation’s support for him, started his speech with expression of gratitude for the favours of the Almighty Creator, and sent his greetings to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and the Immaculate Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, especially the Lord of the Age, the Last and 12th Infallible Imam who will reappear to end corruption on earth and establish the global government of peace, prosperity and justice.
He then saluted Imam Reza (AS), the Prophet’s 8th Infallible Successor, and congratulated the nation on the auspicious occasion of Rajab 13th, the blessed birth anniversary of the Commander of the Faithful, the Leader of the Pious, the Symbol of Justice, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), which this year he said has coincided with the Spring Equinox, thus making it the “real Nowrouz”.
Broadly speaking, Ayatollah Khamenei focused on four important issues, saying: “One is about the year 1398 which has started today. Another is about Iran’s issues with the west and western governments. The third matter is about the economy and this year’s designation of boosting production and the economy. And the fourth and last matter is a word with our dear youth about the issues of the country, future affairs and the affairs of the Revolution.
“As for current issues, one sees that some persons, writers and so-called experts have referred to this year as the year of threats. I do not agree with this in any way. I believe that by Allah’s favour 1398 is the year of opportunities: the year of abundant resources and achievements. Of course, those who say otherwise and constantly speak of threats are knowingly or unknowingly under the influence of the propaganda of the enemies of this nation. In addition to what they do in reality, the enemies of this nation have also waged a psychological war. They express certain viewpoints and they brag. This bragging should be understood for it is. Throughout the past year they were making the same boasts and were trying to make some people lose heart.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution noted: “One of those first-rate idiots, whom I introduced in an earlier speech (that is, US president Donald Trump), said last year that if the US leaves the JCOPA, there will be riots in the streets of Iran and that the people will not even be able to buy bread. Another one of those first-rate idiots (US National Security Chief John Bolton) said that in 2019, he and his fellow Americans will celebrate Christmas in Tehran. Well, these are the statements they made.
“I do not know. There are two viewpoints: one is that their analysis about regional matters and the affairs of Iran is so weak and shallow and that they actually say these things seriously. In other words, such statements originate from foolishness. Another viewpoint is that they want to wage a psychological war in a malicious way. They promote these ideas in the world media as a psychological war. Both viewpoints are correct, and based on stupidity and malice.
“I said 1398 is the year of opportunities. I will explain this a little bit. At the moment, the main problem of our country is the economy and the issue of livelihood of the underprivileged classes. Part of this problem is related to the sanctions imposed by western powers–the US and Europe, while part of it stems from our internal shortcomings and our own managerial weaknesses. Of course, sanctions can become an opportunity. Later on, I will expand on this. As for the shortcomings and weakness these can provide us with precious experience for the future and for the proper management of the country in the future. Thus, both of these are opportunities.
“Sanctions can be an opportunity. Why? Because experience has shown that whenever the revenues of countries benefitting from natural resources such as oil, decreases, they think of implementing economic reforms and they become motivated to develop these reforms. They become motivated to liberate themselves from dependence and they adopt appropriate measures. This happens when the revenues from natural resources are reduced. Later on, when those resources return to their prior state and when their financial resources increase again, they forget about continuing those reforms. So, the pressure stemming from a decrease in the revenues of natural resources has this great advantage, not only for us but also for all countries similar to us because it will save them from dependence on this natural resource, from being a one-product country and from this oil-based economy.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said: “One of the main problems of our economy is that it is based and dependent on oil. This is really the truth of the matter. Presently extensive research is underway both at the governmental level and at the research-based and academic level in order to find ways to manage the country with non-oil revenues. This is a very important measure. When oil revenues are abundantly available to us, neither government officials nor others will naturally think of doing something else.
“We have tangibly and vividly experienced something similar to this in the area of the defense resources of the country. In the Holy Defense Era, during the 8-year war that was imposed on us, the materialistic powers of the east and the west – both capitalist and socialist/communist – would give the best weapons and resources to Saddam, while our hands were tied. As everyone knew at that time, they would not even sell us barbed wire. This was of course difficult, but this difficulty made our youth, our thinkers and our talented and creative personalities think of liberating us from our dependence on foreign weapons.
“By Allah’s favor, today our condition in the area of defense resources is better than almost all countries in the region. Our enemies too admit this. They acknowledge this so as to use it as a tool to exert pressure. Of course, whatever their foolish desires, we will continue to strengthen our defense capabilities. At that time, if they had sold us weapons, if they had given us tanks, missiles and ammunitions, we would not have thought of producing them on our own.
