“No country in the world is as independent as Iran where many people freely disagree with the Iranian Establishment and nobody is allowed to pose pressure on them or restrict them,” said the Iranian Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Wedneday.

He made the remarks addressing a large gathering of people at Imam Reza Mausoleum in Mashhad on the first day of the new year of Iranian calendar year of 1397.

The Iranian Leader referred to Iranian history and condemned how Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties were dependent on foreign countries.

“The other issue is justice and equality; something that I touched upon very recently and admitted that we are lagging behind what is the ideal justice in our society. However, some malevolent enemies interpreted my words differently as if no moves had been undertaken in Iran for this cause. But I have to announce that we have done many things and relatively we are today much better than many countries in the world in terms in equality and justice,” reiterated the Iranian top official.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has done a great deal in this path but the propaganda says the opposite. Of course what is our expectation is much higher than what has been achieved,” asserted the grand Ayatollah.

Commenting on the functionality of Iranian officials and authorities, Ayatollah Khamenei hailed what has been done in areas of security, infrastructures, non-oil export and GDP, however, he articulated that what has been achieved is much lower than the capacities.

Then he enlisted some of the capacities and potentials of the country which according to him could flip the situation in Iran.

He said that today there are around 10 million graduated youths and 4 million young students in Iran, a number 23 times higher than pre-revolution time as he compared.

He reiterated that the educated young Iranians, the vast size of the country, the advantage of bordering with free waters, and the population growth are the capacities which could change the situation for better in Iran.

Ayatollah Khamenei referred to population policies promoted by westerners in the third world countries and denounced it as a failed plan which entangled westerners with problems so that today they are rewarding families with higher birth rates. He denounced these policies as a plot to put Islamic countries in trouble.

“Half of Persian Gulf coasts belong to Iran, the Sea pf Oman has long coasts in Iran, Iran is neighboring 15 countries, Iran is located at a sensitive geopolitical situation centering north-south and west-east corridors, Iran enjoys precious mineral sources, and Iran ranks first in the world in terms of fossil fuel resources, but these capacities have not been utilized completely,” said the Iranian Leader.

“These valuable possessions of Iran have been the cause that the enemies have always sought dominance over Iran,” highlighted the grand cleric.

“If we take advantage of these potentials and capacities, we can be the 12th economy of the world among the 200 countries of the globe,” articulated the top authority of Iran.

“There are barriers that prevent us from progressing; one of them is that some of our officials and authorities do not believe in these capacities; they cannot accept that our youth are capable of doing many things; they don’t trust our own resources,” regretted the Leader.

“We made great progresses in the field of atomic energy while many scientists and officials were suspicious of our progress and sent me letters telling me that we can’t; at the meantime many of the scientists who brought us those progresses were around 30 or even younger than 30 years old,” expounded Ayatollah Khameni.

“The main challenge of us is the mind barriers which push us back; these are the main challenges of our country,” he reiterated.

“Our enemies are instilling that we cannot, but I insist that we can and we own huge capacities,” asserted the Leader.

“While the officials should believe in the youth and the power of the youth, the youth at the same time should be resilient and not got disappointed,” he advised the officials and the young Iranians.

“Another obstacle, hindering Iran’s progress is lazy and unmotivated officials and managers,” he called for more efforts by authorities saying that most of the officials are good in comparison to a small number of corrupted ones.

“Another obstacle preventing Iran from making progress is trust in solutions prescribed by foreigners,” he said that nobody should believe in what the International Monitory Fund or the world Bank offer as solutions for solving economic problems of Iran.

He added that the same way the Iranian officials should not believe in international conventions. “What our officials should believe in is Resistance Economy and intrinsic economy.”

He also criticized partisan policies according which the same plan or resume can be judged quite oppositely.

Insufficient war on corruption and reliance on oil were two other shortcomings the Iranian Leader criticized.

He also called the masses of the nation and asked them to change their lifestyle. Consumerism, over-consumption, extravagance, indulgence, and aristocratic parties were the negative features of the current Iranian lifestyle according to the Leader.

He dismissed the idea that setting slogans for the Iranian years is futile and added that the new slogan is addressing both the government and the nation to have prejudice about Iranian made goods.

He condemned American policies in the region and asserted that the American plots were intended to distract attentions from “the regime which has occupied Palestine.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has foiled US plots in the region and the Americans are unable to establish peace and security in the region,” affirmed the Iranian Leader.

YNG/Live