The following is the full text of the speech delivered by Imam Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, on October 3, 2022, during the joint graduation ceremony for the cadets studying in the academies of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces. This ceremony was held in Imam Hassan al-Mujtaba (pbuh) University of Officer and Police Training.
In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and upon his Pure Progeny, particularly the remaining vestige of God on earth.
I am very happy and thankful to God that after a relatively long break, I have the honor to see you young graduates again in a face-to-face meeting on this day this year. It is good to hear that several thousand young people have joined the Armed Forces, and this happens every year. Whether it is young university graduates who have earned the rank of officer and enter the workforce or those who enter the university, receive a shoulder mark, and study. Both of them inject a new spirit into the Armed Forces in a certain way. Both of these groups of young people bring a message of renewal and stability. Whenever young people enter a place, whenever they join an association or an organization, they actually bring the message of strength and renewal to that place. The presence of the Iranian youth in all fields is promising. So whenever they enter various fields, such as the scientific, economic, political, organizational, and military sectors, they bring with them the positive message of hope, renewal, and innovation.
Today, there is a misleading propaganda campaign going on that tries to show the opposite of this. The aim of this propaganda is to imply that the Iranian youth have lost their values, have no hope for the future, and do not feel they have any sort of responsibility. There is a propaganda campaign that is seriously pursuing this goal, [but] the reality of the matter is the opposite of this. What is happening in our country is the exact opposite. Our younger generation has progressed brilliantly in all fields and arenas up until today. God willing, they will continue to do the same in the future, whether it is to defend their homeland, to preserve security, or to help the resistance front throughout the entire region. In the great movement to defend the holy shrine – both in social services and in scientific developments – as you can see, advancements in any scientific field are in fact made by the youth. They are the ones who drive this movement. Furthermore, we have seen in religious ceremonies such as the Arbaeen Walk how millions of young Iranians traveled the path from Najaf to Karbala and how millions more walked inside the country itself. Those who could not attend the Arbaeen Walk in that spiritual environment walked in different cities inside Iran instead. In the fields of production and innovation, as you can see on television, our youth are bringing something new to the country’s manufacturing and industrial sectors every day. Everywhere you look, you see the exceptional presence of young people there, whether it is in dealing with an epidemic, in a religious aid movement, cultural work, or in relief projects during natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and the like. This young person is not going to despair. This young person is not going to detach him/herself from his/her values. This young person is an inexhaustible force on the field, and of course, the young, pious, revolutionary youth have been leaders in all these fields. This is the current situation of our young people.
Well, with this point of view, if we look at your presence here – those who have gathered in the Imam Hassan Mujtaba (pbuh) University of Officer and Police Training and also those who are hearing this speech in other universities – your presence and entry into the Armed Forces is a great asset. Your presence is a great asset, of course when it is alongside the experience of our veterans and the knowledge of the commanders.
Strengthening the Armed Forces means strengthening the country. The Armed Forces are one of the strong pillars that strengthen the country. Of course, strengthening the country does not just depend on the Armed Forces. There are also other strong pillars. Scientific advancements are a source for the country’s progress. The general faith of the people and the penetration of faith into people’s hearts is a source of national strength. A government that has been built by the people and relies on the people is a source of national pride for any country. All of these things exist, but the presence of the Armed Forces and military strength are also important means to strengthen the country’s foundation. All these various factors are able to maintain and protect the country from harmful, hostile actions. Of course, this is true for all countries and is not just limited to ours. All countries need these things to preserve their stability, but it is even more imperative in a country like ours, which is faced with aggressive enemies such as the US and other similar countries. Therefore, our defensive power needs to be strengthened.
