In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

I congratulate you dear brothers and sisters, the great Iranian nation, and the Islamic Ummah on the occasion of Eid ul-Fitr.

Firstly, we should ask Allah the Exalted to help us observe piety in what we do, what we say, and what we listen to.

A point I have to mention about Quds Day is that this great movement has been propagated and spread on a daily basis in the Muslim world. Today, the world of Islam is witness to demonstrations in the majority of Muslim countries. There were demonstrations both in the eastern part of the Muslim world - in Indonesia - as well as in the western part - in African countries. Whenever allowed to exercise their will, the people of Muslim countries have displayed great sensitivity towards the issue of Quds on this day. Even the Muslim people living in Europe and the minority groups who have been suffering from prejudice on the part of European governments commemorated Quds Day. This bears testimony to the fact that the issue of Palestine is gaining more significance in the word of Islam on a daily basis. This is against the will of the occupying forces and their allies. They intended to obliterate the memory of Palestine from the minds of Muslim nations. Their goal was to wipe Palestine off the map of the Islamic world. They have focused all their efforts during the last 60 years on achieving this goal. However, what has happened today is quite contrary to what they wished and pursued. Today, the world of Islam is even more sensitive about the issue of Palestine, and the reason is that the Muslim nations have become aware of the circumstances. If there was such vigilance in the year 1948 - when Palestine was occupied by the Zionist regime - the situation would now be quite different than what it is today, and this bitter event would have never taken place in the Muslim world. That was a major blow to the Islamic Ummah. Today, the Muslims of the world have become conscious and are aware of the realities. By Allah's favor, they will become even more conscious on a day to day basis.

I have to say that the resistance of the brave Palestinian nation is the reason for all the global support that is given to them. We appreciate these efforts on the part of the Palestinian nation. They are the true manifestation of a vigilant Muslim nation. I hereby have to tell the Palestinian nation and the legal Palestinian government led by Mr. Haniya that the Iranian nation will not leave the Palestinian nation alone.

Quite the contrary, the Zionist enemy is growing weaker on a daily basis both in terms of its spirits and its international status. Today, even high-ranking Zionist officials admit the fact that the Zionist regime is about to meet its nemesis. The Muslims of the world will see the day - I hope the current Palestinian generation will also see the day - when Palestine is governed by the Palestinian people and the Palestinian people live freely in their homeland.

The second point I have to mention is that today the world of Islam is faced with comprehensive political, cultural, and propaganda attacks on the part of the enemies. All the people - especially elites, intellectuals, religious scholars, and prominent political figures - should stay vigilant about this fact. Today, the enemies have launched a large-scale attack against Islam and what the Muslims hold sacred. This is not because the enemies have grown stronger. Rather, this is due to the fact that the enemies feel they are overwhelmed by this great Islamic movement. Therefore, they resort to psychological warfare and different kinds of attacks. They provoke Muslim nations and pitch them against one another. They instill fear of Muslim nations into the hearts of their people. The solution is that the Muslim countries should maintain their unity. I once again reiterate on behalf of the Iranian nation that our Muslim brothers in other countries should maintain their unity and stay vigilant against the enemies' plans to use them as a tool to foment discord in the Muslim world. The enemies will try to foment discord under the pretext of different ethnicities and denominations while in fact they support neither Shia nor Sunni. They are the enemies of Islam. This is one of the methods they use to weaken the Muslim countries, namely by arousing enmity among them. They try to make Islamic countries afraid of one anther. They try to make other countries afraid of the Islamic Republic through different lies and methods of deception. We - Muslim countries - are all brothers. The Iranian nation is treading the path of progress and promoting Islam and is by Allah's favor making great progress on this path. The Iranian nation considers its own grandeur and progress to be part of the grandeur and progress of the Islamic Ummah.

Let me also make a point to our dear brothers inside the country. My suggestion about maintaining unity which was addressed to the whole Islamic world is true about our own nation as well. The Iranian nation should maintain its unity. What we have achieved so far is all due to our unity. Unity does not signify that all our people should hold the same views and share the same opinions. Rather, unity means that those with different points of view should act as a unified front and prefer national interests to their individual tendencies. This means that personal desires - Ramadan was the month for suppressing selfish personal desires - should not affect our behavior at different political and social levels. The Iranian nation is carrying out great tasks these days. These great tasks are appreciated by experts and fair people across the world.

Thankfully, the Iranian nation and the Iranian youth - the revolutionary and enthusiastic youth of today - are present on the scene with a lot of enthusiasm and with great readiness. They are ready to make efforts. You can see the results of their efforts in such fields as science, politics, technology, and different social activities. These efforts should be appreciated. All the people, especially the political and social elites as well as the prominent figures of the country, should remember the fact that maintaining unity is the most important priority on the social front. You should maintain your unity. There is a Quranic verse in this regard: "That abode of the Hereafter, We assign it to those who have no desire to exalt themselves in the earth nor to make mischief. And the good end is for those who keep their duty." [The Holy Quran, 28: 83]. 'The good end' is for those who are pious and do not overstep the limits set by God - those who suppress selfish personal desires and make efforts on the path of God to promote Islam and to defend their national interests.

O God, help us all succeed in achieving our goals. Dear God, associate with Your saints the pure souls of our martyrs and our magnanimous Imam (r.a.). Dear God, bestow success on our nation on a day to day basis.

"In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Surely We have given thee abundance of good. So pray to thy Lord and sacrifice. Surely thy enemy is cut off (from good)." [The Holy Quran, 108]
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Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings