Speech [Need for people's participation in reconstruction efforts]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

At the outset, I would like to thank the cabinet and the Iranian nation who performed the jobs efficiently and who preserved the dignity of Islam. In spite of the intense pressure on them during the days of the war, they managed to remove the thorns along the path. Today, I would like to touch on some issues. My statement is that:" We should not consider the war having come to its end" and that:" We are still engaged in war." To elaborate, our enemies- whether the major enemies such as America and the Soviet Union or their stooges such as Saddam and the like- are always preoccupied with plotting, since they are opposed to Islam and since they observed that Islam developed into a great power in the world against them. We should not be negligent of this issue. The people should be kept informed as well. So should the armed forces. The people should swarm the warfront. They should follow up this issue and not show laxity. Our enemy is one that acts on the basis of scheme.

Now, it is possible that they would thus spread in Iran:" Well, the issue was no more," and thus, they would make the people sluggish; since the issue has not yet come to an end, they are always looking for ways to perform their jobs even if through the nations or the governments. Since they cannot do it in Iran, as neither the nation nor the government are with them, they are currently pursuing other ways. We should be vigilant; people should flock into the warfront. We should consider ourselves in a state of war. As you see, they do not care for any of the affairs; today, they are saying," War!" Tomorrow, they would say," Peace!" and the day after tomorrow they would start the war. In view of this, our armed forces and our nation should be ready for this affair.

This is one issue; the other issue is that of reconstruction, which is of paramount importance. If the nation wanted to work alone for reconstruction, corruption would emerge. If the government desires to execute it independently, it has no power. It should be accompanied the people; although it has power, it has to bring them to the scene in this important affair. Of course, people's participation should be under the supervision of the government. On the question of which is priority and which is the least priority, this will finally be discussed Based on what is appropriate, the Expediency Council, comprising of the officials of the country and the Prime Minister should identify, should identify what is expedient, which is the first and which is the next, and how is its condition. The people themselves should get involved, but not in an independent manner. The government should provide opportunity to the people to get involved in the tasks while the people should also give chance to the government to perform this important task in a gradual and well-planned manner. There are possibly hands at work that want to create disturbance in reconstruction and to create corruption. You should take care of this. It is the Expediency Council that should supervise over the affairs; it should give the chance to people to participate. In this the post-war period, people should be free in commercial activities but under the supervision of the government. They should not start again those items that they used to bring in from abroad and those corrupting stuffs that they used to bring in. The government should allow the people to bring item from abroad, to engage in commerce but this should be supervised by government so that corruption would not creep in. This is also an important subject, and one should pay serious attention to it.

There is also an issue which is wholly related to the fact we should be vigilant on these affairs; we should not imagine that all the jobs could be set right quickly. Now, it is possible that a certain group would go in the midst of the people persons who oppose us as they do; they are many- now they are also around:" Well, the war was no more; O Allah, end it soon!" The subject is not a subject that can immediately be resolved; it is a subject that they dealt with for eight years; they destroyed our cities; we have to follow it up at least to the same extent that they dealt with it and God willing, some years from now we could be able to do it. The people should not sit and listen to the words of persons saying," It should be done immediately; everything should be set right immediately." No, they cannot do it; it is a problem that cannot be solved soon. This is also an affair for which they should pay close attention as well as in readiness in war.

I hope that God would confirm all of you; just as He has confirmed us so far; that we have so far progressed through the divine favors. The essential thing is trust in God, the Blessed and Exalted. Whatever has been accomplished so far has been done with His help. From now on up to the end, it is through His hand. We also are bound to do whatever tasks He ordains. You should also pay attention to the fact that you should increase your trust and your attention to God. We are nothing, we are nobody. That which exists is, He. The one who acts is, He. My duty is to pray. I pray for all of you. I pray to God, the Blessed and Exalted, to grant success, health and wellbeing to all of you and the Iranian nation. May God annihilate the enemies of Islam.

May God's peace and mercy be upon you.