In a message marking the birth anniversary of Hazrat Zaynab (peace be upon her) and Nurses’ Day, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, described the role of the Zaynabi women and girls of Islamic Iran as astonishing. He highlighted their remarkable role during the Iranian nation’s unparalleled mission (be‘that). He noted that nurses play a role in reviving hope and have an important influence on society's physical and spiritual health and security. He urged health officials to pay special attention to the nursing community.

The text of the Leader's message is as follows:

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Each year, the fifth of Jumadi al- ‘Ulaa commemorates the blessed birth of a lady raised in the shelter of love and nurturance, who has always been a source of praise, admiration, and pride for the Friends of God. The pinnacle of this brilliance came during the epic of Ashura. On the one hand, she displayed boundless compassion, benevolence, and patient concern for the oppressed on the plains of Karbala. On the other hand, she became a distinguished symbol of steadfastness and courage. From the outset, Zaynabi women and girls in Iran have profoundly shaped the history of the Islamic movement and the Revolution.

This presence grew astonishingly, both in quality and in quantity, during the nation’s unparalleled resurgence in the Third Sacred Defence. Today, women in Islamic Iran who follow Lady Zaynab’s example play a prominent role across many spheres, especially in the public squares of cities and villages. There, behind the lines of hard war, they pioneer the exposition (tabyin) of important issues to the public and to the resistance. Indeed, the tyrants of the age, who constantly desire this nation's suffering, pain, and repression, find no power to confront this vast army.

The people of a land devoted to the Pure Household (the Ahl al-Bayt, God's blessings and peace be upon them all) have rightly designated Zaynab al-Kubra's birthday as a day to honour the status of the nurse. They do so in recognition of her compassion, empathy for those who suffer, and selfless devotion to their welfare. Indeed, many of these moral qualities and human virtues are evident among the hardworking and invaluable members of the nursing profession. Like other professions, including physicians, teachers and educators, religious scholars and emergency responders, nurses fulfil a revitalising, hope-inspiring role. For this reason, nurses are sometimes regarded as angels of mercy. This is especially true when, amid the ill-temperedness and impatience of those in pain and suffering, they provide comfort, inspire hope, and support patients' recovery and treatment, becoming a means through which divine mercy descends. Unlike physicians, nurses' role in treating patients requires a continuous, attentive, and patient presence. This kind of presence goes beyond the physical. It is a balm for psychological and spiritual pain and, in many cases, prevents despair from taking hold.

In this way, fulfilling this compassionate role achieves what lies beyond the physicians' capacity.

This is an age when the despicable network of arrogance (estekbar) would spare no effort to inflict injustice and crime upon free and resisting nations, especially the Iranian nation. Among other things, they seek to impose suffering on the great Iranian nation by imposing various restrictions on treatment and medicine. Supporting nurses and strengthening the nursing community are essential to society's physical and spiritual health and security. Particular attention must be given to preserving and enhancing nurses’ knowledge, skills, capabilities, vitality, motivation and dignity, especially for those who have devoted themselves to working in non-private institutions. Health officials, therefore, are expected to give these important matters the priority they deserve, in keeping with their commitment to their duties.

I congratulate our dear nation, the conscientious and determined women of our Islamic homeland, and especially our brothers and sisters in the nursing profession, on these two auspicious occasions.

Finally, I pray for divine mercy upon the oppressed and self-sacrificing martyrs of the nursing community, particularly the nurses who were martyred during the Second and Third Imposed Wars and the sedition of Dey 1404 (December 2025–January 2026).

I also hope that, through the prayers of our Master (may Allah the Almighty hasten his noble reappearance), Almighty God will grant the Iranian nation ever-greater dignity and strength, together with all that befits those who follow the school of Lady Zaynab (peace be upon her).

Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei

16 October 2026

24 Mehr 1405