In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
الحمدلله ربّ العالمين
و الصّلاة و السّلام علي سيّدنا محمّد و آله الطّاهرين
سيّما بقيّةالله في الارضين
First of all, you are very welcome, dear youths, dear children, dear brethren and sisters.
With your spirit, you brought to life the memory of the important developments [that took place] on the 13th [day of the Iranian calendar month] of Aban (November 5), which are decisive and determining developments in our [contemporary] history.
I am very content and happy to meet with you, dear youths.
Secondly, there is a point about our country, which is remarkable.
That point is that young people in all countries, [and] among all nations are considered as a driving force;
like a car’s engine, they are the driving force behind the huge movement of their respective societies. It is like this in all countries;
of course, [this is true] if [those] young people have not become corrupt, have not been plagued with decadence,
have not been afflicted [with all kinds of problems, and for example] have not become addicted [to illicit drugs]. The nature of the youth is activity and [serving as a] driving [force] and being pioneer,
but in our country, this spirit has not remained limited to the level of the youth in its conventional and ordinary sense. [When we say] a young person,
[we usually mean] for example an 18-year-old, [or] a 20-year-old boy or girl; this is [the common meaning of] youth.
[However,] the age for activity and vibrancy of the youth is lower in our country;
I mean, an adolescent ageing 13 years, 14 years, [or] 15 years
does the same thing, sees the same thing, pursues the same goals, [and] demonstrates the same spirit and force that in other places,
are expected of a 20-year-old, 22-year-old, [and]a 25-year-old young person.
The level of movement, the level of creating effervescence, [and] the level of [acting as a] driving [force] has reached the adolescents in our country. This is [a] characteristic of our country.
On what basis do I say this? Both before the revolution, and during important developments related to the revolution,
and during the Sacred Defense period [the eight-year Iraqi imposed war on Iran], and at the present time,
these are things that we are observing. Before the revolution, I was in [city of] Mashhad; I saw [the situation in] Mashhad and sometimes, when I went to Tehran, I [also] saw [conditions in] Tehran.
In many places, young people’s eagerness for receiving the basic concepts of the revolution, [particularly those concepts, which were] especial to young [university] students and [people] at the age of youth, was less than expected.
I myself held sessions in this very [city of] Tehran for a limited number of
high school kids – I mean, [for those who aged] 16 years, 17 years, [and] 18 years – at that difficult time of repression;
later on, all of them or most of them entered the arena of struggle [against the Pahlavi regime]; some of them are now among our renowned martyrs
– the same people, [and] the same kids – [and] some of them underwent important and sensitive developments at the time of [anti-regime] struggles.
It was the same in Mashhad; high school adolescents and those [people] who had not experienced the period of youth yet
and had not actually entered the period of youth in the real sense [of the word], were involved in struggles; this pertains to [years] before [victory of] the revolution.
During the beginning time of the general developments of the revolution, well, our young students
did something [as a result of] which, the 13th [day] of Aban was named after them.
[This day] is the Student Day, the day of struggle, and [the day of] massacre of students.
Three important developments took place on the 13th of Aban; one [of them] is related to the massacre of students. Well, if they were not inside the arena, if they did not struggle,
[and] if their presence had no effect, they did not face that brutality and wickedness of the agents of the monarchial regime and were not martyred.
[What young people did] during the period of the Sacred Defense is a totally different story! Adolescents aged 14 years, [or] fifteen years went to war
and fought like young mature, [and] efficient men; some of them were martyred like Hossein Fahmideh;
[and] some of them were taken into captivity, like these couple of captive adolescents whose stories and books have been printed, [and] their memoirs have been published,
and when one reads about the feelings of these adolescents, he feels that he is moving around in a world beyond this material world.
[You read that] a young boy aged sixteen, fifteen, [or] seventeen [years]
stood like a mountain in the face of that wicked and strict Baathist agent during the period of captivity;
where in the world you can see such things? Which young generation in the world is made up of such people?
