Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Sunday met with thousands of Iranian people from the city of Qom on the occasion of the 39th anniversary of the city’s uprising in support of the Islamic Revolution on the 19th of the Iranian month of Dei in the Iranian calendar year, 1356 (January 9, 1978). During the meeting, the Leader mentioned “religious faith and knowledge,” “scientific power,” “resistant economy,” and “preserving national dignity” as the four main elements of the might of the country and the Iranian nation. Highlighting the important duty shouldered by senior state officials and managers, academics, seminary scholars, intellectuals as well as political and cultural activists to further strengthen these elements of power, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The most important lesson [to be learned from] the Dei 19 Uprising of the people of Qom is [the necessity] to know the enemy and the method and direction of its enmity, and taking timely and careful measure to counter it.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said recognizing “immediate needs” and taking “timely measure by the people of Qom” were the most important characteristics of the city’s uprising and added, “For this reason, the uprising by the people of Qom was effective and paved the way for subsequent moves and, finally, the victory of the Islamic Revolution.”
Ayatollah Khamenei then explained the special time frame set for fulfilling every religious obligation, noting that the best time to fulfill such obligations was “the earliest.” The Leader pointed out, “Fulfilling an obligation with delay or doing it after the right time has passed, will be like the measure taken by repentant people following the uprising of [Imam Hossein (PBUH) on the day of] Ashura, which was belated and ineffective.”
The Leader mentioned the Islamic Revolution as the “long stride of the Iranian nation” for getting rid of “dependence” and “backwardness,” and noted, “This move will certainly be faced with resistance and opposition from those people, who benefit from dependence and backwardness of the Iranian nation.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then referred to some remarks made about how “the Islamic Revolution created enemies,” and emphasized, “The revolution and the Iranian nation have never sought to create enemies, but those bullying powers, who had usurped Iran and were driven out of this country and whose benefit is in dependence and backwardness of the nation are now ‘blood and irreconcilable enemy of the Iranian nation’.”
Ayatollah Khamenei noted that the main condition for the elimination of this hostility was “despair of the enemies,” and added, “Hostilities exist against the Islamic establishment and the Iranian nation and, on the opposite, the most important duty [of the Iranian nation] is to ‘know the enemy and its goals and stand fast in its face’.”
The Leader then asked the question “who is the enemy,” to which he answered by saying, “The main enemies of an independent and progressive Iran include ‘America, [and] Britain, [as well as] international powers and Zionists’.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed out, “Of course, in addition to external enemies, we also have ‘internal enemies’, which are ‘lack of motivation, despair, listlessness, lack of vigor, laziness, wrong policies, bad measures, various differences, and narrow-mindedness’.”
Ayatollah Khamenei then emphasized, “If we become lazy and do not act on time, [or] mistake the enemy [with others], and instead of taking the ‘real Great Satan’, take an unruly brother as the enemy, then we will be dealt blows.”
The Leader noted that the existence of the external enemy was not just a slogan, but a reality based on documented fundaments and said, “When the so-called ‘good-tempered’ foreign minister of America in his goodbye letter advises the next administration to ‘be as tough as possible on Iran and maintain sanctions, because any concessions can be taken from Iran by being tough’, is this not the enemy? Yes, it is the enemy, but a smiling enemy and the behavior of this smiling enemy is no different with that enemy, which calls Iran [part of] the Axis of Evil.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said, “[The fact that] it is said [the existence of an] enemy, is not a slogan or [an effort aimed at] ‘creating an enemy’, and if we open our eyes, we would see the enemy.”
Also with regard to the hostility of the “British” government toward Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Britain, the old and dilapidated colonialist, has once again returned to the Persian Gulf and is planning to meet its own interests by taking advantage of countries in this region and this is why at a time that [Britain] itself is a ‘real threat’, it claims that Iran is a threat [to regional countries].”
