Leader: Iran’s spectacular progress despite Global Arrogance’s plots

Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, met with the chairman and members of the Assembly of Experts on Thursday, March 9 in Tehran, and described the elected Assembly, as “exceptional, very important and influential in determining the present and future of the country”.

Emphasizing the need for the country’s officials to feel responsible toward people, especially with regard to issues of livelihood, he noted: “We must bring more speed and prosperity to the pride-inspiring move [that has been going on] over the past four decades through incessant effort and objective demonstration of the impacts of the Economy of Resistance on people’s lives.”

Stay with us for important passages from the Leader’s speech.

Ayatollah Khamenei referring to the necessity of giving more depth and quality to the activities of the Assembly of Experts, read part of the famous epistle of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) to his governor of Egypt, Malik Ashtar, on rules of governance, saying, “Imam Ali (AS) has emphasized that officials must have a conclusive reason before God and people for every one of their actions and words and even their silence, and must be able to answer [for what they do].”

The Leader said: “In addition to stressing the need for officials to have a conclusive reason before Almighty God and people [for what they do], it has been stipulated in the words of Imam Ali (AS) that officials should perform [their duties] in a way that would make people trust and love them and the effects of their measures must be observable and tangible on the ground.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then noted, “If the sense of responsibility among officials is such that they would be constantly concerned about doing work and making effort and moving toward goals and struggle, it proves that they are moving along the main lines of the Islamic government. However, if it is the opposite, we must see why we have gotten out of the frameworks of the Islamic government.”

He then pointed to a marginal issue and added, “Some quasi-intellectuals talk in such a way that as if Western teachings are the origin and promoter of the sense of responsibility toward people, while social responsibility and the sense of responsibility before God and people is among Islamic fundaments of governance and teachings and concepts of the holy Qur’an.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution described “sense of responsibility among officials” as an “urgent, necessary and obligatory” matter and said, “We are seriously responsible with regard to cultural and livelihood problems of people and even if a single faithful youth, God forbid, is deviated from the [right] path due to our performance, we would be responsible.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, he explained differences in viewpoints and ideas regarding major issues of the country and said it was possible for proponents of these different viewpoints to offer various arguments in favor of their views. He added, “In such cases, the solution is to refer to fundaments and principles and indisputable ideas of the Islamic establishment and if an argument is compatible with those principles, it would be correct. Otherwise, it should be rejected.” Emphasizing that indisputable ideas and principles of the Islamic establishment have been frequently explained in the words of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, the Late Imam Khomeini (RA), the Leader said, “This is the reason behind my constant and frequent emphasis on [the need for] officials and people especially youths, to refer to the words and the last will and testament of the honorable late Imam.”

Ayatollah Khamenei mentioned “the realization of the Islamic commands even in a gradual form, without retracting from implementation of the Islamic commands and at the same time struggling against Global Arrogance without trusting it, as indisputable ideas of the Islamic establishment. He noted: “Fighting Global Arrogance and countering the international dictatorship and the domineering attitude of infidels toward the faithful are among unquestionable necessities of the Islamic establishment.”

He then pointed out that struggle does not simply mean military confrontation, but it has various cultural, theoretical, political and security dimensions and methods. He elaborated these points as “Being with people and trusting them,” “seeking justice,” “standing against oppression and corruption,” as well as “national self-confidence and national dignity”. He said: “Feeling of cultural supremacy and not feeling abject in the face of the foreign culture are among other fundaments and indisputable ideas of the [Islamic] establishment and we must not feel weak and abject in the field of culture, but must always have a sense of cultural superiority.”

Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed out jihadi movement in all fields, including in the field of science and knowledge, as another fundament of the Islamic establishment and said: “Avoiding inclination toward aristocracy’is another indisputable idea of the Islamic establishment, but unfortunately, one of the current problems in our society is an inclination toward flaunting [a lifestyle characteristic of] aristocracy even among middle and lower classes as a result of the performance of certain officials.”

He said “feeling deep sympathy for lower classes” was another principle of the Islamic establishment and noted, “The most important duty of the Assembly of Experts is, first of all, to make sure about the existence of the aforesaid traits in the Leader and also [ensuring] their persistence.”

In another part of his remarks, he said emphasis on the term “Economy of Resistance” in the words of officials, experts, and scholars was a sign of accepting this theoretical framework and added, “The important point is that this framework must be realized in practice.”

Reminding the attendees that he had also put emphasis on the issue of the Economy of Resistance during the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20, the Leader said, “If all necessary steps with regard to the Economy of Resistance had been taken, today, we would have observed a tangible difference in the country’s economic conditions and people’s lives. I have told the esteemed president that announcing promising large-scale indices is good, of course if those figures are not disputable, but at any rate, these [indices] do not affect the life and livelihood of people in short and medium terms.”

The Leader described “attracting foreign investment” as a positive step, but added, “So far, a small number of foreign agreements have been realized. Therefore, we must not remain idle hoping for and expecting their investment, but we must do inside the country what we can do by ourselves.”

Rounding up this part of his remarks, he emphasized, “The Economy of Resistance, with its strong intellectual and theoretical fundaments, is the sole way for solving the country’s problems and it must be implemented.”

The third part of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s remarks in the meeting with members of the Assembly of Experts was about the quality and various aspects of the hostility of global hegemonic powers toward the Islamic establishment. He mentioned “the effort made by the Islamic establishment to realize the pure Mohammedan Islam” and “the huge and jihadi movement of the [Iranian] nation toward [Islamic] ideals” as the main causes of profound and all-out hostility of the arrogant powers towards the Islamic Republic and noted, “They are not against the rule of the ulema and implementing the apparent façade of the Islamic commands as long as it is not at odds with their interests, and this is why they have good relations with some countries that enjoy these characteristics.”

He mentioned “saving the country from dependence on powers” and “blocking the way to their exploitation” of the country as some results of the gradual realization of the pure Islam in Iran, adding, “Even now, if we allow Americans to be in charge of everything in Iran, like they were in the monarchial era, and trust them, they would have no problem with the name of the ‘Islamic Republic’.”

Pointing to various degrees of the hostility of the global front of bullies toward Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei added, “The hostility of the US and the Zionist regime is “extant and sharp and operational,” but some other [enemies] do not clearly show this animosity in their words and deeds due to [considerations that they have about] their interests.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said citing reliable information as well as security and political issues, extreme economic pressure, and widespread, but silent, onslaught in the area of culture as the main axes of the enemy front’s plans and operations and added, “Their main goal is to make people desperate about the Islamic establishment and strip officials of this basic source of support in their resistance against the enemy.”

He mentioned “strong, aggressive and logical confrontation” with the enemy as the basic way of thwarting plans and conspiracies of the arrogant front, adding, “In all fields, including in the field of human rights, terrorism and war crimes, we must adopt an aggressive stance in the face of the West.”

The Leader then brushed aside the recent criticism of elections in Iran by the United States and noted, “Americans, who are engaged in friendly cooperation with the most evil and most inhuman regional regimes and caused this huge scandal in their recent [presidential] election, attack and criticize elections held by the Iranian nation.”

He then pointed out, “Despite an incessant onslaught by all superpowers and the empire of the Zionist media, the Iranian nation has progressed in all fields after the revolution. Even in the field of culture, which is a cause of sensitivity and concern for me, we have advanced and today’s youths are ready to defend [the revolution] and make sacrifices in various fields with much more strength than youths in the early years of the revolution.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution mentioned the profound and extensive strategic depth of the Islamic Republic in the world and especially in West Asia as one of the most important advances of Iran during the past four decades and noted, “The growing influence of Iran and support of [various] nations for the Islamic establishment is our strong backbone and this reality has enraged Americans, with their analysts seeking a way to counter the increasing influence of Iran.”

In conclusion of his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei described the Iranian nation’s advances and achievements as a sign of divine bounties and while urging officials to appreciate these bounties, emphasized, “The fulfillment of their heavy duties by officials is the real way to thank [God] for these bounties.”

At the beginning of his remarks, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution congratulated the attendees on the birth anniversary of Hadhrat Fatemah Zahra (peace upon her), the Immaculate Daughter of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

The Leader then touched upon sacrifices made by a group of Iranian firefighters, who recently put out a major blaze at a high-rise in downtown Tehran, noting, “These selfless people, who were mostly young, laid down their lives in order to protect the lives and properties of people. The existence of this spirit shows that under conditions, when such people and spirits are rare, the spirit of sacrifice is still alive in the country and among young people.”

A the beginning of the meeting, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, chairman of the Assembly of Experts, thanked the Leader of the Islamic Revolution for his guiding positions at critical junctures and said, “The Assembly of Experts considers it a duty to think revolutionary, remain revolutionary, and move along the path of the Islamic Revolution.”

AS/ME