“Well, if we had had them, we would have continued to be dependent and our need for others would not have been removed, similar to many other countries in our region which are warehouses of weapons that belong to others and whose use is contingent on the will of the suppliers. They themselves have neither power nor the scientific and practical capability to properly use them. We would have become like them.
“Today, by Allah’s favour, this is not the case. Therefore, need generates movement and motivation in us. When we have lower oil revenues, we will naturally search for alternatives. This is a task that has been initiated and by Allah’s favour, it will produce results. The Iranian nation will taste the fruits of these endeavors later on.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said: “I stress that we should not be worried about the sanctions. We should not have high expectations of those who impose these sanctions. In the section related to the west, I will explain why. We cannot expect anything from them. We should sit and devise the plans for confronting sanctions and we should pursue them seriously. This is our responsibility. This is the responsibility of government organizations, of the research committees in the legislative branch and of our youth, thinkers and intellectual personalities in the country. They should examine and find the ways to confront sanctions by considering the affairs of the country.
“There are many ways to confront the oppressive and malicious sanctions imposed by the enemy. Of course, I have received a report showing that high-ranking executive officials are preparing ways to confront sanctions. They should address it in a more serious, urgent and practical way. The affairs of the country should not be delayed.
“Today, everyone agrees that the enemy is waging an economic war against us. Everyone knows this. Of course, I have always repeated that the enemy is at war with us, but some people would not believe it. However, today everyone believes it. All officials have realized and agreed that the enemy is at war with us. War is not only about cannons and guns. Economic wars, security wars, intelligence wars and political wars: these are all different forms of wars and they are sometimes more dangerous than a military war. The enemy is at war with us.
“Well, this war manifests itself through economic matters. Today, everyone has accepted this. Of course, we should defeat the enemy at this war and by Allah’s favour, we will defeat him. Yes, we will defeat him, but this is not enough. I want to say something else and my demand from all the various activists of the country – including in the government, at universities and among the people – is something else. What I want to say is that as well as defeating the enemy, we should create deterrence. This is what I want to say. Sometimes, you defeat the enemy, but it waits for another opportunity to deliver another blow. Such a confrontation is of no use.
“We should reach a point which has a deterring effect. In other words, the enemy should feel that it cannot damage our dear country in the area of economy and that it cannot pressure the nation. We should reach the point of deterrence. This is possible.”
The Leader continued: “I would like to mention the military again as an example. Fortunately, we are in such a condition in the field of defense. There was a day when the enemy planes would bombard our cities from a high altitude while we could not do anything about it. We did not have enough defensive weapons. It used to fire missiles, but we did not have any weapons to respond.
“Then we developed our defense capabilities. Today, our enemies – at least the ones in the region or the ones who have forces in the region – know that the Islamic Republic can confront and strike every enemy in the region with its accurate missiles. They have realized this. This is deterrence! This means that the enemies who are at times tempted to launch a military attack should realize that it is not possible, that the Islamic Republic has a powerful fist that can retaliate. This is deterrent power. We should reach this point in the area of economic matters. So, this is an opportunity which is available to us because of the sanctions imposed by the enemies. Today, we can work on this. This was the first matter.
“I said that we should not pin our hopes on westerners. Now, I want to enter into the second discussion which is about our confrontation with western powers and governments. We have many things to say in this regard. What I want to say is that in order to gain this deterrent economic power, we should completely forget about the help and cooperation of westerners. We should not wait for them. This is because westerners have shown that they cannot be expected to help. We can expect them to hatch plots, to act in a treacherous way and to stab us in the back, but we cannot expect them to help, to show sincerity and to cooperate.
“Whenever you see westerners helping a government or a country, they are in fact preparing the ground for their own agenda. They used to help the Pahlavi regime, but were not actually offering help to it, rather they were helping themselves to sell their own weapons. They were serving their own unconditional dominance over Iran’s oil. They were helping 60,000 military advisors in the country. The day when the Islamic Revolution achieved victory, there were about 60,000 American forces in the country –mainly in Tehran. They would feed from the public funds of Muslims and they would work for themselves. If they help somewhere, they are in fact serving their own goals and their own vested interests. They cannot be expected to help.
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