Supreme Leader Interview Before Being Discharged from Hospital (15/09/2014)

The following is the full text of an interview with Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, before being discharged from hospital following his operation on September 8, 2014.

Interviewer: Salamun alaykum

Supreme Leader: Salamun alaykum and wa rahmatullah

Interviewer: Hazrat-e Agha, I would like to express my respects.

Supreme Leader: Thank you.

Interviewer: Thank God you are leaving hospital after a week since the operation. Our enthusiastic people and enthusiastic Muslim people throughout the world would like to hear about your condition and the last moments that you are in hospital.

Supreme Leader: In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Thankfully, the operation and the following procedures were conducted in the best possible way. Now, I am going home with complete health. My body is healthy, but my heart and my soul feel a heavy burden because of the considerable amount of kindness and sympathy that was shown to me during this time.

I really feel a heavy burden on my shoulders because of all the kindness that people from different social backgrounds showed me. There was not a day when hundreds and thousands of kind and sympathetic messages from people were not showered on the heart and soul of this humble person like the life-giving drops of rain that breathe new life into the heart of a dead person or an infertile piece of land.

These messages were delivered by the honorable ulama, maraaje, outstanding personalities, the outstanding managers of the country and people from different social backgrounds. I have been shown such kindness and sympathy that I really feel humbled in the face of all this kindness to me. As well as the people of our country, we witnessed this from other peoples as well.

I have always stressed that the people of Iran have a strategic depth which is particular to them. We know of no other country and government that enjoys such roots of kindness and affection and such ideological and religious bonds outside its borders. We enjoy such roots and such bonds. In any case, I am physically healthy and, thankfully, I am in good spirits as well but I am humbled at all this kindness and sympathy that was shown to me during the past week by different sides and groups including politicians, guilds, people from different social backgrounds, artists and athletes.

Some of the messages that they delivered were broadcast on TV and some others were not broadcast. A number of them showed their sympathy and kindness by writing to me or by delivering messages through electronic media. I hope that Allah the Exalted will reward all of them.

As for the issue of the medical process, one point is that I would like to thank the physicians and those who were involved in the medical process. Well, this is a clear and definite duty. They really carried out the task in a perfect way. However, what is more important than this word of thanks is that I am really proud of our physicians. I am proud that our dear Iran is at this level of medical capability.

It is necessary for our people to really feel proud of this large number of physicians - including surgeons, internists, all those people who offer medical services and nurses. Thankfully, we have this great source of wealth: this great source of human wealth in one of the most fundamental and vital areas of the life of a society and individuals which is the area of health.

I see how dutiful, knowledgeable and skilled these people are. Of course, I knew this before. That is to say, I have always had such an outlook towards our medical society. But when one is treated by these physicians, one's information about them becomes certainty. When we are treated by these people, we tangibly feel that we have a great source of wealth comprised of our dear physicians. And I hope that Allah the Exalted will reward all of them.

Of course, as I said, our appreciation for them cannot be expressed with these few words of thanks. I told Dr. Marandi - he took the trouble and accepted the responsibility of leading the medical team - that he should thank them on my part with whatever ways and words he knows.

I would like to raise a point which is not related to the issue of hospitalization and my health condition. During the past two, three days, I had a source of entertainment which was listening to the statements of the Americans on the issue of DAESH [ISIS] and fighting against it. They made absurd, hollow and biased statements. One of the issues which was really a source of amusement for me was that the American secretary of state and the girl who stands there and talks, openly said, "We will not invite Iran to the coalition against DAESH". First, what honor is greater than the fact that America is disappointed with us and does not want us to participate in a wrong collective task. This is a source of pride for us, not a source of regret.

Second, I witnessed that all of them are lying. Since the first days that the issue of DAESH arose, the Americans asked our ambassador in Iraq - through their ambassador - to organize a meeting and reach an agreement on the issue of DAESH. Our ambassador relayed this inside the country and some of our officials were not against it. But I was against it and said, "On this issue, we will not cooperate with America particularly because their hands are dirty. How can we cooperate on this issue with those whose hands and intentions are dirty?"

Later on, the same secretary of state - who had said in front of the camera and in front of the eyes of all the world that they do not want Iran to cooperate with them - requested Dr. Zarif that Iran cooperate with them on this issue, but Dr. Zarif turned this down. The secretary of states' deputy too - the woman whom you know - had requested Mr. Araghchi that Iran cooperate with them. Both Dr. Zarif and Mr. Araghchi turned down their requests. After they turned down their requests and after we openly said that we will not cooperate with them, they said, "We do not want to involve Iran".

Earlier they formed a so-called global coalition against Syria with great fuss and uproar. They gathered 30, 40, 50 countries, but they could not do a damn thing against Syria. The same is true of Iraq. They do not intend to take serious action there either. The action that was taken against DAESH and that broke its back was not taken by the Americans. They themselves and DAESH militants too know this very well. The people of Iraq too know this very well.

The Americans know that it was the people of Iraq, the Iraqi Armed Forces and the popular forces who perfectly understood how to fight against DAESH. They have fought it and they have dealt serious blows to it so far. From now on too, they will continue to deal such blows. They will see this.

With this move, America wants to find an excuse to do the same thing to Iraq and Syria that it is doing to Pakistan. They enter Pakistan without any permission despite the existence of a well-established government and a strong army - the Pakistani army is a strong army - and they bomb wherever they want. If they do this, they will be faced with the same problems that they were faced with in Iraq for the last 10 years.

The point is that hearing these statements in my hospital bed was a source of entertainment.

Interviewer: Thank you very much. The hearts of millions of pure individuals are behind you and their prayers will always be with you.

Supreme Leader: Thank You.

Interviewer: We ask for your prayer for us.

Supreme Leader: God willing you will be successful.