Leader: US declaration of Qods as Zionist capital sign of desperation

Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, on Wednesday December 6, on the occasion of blessed birth anniversary of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), in an address to a gathering of government officials, ambassadors of Islamic countries in Iran and guests from some 90 countries for the 31st Islamic Unity Conference, said:

“If the world of Islam wants power and glory, it should pursue unity and steadfastness in accordance with the dynamic teachings of the Seal of Messengers.”

The Prophet’s birth anniversary also happens to be the birthday of his 6^th Infallible Heir, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS), and the Leader congratulating the addressees, the people of Iran, and the entire Islamic Ummah as well as all conscientious people the world over, said: “Hopefully, these birth anniversaries will help all of us gain a new understanding about the responsibility and path which are ahead of us and which we should fulfil by the blessing of the Prophet.”

He took note of the avowed enmity of the US towards Islam, especially of its president, the quixotic Donald Trump, and made it clear that all Muslims, including the Palestinian people, must unanimously rise up against the devilish plot of declaring the occupied Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas as capital of the illegal Zionist entity.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointing to the Qur’anic ayah in which God has hailed the Prophet of Islam as the “mercy unto the whole creation”, said: “This mercy is bestowed upon the followers of that great personality and those who accept his path and his guidance; they will indeed benefit from Divine Mercy.”

He stated: “The Islamic Ummah has gone through many ups and downs, but they will surely benefit from God’s mercy both in worldly life and in the Hereafter only when they follow Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

Ayatollah Khamenei said the Prophet of Islam brought mankind salvation from shackles, since his universal mission is not to a specific group of people, but is for the entire humanity. The Prophet helps people break the shackles which are tied around necks, hands and their feet; the shackles which prevent people from moving forward, and which make them drift away from spirituality.

“What are these shackles?” he posed the questions. He himself answered: “These shackles are thralldom to the superpowers and their oppression and arrogance that breed class inequalities. The Prophet confronted and fought against these shackles. Nations can continue this path as long as they stand firm and show resistance. They can overcome superpowers. Today, grave plots are being hatched by the big powers against the Islamic Ummah, but it is possible to stand up against these plots and to foil them.”

The Leader referred to the power, wealth, weapons and armies of the tyrannical Egyptian Pharaoh, saying that by fully relying on God Almighty, Prophet Moses, along with his brother Aaron, stood firm and steadfast to finally triumph over the over-inflated tyrant.

He compared those events with the present situation of the world Muslims, and said: “Resistance in the arena of military war, in the arena of political war and in the arena of the war of the wills are different from each other; nonetheless, resistance is necessary in all these arenas.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said, if the Muslims nations and their leaders continue their resistance against the enemies, “victory will definitely be achieved”.

He said: Of course, today, they have deployed their forces against the Islamic Ummah. I mean the US, Global Arrogance and their cohorts including the Zionists, reactionaries, global money worshippers, and lustful individuals who follow those powers who have deployed their forces against Islam and against the path of the Prophet of Islam.”

“Today”, said Ayatollah Khamenei, “the Pharaoh is the US. Today, the Pharaoh is the Zionist entity. Today, the Pharaohs are their cohorts in the region who want to pit Muslims against each other and to wage war in the region. Today, this is Washington’s plan.”

He continued: “Everyone should pay attention to this. Everyone should know this. American politicians have acknowledged in their analyses – whether knowingly or unknowingly – that they should wage war and create discord in West Asia and pit Muslims against each other so that the Zionist entity can have security and a comfortable life. They are doing this in order to prevent Muslims from making progress. They want the body of the Islamic Ummah to lose so much blood in a way that it becomes weak and unconscious and loses its power of resistance.”

“What should we do in the face of this? He asked, and himself replied by quoting God Almighty’s instructions to Prophet Moses: “So stand straight, and follow not the path of those who know not.”

He added: “It means, we should not follow the path of the ignorant.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution noted: “Today, there are unfortunately some rulers and some elites in the region who dance to the US tune and do what they want. They work for them against the Islamic Ummah and against Islam. These things are to the disadvantage of Islam.”

However, the Islamic Republic of Iran, he said, is against discord, since “We believe in unity. We are interested in unity. These days are marked by Unity Week. It was our magnanimous Imam Khomeini who named these days as "Unity Week", so as to foster unity between the various Muslim denominations. And we thank God for helping the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran create unity and brotherhood among themselves and among their Muslim brothers from various Islamic denominations.”

There are some people, he said, who are after creating discord and waging wars; Their policy is this and they are following up this task.

Ayatollah Khamenei posed the question: So what should we do in the face of such people? What should be done in the face of those who follow US policies in the region? Our language is the language of advice. The ignorant who run these regimes say things against the people of Iran and the Islamic Republic which are not worthy of attention. Our goal is not to respond to their nonsense, rather our goal is to advise them. We advise. The thing which some regional regimes are doing today at the service of the US is to their own disadvantage. In fact, they are ruining themselves. The enemy does what it can. They created these Takfiris in our region. They foolishly thought that they could wage a sectarian war by doing so. However, Allah the Exalted delivered a blow to their mouth because a religious war was not and will not be waged.”

Ayatollah Khamenei went on to say: “We stood firm against those who were provoked by the enemy and we succeeded by the Grace of God against those working as the enemy's mercenaries. The enemy wanted to wage a war between Shia and Sunni, but praise belongs to the God that our enemies are among the fools. The number of Sunnis that Daesh killed in the region was larger than the number of Shias! Allah the Exalted thus delivered a blow to their mouth.”

“Our confrontation against Takfiri forces was a confrontation against oppression and distortion of Islam. It was a fight against a savage group which knew nothing about Islamic morality and civility and about the truth of Islam. They used to burn and skin people alive and they used to take Muslim families captive. They were engulfed by all kinds of corruption including political, sexual, financial and practical corruption. They were the agents of the US and Zionism. And their cohorts and followers – wherever they are – are the agents of the US and Zionism as well. This is a reality. We stood up against them. If the world of Islam wants to achieve dignity, it should not abandon unity, solidarity and unanimity. If the world of Islam wants to achieve power and dignity, it has to stand up against Zionism.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution focused on the issue of Palestine, which he said “is at the top of the political issues of the world of Islam and the Islamic Ummah. Everyone is responsible towards defending Palestine, and the freedom of Palestine and the Palestinian nation. Everyone is responsible towards striving and working to that end. The enemy is desperate in this regard. You should know this. When they claim that they want to declare Qods as the capital of the Zionist entity, this is a sign of their desperation and incapability. Their hands are tied on the issue of Palestine. Without a doubt, by doing so, they will receive a harsher blow and the world of Islam will stand up against them.”

Ayatollah Khamenei was confident: “The enemy will definitely not be able to achieve the desired result on the issue of Palestine and Palestine will be liberated. There is no doubt that Palestine will be liberated. This might happen sooner than later, but it will definitely happen and the Islamic Ummah's fight for the liberation of Palestine will produce results, Insha Allah.

“Thankfully, the people of Iran have managed to overcome difficult paths because of their faith, insight and resistance. Everyone should know – both our friends and enemies throughout the world should know – that in the course of 38 years since the victory of the Revolution, there were huge obstacles on the path that we took which would have brought other nations to their knees, but these hurdles have failed to bring the people of Iran to their knees. Now the capability and power of the people of Iran to surmount such obstacles is much more than the past, because of God’s Grace.

“We will overcome every obstacle by Allah's Grace. The enemy will not be able to drag the people of Iran towards defeat or to force them into retreat. By Allah's favour, we will be able to overcome all problems, to show Islamic dignity to all nations in the world and to raise the flag of Islamic dignity further up than today, Insha Allah.

“May Allah the Exalted shower His mercy on the soul of our Late Imam who opened this path to us; may Allah gladden the pure souls of our dear martyrs who laid down their lives on this path. I beseech Allah to help us carry out - in the best possible way - what we are responsible for and what is expected of us in this period of time.”

AS/SS