The following is an excerpt from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s message on March 20 to mark Nowruz, the Iranian New Year.
I would like to congratulate all my dear countrymen across the nation, all Iranians who are living in different parts of the world and all other nations who celebrate Nowruz [Iranian New Year], on the occasion of Nowruz and the arrival of the New Year. In particular, I would like to congratulate the honorable families of our martyrs, our disabled war veterans and their families, all our war veterans and all those who are active in different arenas in the country. I wish and I pray that Allah the Exalted will bestow joy and happiness on the people of Iran in this New Year and that He will frustrate the goals and efforts of the ill-wishers of our nation.
The year that came to an end - the year 1390 - was one of the eventful years in the world, in the region and in our country. In general, one can see that these events ended in favor of the Iranian nation and they furthered the goals of our nation. Those in western countries who are nurturing malevolent goals in their minds about the Iranian nation, Iran and Iranians are faced with different problems. In the region, the nations that have been supported by the Islamic Republic have achieved great goals. Certain dictators were removed from power. The constitutions that were ratified in certain countries were based on Islam. The archenemy of the Islamic Ummah and the Iranian nation - namely the Zionist regime - was besieged. Inside the country, the year 1390 was a year in which the power of the Iranian nation was revealed in the real sense of the word. On the political front, the people of Iran exhibited great presence - both in the rallies on the 22nd of Bahman and in the elections on the 12th of Esfand - and they set a new standard for national power in the history of the region. We have had few cases of such presence and such standards in the past.
In spite of all the enmity, in spite of all the propaganda and in spite of all the hostile and malevolent attacks, last year, the Iranian people managed to show and prove their presence on the scene, their dynamism and their preparedness in different scientific, social, political and economic arenas with all their heart. Thankfully, in spite of all the hardships, we made great achievements last year. As I have pointed out before, the conditions were the conditions of Badr and Khaybar - that is to say, conditions in which we had to accept and overcome challenges and hardships.
It was announced at the beginning of last year that the year 1390 would be named "The Year of Economic Jihad". Although vigilant and aware people knew that the name, the orientation and the slogan was a necessity for the year 1390, the subsequent efforts by the enemies throughout the year proved this necessity. From the beginning of last year, our enemies started their hostile movement against the Iranian nation on the economic front. But with intelligent moves, the Iranian nation, our government officials, our people and different organizations of the country managed to confront these sanctions and their efforts were successful to a large extent in countering the effect of these sanctions and the enemy's move. The year 1390 was the year of great scientific activities. By Allah's favor, in another speech, I will explain to our honorable people some of our scientific and economic advances and different other endeavors we made last year. The year 1390 was full of challenges. It was full of dynamism. It was a year in which the Iranian nation managed to overcome the existing challenges, by Allah's grace.
A new year has begun for us and God willing, the Iranian nation will manage to achieve many advances through its efforts and vigilance and by relying on Allah the Exalted. My conclusion - which is based on the reports I have received and on the consultation I have had with aware and well-informed people - is that economic matters will be the important challenge this year, which starts from today. There can be no end to economic jihad. Economic jihad and jihad-like presence in economic arenas is a necessity for the Iranian nation.
This year I will analyze the issues related to economic jihad. One important portion of economic issues is related to the issue of domestic production. If we manage to increase and push ahead with domestic production in an appropriate way by relying on God's grace, on the firm determination of the people and on the efforts of our government officials, undoubtedly a major portion of the enemy's efforts will be frustrated. Therefore, the issue of domestic production is a significant part of economic jihad. If the Iranian nation manages to solve the problem of domestic production and move forward in this arena by relying on its determination, will power, awareness and vigilance, by relying on the cooperation and assistance of its government officials and by relying on accurate planning, undoubtedly it will completely overcome the challenges that the enemy has created. Therefore, the issue of domestic production is an important issue.
If we manage to increase our domestic production, the issue of inflation will be resolved, the issue of unemployment will be resolved and our economy will be strengthened in the real sense of the word, which will disappoint the enemy. When the enemy becomes disappointed, his efforts and machinations will come to an end.
Therefore, I call on all our government officials, all the people who are active on the economic front and all our honorable people to give rise to a boom in domestic production this year. Therefore, this year's slogan is "National Production and Supporting Iranian Labor and Capital". We should be able to support the labor of Iranian laborers and the capital of Iranian investors, and the only way to make this happen is to strengthen national production. The role that the government should play in this regard is to support our domestic industrial and agricultural products and the role of our investors and laborers is to strengthen the cycle of production and bolster production work. And the role of the people - which I believe is the most important role - is to consume our domestic products. We should become used to consuming every product that is produced inside the country. In all areas including the areas related to daily consumption as well as larger and more important areas, we should create a cultural norm among ourselves and consider it our obligation to seriously avoid consuming foreign products the equivalents of which are also produced inside the country. We are hoping that with this orientation and attitude, once again the Iranian nation will manage to overcome the machinations of the enemies and the tricks of the ill-wishers in the economic arena in the year 1391.
I pray to Allah the Exalted to bestow success on the Iranian nation on this front and all other fronts. I pray to Allah the Exalted to make the soul of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) happy and satisfied with us. I pray to Allah the Exalted to associate the pure souls of our honorable martyrs with His saints in the hereafter.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings.