In his New Year address on March 20, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called this Iranian New Year the “Year of Innovation and Flourishing”.

“This year innovation must engulf the entire country; all the government officials must consider themselves responsible... using innovative methods and taking shortcuts through effective management and appropriate planning,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in the message to the Iranian nation.
This year the Islamic Republic will celebrate its 30th anniversary, he stated, adding that all these thirty years have been spent defending national independence and grandeur, and helping the country move towards scientific progress and practical objectives.
He went on to say, “We cannot afford to move on at a slow pace. We must double our efforts and move ahead in a serious, fast, well-organized, and calculated endeavor.”
Ayatollah Khamenei noted that he expected two goals to be fulfilled in this year: “innovation in various sectors, including social and economic organizations as well as organizations that provide service for the public especially in diplomacy, promoting knowledge, and research.”
“My second expectation this year is that the activities that have been done in the previous years... must bear fruit this year and people should feel the sweet taste of these activities’ outcomes. Therefore, I hereby name this year the year of innovation and flourishing,” he added
He described the past Iranian year, 1386, as an important and eventful year that brought about grandeur for the Iranian nation.
“In the beginning of last year, arresting and then releasing the British soldiers - who had encroached on our territory - presented a powerful and at the same time patient and magnanimous picture of the Iranian nation to the people throughout the world. At the end of that year, the people’s impressive and glorious participation in the parliamentary elections once again portrayed Iran as a nation that has enormous power and displays firmness of purpose for the management of the country,” he explained.
--------------- Europe should learn lesson form public hatred toward U.S.
In a speech to tens of thousands of people who had gathered at Imam Reza (AS)’s holy shrine in Mashhad on March 20, the Supreme Leader stated that
Pointing to the 200 secret prisons of the U.S. around the world especially in Europe, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “why are the Europeans, who continuously speak about human rights, silent about these illegal prisons?”
Although the Europeans cause an international uproar in response to any questions regarding the Holocaust, they not only do not protest the affront against the Holy Prophet, but they also cooperate with those who commit such things, he pointed out.
The Leader advised certain European countries to take lessons from the public’s hatred toward the Zionist regime and the United States.
He also described progress and justice as two essential factors for the Islamic Republic in the fourth decade of its existence.
“Justice without progress would result in poverty and progress without justice would not be in favor of the country because the class gap must be reduced and all people should gain equal opportunities for work and production,” he said.
(Sources: leader.ir and Khamenei.ir)