Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution met Monday evening with thousands of basijis from North Khorasan province. During the meeting, Ayatollah Khamenei said praised Basij and stressed: "Basij, which is the key to many of the future problems, is exposed to malice and hostility by those who do not want the Islamic Republic to achieve a good, glorious and successful future."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that Basij is among the successful and important initiatives of the Islamic Republic and stressed the need to reflect on the characteristics of Basij. He added: "Basij is an exceptional phenomenon which in a sense, emerged before the Revolution out of the selfless presence of the people and the great, revolutionary and Basij-like movement of the Iranian nation, and it helped the Islamic movement achieve victory in Iran."

His Eminence said that Basij is as old as the Islamic Revolution and added: "History shows that in the past two, three centuries, there have been two other revolutions which are famous as our Revolution: one is the French Revolution and the other is the Communist Revolution in Russia. Both of them were popular revolutions, but the presence of the people in those revolutions - which was massive - was different from the presence of Basij in our Revolution."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that Basij enjoys exceptional characteristics and stated that one of the exceptional characteristics of Basij is that it was organized. "The fact that Basij was organized helped our nation not to lose its path and to guard against deviation."

His Eminence said that sense of religious responsibility is another characteristic of Basij and reiterated: "The presence of the people in other revolutions was mostly motivated by emotions. For this reason, their presence resulted in mistakes and confrontations in many cases. But the deep religious faith of Basij helped the organized movement of our nation to stay on the right path."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that another exceptional characteristic of Basij is that its members are from various social backgrounds.

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated: "Intellectual people should try to guess why those who are heavily influenced by Israeli radio stations shout slogans against Basij."

His Eminence reiterated: "Basij, which is the key to many of the future problems, is exposed to malice and hostility of those who do not want the Islamic Republic to achieve a good, glorious and successful future. Therefore, they try to break this key or at least, make us lose our respect for it."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that insight is another characteristic of Basij. He added that insight is necessary for members of Basij and everybody else.

Elsewhere in his statements, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the issue of elections and stated: "Some candidates think that the great Satan is their [election] rival. This is while the great Satan is America and Zionism, not one's political rival."

His Eminence added: "Candidates claim to support Islam and the Revolution, but why do some of their supporters consider their rival as Satan?"

Ayatollah Khamenei stressed the need for identifying the enemy and added: "Of course, sometimes a person might disguise himself as a friend and repeat what the enemy says. It is necessary to speak to him and if advice fails to work, it is necessary to distance oneself from him."

Addressing enemies who disguise themselves as friends, His Eminence said: "If you are going to stand up against the Islamic Republic and speak against it with the same sentiments as the Zionist regime and just use different language, what is the difference between you and the Zionist regime? If you decide to follow America's rationale in your interaction with the Islamic Republic, there is no difference between you and America."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution warned against confusing enemies with friends and stated: "There might be deep and major disagreements, but one must not confuse enemies with non-enemies. Enemies and non-enemies should be treated in different ways. It is necessary to draw a line between oneself and the enemy."

At the end of his statements, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the upcoming presidential elections in Iran and criticized those who start their electoral campaign too early. He stressed: "There will be an election, but it is not close. Certain people have already started their campaign. I do not at all endorse this: everything should be done at the right time."

Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted the importance of a large voter turnout and stressed: "There should be a massive voter turnout in the elections. This brings about immunity for the country. Our government officials should focus all their efforts on this goal today, tomorrow, on the election day and before and after it."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the election should be held in a way that benefits Iran and the Islamic Revolution, further adding: "We should pray to God and open our eyes. We should act in a way that the election results in a good outcome and benefits the Islamic Revolution and the country."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated: "Those who consider themselves as qualified should enter the arena. And as the people who want to vote in the election, we should evaluate the candidates against the standards that all of us share and believe in."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that elections are a source of honor for the country and that it is necessary to take care not to let elections become a source of disgrace.

His Eminence referred to the presidential elections of the year 1388 and reiterated: "They tried to turn a natural political campaign into a fitna. Of course, the people of Iran stood up against them. And whenever similar events happen, the people of Iran will stand up against them."

Ayatollah Khamenei stressed the necessity of holding healthy elections and added: "Our assumption is that our government officials enter the arena of elections with an Islamic and divine attitude and that our elections are healthy. The same is true of the elections which were held by our previous governments - presidential elections, parliamentary elections and other elections."