Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution met Tuesday morning with government officials and outstanding personalities of North Khorasan province. At the meeting, His Eminence said that the opportunity to render services to the people is a divine blessing and a source of honor, further adding: "Our great mystics would advise their students to render services to the people besides engaging in divine remembrance, tawassul and worship."

His Eminence said that government officials who have the opportunity to serve the people in different ways should thank Allah the Exalted for the opportunity. He added: "When rendering services, everybody should be considered equal and there should be no discrimination."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed the need for determined efforts and intensified labor, adding: "Intensified labor does not mean increasing the volume of labor: it is more about increasing the quality of labor than about increasing the volume of labor. It means labor that is accurate, labor that is based on expert opinion, labor that is based on consultation, labor that is continued and persistent, labor that is based on planning so that it does not stop even if the officials in charge are replaced with other officials."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the country needs serious efforts and labor. He reiterated: "Whenever we announce that we are weak and tired, we immediately notice that there is a response in the world: the opponents of Islam and the Islamic Republic become hopeful and happy as if they are fully prepared to attack... The lesson is that first of all, we should never stop making efforts and second, we should try to strengthen the spirit of hard work and hope of those who listen to us and take orders from us."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the advances that Iran has made since the Revolution and stated that these advances have been made in spite of the pressures, threats and plots by the enemies. He added: "This shows that there is a constructive force in the country which overcomes all the tricks and plots by the enemies and all the problems that they create. This is obvious. Therefore, we are resourceful against the enemies. We have a lot of capabilities."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that Iran has made good progress in its rhetorical confrontation with the domineering powers of the world. He added: "Today when our government officials speak during different negotiations and meetings, when they speak through different media outlets, they make well-thought-out, comprehensive, interesting and accurate comments. One of the arenas of confrontation is rhetorical confrontation on an international level."

His Eminence said that the Zionists have dominated most of the western and European media outlets and added: "They change orientations with their reports. It is these media outlets that indirectly tell politicians what to say. This is the important point."

Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the common propaganda moves of western and Zionist media and added: "This is one of the statements that they commonly make: ‘We are pressuring Iran in order to force it to return to the negotiating table.' Which negotiating table? When did Iran leave negotiations over different global issues? This is a deception, a propaganda trick."

His eminence reiterated that the goal of those who make such statements is to force the Iranian nation to surrender at the negotiating table. "This is Iran's answer: you are not powerful enough to force a revolutionary, resistant, insightful and aware nation to bow to your demands and greed."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated that Europeans are still living in the colonial atmosphere of the 19th century. He said that Iran's resistance against their bullying will cause many problems for them. "Today the problem is the novel idea that the Islamic Republic has introduced to the world, which has made the arrogant powers of the world frantic."