Leader cautions against enemies' soft war

With the start of the 5th 8-year term of the Assembly of Experts, made up of 88 jurisprudents, The highlights of the statements made by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in a meeting with the newly elected members of the Assembly of Experts, which includes some new faces besides those who retained their seats from the previous term.

According to Article 107 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Assembly of Experts has the responsibility to supervise the performance of the Vali-e Faqih or the Supreme Jurisprudent who is in charge of governance, and to select the next one in case of the passing away of the Leader. All members of the Assembly are elected through the direct votes of people for an 8-year term. Elections for the 5^th round of the Assembly of Experts were held 4 months ago with massive turnout of the Iranian people.

Ayatollah Khamenei thanked God Almighty for the smooth functioning of the procedures for electing the Assembly and wished success for the newly-elected members. He called the Assembly of Experts a divine blessing for the country, stressing that the gathering of religious authorities from the various parts of the country in one single body is indeed a great blessing. He said that although the Assembly of Experts is not responsible for the country’s executive affairs, its members have a religious duty to mold public opinion as per the teachings of Islam in order to ensure the society and the government remains on the right track.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the objectives of the Assembly of Experts ought to be goals envisioned by the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (God bless him), which means ensuring the sovereignty of Islam, guaranteeing freedom, independence, social justice, public welfare, and efforts to eradicate poverty and ignorance, in addition to countering the West’s cultural, economic, social, and political attacks on the country, as well as steadfastness against the hegemonic bid of Global Arrogance. He said a nation that does not resist and confront the designs of Global Arrogance will be trapped in its snares. 

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed to the string of failures of the plots of Global Arrogance against the Islamic Republic system including the 8-year war the US had imposed on Iran in the 1980s through Saddam of the repressive Ba’th minority regime of Baghdad, ethnic unrest in some border areas, acts of terrorism and killing of leading revolutionary figures as well as ordinary citizens, and last but not the least the illegal sanctions of the US and its attack on oil platforms and the downing of an Iranian passenger plane. He said, now the enemy, after its failure in the hard war against Iran has resorted to soft war in a bid to tarnish the image of the Islamic Republic system.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the next phase of the enemy’s soft war against the Islamic Revolution is try to influence decision-making and decision-taking centres in the country in a bid to change the people’s beliefs and to wreck the plans and positions of the officials. He cautioned that by impairing centres of powers in Iran, it will be easy to harm the establishment from inside. He said the enemies are trying to compel the Islamic Republic to follow their dictates and this warrants the undertaking of Jihad Kabir of the Great Jihad which Allah Almighty has mentioned in ayah 52 of Surah Furqan:   

“So (O Prophet to the Muslims) do not obey the faithless, but wage against them a Great Jihad….”

Ayatollah Khamenei pointing to the dynamism of the Islamic Shari’a and its adaptability to the changing times, urged the members of the Assembly of Experts to clarify many religious issues to the public and be responsive to the needs of time. He said the universal message of Islam which God Almighty entrusted to His Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), and determined as the most perfect religion for all humanity for all times, is capable of catering to the needs of the different world peoples, in different areas and in all eras, provided it is correctly interpreted and implemented.

Besides the fixed fundamentals of Islam and the injunctions that never change, there are many variable injunctions pertaining to conditions of change or new issues that might crop up as mankind makes progress in various fields, which means there are laws in Islam to adequately meet the new conditions that did not exist a century ago. He said that in addition to tackling these issues, members of the Assembly of Experts shoulder the important duties of healing the wounds caused by the enemy, including sectarian and ethnic divisions, as well as factional tendencies. The Islamic Republic ought to be strong and independent as well as steadfast in its objectives, including its defence requirements, so that the arrogant powers desist from any mischief, otherwise even weak governments would be able to bully the Iranian nation.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to Iran’s capability in the nuclear field and its indigenous technology in producing 20% enriched uranium, saying that these were the achievements that made the West reluctantly accept nuclear Iran. He pointed to Iran’s manufacturing of 19,000 first-generation centrifuges, operating 10,000 centrifuges, embarking on building the second, third and fourth generation centrifuges and running a heavy water production plant, He called these as examples of Iran’s nuclear power, saying: The enemy was forced to accept these realities despite its threats of not accepting even one centrifuge in Iran.

The Leader said this is not some concession granted to us by the Americans, but it is indicative of Iran’s power and capability that won points for the country. He emphasized that such power should prevail in all other fields including policy-making and economy so that the enemy’s sanctions and threats become ineffective. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said the Assembly of Experts can ensure the smooth functioning of the government through interaction with the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. He said piety; courage, insight, frankness and timely actions, are among the main criteria of being revolutionary in organs such as the Assembly of Experts.

In conclusion, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed the necessity for proper cognizance of the enemy and its nefarious designs, saying that any notion of fear and helplessness in the face of the enemy’s plots is tantamount to self-defeat.

FK/AS/SS