Hawzah News Agency - (Tehran - Iran) - The following is the full text of a speech delivered via videoconferencing on May 17, 2020 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, with the participation of a number of student groups and academic personalities. Before His Eminence began his statements, a number of students delivered speeches and expressed their viewpoints about the current affairs of the country.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master Muhammad, and upon his pure household, and may God curse all their enemies

I thank God and I am happy to see that this gathering has been held despite the current unfavorable circumstances. Of course, meeting with you youth in person would have been more satisfactory for me, but even holding it this way [via videoconference] is a new experience. I hope that this meeting will prove to be valuable to youth, to the country and to this humble person.

Students raised good points in the meeting

The discussions that the friends in the meeting initiated had certain characteristics which I wish to speak about: first of all, they were well-informed, calculated and satisfactory. In my opinion, this year’s discussions were at a higher level than previous years. Students had thought about and worked on them and this is really valuable. I am grateful for this. Well, many questions were posed. If I want to answer even some of them, that will take a lot of time. I think that if I ask our friends and representatives in universities and those departments in my office which are in contact with students and universities to answer these questions, that will be a reasonable expectation. There are clear answers for these questions and there are good explanations for the doubts and criticisms expressed in the meeting. There can be further discussions for raising these issues. As for the proposals put forward, well, they are proposals and not are all proposals operational. Some of the proposals put forward at the meeting originate from not having mastery over all aspects of the issue. This was evident. If we want to make decisions about them – either me or other organizations – this requires more work. I hope that Allah the Exalted will give us the blessing to do so.

Of course, I recommend that my office take all these proposals and study and work on each and every one of them. I would like to add that some of the criticisms that existed in the speeches of you dear ones about the performance of certain organizations were not justifiable. Some of them were justifiable and some were not. The reason why they were not justifiable is that you are not completely informed about the existing conditions. That is why some questions are raised in one’s mind and anyone being in this condition will naturally have such questions and criticisms. Anyway, these questions, these doubts and these criticisms could be resolved in direct conversations and discussions. Nonetheless, many of the points raised by you were correct and discussing them in such gatherings and programs will naturally help create discourses. I like the idea of creating public discourses in some of these areas and of guiding the minds of the masses of the people in society and in our country towards these issues and arenas.

A friend in the meeting asked what I think of the speeches made and the proposals put forward here. Well, my viewpoint can be understood from my public speeches. For example, speaking of justice, some of you complained why a certain group has criticized the heated discussions about the administration of justice. Well, you yourselves also had complaints about some extremist actions in this regard. My viewpoint about matters related to the administration of justice is a clear viewpoint and I have discussed them at length. I can discuss other viewpoints raised in the meeting, but I think that it falls again on my office or my representatives in academic and student centers. I will not discuss the points raised here any longer because if I do so, there will be a very long discussion.

The future belongs to the youth

I have written down certain matters to bring up and I believe they are noteworthy. This is a student meeting, but I am not only addressing students. Of course, we have four million students, which is a high figure, but those who are addressed by these statements are youth in general: young students, young clergy, young graduates and young employees. It is all youth whom I am addressing. The reason why I insist on speaking to, hearing from and having discussions with youth is based on a clear assumption: the assumption that the future will be in the hands of youth. There is no doubt that in the mid-term and also in the short-term, the responsibility of many of the matters raised today by you youth will fall on you and all youth who are addressed by these statements. They will be in charge of managing and leading the country. There is no doubt about this. That is why debates and conversations with youth are very important to me. Everyone who is interested in the future of the country should help youth so that they will be able to build the future in the best way possible, God willing.

Youth have precious qualities

Another part of the logic of speaking to youth concerns youthful nature. As was witnessed in the statements of you dear ones – I have always had this viewpoint about youth – youthful nature is tied to hope, innovation, outspokenness, risk-taking and tirelessness. These qualities are precious for the management of society. Some of our problems result from a lack of risk-taking, of fatigue, of blandness, of conservativeness and of hopelessness. However, these vices do not exist in youth. That is why I am willing to speak more and more to groups of youth who are naturally equipped with these traits.

Looking at the sensitive position of the country from three angles

This issue is of more significance considering the current circumstances in the country. In my opinion, for every decision and every action, we should pay attention to the current circumstances of the country, which are very important and sensitive circumstances. I wish to discuss some points about the current circumstances of the country. One can look at these circumstances from three angles:

​The Islamic Republic’s involvement in a great and vast battle

One perspective is that there is a clear reality: the fact that the Islamic Republic is involved in a vast and great battle existing at an international level. There is a serious fight and the Islamic Republic is one side of it. The other side is comprised of the front of kufr, oppression and arrogance. Today, the Islamic Republic is involved in such a great and big battle. There should not be any doubts about this. The other side is trying to push the Islamic Republic out of the arena with all kinds of methods, means and resources which are at its disposal. If it manages to do so – by Allah’s favor, it will definitively fail to do so – and if the Islamic Republic retreats, gives in and gets out of the arena in the face of this front of oppression, kufr and arrogance, then the country will pay a big price for that in the future.

