Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei received on Saturday evening a number of university students as well as representatives of student associations where both sides shared views over academic, cultural, social, political and economic concerns.
“Given the current sensitive conditions inside the country, those with a weak faith will become hapless and disappointed while strong believers will persist no matter how much the conditions get tougher,” Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized in his general call to students to turn to Holy Quran and Islamic teachings in shaping their future conduct.
Leader later pointed to the decisive and unavoidable conflict of the Iranian nation against the arrogance front; “the impetus for the fight emerged when Iranian people decided to become independent and advanced, an aim which was in contrast with the interests of world powers.”
“Iran needs no excuse for the fight against arrogance since the endeavor is based on revolutionary backgrounds,” said the Leader.
He outlined one possible outcome of the fight as achieving full authority by Iranians, asserting “the main objective of the Islamic Revolution is to confront the enemies of the Iranian nation.”
Ayatollah Khamenei defined the Islamic Revolution as a framework of core values including justice, scientific progress, ethics, democracy, and rule of law. “Several barriers existed on the way of reaching the destination though prudence and perseverance would tackle most of the hardest problems,” highlighted the Leader, placing great importance to the role of university students in this regard.
He also urged students to clearly make their demands from the country’s high-ranking officials; “when posed along with precise and correct information, demands can set the ground to further effort on the part of authorities.”
The Leader further addressed a number of issues and concerns raised by representatives of student associations before his speech offering guidelines of proper handling of those issues.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution deemed university students as a treasure and a point of strength emphasizing that the invaluable treasure should not be forlorn and to their own devices; “students should find a deep insight into developments in the country, region and the world,” he added, underlining that “otherwise, discerning the difference between friends and enemies would prove to be difficult.”
“Enemies have spent billions of dollars to launch their unremitting propaganda against the Islamic Revolution, a plan which aims to provide an upside-down image which seek to blur the true image of the Establishment, thus “bringing to the fore our weaknesses and push our strengths back to the darker part of the scene.”
The Leader encouraged the associations to express their stance over critical issues in clear words in order to strengthen the position of friend as well as to disappoint enemies in pursuing their malicious plots.
“In taking positions, student associations need to draw upon accurate, reasonable and timely information,” underscored the Leader.
"Student associations should interpret my position in rejecting cooperation with US except for specific occasions and present it to people with strong reasoning,” recommended the leader noting the issue of Iran-US relations.
“I would not accept Western development due to its foundations and that’s why the discourse of Islamic-Iranian progress has been proposed,” he added. Plots devised by the West and the US in particular both before and after the Islamic Revolution including Pahlavi dictatorship and anti-Iran sanctions was a point by which the Leader illustrated his point.
“Not any political activist would be subject to our defamation and unjust malign solely by virtue of entertaining a different view than ours,” Ayatollah Khamenei told the meeting, “however, revolutionary organizations should rely on their commonly nurtured views on fashioning a future for the Revolution.”
Leader also called students to participate in ‘free discussions’ where they come together along with like-minded as well as diverse groups of others to ‘discuss the most pressing issues of intellectualism in the country,’ a thing he believed would have been endorsed by the late Imam Khomeini.
He pointed to the failing score of the US and France on Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA); “JCPOA proved that the US government and Congress are still enemies of Iran. Wise political insight dictates that such an enemy should be confronted with tact and its treacherous plots should not be given into,” he asserted.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran urges the US to avoid involvement and interference in the region,” stressed the Leader, “Iran’s position on regional issues rests upon a framework informed by wise foreign policy.”
“Resistance will definitely lead to victory and I will stand against arrogance as a religious and legal duty, and I trust the Iranian nation as standing with it,” the Leader concluded.
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