I have always said this, and I will repeat it again. Our defense needs to be strengthened. A part of it [needs to be strengthened] from outside the Armed Forces and a part of it from inside the Armed Forces. I shall talk about the latter. The officials in the Armed Forces need to look at new, updated ways to enhance the strength of the Armed Forces. These include optimizing education and military equipment, which thankfully is something that has been initiated in our Armed Forces. However, more work needs to be done in this regard. Today, optimizing of all aspects of the Armed Forces, including military equipment, weapons, and even ammunition, is one of the important issues that needs to be addressed. The same applies to research and scientific advances, which also play an important role in strengthening the Armed Forces, as does designing complex hybrid war plans. The wars that are going on in the world today use hybrid warfare. You know, hard warfare, soft warfare, intellectual warfare, cultural warfare, war using various weapons, cognitive warfare, and the like. These are all combined together to attack a nation or a country. By the will of God, wargames should be able to take care of all these layers with new, up-to-date methods.
So, what is the primary responsibility of the Armed Forces? It is the protection of national security. This is what you young people, who have just come onto this path, need to be proud of. The Armed Forces is responsible for the general security of the country. What is the meaning of “security”? Security is the foundation for all the aspects of life in a society. It is a general foundation for personal issues, social issues, public issues, and foreign matters. Security is the foundation of all of these things. With regard to personal matters, having security means you can sleep safely in the comfort of your own home during the night, you can send your children to school in the morning without having to worry, you can commute to your workplace, and you can attend Friday Prayers without having to worry about anything. Just look at the countries that worry about these things. They can neither sleep well during the night nor can they go to work during the day. They cannot freely watch a sporting match, nor can they attend Friday Prayers or go on vacation. And this does not just apply to smaller countries. In big countries, the US being the worst, there is no security in their restaurants. There is no security in their universities. There is no security in the schools that their children attend. There is no security in their stores. That is the definition of “security” on a personal level. It means that you, your children, and your family are able to live your life while feeling secure. It means your job, business, vacation, and recreational activities are carried out in safety.
With regard to issues that are more about the public, you need to be able to sit down, think, do your work, do research, and study different subjects in a university, a seminary, a research institute, or a think tank. You cannot do this if there is no security. If security did not exist, there would be no progress. If there is progress anywhere, it is because of the security that exists in that place. Without security, it is difficult to do any work. In addition, with regard to economic investments, if you want to make an investment in the economic development of the country, you cannot do this if there is no security. Transits cannot be carried out without security. Production is not possible without security. Security is the substructure for all of these things.
Well, armed organizations are the ones who provide this never-ending, universal need of the country and the general public. This is something you should be proud of. The Army, the IRGC, the law enforcement organization, and the Basij all provide security in different ways. A person who attacks a police station is attacking the security of the country. The one who attacks one of the bases of the Basij is attacking the security of the country. The one who ridicules the Army or the IRGC in their statements or speeches is insulting the country’s security. Weakening the organizations in the Armed Forces means weakening the security of the country. The result of weakening the police is strengthening the criminals. The police have a duty to stand up to the criminals and ensure the safety of the public. The person who attacks the police is actually leaving the people defenseless against criminals, thugs, thieves, and extortionists. A great advantage that our country has is that the security we have has been built from within. It makes a big difference when a country or a nation creates security for itself from within, with its own forces, with its own power, and with its own thoughts and ideas, compared to a country that has a foreign power telling them that they will provide them with security and protection. That is like a person protecting his milking cow. These are two very different things. Our security has been built from within. We rely on no one for our security. We have succeeded in creating and maintaining this security with the strength that God has given us, God’s grace, the support of Imam Mahdi (aj), the support of the nation, and the persistence of the officials in the Armed Forces. He who relies on a foreign power, [should understand that] that foreign power will abandon him one day. [The foreign power] neither can nor wants to protect you. So, these were a few words about the issues concerning the Armed Forces. Remember them, be proud of yourselves, follow these [recommendations], do your job in a way that brings God’s satisfaction, and do your work for the sake of God.
And now for a few words about recent events. The first thing I would like to state is that in the events that have taken place over these last few days, the officers working in the country’s law enforcement, the Basij, and the Iranian nation have been wronged more than anyone else. They wronged us. Of course, the Iranian nation was present and very strong in this event too, as it has been in other events, and it will continue to do the same in the future too. In the future, whenever the enemies plan on creating unrest anywhere, it will be the courageous and faithful people of Iran who will stand up to them the most. They will be the ones who will have the most influence. They will come onto the scene as they have done before.
Yes, the Iranian nation has been wronged, but at the same time, it is strong. It is strong like its pious Master, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (pbuh), who was the strongest and yet he was the one who was wronged the most.
In the incident that took place, a young girl passed away. Well, it was a bitter event. It saddened me very much too. But the right reaction to this incident, before investigations could take place, before anything was certain yet, was not for some to come and make the streets insecure. It was not to create insecurity for people, to disrupt security, burn the Qur’an, pull off women’s scarves, and to set fire to mosques, hussainiyahs, banks, and people’s cars. This kind of reaction to a case, which was unfortunate, was not normal. This was not a natural response. These riots were planned. These riots had been planned. If the incident with the young girl had not taken place, they would have found another excuse to create insecurity and riots in the country in the beginning of the month of Mehr (September) this year. Who designed these plans? I openly state that these schemes were designed by the US, the usurping, fake, Zionist regime, and their mercenaries. They sat down and planned. They devised these schemes. Their employees, mercenaries, wage earners, and some treasonous Iranians abroad helped them.
Sometimes when I say “a certain event was planned by a foreign enemy,” some are very sensitive to the term “foreign enemy.” When I say, “Such and such was the work of foreigners. It was carried out by foreign enemies,” some quickly jump to the defense of the US and Zionist intelligence services. They use all sorts of fallacious analyses and rhetoric to try to show that foreigners were not in any way involved in that event.
Riots take place all the time around the world. If you look at Europe, especially France, massive riots occur every now and then on the streets of Paris. I want to ask you, “Has the US President or the US House of Representatives ever supported European rioters? Have they ever issued a statement saying we stand with you?”
Is there any record of the mass media – which is affiliated with American capitalism, the US government, and their mercenaries, like some of the governments in the region unfortunately, such as the Saudi government – is there any record of them supporting the rioters? Is there any record of them announcing that they will provide this hardware or that software for the internet and put it at the disposal of rioters so that they can easily communicate with each other and carry out their plans?
Is there a history of such a thing happening anywhere in the world, in any country? But it happened here, and not just once or twice. [It has happened] many times, over and over again. Well, how can you not see foreign hands at play? How can an attentive person not sense that there are other hands behind the scenes of these events? Other policies are at play.
Of course, they falsely pretend that they care that someone has passed away in the world. They’re lying. They’re not upset by this at all. In fact, they’re happy. They’re happy because they have a pretext for creating unrest. They lie. Here, the heads of the three powers of the state (executive, legislative, judicial) expressed their sorrow and sympathized with the grieving family. Then, certain elements murder other people who are innocent and have not committed any crime.
The Judiciary promised to follow up on this to the end. This is what investigations are all about. It means following up on a case, seeing the results, and seeing if anyone was guilty of something or not. And if someone was guilty, identify them. How can you make false accusations and insult such a huge organization that serves the people over the probability that perhaps one or two people have made a mistake before any research or proof has been presented? There is no logic behind this. It is clearly the work of none other than the spy agencies and malicious foreign politicians.
Now, what is the motive of these foreign governments? My perception is that they feel that the country is progressing toward achieving a comprehensive power, and they cannot tolerate this. They can feel this and see it. They can see that many old problems are fortunately being solved. Although the country has many problems, some of which started years ago, but serious work is being done to solve these problems and untie these knots. They can see the movement toward progress which is accelerating in the country. This is a fact.
In all areas, an accelerating movement can be seen and felt. They can see and feel this as well. They do not want this to happen. They can see that factories that had been almost shut down have started operating again. They can see knowledge-based companies working. They can see advanced production day by day in some sectors. They can see things being done that can neutralize the effects of the sanctions, which is currently the enemy’s only weapon. They can see these things.
In order to stop this progress, they’re making plans. They have plans for universities and plans for the streets. They have made plans. They have designed plans to close down the universities, for the youth to be preoccupied, for the state officials to have new things to deal with, and to create issues in the north-west and south-east of the county. These are all preoccupying. These are all schemes being made and carried out to stop the country’s progressive movement.