On the other hand, the confrontation of the camp of kufr and arrogance against the Islamic Republic is focused on preventing the Islamic Republic from presenting a model. Many of the problems that we have today stem from that. Certain obstacles have been created in order to prevent the emergence of that attractive model for nations. We cannot forget about and ignore these obstacles. They existed in the past and they exist today as well. Therefore, one of our outlooks towards the position of the country is related to the fact that the Islamic Republic is faced with such a political, intellectual and soft battle and war and that it will possibly have a serious confrontation with that large camp of oppression, kufr and arrogance.

​The high capacity of the country for confrontation

Another perspective about the position of the country is knowing that the country has great capacities for confrontation. In order to confront this large powerful camp – it has some material power – we have enormous capacities. Experience has proved this to us. We have gained great experience over the course of these years. It proves to us that we have the capability to confront, to tackle and to contend with this large front. We have military experience as well which has been obtained through the Sacred Defense Era and other subsequent events – such as regional matters which some of you touched on when discussing your love to our dear martyr, Shahid Soleimani. We have also been engaged in a scientific jihad: the world has acknowledged that the rate of the Islamic Republic’s movement in the area of scientific matters is several times faster than the global average. That was a very important issue which fortunately continues to exist.

Large groups of youth committed to religious matters despite the cultural invasion of the enemy

We have been engaged in a cultural jihad as well. Notice that despite all the valuable things that you friends pointed out and that I acknowledge, there is a reality: they are really working against our country by launching a cultural invasion. And this is not particular to the present time. These days, cyberspace has appeared as well and the volume of their attacks has increased, but in the past too they used to endeavor really hard by means of radio, television and various other cultural means. Despite all these endeavors, a large group of youth – not a small minority – have been committed to religious and ideological principles and to the cultural tenets of the Islamic Republic. This indicates that we are stronger than the enemy even when it comes to the cultural jihad. There are various examples some of which you mentioned, and some of which you did not.

All the religious demonstrations held in recent years – the Arbaeen rally, itikaf ceremonies, mourning occasions for Imam Hussein and lately, the great and unprecedented burial ceremony for our dear martyr, Shahid Soleimani and other such demonstrations – show that the Islamic Republic has not fallen behind in the cultural battle against the front of arrogance. Impressive feats have been accomplished and amazing breakthroughs have been made. So, there is experience in the cultural domain as well. The same is true of the social jihad. An example is the large volume of social services presented in recent incidents – last year’s floods and earthquakes – during which the presence of jihadi groups was felt which led to the emergence of a magnificent movement. All these phenomena show that in the area of social jihad too, the performance and capacities of the country have been at a high level. These capacities can even be further developed in underprivileged areas.

I would like to raise another point in this regard: some of the friends pointed to the activities of public service organizations affiliated with the Leadership. I will tell you that I believe you are not aware of many of these activities. This point is related to your criticism of lack of transparency in some organizations. Most of you are not aware of the great tasks being carried out. Good endeavors are being made in terms of social services. The same is true of ideological jihad. Many activities have been done regarding cultural jihad as a result of which, commitment to revolutionary slogans has been reinforced. The very discussions that you initiate indicate the depth and progress of ideological and intellectual work.

Of course, some people might say that 40 – as a gentleman said – 42 years have passed since the victory of the Revolution. However, 42 years is not a long time for such general and fundamental matters, rather it is short. Many tasks are carried out gradually and over the course of time, particularly considering the problems that have existed in our country. Therefore, if we want to look at the position of the country from this angle, we must admit and acknowledge that the country has huge capacities for confronting the enemy in military, scientific, social, cultural and other such areas. We can comfortably face, confront and surmount that front. In other words, our hope of victory is not a vain hope, rather it is a hope based on this clear reality.

The institutionalization of a sense of power and dignity in the country

There is another perspective which is a feeling of power and dignity which has become deeply ingrained in the country. This is a very important fact. There is a deeply ingrained feeling of power among most people in the country. Now, some people exaggerate about the negative points and extend the weaknesses in them to the whole country, to the whole society and to the Islamic Republic, but the truth of the matter is that there is fortunately a deep feeling in the country and among the public: the feeling of dignity and power.