Leader Praises General Soleimani, IRGC Qods Force

Addressing the nation in a televised speech on Sunday afternoon on the occassion of Workers’ Day and Teachers’ Day, Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized that the IRGC Qods Force has been the main force preventing Iran’s diplomatic apparatus from following a passive diplomacy in the West Asia region.

He said that the enemies of Iran do not want the Islamic Republic to boost its ties with the world and this is why “when we want to expand relations with Russia or China,” they complain and they even complain “when we want to expand relations with our own neighbors.”

The Leader also praised Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the IRGC Qods Forces, as one of the true followers of Imam Ali (AS) (the first Imam of Shiites), saying that when enemies threatened to kill him, he reacted by saying “they are threatening me with something that I am seeking so ardently”.

“The Americans have been for years deeply saddened by the Islamic Republic’s influence (in the region) and they were angry with General Soleimani for this reason and martyred him for this reason,” he added.

Ayatollah Khamenei also elaborated on the spiritual status of Imam Ali (AS), whose martyrdom anniversary is just a few days away, noting that the most important characteristics of the Imam included strict justice, courage, wisdom, as well as taking care of the oppressed people who are usually wronged by the society.

The Leader noted that those who proclaim to be true followers of Imam Ali must get as close as possible to his spiritual features, especially his zeal to administer justice.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that Imam Ali (AS) was martyred while praying at mosque, noting that there have been many people in our time, in the Islamic Republic, who also followed suit with their Imam and sought martyrdom.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he referred to the forthcoming presidential election in Iran, saying that nobody should dissuade people from taking part in the election in high numbers.

Calling for a massive turnout in the upcoming election, the Leader said, “When people take part in elections [in multitudes], no power can harm the country.”

The Leader noted that despite some efforts made in a number of past elections to influence the voting process and the poll results, none of those efforts were important enough to affect the final result of the polls.

Ayatollah Khamenei also advised hopefuls running for the election to avoid giving promises they cannot keep.

The Leader also talked about the National Teachers’ Day, which marks the martyrdom anniversary of Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari, who was assassinated by anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedeen Khalq Organization (MKO) soon after the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

The Leader noted that Motahhari, as one of the main thinkers of the Islamic Revolution, spent his time on studying all schools of thought, and tried to give answers to questions posed by his young audience, both at the university and at the seminary of Qom.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the most important task of teachers is to transfer their trove of knowledge to the next generations and also pay attention that they must safeguard the thought and ideas of their young audience.

“Therefore, we can say that teachers are the officers of the country’s progressive forces,” the Leader said.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that teachers are now playing a more prominent role, because there have been few junctures in history when “our young people have been exposed to such relentless cultural invasion.”

The Leader emphasized that teachers, along with workers, enjoy a lofty and important status in the society and the society and people should recognize this, adding that in addition to recognizing their lofty status, efforts must be made to solve the livelihood problems with which teachers are facing, especially under conditions created by the new coronavirus pandemic.

Reflecting on the Workers’ Day, the Leader noted that workers enjoy a lofty status in Islam, which prompted the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) to kiss their hands.

“One of the most important roles in an independent economy is played by workers… because an independent economy depends on domestic production, which in turn depends on workers,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Leader noted that the Islamic Republic’s enemies did their best to pit workers against the Islamic establishment, but they never stopped backing the Islamic Republic and played their prominent role in this regard.

The Leader added that one of the most important ways to support the country’s domestic production is to support the labor force.

“We must note that supporting workers is actually supporting the national wealth, because if workers are supported, they promote national wealth, which will make any country proud,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Leader noted that special attention should be also paid not only to the livelihood and economic problems of workers but also to their professional training.

“The issue of job security is a form of labor support, meaning that workers should not be concerned that they would lose their job … and they should enjoy job security and know that their employment is guaranteed.”

Provision of housing for workers and establishing equitable relationship between the labor force, employers and government was another point on which the Leader laid special emphasis.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that various administrations should take advantage of all available potentialities to create new jobs, both because of its economic outcomes and social effects, including boosting vibrancy of people in the society.

Ayatollah Khamenei also warned against efforts made to shut down Iranian factories, noting that those who shut down a factory for their own personal benefits, are knowingly or knowingly doing an act of treason against the country’s independence and production.

He exhorted executive officials and relevant ministries to take necessary action to deal with those who want to shut down production units and factories on any grounds.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the best way to thwart sanctions imposed on Iran by Western countries, specially the US, is to boost domestic production in true sense of the word, noting that this will first render sanctions inefficient and then will make enemies remove sanctions.

In relevant remarks earlier this week, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Hossein Salami said that the IRGC Qods Force strengthened the Islamic states’ resistance and defense power against arrogant powers.

General Salami made the remarks in a ceremony to introduce the new second-in-command of the Qods Force, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh, who succeeded the late commander of the force, Brigadier General Mohammad Hejazi. 

He said the IRGC Qods Force has crushed the enemy’s focal points by building power in Islamic lands through expanding anti-arrogance resistance, adding that the Force has shattered the power of global arrogance by promoting the defensive power of the Muslim world.

Pointing to the philosophy of the Qods Force, the IRGC commander-in-chief said that building power in Islamic lands and breaking the enemy’s focal points are among the functions of this force.

He lauded the powerful IRGC Qods Force, and said the force has proved that the philosophy, basis and purpose of its formation has been completely accurate, as it has duly targeted and defeated the global arrogance that pursued and plotted to break up the Islamic world and attack its countries.

The arrogant front dreamed of attacking and defeating each component of the Islamic world independently in order to seize their land and establish a rich and high-capacity geography to use it for its survival on a global scale, he added.

The Qods Force did not allow the break-up of the components of the Islamic world and instead connected the defense arrays of Muslim countries and prevented the defeat of the Islamic world against the arrogant powers, which has been obvious during the past decades, specially the last one.

“If it were not for this huge force … the ISIL, which is like a dangerous political virus, would now prevail the world,” he said.

In his remarks, General Salami also praised General Soleimani for his decisive role in confronting the ISIL while supporting diplomacy through reinforcing the Islamic Republic’s power.

“If Hajj Qassem had not stood, the ISIL would have infiltrated this land and other lands today,” he said.

Lieutenant General Soleimani was assassinated in a US drone strike on Baghdad International Airport in Iraq on January 3, 2020.

The airstrike also martyred deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The two were martyred in an American airstrike that targeted their vehicle on the road to the airport.

Five Iranian and five Iraqi military men were martyred by the missiles fired by the US drone at Baghdad International Airport.

On January 8 and after the funeral ceremony of General Soleimani, the IRGC Aerospace Force started heavy ballistic missile attacks on US Ein Al-Assad airbase in Southwestern Iraq near the border with Syria and a US operated airbase in Erbil in retaliation for the US assassination of General Soleimani.

Ein Al-Assad is an airbase with a 4km runway at 188m altitude from sea levels, which is the main and the largest US airbase in Iraq. Early reports said the radar systems and missile defense shields in Ein Al-Assad failed to operate and intercept the Iranian missiles. Unofficial reports said the US army’s central radar systems at Ein Al-Assad had been jammed by electronic warfare.

The second IRGC reprisal attack targeted a US military base near Erbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan Region in the second leg of “Martyr Soleimani” reprisal operation.

Iraq said the attacks had not taken any toll from its army men stationed at these two bases. The US army had blocked entrance into Ein Al-Assad to everyone, including the Iraqi army.

The IRGC officials said none of the missiles had been intercepted.