Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei described the people’s massive presence and support of the establishment as an enormous wealth, calling for efforts to preserve and improve this asset.
“The Islamic Republic’s strong popular support and the reliance of the people and the establishment on each other is a real and undeniable national wealth which is unique, or at least rare in the world,” he said in a meeting with member of the Assembly of Experts on Thursday, Leader.ir reported.
People’s presence has given the last word to authorities and religious scholars and to be merely proud of this national wealth is not enough, but it must be constantly protected and promoted, he added.
This year’s Feb, 11 demonstrations on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution was a major manifestation of the Islamic Republic’s strong popular support, which can counter threats and is vital for the establishment, according to the Leader.
He also highlighted the important role of religion and religious scholars in shaping such national movements.
Religious scholars also have a heavy duty in maintaining such popular support, the Leader said, calling on this community to open channels with the youth, begin dialogue and address their uncertainties with a novel expression and logic.
Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to hostilities with the Islamic Republic, saying they are partly due to its political stances on issues such as Palestine.
However, some enmities are with the nature of the Islamic Republic, since it has stood against those who believe in the West’s prescription which opposes any intervention of religion in social affairs.
“And because it has stood up to the leaders of Liberal Democracy who have planned to dominate the world and loot its resources under the false flag of freedom and democracy,” he said, adding that the Islamic Republic has disrupted their plans by putting democracy and freedom alongside religion.
He also called for clarification of the reasons for hostility for the public.
“By clarification of the chief reason, no one should say in the cyberspace or elsewhere that the Islamic Republic makes enemies, because it is the nature of religious democracy that foils the plots of adversaries and arouses their hostility,” he said.
Highlighting the enemies’ constant policy of spreading despair among the Iranian public, the Leader called for efforts to boost hope.
“Those who are on the verge of collapse and extermination see everything from this point of view, while those with hearts and minds full of hope see the situation with hopefulness,” he said, referring to some letters of warning about an imminent fall of the Islamic Republic.
Religious Democracy
Ayatollah Khamenei later referred to the Assembly of Experts as a true symbol of religious democracy.
“Within a perfect realization of democracy, this assembly is elected by the people, while being comprised of religious scholars, portraying the religious nature of the system of governance,” he said.
The Assembly of Experts is the deliberative body empowered to supervise, dismiss and elect the Leader of Islamic Revolution. Its members are elected by direct public vote for eight-year terms.
The Leader underlined the importance of the assembly’s task of overseeing the leadership’s position and performance which is essential to keeping the revolution in line.
“The most important duty of the leadership is to keep the general movement of important sections of the government in the direction of the revolution so that it does not deviate from its main route like other revolutions,” he said.
