Leader lauds athletes as Iran’s sporting honor

Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday September 25 gave audience to a group of medal-winning athletes who brought honor to Iran in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, and after listening to their viewpoints with interest, said: “You yourselves are the genuine medals, because the greatest benefit for a country and the prerequisite to its advance is the existence of efficient, faithful, serious, intelligent and diligent human resources.”

The Leader of the Revolution said the Iranian boys and girls earning laurels in international games seems to have thrown cold water on the nefarious designs of Global Arrogance to portray the Islamic Republic as backward.

He said: “Global Arrogance becomes furious at the triumph of the Iranian nation in any field; therefore, your victory in the arena of sports is in fact the victories of the nation and the defeat of the enemies of Iran. That is why I am truly proud of you and my message of gratitude is heartfelt in the true sense of the word.”

He pointed to the relentless efforts by the enemies to conceal the great successes of the Iranian nation in various realms, saying, “Indeed, you beloved athletes bringing honor, before the eyes of hundreds of millions of people in the world, is an irrefutable fact and this asset doubles the value of your actions.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said the creation of enduring scenes such as athletes the praying to God Almighty, prostrating in gratitude in the Divine Court after victory, dedicating their medals to the memories of the nation’s martyrs, and female athletes retaining their dignity by observing the Islamic hijab in the games, are all indicative of the Iranian, Islamic and revolutionary identity and character of the zealous athletes of Iran. He stressed, “The hired champions of some countries are incapable of showing the identity of that nation; however, our noble champions represent the identity of the Iranian nation with such honor and your actions cannot be valued with any material calculation.”  

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution approached from the same angle the topic of threats issued to Iranian athletes by some foreign centers, saying, “Submission and subordination to the dictates of Global Arrogance is not a source of pride. Thus, when faced with threats that if you do not compete in such-and-such a game or fail to carry out such-and-such a measure, so-and-so federation would be displeased with you, you should never yield to wrong and imposed threats and norms.”

He stressed that the arena of sports is not the arena of fear and consideration but the arena of courage and advance, saying: “Values and dignity cannot and must not be trampled underfoot. Indeed, the opponents of the values of the Iranian nation cannot do anything either, just as last year, when after Ali Reza Karimi conceded defeat for a greater goal, he and the wrestling federation were threatened; however, this honor-winning youth participated and was crowned in this year’s tournament.”   

Elaborating on the reason of the opposition to competing against representatives of the illegal Zionist entity, he reiterated, “After the Revolution, the Islamic Republic did not recognize the Zionist entity and the racist South African regime. Indeed, the apartheid South African regime collapsed and the usurper, deceitful and racist Zionist entity will also crumble.”

Ayatollah Khamenei made it clear:  “The Islamic Republic of Iran will not take part in sporting against representatives of the usurper Zionist entity. We believe that this move itself, an instance of which was carried out by Alireza Karimi last year, is a real championship.”

The Leader pointed to the special attention given by the people to young champions, urging them to “‘be humble, religious, progressive, revolutionary and family-loving at the same time as being champions so that in the eyes of the people you would become a role model for ‘righteousness, nobility and purity’.” 

He described the meeting with the honor-winning Iranian sports entourage as very sweet and described this day as a memorable day, saying, “Professional sports must like a mountain summit encourage all the people to do sports and make sports sweet in the eyes of everybody.” 

In this meeting, which was held in an intimate and fervid atmosphere, each of the sports champions introduced themselves and made some points about their honors and past records.

In the meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the sincere and fervent turnout of the Iranian nation in the ceremonies marking the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Husain (PBUH), which this year was larger and more profound than that of the previous years. He pointed to the recent terrorist attack in the city of southwestern Ahvaz, saying, “This bitter incident once again showed that the Iranian nation has many enemies in the proud path of progress and growth.”  

He described as cowardly the attack on defenseless people, reiterating, “The courageous act is that of the exuberant youths of the country who bring honor in scientific, defensive and sports arenas.”

He added, “According to reports, this craven act was carried out by the same people who are rescued by the Americans whenever they run into trouble in Syria and Iraq and are bankrolled by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed, “We will certainly give a severe thrashing to the elements behind this move.”

AS/ME