It has been also like this since the end of the [Iraqi imposed] war up to the present time. Let me tell you that my information about various issues of the country is extensive
and I am informed of [things that happen in] many places; I know that our young students, [and] our adolescents
in various sectors, both act well and understand [various matters] well; they understand small and precise matters.
A present-day adolescent who is sixteen [or] seventeen years [old] and goes to high school, in many cases,
at the present time, understands [various] matters better [and] analyzes [them] better than the time that the likes of this humble one were young [and aged] up to 25 years and 26 years
and perhaps after that; this is the characteristic of our country.
My dear ones, dear youths, dear adolescents, [and] my dear children!
Know the value of this position and these facilities. You and your generation are the same generation, which God willing, will take this country to the climax [of progress].
We have many aspirations, [and] have big ideals.
The hostilities of enemies have so far failed to have any effect, so that they have not been able to do a damn thing.
[I do] not [mean] that they have not taken hostile measures, [and] have not been active [against us]; quite the opposite, they have taken as many hostile measures as you may imagine, [and] have been active [against us].
The same steps that they have taken to divert young generations [from the right path] in various countries have been taken in our country as well;
from encouraging [the use of] narcotics to encouraging prostitution, to [developing] misleading computer games and the likes of these;
they have taken all these measures. They have [even] been successful in some places, and may
have been able to divert some people in some places, but the young generation, [and] the adolescent generation still exists today with the same bright vision, which existed in the early [years after victory of the] revolution
and is still expected of. The reason is this very thing that you observe. A young person living in the [Iranian decade of] 1380s (2000s),
has not seen the war [with Iraq], nor the [late] Imam [Khomeini], nor the [course of the] revolution, but today,
this adolescent of ours is pursuing the same concepts with the same bright vision [and] with the same vigor that
at that time an educated young person did. You can [do anything];
you can overcome the enemy’s plots; you can overcome [all] hardships and obstacles and take this country
to that point, which is desirable from the viewpoint of the Islamic ideals and the Islamic Revolution; you can [do this].
And God willing, this will happen, [and] this will take place to the dismay of the enemy.
Of course, [achieving] these [goals] has conditions; one of its conditions is that you should know the enemies; [and] should not be deceived [by the enemies].
Of course, our nation has enemies, small and big, [but] that [enemy] on which I emphasize,
and is [our] enemy in the real sense of the word and takes hostile measures and shows wickedness, is America.
This is not out of bigotry, [and] this is not out of some sort of pessimistic viewpoint؛
this is the result of an experience, of a correct [and] real understanding, [and] of seeing the field [of action]. I am seeing the field.
It is not like that they are solely hostile toward this humble one or toward the administration of the Islamic Republic; no,
they are opposed to the essence of this nation, which has stood [against them], [and] this nation, which does not get tired of faceoff with the enemies, [and] they are averse to this, [and] hostile toward this.
You saw [this]. Quite recently, the president of America said the Iranian nation is a terrorist nation.
You just see what a silly viewpoint is this one [of the US president]! He calls an entire nation terrorist! He does not say that the leader [of Iran] is terrorist,
[and] does not say that the administration is terrorist; he says the Iranian nation is terrorist! Is this not [a clear sign of] hostility?
A few years ago, another American statesman had also noted that ‘we must uproot the Iranian nation and eliminate it’. What a fool!
Can you uproot a nation, especially such a nation with this historical record, [and] with this stout cultural tree? Look!
[This] is hostility; when [a party] is enemy [to another party], its eyes are closed; just like a person who cannot see,
cannot calculate [the odds] properly, [and] cannot assess [the situation] correctly, [and it is clear] that this inability to calculate [correctly]
causes it to be defeated. [The enemy is defeated,]
because it cannot calculate properly, because it does not know the field [of action] correctly, [and this is why] it is [easily] defeated, just as [our enemies] have been defeated!
At the present time, about forty years have passed since the victory of the revolution; since the first day [following the victory], when this revolution was a slender sapling, [the enemies] fought against it and attacked it;
today, to their dismay, [the revolution] has turned into a sturdy [and] thriving tree.
Therefore, this shows that they cannot [do anything against Iran] and have not been able [to harm it]; however, they continue their hostilities, [and] it is not limited to the present time either.
Look! There are some people who say, now let’s get along with America somehow, [and] for example, a little bit, perhaps their hostilities will diminish.
No [this cannot be allowed], because [Americans] did not show mercy even to those people who trusted America,
pinned their hope on America, and went to America for help. [You may ask] who? [I say, like a former Iranian prime minister,] Dr. [Mohammad] Mosaddeq.
In order to be able to fight against the British and stand against the British, Dr. Mosaddeq, based on what he thought,
went to Americans [for help]; he met with them, negotiated [with them] and asked [for their assistance]; [in short, he] trusted them.
The coup d’état on the 28th [day of the Iranian month] of Mordad (August 19, 1953) was staged in Iran not by Britain, [but] by America [and] against Mosaddeq.
I mean, these [Americans] are even not content with [seeing] people like Mosaddeq [in power]; they want [their own] stooges,
they want [someone who is] subservient, [and] they want underdogs; like who? Like Mohammad Reza Pahlavi; they want such a person [in power],
who would rule this bountiful, blessed, rich, [and] sensitive country, which is sensitive in terms of its geopolitical position, [and] is sensitive in terms of its various capabilities.
They want someone who has his hands tied and is in full submission to them.
Americans want this; [and] if this does not happen, they become the enemy [of that country]. They showed hostility [against revolutionary Iran] in the case of [the military attack near eastern Iranian city of] Tabas and were hit hard.
They showed hostility when they shot down our passenger plane [in the Persian Gulf]; they showed hostility through [imposing] sanctions [on Iran] since day one [after the victory of the revolution];
[and] they are still showing hostility at the present time. With regard to scuttling nuclear negotiations and the outcome of nuclear negotiations
– [or] as they call it, the JCPOA [Iran's nuclear deal] – they are acting with the ultimate degree of wickedness; [because] they are the enemy.
Dear children, [and] dear youths! Do not forget that on this very important and auspicious path that you are moving
toward the ideals – and you can and have the power [to do this] – America is your arch-enemy; do not forget this.
Well, therefore, you should not forget this point that I mentioned. Some people think that we [must] backtrack in the face of America,
[while on the opposite,] the more we backtrack, the bolder they become. The [best] way is to counter [America’s plots], is to encounter [with America], [and] is to remain steadfast;
the [best] way is that this movement, which the revolution has started, must continue. Therefore, this is the basic condition.
And I also tell you, young people, about another condition; study well, [and] work well.
Science and the study of science is one of the most basic tools and means
for [acquiring] the power to counter [all kinds of] hostilities and storms and big waves and the likes of these.
Our good youths must study [well, and] learn science. Those who are elites
[must] work for their country [and] do not offer [their] service to the enemies. [In general,] studying must turn into a sublime value.
The talents of our youths, praise be to God, are good and if they study well and work [hard], without a doubt, the level of science in the country will raise.
The very rise in the level of science in the country will strengthen the internal stamina of the Iranian nation; [and the nation] will become stronger.
Due to the blessing of science, one can make his great wishes come true. God willing, you will pay attention to this [point] as well.
And my dear ones! [Try to] bolster your relationship with the Almighty God as well. Your hearts are clean,
[and] your souls are pure [and] free from contamination. [Therefore,] to attract the divine favor and the divine grace and the divine illumination,
it is much easier for you, compared to people like me, [and] you can easily do this. You can achieve this goal through recourse [to spiritual beings], through prayer, through [saying] good [daily] prayers, through attention [to spiritualities], through recitation of the Quran,
through helping the servants of God – and one of the important things to do and important acts of worship is to help the servants of God –
[and] through avoiding sin. I am certain and have no doubt
that, God willing, this present generation of yours, dear youths, will be able to make all the wishes that existed with regard to the revolution come true.
I hope the Almighty God would clear the road that is ahead of you, [so that,] your path would be an easy one
and your achievements would increase on a daily basis.
Peace be unto you and so may the mercy of Allah and His blessings