The Leader said, “The British circles are also making plans and decisions for regional countries and Iran and one of their goals is ‘dividing Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya’ and they have the same intention about Iran, but since they are extremely afraid of the public opinion in our country, they do not give voice this any voice.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said, “The British [officials] assume that they are making plans for [imposing] restrictions and sanctions [on Iran] in the era following the [conclusion of Iran's nuclear deal known as] the JCPOA [the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] and [are also planning to] train and arm local people in [various parts of] the region, including in Iran, so as to pit these people against the Islamic establishment and the nation.”
Enumerating objective examples of the UK’s hostile measures against the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Khamenei noted, “Isn’t this hostility? Can an enemy be found more evil than this? Therefore, the enemy and its hostile methods must be seen.”
The Leader emphasized that the entire Iranian nation, including officials, youths, laborers and academics must know the enemy and its goals, adding, “The main target of the enemy is the Iranian nation and the Islamic establishment and if sometimes they show hostility toward certain individuals or certain organs and institutions it is because they stand up against it and the enemy wants to get rid of these individuals or institutions.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution noted that under these conditions, the most important duty for state officials, academics, seminary scholars as well as cultural and political activists is “to boost the power of the country and make it resistant through strengthening the elements of national might.” The Leader than added, “one of the most important of these elements of the country’s might and activity is ‘religious faith of people, especially the youth’, because during the past 140 years, any influential and effective movement, which has taken place in the country, has had ‘religious faith’ as its main element.”
Ayatollah Khamenei referred to such developments as the “ban on the consumption of tobacco,” “the constitutional revolution,” and “the nationalization of the oil industry,” and noted, “In all these cases, ‘religious faith’, and the ‘pioneer role of [religious] scholars and clerics’, as the symbol of people’s religiosity, had the first say and any deviation or failure, which took place in these cases, was due to distancing from the religious element and marginalization of clerics.
The Leader pointed to the unique role of “religious faith” in “the 15th of Khordad (June 5, 1966) Uprising,” “the victory of the Islamic Revolution,” and “the period of the Sacred Defense (Iraq’s eight-year imposed war on Iran)” and other developments in recent years and said, “Today, a large effort put into weakening or undermining the religious faith of people, especially the youth, but this factor of [the nation’s] might must be preserved and bolstered.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said being associated with “religious knowledge” was the main condition for effectiveness of the religious faith and added, “Religious knowledge means the presence of religion in the society, politics, economy and management of the country and, in better words, [it is another translation of] that famous statement by the late [Ayatollah Seyyed Hassan] Modarres, who said, ‘Our religiosity is the same as our politics’.”
Ayatollah Khamenei then pointed to plans and plots made by American and British think tanks to counter “political religion” and to cause “separation between religion and politics,” and added, “They seek a ‘religion limited to the corner of the mosque and inside the house and only inside people’ [mind] and not the ‘religion that is accompanied with action in [the fields of] economy and politics and [which advises its followers] not to give in to the enemy’.”
The Leader noted, “The enemy is afraid of that religion, which has government, economy, power, politics, army as well as financial and administrative system; therefore, correct religious knowledge means not separating religion from [people’s normal] life and politics.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution mentioned “scientific power” as the second element of the country’s might and noted, “Despite evil acts by some subservient elements, who try to sow despair among youths and cause them to leave the country, revolutionary and faithful youths are, however, standing [fast] and continue their scientific movement an example of which was observed in the meeting with a group of Basiji elites and medal winners from Sharif University of Technology a few days ago.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said, “One of the ways to make the country resistant [against the enemy’s plots] is the continuation of the scientific movement. Therefore, the scientific movement must not stop and its pace must not slow down too.”
The Leader mentioned “resistant economy” as the third element of the country’s might and added, “People must not be afflicted with various economic problems such as unemployment and stagnation while officials only talk, because the main goal of sanctions [imposed on Iran] is to cause economic problems and mount pressure on [Iranian] people and drive a wedge between them and the [Islamic] establishment. [Therefore,] even with regard to removing sanctions, [enemies] act in such a way that those problems will remain in place.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then pointed out, “The antidote to this planning by the enemy is the same ‘Economy of Resistance’, [about] which [I have] frequently talked about.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said, “If a country has a powerful economy, that country’s currency would become valuable and its officials and people will have credit as well.”