But they are mistaken, about both the north-west and the south-east. I have lived with the Baloch people. They are some of the most loyal ethnicities to the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic. The Kurds are one of the most advanced Iranian ethnicities. They care about their homeland, they care about Islam, and they care about the Islamic system. The enemy’s schemes will not work, but they work on them anyway.
These things show the enemy’s true intentions. This is the enemy that claims in its diplomatic statements that they do not want to attack Iran, they do not want to change the system of the Islamic Republic, they’re not our enemies, and they are with the people of Iran. The inner reality of that enemy is what we are seeing. The inner reality of this enemy is conspiracy, creating riots, disrupting the safety of the country, and exciting those who can be easily excited to go into the streets. This is the enemy’s inner reality.
They’re not just against the Islamic Republic. They’re against Iran. The US is against a strong Iran and against an independent Iran. The Islamic Republic is not the only issue they are fighting. Of course, they have a strong, deep animosity toward the Islamic Republic. There is no doubt about that. But even without the Islamic Republic, they are against an Iran that is strong. They are against an Iran that is independent.
They like the Iran of the Pahlavi era, a milking cow that is submissive to their orders. They want a king in Iran who for a simple decision would have to ask the English ambassador or the US ambassador what to do! How could the Iranian nation tolerate such a disgrace? This is what they’re after. They’re against Iran.
So, these are the aggressors. Control is in the hands of those behind the scenes. Therefore, the issue is not about the issue of hijab. It is not about the death of a young girl. That is not what this is about. Many Iranian women who do not observe the hijab perfectly are among the steadfast supporters of the Islamic Republic. You can see them attend religious ceremonies and events supporting the Revolution. That is not what this is about. It is about Islamic Iran’s independence, resistance, strength, and power. That is what this is about.
I will say one or two more things and end this talk. The people who are creating corruption and damaging the streets are not all the same. Some of them are young people who take to the streets due to the influence of a program on the internet. They’re energetic and emotional. Their emotions cause them to come out.
Even so, all of them together are a very small fraction compared to the Iranian nation and compared to the faithful, devoted youth of Islamic Iran. So among these people, there are some who take to the streets because of emotions and excitement. That is an issue that can be fixed with a small punishment. That is, they can be awakened and shown where they’re wrong. However, some of them are not like this. Some of them are the remainders of those who were struck down by the Islamic Republic, such as the MKO terrorists, the separatists, the remnants of the sinister Pahlavi regime, and the families of the loathed members of Savak. The Ministry of Intelligence’s recent statement clarified some of these matters to a large extent. But there is much more to this. The Judiciary must determine their punishment in proportion to how much they have participated in the destruction and damaging the security of the streets.
Another issue is that from the very beginning, some officials said things or made statements out of sympathy but without doing any research. Without having done any research, some of them accused the country’s law enforcement, some accused the police, and some accused the system as a whole. Each person did something in his/her own way.
This is a separate issue. When they saw the truth, when they realized the effect of their statements, and when they saw the enemy’s plan on the streets and in people’s lives, they should have compensated for the things they had done. They should take a stand and openly state that they are against what has happened. They should make it clear that they are against the foreign enemies’ scheme.
The truth of the issue has been made clear. When you see US political elements comparing these events to the [fall of the] Berlin Wall, you should see what they are aiming at. You should realize that this is not about feeling sorry for the death of a young girl. You should have realized this. If you did not realize it, you need to realize it now. If you have realized this, then take a stand. This is another point.
Some famous athletes and actors have also taken their own stands. In my opinion, this has no importance. You should not focus on these issues. Our athletes are part of a good community, and so are our actors. There are many faithful, loving, honorable people in these communities. Now when a few people say some things, this is not of any significance.
It is up to the Judiciary to determine whether or not their statements are considered crimes. But generally speaking, their words have no significance or value. These behaviors that make our enemies happy, do not have the ability to contaminate our community of actors and athletes.
The last thing I would like to say is to send many greetings to the police who have been martyred, the martyrs in the Armed Forces, the martyrs for national security, the recent martyrs, and all the martyrs who were on the path of righteousness.
May God’s greetings, mercy and blessings be upon you.