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In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

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و الحمدلله ربّ العالمين و الصّلاة و السّلام علي سيّدنا محمّد و آله الطّاهرين‌

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I congratulate all of you, dear youths and future hopes of the country;

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[I congratulate] both those graduates, who have officially joined the Armed Forces and the Army of the Islamic Republic,

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and [also felicitate] newly admitted [cadets] and this year’s epaulette awardees,

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who celebrated the beginning of their auspicious movement today.

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As you said during your oath taking [ceremony] and we heard, this is a promising path [that you have taken].

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In fact, the path you have taken is one of the topmost examples of a promising path.

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I deem it necessary to thank the commanders of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army’s military academies,

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which thank God, [these academies] have [greatly] developed. At the outset of the Islamic [Revolution], we only had one military academy,

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[but] today there are several [military] academies, which are busy working and training youths in various sectors.

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I [also] thank commanders of these academies, [and] commanders of the three forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army.

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I [thank] teachers, especially the esteemed teachers, who teach these courses,

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[and] the esteemed clerics, who strive for religious training of these dear youths

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and take sincere part in their excursions, in their classes, [and] in their gatherings; I thank all of you and congratulate you.

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This path, which you dear youths of today have chosen is a blessed path

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and by selecting this path, you have created a wealth for your country.

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You young people are the great wealth of the country in the true sense of the word.

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For any country, no wealth, [and] no source of power could be more valuable than efficient and faithful and free-thinking and proud manpower

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and today, you are an example of this great bounty and this great wealth; [therefore,] appreciate this.

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The dear youths of today have not seen the [eight-year Iraqi] Imposed War [against Iran]. The majority or all of you dear youths, who are in this arena today,

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are among those who have been born after the end of war.

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The period of the Sacred Defense [the Iraqi Imposed War against Iran] was a strange period, was an important period, [and] was the period for [passing] a difficult test.

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Great and perseverant human beings show their true worth in [such difficult] tests,

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[and] it is there that the essence [of such people] is revealed.

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During the Sacred Defense, the essence of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army was revealed.

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[Through its presence] in various sectors, the Army managed to take brilliant and major steps by taking advantage of its different elements.

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You have [just] heard the name of the Sacred Defense. One of those steps, which is very necessary [to be taken] in these very [military] academies and in the general environment

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of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, and especially in the Armed Forces,

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is increasing familiarity [of the young generation] with the period of the Sacred Defense.

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The period of the Sacred Defense was not an ordinary period, [and] was not a normal period.

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[Under normal conditions,] the Armed Forces spend many years in peace and waiting for the rainy day.

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The rainy day is that day in which their country, their nation, their borders, [and] their identity come under aggression;

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it is then that the Armed Forces form the frontline of defense and pass their test.

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During the period of the Sacred Defense everything in the country was under aggression;

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not only the country’s borders, [but also] the national identity of the country, the Islamic establishment of the country, the great revolution of the Iranian nation,

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[and] numerous values, which this great nation had held before its eyes, were all under aggression.

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At that time, it was not simply the Baathist regime of [the former Iraqi dictator] Saddam [Hussein], which stood against us,

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[but the Imposed War] was, in fact, a general war, [and] an international war against the Iranian nation. NATO helped Iraq,

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America helped, then Soviet Union helped, [and in addition,] reactionary Arabs

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channeled their financial and material aid and their petrodollars toward them like a flood.

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Their propaganda [machine] – which was and still is under control of Zionists – across the globe, day and night.

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made efforts in their favor and against the Islamic Republic of Iran In this huge battle,

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[and] through this [development which was similar to the] Resurrection Day, the huge force of the Iranian nation,

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the force of faith, the force of resistance, the force of trust in God, the force that relied on [the leadership of the late leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah] Rouhollah [Khomeini],

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and on top of all of them, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran establishment rose up [against enemies]. This is [the true meaning of] rising up for the cause of Allah.

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[As put by the Quran:] “You [must] rise up for [the cause of] Allah, [and seek truth] in pairs and individually.”

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[Therefore,] [all Iranian forces] rose up [against enemies] for [promoting the cause of] Allah, entered the arena, [and] took advantage of their life, of their force, [and] of their capability [in this regard].

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My dear ones, [and] my dear youths! These [people] are your past generation.

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These are those [people] whom you have succeeded and you have been handed down their honors.

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At that time, Army was not endeared by [the Iranian] people to this extent; [the likes of former commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces General Ali] Sayyad [Shirazi] and [Major General Abbas] Babaei

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and [other] great personalities of the Army with their sacrifices,

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[and all those] commanders and generals, who used all their power to counter the enemy in the warfronts,

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it was them who created this honor, [and] it was them who

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created this [high degree of] popularity for the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran. I have been witness to their struggles up-close

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and have seen what they did and how they [entered the arena of war and] chipped in their lives and their capability.

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My dear ones! Equip yourselves, [and] prepare yourselves; [I mean,] both in scientific and technical terms,

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and in terms of organizational readiness and discipline,

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and in terms of faith-based and ideological and spiritual readiness, and this [latter form of readiness] is [a good] backing for all of the others.

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Lend your hearts to God on this path. Your country is a big country, is an important country, [and] is a magnificent country;

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[while] your nation is a smart and brave and mighty nation.

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This is not something that I say, [because] today, across the world, all those who are familiar [with this nation]

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and are willing to talk about it, say this openly and [even] enemies, who are not willing to confess openly,

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believe this at [the bottom of] their hearts, and what they believe [in this regard] is revealed in many cases and we hear about that.

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[On the other hand,] due to [its] independence, due to [its] faith, due to [its] belief in Islam,

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due to [its] belief in the sovereignty of God’s religion on Earth and in the society, [and] due to the lofty values that [the Iranian nation] strives for,

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it also faces a vast front of enemies, who are constantly busy [conspiring against it].

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Of course, [the enemies] have been attacking [the Iranian nation] for about forty years

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and have certainly failed; they have failed up to this day and, through God’s assistance, they will fail after this as well.

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You must play your role in the real sense of the word in making the enemy fail;

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therefore, you must get prepared [to achieve this goal]. I seriously ask the esteemed teachers, [and] the esteemed clerics,

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who deal with these pure hearts, [and] with these dear youths,

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to do all in their power to transfer their own experiences, [as well as] their spiritual and scientific and non-material preparedness to

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these dear youths. Through God’s assistance and by God’s Grace great men will be made of you in the future,

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and God willing, you will be a source of honor for the country; [of course,] if you persevere.

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I hope the Almighty God would make all of you successful

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and, God willing, your future would be much better than your present and this will [certainly] happen through God’s assistance,

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and the future of this country will be much better and more advanced than its present state.

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The blessed name of Vali-e Asr [the last Shia Imam] (PBUH) (May Our Souls Be Sacrificed for Him) is the source of blessing for what we say and blesses our gathering.

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I hope that Honorable One would pray for us and our dear martyrs and our Honorable Imam [Khomeini] would be satisfied with us and with what we do.

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Peace be unto you and so may the mercy of Allah and His blessings