Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei | سید علی خامنه‌ای

The world’s eyes are all on the #WorldCup when it’s being held. The enemy usually uses this period of negligence to do something. It’s important for officials to focus on internal affairs & foreign affairs, including in West Asia, the Caucasus, & the regions to the east of us.

Taking by surprise is one of the enemy’s methods. He has various ways of doing this. One of these ways is to start doing something somewhere with a great commotion to attract attention to that point before starting the main mission he had in mind.

The Americans had spent billions of dollars and thousands of hours to eliminate Iran’s strategic influence and to damage #Iran. But this plot was thwarted because of the Islamic Republic’s enormous, effective strength.

Iran’s presence led to the failure of US policy in these 3 countries. They wanted to take control of #Iraq but failed. They had planned to oust the #Syrian government, they failed. They pushed to eliminate the Hezbollah & Amal movements in #Lebanon. It didn’t work; they failed.

What was Iran’s response to the West’s plot? The Islamic Republic of Iran never entered the discussion about North Africa. We did not want to enter, and we never did. However, Iran’s approach was successful in Iraq, Syria & Lebanon, & the US policy failed.

From the Westerners’ point of view, Iran had strategic depth in six countries. They had to be controlled by the United States and the imperialism before Iran could be dealt with. The governments of these six countries (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan and Somalia) had to fall.

Praise God, we have millions of registered Basij forces and millions more of unregistered volunteers in the country. There are millions of Basiji in the Muslim world in various countries. The heartfelt values of all these Basij are the same.

Being a member of the Basij means accepting that you will be oppressed in order to save the oppressed. You saw how the Basij were oppressed in recent unrest while protecting the Iranian ppl from the oppression of a group of rioters who were either unaware, misled or mercenaries.

The #Basij culture is a culture of self-effacing, hardworking volunteers. It is a culture of humble, undaunted fighters, a sense of braveness, a sense of serving mankind, & a sense of serving the country. It means making sacrifices for others.

We need to advance in the fields of science, the arts, economics & politics. These advancements increase the state’s authority & strength. The enemy won’t dare to bother you if you increase your authority & strength. Such advancements will make us self-sufficient & strong.

Iranian scientists & experts have done great work during these few weeks of riots in the country: developing a new cure for blood cancer, unveiling one of the world’s largest telescopes, unveiling a new hypersonic missile, & launching an Iranian run refinery outside the country.

This massive propaganda system that the enemy is using against Iran, these satellite networks, this social media with its strange behavior, & these mercenary, hired TV stations are all working to kill hope in the people of Iran. But fortunately, hope is alive.

What is meant by “Middle East”? Any region far from Europe is called the Far East, close to Europe is Near East, & anything in between is #MiddleEast. Europe is the benchmark for these names. The West claimed such rights for themselves. Don’t say the Middle East; say #WestAsia.

Some say when you chant “Down with the US,” this causes the US to become hostile toward you. But no! No one was chanting “Down with the US” in 1953 when the US toppled a government in Iran that had been elected by the people. But they inflicted the blow they had in mind.

Today, Western powers are gradually losing their political, scientific, cultural & economic dominance, & these will be transferred from the West to Asia in the new world order. Asia will become the center of science & economy, & also the political & military power of the world.

The US has fully staffed military bases in many places including in our region, in Europe & in Asia. The money for these bases is taken from the unfortunate host countries. This will end in the future new world order & the US will be forced to end its presence across the globe.

The current world order is changing & a new order will prevail, which will have 3 main elements: the isolation of the US; a transfer of political, economic, cultural & scientific power from the West to Asia; & an expansion of the Resistance Front in its battle against aggression.

Why didn’t those who claim to advocate human rights condemn the killing of Arman & other such killings? Why didn’t they not condemn the terrorist attack on #Shahcheragh in Shiraz? These are people who support human rights?

That young seminary student in Tehran, our dear #Arman, what was his sin? They tortured a young student to death and threw his corpse in the street. Are these insignificant matters? Who are these murderers? Where do they get their orders from?

The #Shahcheragh event was a major crime. What sin had those little boys committed? Why did they bring such a heavy sorrow upon a 6-year-old who lost his parents & brother? Why? What can this child do with such a large, intolerable grief.