The Leader: Ill-wishers of Iran, Islam rely on soft war

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks on June 12, addressing the organizers of the National Congress of Nomads’ Martyrs in Shahr-e Kord, the capital city of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province. The state media published his speech on Tuesday.

“Today, the ill-wishers of Iran and Islam rely on soft war. Therefore all Iranians, including nomads, need to produce cultural products, namely books and movies” to counter such plots, he stated.

The Leader noted that shaking people’s religious faith or instilling hopelessness into them are among the most important prerequisites for waging a soft war against the Iranian nation.

“Today, whatever is done against the religion, traditions, and religious sanctities and rituals is driven by a political motive pushed by the enemy, whereas the agent of that deed may or may not be aware of this fact,” he added.

“Inculcating the sense of futurelessness and impasse, as well as the feeling that the officials do not know how to run the country are among the actions of ill-wishers,” the leader cautioned.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the leader recounted how the late founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khomeini called the nomads “the resources of the country,” saying that the enemies have tried in vain over the past two or three centuries to provoke the nomads to betray the country by starting civil wars and disintegrating the country.

He then praised the Iranian nomads for being among the most loyal communities in the country.

Ayatollah Khamenei further hailed the nomads’ loyalty and their sacrifices during the 1979 revolution and the 8-year Iran-Iraq war, saying that “the most important factor contributing to the people’s – especially nomads’ – unity, progress, and sacrifices was religion.”

“While some, who are indifferent to religion, are making efforts to downplay the religious motives of the martyrs and war veterans, we should not reduce their motives to anything less than their devotion to God and religion,” he added.