In meeting with the university students and representatives of students' associations on April 18, 2023, Ayatollah Khamenei referred to "making nations pessimistic about themselves" as one of the main strategies of the enemies.

isalnews - During the meeting, he highlighted the need to strengthen the foundations of knowledge of students and student associations, saying that young students should study and ponder over knowledge-related issues using the Holy Quran, Nahj al-Balagha and the books of thinkers such as Martyr Motahari, Martyr Beheshti and the late Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi.

Describing "justice" as one of the foundations of knowledge, Imam Khamenei said, "An important example of justice is the elimination of inequality, but the wide scope of justice starts from the mind, heart, opinion, and personal judgments, and it leads to the fight against Arrogant Powers for international justice. Unfortunately, however, some chant the slogan of seeking justice but do not regard the fight against global aggressors as an example of seeking justice."

He also referred to "freedom" as another foundation of knowledge and explained that in Islam’s view, "freedom from the material framework and desires" is the most important part of the subject of freedom, which paves the way for progress and excellence as well as freedom from the shackles of rigidity, backwardness, nervousness, reactionism, superpowers, dictators and so on.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Imam Khamenei said awaiting the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (pbuh) means believing that all of the defects and hardships can be overcome with work, effort and reliance on God.

"In the Quran, God considers the victory of the righteous and the oppressed to be his invariable law, and we saw this truthful promise in the victory of the Revolution and the victorious confrontation with all the arrogant forces of the world and the enemies of Iran in the Imposed War," he said.

The Leader of the Revolution said attempts to polarize the student community and the country as well as unrealistic views and demands without offering scientific and practical solutions are among the banes of student activities.

Referring to the comments of one of the students, he said: "The various issues of the country cannot be put to a referendum, because each referendum preoccupies the entire country for six months. Besides, where in the world do they hold referendums for all issues?"

Imam Khamenei, in response to some students who asked what the duty of a desirable and forward-thinking student is, said they should first transform the mind and reality of their society and then transform the mind and reality of the world.

He said the word “student” is interconnected with words such as knowledge-seeking, youthhood, dynamism, innovation and regeneration, as well as humanitarian feelings such as hostility to corruption and injustice, adding that the most important thing for a student is to have an intellectual foundation and to strengthen it.

"Everyone must be up-to-date in knowing the enemy’s plan and strategy," he said, adding, “Whenever I use the word 'enemy', some angrily insinuate that I seek to deny the weaknesses and shortcomings. While weaknesses exist, the enemy is constantly working against the righteous front by spending money and resources."

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution called making Iranians pessimistic about themselves is the enemy’s updated strategy, while giving examples of this strategy, added that the correct response by the pious, resistant and knowledgeable young people to these measures is to study and fight to resolve the problems.

Another example of inducing pessimism that Imam Khamenei pointed to was the insistence of malicious foreign media on suggesting that the Iranian people have turned away from their religious beliefs and revolutionary sentiments. He said these insinuations are made while this year’s Qadr Night gatherings were livelier than last year, and the crowd was denser than last year on Quds Day, and the turnout at 22nd of Bahman celebrations were twice of last year. Nevertheless, he went on, they still place their perverse temptations in others’ way.

The Leader further pointed to the existence of defects and problems in the country and said: "My expectations and demands from the authorities to eliminate the defects are more than yours, but at the same time, we see that the country is progressing, thank God, and there are hundreds of thousands of young, pious, motivated and innovative people in it who did not exist before."

"The Iranian youth is the target of intense hatred of the enemies, and all our youths should know this fact," he said.

Expounding on the reason behind the spitefulness of the Arrogant Powers and the Zionist cartels dominating America and Europe toward the Iranian youths, Imam Khamenei said: "The Zionist cartels that dominate the US & Europe clearly hate the Islamic Republic’s officials & will tear them apart if they can get ahold of them. But they hate the Iranian youth even more. Why? Because the officials cannot do anything without the youth & their motivation."

He also mentioned the young believers who were martyred after shining brightly in different fields such as management, military and science, adding, “That luminous streak still continues, and in your contemporary period, the martyrs Hojaji, Sadrzadeh, Aliverdi and Ajamian, and today, the many responsible Iranian youths, are the driving force of the country.

It should be noted that at the beginning of the meeting, eight representatives from student associations expressed their opinions, criticisms and suggestions about the issues of the country and the university.

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