Islamic Republic Debunked Notion of Conflict Between Religion, Politics 

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said a great achievement of the Islamic Republic has been invalidation of the core of the western civilization’s identity, namely “separation of religion from politics.” 
“With the motto of religion, the Islamic Republic not only preserved itself, but also, through the development of Iran, challenged the long-term efforts of western countries to prove that religion is incompatible with politics,” he said in an address to leaders of Friday prayers on Wednesday, leader.ir reported.
He said the mafia of western powers, on top of them the Zionist regime and its capitalists whose showcase is the United States, are angry with this fact and are constantly scheming to harm the Islamic Republic.
Ayatollah Khamenei instructed Friday prayer leaders to counter such continual propaganda in their sermons. 
“Today’s battlefield is the field of soft power where the enemy tries to infiltrate and destroy the stronghold of people’s faith by arousing doubt,” he said, adding that people’s faith was the reason for the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, resistance in the sacred defense of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and against all other plots. 
He called for serious attention to the duty of “clarification”, regretting that certain groups who successfully fought the enemy in the hard war, have been defeated in the soft war.    
The Leader also advised the speakers of Friday payers to adopt an appropriate lifestyle and act as they preach in their sermons. 
“Otherwise it will be counterproductive.” 
Friday prayer leaders should also treat people like a father, be present among the public, have close ties with the youth, contribute in public services such as helping people in natural disasters, and avoid engaging in economic activities, according to Ayatollah Khamenei. 
Their sermons must also be educative and contain answers to public questions, he said.  
“The addresses should be friendly, promising, unifying, and calming, not in a way that prepares the ground for propaganda, creates anxiety and pessimism about the current and future conditions, and provides the enemies with a tool to launch an offensive.”