Leader: Media War, Enemies’ Desperate Bid to Create Despair

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in his meeting with the chairman and members of the Assembly of Experts in Tehran on Thursday September 6, said the most important duty of the people and elites at the current critical juncture is mobilize efforts toward safeguarding and boosting public integrity with government bodies in order to thwart the media war of enemies for creating an atmosphere of despair and disappointment among Iranians.

He said: Those with evil designs against the Iranian nation have on their agenda a media and propaganda war in parallel with an economic war, which warrants healthy criticism out of goodwill and aimed at reformation – rather than biting the enemies’ bait.

At the beginning of his remarks to the Assembly of Experts which is an elected body of the learned and elite personnel for supervision of the Leader’s performance, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the blessed and important days of the second half of the month of Dhu’l-Hijjah, and the historical occasions of the Grand Day of Mubahala on which the truth of Islam triumphed in a unique debate with the Christians, when on God’s commandment, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) took along with him his dearest and nearest ones, that is, Daughter Hazrat Fatema Zahra, son-in-law Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb and young grandsons Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (peace upon them), for the novel challenge of imprecating divine curse on the liars.

Ayatollah Khamenei said: “Mubahala is in fact the manifestation of faith-based power and reliance upon righteousness, which means we are always in need of faith-based power with complete trust in God and our own righteousness, as demonstrated by the Islamic system of government of Iran against foreign hegemony.”

He also referred to God’s revelation to the Prophet of Surah Dahr, especially its first 20-odd ayahs, in acknowledgement of the devotion and sincerity of his blessed Ahl al-Bayt or Immediate Household in giving as alms to the needy for three consecutive days whatever food they had for breaking the fast.

With such blessed events blazing the path of enlightenment for the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution went on to express his gratitude over the reports presented in the annual meeting of the Assembly of Experts and pointed to the importance and urgency of national unity and solidarity and formation of public opinion in this direction.

He added, “Our conditions today are very sensitive, but this sensitiveness is not due to the numbers of the enemies or their power. These enemies have always existed since the victory of the Islamic Revolution and were even more powerful then; however, despite all their hostile measures, such as the surprise US military attack that failed in the desert of Tabas, the imposition of the 8-year war by Saddam, the US downing of Iran’s passenger plane (with 290 people on board) and the economic blockade, they have not achieved anything. Now the Islamic system of government is like a firmly rooted Tree of Virtue bearing fruits and growing.” 

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed: “The sensitivity of the situation is due to the fact that the Islamic Republic, through setting on a new course and raising various views and opinions over the past 40 years, has been moving against the current of hegemony and the domineering system.”

In such conditions of the conflict-ridden jungle of international politics, he said, “various conditions and necessities arise and so, in every condition, we must act accordingly and with complete care.”   

He elaborated on the current conditions and their requirements, saying, “Today, the Islamic Republic is facing an all-out economic war that is being directed from a war room and with absolute precision and full attention; accompanied by the media and propaganda war.”

Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that this media war existed in the past, but has now grown more intense, adding, “according to the intelligence at our disposal, the espionage services of the US and the illegal Zionist entity have set up bases for this media war and are seriously planning and endeavoring to contaminate the society’s ideological climate with the financial help of the wealthy regional puppet regimes.”

He said: “The objective of this media war is to create despair, disappointment and a sense of deadlock and make the people skeptical toward each other and toward responsible apparatuses by exaggerating the magnitude of the economic woes.”    

He pointed to an example, saying, “In the issues concerning gold coins, foreign currencies and national currency devaluation, the media war and disinformation campaigns by ill-wishers were influential. Of course, we don’t expect anything other than wickedness from the enemy; however, we should be careful not to contribute to this misrepresentation aimed at contaminating the minds of the people.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said: “Sometimes exaggeration occurs in the expression of problems or criticism, and this overstatement will result in the exacerbation of public opinion anxiety and also the spread of the skepticism virus in the society.” 

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution reiterated, “The general climate of the country must not become such that positive measures undertaken by the government becomes hard to believe, whereas lies and propaganda by the enemy becomes believable. This condition is very dangerous.”

He stressed that the virus of skepticism toward the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary and Revolutionary institutions is bad, but at the same time said goodwill criticism is necessary to reform affairs, adding, “Sometimes criticisms must be public and must not be whispered in the ear all of the time; however, speaking in a way that the audience is scared stiff and considers everything lost is not a correct move.”    

He added: “Sometimes we make mistakes in the manner of criticism, because the apparatuses that are subjected to criticism also have good deeds that must also be seen and spoken about.”

Ayatollah Khamenei once again stressed that the positive and negative aspects of the administration and other apparatuses must be seen alongside each other, saying, “Stating the evil acts besides the virtuous acts will result in the people knowing that there are also good measures and actions and not be disheartened.”

He stressed that despite all of the disinformation campaigns by ill-wishers and the problems, the Revolution and the country is advancing. He said: “I say with precise intelligence that the country is moving toward revolutionary concepts, ideals and truths. Although the advance rate might not be as expected, the system is moving forward in various fields of science, industry, political dignity, ideological and spiritual growth and there has been good advances.”

He cited the daily increasing inclination toward spirituality among youths despite the voluminous misleading contents and propaganda in cyberspace as a clear example, saying, “The huge turnout of the youths in the Arba’een march (to Karbala in Iraq), the E’tekaaf in Rajab and Ramadhan, congregational prayers at universities and other sessions in the month of Ramadhan show progress in spiritual grounds. Why should we not see these positive points and advances? These truths must be seen, analyzed and publicized, particularly by those who have many audiences.”

Ayatollah Khamenei then elaborated on an important point in the country’s current conditions, namely “coherence between the people and management apparatuses of the country,” saying, “An important part of confidence-building and winning trust hinges on measures by various apparatuses; indeed, those with a tribune must also help this bid.”

He stressed that no administration can operate without the help and support of the people and the public trust in administrative and judicial apparatuses and Armed Forces must not be destroyed.

He added: “The solution to the problems of the country is not walking out on the administration and distancing oneself from the activities of government departments, but the remedy is the creation of a healthy link between public opinion and relevant government bodies, speaking up and making criticism and at the same time providing intellectual and practical help.”  

The Leader urged administrative officials to utilize people’s views and the solutions of economic experts including on the issue of the value of national currency and the direction of liquidity. He said: “The duty of administration officials is using the views of experts and mobility to resolve problems.”

He said: “Our responsibility is guiding the administration officials toward using the views of experts and solving the problems and making the people optimistic about their efforts and in such a case the complications of public opinion will be resolved.” 

In response to some remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “My private sessions with administration, judiciary and military authorities are ten times more than general and publicized meetings and in these meetings various issues are discussed that the general public is not aware of.” 

He stressed, “Bickering is not the way to reform, just as the creation of parallel institutions and [doing] parallel work with the administration is not expedient and successful and experience shows that actions should be taken by those responsible for them within legal channels.” 

In conclusion, he pointed to an example of the progress of the Islamic Republic in the realm of spirituality and the life story of one of those martyred while defending the holy shrine of the Prophet’s granddaughter in Syria and cited ayahs of the Holy Qur’an, stressing, “If we stand up against the enemies, they will be forced to back down and with the grace of God, we will bring the hegemony down to its knees and we will show all of the world this example that if the supporters of Islam be ready to defend and struggle, they will certainly prevail.”

AS/SS