Hawzah News Agency - (Tehran - Iran) - Imam Khamenei met with the National Committee on Combating Coronavirus via video conference on Sunday, May 10, 2020. The President, Ministers, Governors and members of the Committee were present in this meeting.

In his statements, Imam Khamenei compared the behavior of people and officials in Iran with those in Western countries in the fight against the Coronavirus. He believes the three areas of being capable of managing, social philosophy and ethics to be three areas in which the U.S. and Europe failed in the battle against the Coronavirus.

The following is the excerpt of the statements his eminence made at this meeting:

"My purpose for this meeting was to, first of all, thank those active in fighting Corona, those who are working day and night. Secondly, I would like to thank God, the Exalted, due to the great success of the Iranian nation and the officials in combating this disease."

"I give my condolences to all those who have lost their dear ones due to Corona anywhere in the world. We pray for all those afflicted by this disease and ask God to grant elevated ranks to the health professionals who were martyred fighting this virus."

"The occurrence of an incident like the Corona outbreak has led to certain behaviors, which have been seen in some countries where people are rushing to stores and panic shopping. Such behavior is not seen in Iran at all and our people have truly shone with their calmness."

"Western civilization’s failure in the global trial of combating Corona is obvious and quite visible. The West and westernized people don't want this failure to be seen; however, it is necessary to study and speak about the various dimensions and reasons for this failure."

"Since the Corona outbreak started later in the U.S. and in Europe, they had time to prepare themselves for confronting this virus, but they failed to do so. The high numbers of those afflicted by this virus and deaths in the U.S. and in some European countries confirm this fact."

"In Western countries, health institutions ignore the elderly, the poor, people with Down syndrome and so on, because these people don't have the ability to earn money and create profits. This exposes the realities of the failure of the Western social philosophy."

"A "Health Care Network" is very essential. If as some people guess and repeatedly say, we may have a resurgence of the Coronavirus in the country, such a network can offer great help for that situation."

"About praying in sacred sites during Ramadan, I believe the National Committee on Combatting Corona’s opinion is valid, but this analysis should be done by those who understand the truths and need of praying. Then, whatever decision they make, I and everyone else will submit to it."

"Praying and supplicating God, especially during Ramadan, the Nights of Qadr, and important events is a basic human need. Of course, I believe that if the restrictions on visiting sacred sites continue, the faithful will observe these restrictions more than others."