Supreme Leader's Speech in Meeting with People from the Holy City of Qom (2014/01/09 - 19:55)

The following is the full text of the speech delivered on January 9, 2014 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with people from the Holy City of Qom. The meeting was held on the occasion of the anniversary of the uprising 19th of Dey by the people of Qom.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Supreme Leader's Speech in Meeting with People from the Holy City of Qom

I welcome all of you dear brothers and sisters, outstanding ulama, honorable scholars, enthusiastic youth and all the people of Qom who showed their prominence, enthusiasm, understanding, courage and diligence during the great and determining events in recent years. The events in contemporary history are evidence of this prominence and courage. Although the 19th of Dey is a prominent and unique day because of different reasons, what the people of Qom did on the 19th of Dey is not - without a doubt - the only prominent action that they have taken. Whenever we analyze the positions that you people of Qom adopted during the post-revolutionary events, during the Sacred Defense Era, during the important and determining events that took place in recent decades and during many other different events, we always see outstanding and prominent positions. Thankfully, you are such a people.

These events have made Qom the center of Shia and Islamic clergy and the symbol of the greatness of the Islamic Republic in the present time. One of the things that analysts and experts - from among our enemies or friends -on issues related to Iran and the Islamic Republic focus on is the city of Qom, Qom Islamic Seminary, the people of Qom and the events of Qom. As Allah the Exalted has bestowed success on you dear, brave, active and diligent people until today, I hope that He will help and guide you in the future as well. In the future, our country will definitely need people who have strong willpower and firm determination and who take dynamic steps.

It is thirty-plus years now that different thinkers and experts and those who have a minbar [pulpit] have spoken about the 19th of Dey. They have studied, analyzed and explained the different aspects of this event and they have spoken about its role and influence. Nonetheless, I think that the important event of the 19th of Dey still requires more analysis and research. This event has a number of features which are instructive and which can be expanded on.

One of these features is that the event of the 19th of Dey, which took place in Qom, is the manifestation of this holy ayah: ﴾Then We gave the punishment to those who were guilty, and helping the believers is ever incumbent on Us﴿. In this ayah of the holy sura ar-Room, Allah the Exalted says that helping believers is a responsibility which is incumbent on Him. There are several other ayahs like this in the Holy Quran such as this ayah: ﴾A promise which is binding on Him in the Taurat and the Injeel and the Quran﴿ [The Holy Quran, 9: 111]. There are other such ayahs in this regard as well.

Allah the Exalted says that this is a responsibility which is incumbent on Him. That is to say, this is the responsibility of the God of the world to help believers achieve victory. Well, under what circumstances does this happen? Under what circumstances do believers achieve victory? This happens when there is seemingly no hope of victory. As you can see in these ayahs, this happens when the enemies of faith stand up against believers with their outward power and strong fists and when there is a great battle between the two camps of truth and evil. In such circumstances, God says, "And helping the believers is ever incumbent on Us".

The day when the youth of Qom - including clerics and other religious people from different social backgrounds - came to the streets of Qom and defended Imam, truth and the hoisted flag of fighting against taghut and the day when they were faced with the bullets of the mercenaries of the taghuti regime and their blood was shed on the asphalt- no one among the people would have believed what great influence this event would exert. These people had a sense of responsibility. Therefore, they utilized their forces and what was available to them and they entered the arena.

Would the people of Qom have believed that the 19th of Dey would give rise to this great development - that is to say, this chain of revolutionary activities and uprisings - and that it would lead to a great public uprising which would overthrow the taghuti regime? Would the people of Qom have believed that what they were doing would bring about many blessings? They would not have believed that such a thing would happen, but for "...and helping the believers is ever incumbent on Us" is a source of victory. When a group of individuals and - on a large scale - a people in a country have true faith, when their faith is enormous, when this faith is accompanied by insight and when this insight is accompanied by action, then victory will be certain.

Whenever believers fail to achieve victory, this is either because their faith is weak and false - they believe in something which they should not - or because their faith is not accompanied by insight about global issues and issues related to their own environment. Lack of insight is like blindness. If one does not have eyes, he cannot see where he is going. Without insight, even if you have strong determination and willpower, you do not know where you should go. This is the reason why we placed great emphasis on insight on the issue of the 9th of Dey. Of course, some people did not like it. If there is no insight, our faith may make us deviate from the right path. Sometimes, a person who does not have knowledge and insight about the events that are happening around him takes the wrong path. Not only does lack of insight waste all his energy, but it will also drag him towards deviant paths. Therefore, insight is necessary.

If one's righteous deeds are accompanied by strong, true, insightful and steadfast faith, then victory will be definite. Those who do not achieve victory do not have either of these things: true faith, resistance or insight. This is like dropping the load on the ground in the middle of the way. Without these elements, one will naturally not achieve any result. The people of Iran have provided themselves with these elements. Their faith was true because their leader was an honest, competent and knowledgeable leader. He was a faqih who was well-informed about global issues, who was not after personal and materialistic interests and who was well-versed in the Book and the Sunnah. He showed the right path to the people and the people moved forward with insight. They knew what they should do and they did it: "And helping the believers is ever incumbent on Us". They are the same people today.

What is important for us is to think carefully about our behavior in the past and to learn a lesson from our weak and strong points. Today, we are in the same situation as we were in the past. No one should have the illusion that those who confronted the Islamic Republic with all their power in the past have changed their mind today. Today, they are confronting the Islamic Republic as well, but any enemy retreats if he is forced to. If you force him to retreat, he will retreat, but he does not change his mind about his enmity towards us. This is the way of the world today. The enemy and his camp should be known and the enemy's smile should not be taken seriously and it should not deceive us.

We should not forget about our goal either. The goal of the Islamic Republic is to attain the ideals of Islam which are the worldly and otherworldly happiness of all human beings and progress in material and spiritual arenas. This goal should not be forgotten. We should pursue this goal and be sure that victory is certain with faith, steadfastness and insight about the events around us, about current issues, about the enemy and about the arena of action and fighting. This issue should receive attention.

This is the reason why I repeatedly say that the prospects which lie ahead for the Islamic Republic are bright prospects. This is because our people, our youth, our men and women are - thankfully - pious and perceptive. They know the enemy and they are diligent and innovative. Which issue did our youth fail to resolve? We managed to move forward whenever there were necessary infrastructures. This is in the shade of those talents and capabilities which Allah the Exalted bestowed on our religious people.

This is the nature of the task: we should move forward in practical, social and political areas, areas related to construction and other different areas. Whenever we trusted our capabilities, we managed to move forward. Today, we can do the same thing. I have always recommended that the honorable officials should pay attention to the domestic capabilities of our country in order to solve the problems. We should not pin our hopes on the outside. Of course, issues related to the area of foreign policy should be solved. There is no doubt about this. An active people, an active administration and an active government should be active in all arenas. Therefore, it is necessary to be active in international, regional and diplomatic areas as well as other areas. However, our hopes should be pinned on divine assistance and guidance and on the domestic capabilities of our people and our country. This is what insures the country.

Today, you see that the enemies of Iran do not know our people and our country. Of course, they have always failed to know the people of Iran or they have always failed to know them in the proper way. They have always made this mistake and today, they are making the same mistake. They think that our people have held their hands up to surrender under pressure from their sanctions and economic siege. But this is not the case. You enemies are making a mistake. The people of Iran are not a people who hold their hands up as a sign of surrender. Our people did not surrender even when they were in more difficult conditions.

One clear, definite and undeniable example of this is the eight-year imposed war. Is eight years of resistance a minor achievement? Is it a minor achievement to defeat all the global powers that helped a criminal to work against our country and our people? Is this a minor feat? In this case too, there was "...and helping the believers is ever incumbent on Us". In this case too, showing firm determination and willpower and bringing God-given capabilities to the arena of action solved the problems one by one.

Was our first day of battle equal to the following one, two, three years? During the war, victories came one by one. The entire world saw that America, the Soviet Union of those days, Europe, NATO, England and other people supported the Ba'ath regime and criminal Saddam so that he could occupy our dear country forever. However, he was frustrated after eight years, without being able to get close to achieving even one fraction of his goals. After eight years, he had to retreat with a great loss, with so many dead soldiers and with great humiliation on an international level.

Today, the same conditions exist. Today too, confronting the enmity of the enemies and overcoming all the current problems is possible by showing resistance, by relying on the domestic capabilities of the country and by trusting God who has prepared hearts in such a way and who has guided them towards this path. When the enemy sees that our people are determined, that they are standing firm and that they have decided to move things forward, he will have to retreat. This is possible. The people of Iran will shatter their illusions.

They think that because they imposed sanctions on Iran, it was forced to come to the negotiating table. But this was not the case. Before they said such things, we had announced that the Islamic Republic would negotiate - whenever it thinks it is expedient - with this Satan on specific issues in order to eradicate its evil deeds and solve the problems. This does not mean that the Iranian nation has become desperate. This has never been the case.

One of the blessings of the recent negotiations was that the enmity of the Americans and the officials of the government of the United States of America towards Iran and the Iranians, and towards Islam and Muslims became clear to everyone. Everyone realized this. Whenever they fail to take any action, they say, "We cannot". They are right. They really cannot. They say, "If we could, we would disintegrate the nuclear industry of Iran, but we cannot". Of course, they cannot. Why can they not do this? It is because our people decided to stand on their own feet and show resistance on this issue and on all other issues. They decided to bring their innovation to the arena and they did it. Therefore, the enemy cannot do anything. This is true on all issues.

Their enmity and incapability has become clear and they are desperately trying to do this and that in the present time. Their political personalities, their newspapers and their political parties are showing their personal and old grudges, as they have shown it over the last 30 years with different words and statements. The issue of human rights, the issue of Islam and the issue of our commitment to religious principles are issues which they always complain about. Everyone has the right to speak about human rights except for the Americans because they have been the greatest violators of human rights not only in the past, but also in the present time.

It is with the support and assistance of the Americans that the usurping Zionist regime is doing all these evil acts in the region. What situation is Palestine in? What situation are the Palestinians in? What situation is Gaza in? Do people in the world not know in what situation the people of Gaza are? In that oppressed land, a patient who is in urgent need of treatment is bedridden and he does not have access to basic medications. Why is that? It is because America is behind the usurping Zionist regime.

If a country and an innocent people are surrounded by the enemy, if they have no way out, if they do not have any resources, if the patients in this country do not receive basic treatment, if the hungry continue to starve, if they are deprived of basic requirements for living, then are these things not oppression? Are these acts not a violation of human rights? Are they not ashamed of speaking about human rights?

In the beginning, when this person decided to run for elections, one of the promises that he gave to the people of America in his election campaign was to close the Guantanamo prison. Six, seven years have passed now. Was the Guantanamo prison closed? The Americans are such people. They oppress and attack people, they bring their drones to Afghanistan and Pakistan, they kill innocent people and they commit thousands of crimes against civilians in different areas by adopting methods which are unknown to people - in the present time, they commit crimes with methods which are unknown to people throughout the world, but they will be known in the future. This is while they speak about human rights.

It is we who claim the government of the United States of America and many western governments are violating human rights. It is we who claim this and who question them. It is we who make a complaint against these people to public opinion throughout the world. But they will not have any answer for what they have done.

If the people of Iran want to liberate themselves from their material and spiritual problems - including moral and economic problems - they should rely on themselves, their thoughts, their determination, their faith, their youth and their outstanding personalities. They should know that it is God who provides the cure. Dear brothers, dear sisters, dear people of Qom and Iran, you should know that the people of Iran have shown they can overcome all these obstacles and achieve their goals by relying on Allah the Exalted.

May Allah the Exalted bestow His mercy on our magnanimous Imam who rose up from Qom, who showed this path to us and the people of Iran, who continued this path with his determination, faith, resistance and reliance on God and who helped us moved forward on this path. By Allah's favor, all of us are committed to continuing this path until the end. May God bestow His mercy on the dear martyrs of the revolutionary era, on all the martyrs from the Sacred Defense Era until today, on the dear martyrs of Qom and on all of you dear brothers and sisters.

Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings