The graduation ceremony for military cadets at Imam Hossain (AS) University was held this morning in the presence of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khameni, who is the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Armed Forces.

Upon entering the university premises, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution paid homage to the Tomb of the Unidentified Martyrs in commemoration of the fallen soldiers of the eight-year Iraqi Imposed War, known as the Sacred Defence (1980-1988). The Leader prayed to God to bestow upon them the most elevated stature.

The Leader then reviewed the military units standing on guard at the arena. Ayatollah Khamenei also commended war veterans present on the campus and a number of the children of the martyrs of the Defenders of the Shrine in Syria, present at the ceremony.

In this ceremony, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the elements of the might of the country and the Iranian nation and the reason behind the opposition of the ill-wishers with these elements of might, and elucidated the “short-term, mid-term and long-term objectives” of the enemies of the Islamic establishment and highlighted the fact that security and calm in a country in a volatile region, is one of the honors of the Islamic Republic, which is also targeted by the arrogant powers, and advised the presidential election candidates to observe some issues, such as “clearly and resolutely declaring that the economic and livelihood issues of the people are their priority,” saying, “The country’s national security and peace are very important and the distinguished candidates must beware not to poke the ideological, geographical, language and ethnical chasms due to their error of judgment and not complete the half-done design of the enemy, because if anyone would want to take measures against the country’s security, they will definitely meet a stinging slap.”        

Offering his congratulations on the birth anniversary of Imam Mahdi (AS), the Leader of the Islamic revolution pointed to the elements behind the country’s might and stressed that enemies always bear grudges and hostility against the elements of the might of the Islamic Republic, adding, “The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) is one of the reasons behind the might of the country and the signs of the fury and frustration with it is vividly clear in the international propaganda and remarks by arrogant [front] politicians.”

Ayatollah Khamenei cited “science and scientific progress” as another reason for the country’s might, reiterating, “For this very reason, they assassinated our nuclear scientists by dispatching their mercenaries as they harbor rage and spite against Iran’s scientific progress.”

The Leader highlighted the fact that a “strong and independent economy” is one of the elements of mightiness, saying, “The reason behind the imposition of sanctions on Iran and the adoption of various initiatives to harm the country’s economy, is this very reason and I wish that the country’s faithful economists spell out for the people of the country the various initiatives of the ill-wishers against the country to harm the country’s economy.”
  
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed to “military might” as another element of might, reiterating, “The extensive uproar that has been launched over the Islamic Republic’s missile might is due to the fury and spite that they harbor of this element of might. 
The commander-in-chief reiterated, “We have missiles and our missiles are very precise and are capable of hitting their targets thousands of kilometers away with high precision. We will strongly safeguard this capability and will also strongly increase it.”
    
He cited “self-sacrificing military figures” such as martyrs Sayyad Shirazi and Shooshtari as other elements of might, adding, “‘Faith, modesty and morality of the youth’ and ‘the spirit of indefatigable effort and resistance in the nation,’ are the other elements of might and that is why they accuse the spirit of resistance and indefatigable effort of “violence and extremism” and unfortunately some people repeat this colonial rhetoric inside [the country.]”
   
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution cited the “security provision bodies” such as “Armed Forces” as another element of might, stressing, “The bedrock of security for every country is the most important and necessary element, because if there is no security, there would be no scientific and economic progress either.” 

After enumerating the elements of might, Ayatollah Khamenei elucidated the issue of “the state of resistance” and added, “Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran is a resistance state and the resistance state means not giving in to bullying and standing on the position of might.”
 
Stressing that the resistance state is incomparable with an element or organization of resistance in a so-and-so country, he reiterated, “The resistance state possesses policy, economy, armed forces, international activity and a wide sphere of influence.”
   
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution underscored the fact that the resistance state is always the target of hostility by power seekers and their puppets, saying, “The resistance state neither dominates or plunders other countries nor does it stay in a position of defense and passivity.”
    
Ayatollah Khamenei added, “Some people assume that in order to distance ourselves from the accusation of international and regional domineering or power-seeking, we have to withdraw into a defensive shell, but such an assumption is wrong.”

The Leader pointed to some verses of the Holy Quran, reiterating, “The stance of the resistance state is “deterrent might” and “the power of deterrence” and the Islamic Republic of Iran, as before, will continue down the path of “the power of deterrence” by reliance upon its efforts, struggles, initiatives and talents.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said the purpose of the policy of “the deterrent power of the Islamic establishment,” is the prohibition of the assumption of aggression against Iran by international bullies, reiterating, “The enemies must realize that if aggression against Iran crosses their mind, they will meet a strong response because, as has been previously said, the era of ‘hit and run’ is over and although they may be initiators, the conclusion of the event will not rest with them.”
 
Ayatollah Khamenei then explained the enemy’s goals against the Islamic Republic, adding, “The enemy has put the three short-term, mid-term, and long-term objectives on its agenda, in which the short-term goal is ‘the disruption of the country’s security and creating turmoil and sedition.”
 
He stressed that one of the honors of the Islamic Republic is the creation of a safe atmosphere in the current unstable region and turbulent world, saying, “This security has been created by the nation and caring officials due to their awareness, vigilance and being up-to-date.”
 
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution cited the issue of “the people’s economy and livelihood” as the mid-term target of the enemies and reiterated, “According to the design of the ill-wishers, the economy of the country should not grow, the livelihood of the people should remain stagnant, jobs add production should not boom and unemployment should be generalized as a plight so the people would ultimately grow frustrated with the Islamic Republic.”

Ayatollah Khamenei described “the implementation of the motto of the year,” and “commitment to the policies of resistance economy” and “the flourishing of national production and job creation” as the only way to counter this goal of the enemy, stressing, “If this path is followed, the enemy will certainly not achieve its goals.”

He cited the “the elimination of the very establishment” as the long-term goal of the enemy and pointed out that this issue is no longer overtly declared as opposed to the early years of the revolution, reiterating, “Presently, countering the very establishment through “change in attitude” has been placed on their agenda and change in attitude means drifting away from the path of Islam, the [1979] Revolution and the path of [the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini] and ultimately moving opposite to the revolution.” 
      
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution then pointed to the issue of “May 19 elections” and said, “Elections are one of the grounds that can be both the source for the promotion and honor of the country and a source for weakness, frailty and problems.” 

Ayatollah Khamenei stressed, “If the people participate in the election and this election would be accompanied by ‘order, ethics and respect for the Islamic and constitutional bounds,’ the elections would certainly be a source for the honor and dignity of the Islamic Republic establishment, but if there is law-violation and lack of ethics in the elections and [if] we give hope to the enemy with our remarks, the elections will end up to our detriment.”
  
the Leader added that the Islamic establishment is no novice in holding elections and has staged numerous elections over the past 38 years and is familiar with intellectual environments and temptations, saying, “I have a few recommendations for the distinguished candidates; first is for them to clearly state in their remarks and agendas that ‘economic issues and the livelihood of the people is their priority and they will work to resolve the economic woes’.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution added, “The second recommendation is that the issue of ‘national sovereignty and the greatness and nobility of the Iranian nation’ should stand out and be conspicuous in the candidates’ remarks and agendas.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed, “The Iranian nation is a proud and revolutionary nation and this nation should not be undermined, humiliated and forced to surrender against major powers, because the Iranian nation lives off its might and had it not been for this might, the enemy, like in some dependent and mercenary countries in the region, would have dominated the country.”
 
He added: “The candidates should clearly show that they are standing up against the excessive demands of the US and the evilness of the Zionists.”
The third recommendation of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution to the presidential election candidates was “safeguarding the national security and peace.”
 
Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The candidates should beware not to poke the ‘ideological, geographical, language and ethnic chasms’ in the country.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution added, “The enemy has for consecutive years been after this objective but the faithful Kurds, Zealous Azeri people, Arab people of Khuzestan and the people of [Sistan and] Baluchestan and Turkmens as the proprietors of the revolution punched the enemy in the mouth and strongly stood against them (the enemies).”

He stressed that the issue of security is very important, adding, “The candidates must beware not to complete the half-done design of the enemy due to their error of judgment.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution strongly urged the officials involved in ensuring the security and peace of the country, particularly the judiciary branch, police, and the Interior Ministry to safeguard and fully protect the security and said, “If anyone wants to take a measure during the elections against the security of the country, they will definitely face a reaction and a stinging slap.”
 
Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the enemies displayed stupidity in the year ‘88 (post-2008 elections unrest) and confused a country with the greatness of Iran with some low-tier countries, in which they had previously stirred unrest and turmoil with some tens of millions of dollars, adding, “The result of that idiocy was running into the strong wall of national resolve and determination.”
    
He stressed once more, “Security is very important for the country and the people and consequently for me and security must be fully safeguarded in the elections.”

Elsewhere in his speech, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution urged the student IRGC forces of Imam Hossein (A.S.) University to take advantage of the valuable opportunity of studying at this university and reiterated, “This university can push gifted pupils to a point where knowledgeable, wise and scholarly people would envy that station.”
   
Ayatollah Khamenei also described the month of Sha’ban as the month of the downpour of God’s mercy and urged all people, particularly the youth, to take advantage of the blessings of this month, particularly mid-Sha’ban rituals, saying, “The month of Sha’ban is the grace of God and happiness throughout; however, this year we faced the mine accident in Golestan province and the incident of the martyrdom of border guards in Sistan and Baluchestan province. But, anyway, this month is the month of dedication to the Ahlul Bayt (AS) (family of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them))  
  
He cited devotion to Imam Mahdi (AS) as a tool for the declaration of reverence and subjugation before God Almighty, stressing, “The believers in the reemergence [of the Imam] will never feel disappointed and hopeless and know that after darkness, the sun will rise and this is the definitive pledge of God.”
 
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed that we are ordered to wait [for the Reemergence], stressing, “Waiting does not mean being impatient, but waiting means ‘perpetual preparedness’ and those waiting should act and reform themselves in a way that the great one [Imam Mahdi (AS)] is pleased.”
Ayatollah Khamenei stressed, “Might and heats all belong to God Almighty and the Iranian nation with the grace of God will strongly continue down its path and in this course, the youths have outstanding roles.”

During the ceremony, IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari pointed to successive triumphs of the Islamic Revolution front against the domineering order, cited as “economic pressure” the current strategy of the enemy against the nation, saying, “Today, our people are pleased that missile cities are the support and guarantor of security of the industrial cities in the country.”
   
The IRGC commander added, “IRGC sees itself as duty-bound to be a shelter and support for the underprivileged and the impoverished and we believe that the eradication of poverty and deprivation from the society is the main and most basic objective, such as targeting [the cities of] Haifa and Tel Aviv.” 

The commander of Imam Hossein (AS) University, Admiral Morteza Saffari, also read out a report on the scientific, cultural and educational measures and agendas in the university as well as the promotion of combat capabilities of the center.
 
During the ceremony, a number of distinguished commanders, managers and researchers of Imam Hossein University (AS) received their awards from the hands of the commander-in-chief and two representatives of the students of Imam Hossein (AS) University were also honored with epaulettes.

Among the programs of today’s pledge of guardianship by the students of Imam Hossein (AS) University was the enactment of “Khoramshahrs lie ahead” and the enactment of “the pledge of guardianship” attended by the children of the defenders of the Shrine.

Also in the ceremony, the units present in the campus paraded before the commander-in-chief.