The Leader added, “One of the ways to make the economy resistant is to ‘set it free from dependence on the revenue earned through oil sale’, because the price of oil is a leverage at the hands of others to put pressure on countries.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution mentioned “preserving national dignity” as the fourth element of national might and noted, “National dignity is preserving the dignity of the country and nation in international negotiations and diplomatic exchanges and not giving in to bullying.”
Ayatollah Khamenei rounded up this part of his remarks by saying, “If we recognize these elements of national might and strengthen them and be aware of the goals and methods of the enemy, we would be able to make plan and resist its plans. However, if we do not know these elements and do not have insight, we might even help the enemy and instead of enemy, take aim at friends and the friendly front.”
The Leader then referred to the effort made by the enemy to do away with elements of Iran’s national might and  noted, “Elimination of ‘faith, modesty and chastity, [as well as] commitment to religious fundaments and religious rule, [in addition to] stopping the scientific movement [of the Iranian nation], [and] damaging national dignity’, [and] ‘undermining those organs and institutions, which are symbols of the country’s might’ are among [main] goals of the enemy, which must be countered.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said “attacking the IRGC [Islamic Revolution Guards Corps], the Basij and the Guardian Council” was part of the enemy’s plot to undermine those organs and institutions, which stand for the country’s might and added, “I am not going to touch upon the recent arguments between heads of two [executive and judiciary] powers, because it is not a big deal and will end thanks to the divine power and assistance, though the enemy is trying to magnify those arguments. However, all of us must value the existence of an independent, courageous and firm judiciary.”
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei emphasized, “I have always supported [all] administrations, the Islamic Consultative Assembly [parliament] and the Judiciary and will continue to do so, but we must find out what the enemy is looking for and [then] make it fail in achieving its goals.
The Leader noted, “Today, the most important goals of the country include having ‘a powerful security service’, ‘a powerful and popular military’, ‘a huge popular movement known as the Basij’, ‘a clergy that is aware of [the necessities of] time and is present in the [political] scene’, ‘a completely powerful judiciary’, and ‘a meticulously planning and brave administration’, because if these goals are achieved, the movement of the Iranian nation will be successful and any one of these elements, if not extant, must be provided while the existing elements, must be preserved.”
Ayatollah Khamenei then explained numerous and overarching scientific and cultural activities by the faithful and revolutionary youths in the country and noted, “Today, the best medal winners of the country in scientific competitions are among the Basiji youths, and elite and intelligent youths as well as [university] teachers with ideas, motivation and revolutionary resolve are active in scientific, cultural, art, and political fields, and we officials are duty-bound to help these highly-motivated youths as much as we can.”

Highlighting the enemy’s incorrect understanding of the Iranian nation, the Leader mentioned the “sedition stoked in [the Iranian calendar year, 13]88 (2009)” as an example of miscalculations by the enemy and noted, “During [the Iranian year, 13]88 (2009) and by stoking the [post-election] sedition, the enemy thought that it was too close to achieving its goals, but all of a sudden, the public movement [of the Iranian people] on the 9th [day] of [the Iranian month of] Dei (December 30, 2009), which was quite similar to [the popular] movement on Dei 19, [13]56 (January 9, 1978), took everybody by surprise.”
Ayatollah Khamenei once again emphasized that “preserving and strengthening elements of national might” was a duty for all active walks of life in the country and noted, “Even those, who are not committed and interested in religion and sharia, but love Iran and are not traitors and enemies guised as friends, must know that ‘attacking the Islamic faith of youths’, is the same as ‘treachery against the country’.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution concluded his remarks by reiterating that what happened on the 19th of Dei was a lesson in “knowing the enemy and its hostility methods as well as timely and all-out resistance against it” and said, “If we act upon this lesson, the spiteful and global enemy would not be able to do a damn thing in the face of the Iranian nation.”