RNA – In his Friday prayer sermon to a large and fervent crowd of believers in Qom’s Qods Prayer Hall, Ayatollah Ali-Reza Arafi commemorated Islamic Resistance Day which ended on August 14, 2006 and said, “Hezbollah is a hero despite the very difficult conditions that it has faced due to the attacks by Zionist regime on southern Lebanon throughout the years. While in all wars, the people of Lebanon and Palestine were defeated by Israel, Hezbollah was inspired by Iran’s Islamic Revolution and achieved victory.”
“In the 33-Day War, they stood against the strongest army of the region and thanks be to God and by relying on faith and resistance, and for the first time, they stopped the usurping regime on the home front and on borders of the Zionist regime and offered the taste of defeat to Israel,” he added.
The head of the Islamic Seminaries of Iran pointed out, “The 33-Day War was a great elixir which voided the witchcraft of the imperialist powers and a symbol of faith and courage. Today, the path of the Islamic ummah passes through the path of resistance and Hezbollah, which we hope will be able to appreciate this blessing and continue it.”
Ayatollah Arafi criticized the marginal issues created by some of the representatives of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (the Iranian parliament) at the inauguration of President Hasan Rouhani, adding that there was a horrific incident in the parliament that was not good for our nation.
“This disastrous incident was a demonstration of a kind of weakness and neglect which must be handled properly. We expect the parliament to be a great teacher and our authorities to be symbols of the resistance, majesty and dignity of the nation. Whatever distorts this dignity isn’t acceptable to the great nation of Iran and we mustn’t witness such issues which distorts Islamic dignity,” he added.
Referring to the holding presidential validation and inauguration ceremonies and the commencement of the 12th government, the member of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom said, “The validation ceremony is the symbol of legitimacy and the inauguration ceremony is the symbol of the solidarity of power and commitment to the people. It’s expected that a revolutionary government is formed which is committed to the ideals of Islam and the Islamic Revolution and adheres to serving the people and the resistance economy.”
Ayatollah Arafi added, “A government must be formed which is on the path of Islam and the Islamic Revolution, committed to divine values and has concerns regarding the important sensitivities of the Supreme Leader and we must witness a new chapter in the country.”
Referring to the destruction of the town of al-Awamiyyah in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province by Saudi forces, the head of al-Mustafa International University, said, “This incident is very difficult and harrowing and severe oppression by the Saudi government is being carried out against the oppressed people. We condemn these atrocities and we expect the Saudi rulers to provide the Hajj pilgrims with security and to deal with their people with mercy.”
He added, “We condemn the abuses of the carried out by the agents of the imperialist powers in Yemen, Bahrain and within Saudi Arabia and we hope that they end their tyranny. The Islamic Seminary of Qom and the noble people of Qom are protesting loudly against these abuses.”
Ayatollah Arafi referred to the hostile attitudes of the United States and said, “We must tell the Americans that new conspiracies, cries and fresh sanctions will not yield new results. The Americans have repeatedly experienced Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Resistance and in this new series of new conspiracies, they will also be defeated.”
“They must know that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Khamenei], the people of Iran and the authorities will stand, through divine bounty, against these excesses and exaggerations with their entire being,” he added.
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