TEHRAN - Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Thursday that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) is the “biggest force” against terrorism in the world.

“Today, the IRGC is the largest anti-terrorist organization in the world,” Ayatollah Khamenei told a group of the IRGC commanders.

The Leader described the IRGC as a well-armed, independent and effective military “that can do things that many great armies in the world can't accomplish."

The IRGC emerged as the most capable force against Daesh, the deadliest barbaric terrorist group in history.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the enemies have no avenue to damage the reputation of the IRGC other than through "false news, rumors and all kinds of tricks and ploys”.

Following is the text of the Leader’s speech posted on the khamenei.ir: 

Imam Khamenei, in a meeting with the Supreme Assembly of Commanders and Officials of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on August 17, described the creation, growth, crisis-breaking quality, and performance of the IRGC as unique and a source of pride in terms of military, civilian, services and construction, emphasizing that a key plot of the enemy is to distort the image of IRGC's image.

He pointed to the enemy’s policy of creating crisis, undermining the country’s security, and disrupting people’s lives, but hastened to add that the enemy’s defeat and the nation’s victory will be "definite" through efforts to bring about national unity, encouraging people’s participation, helping people, especially the lower classes, round-the-clock and Jihadi works by authorities, and continuing movement, hope and enthusiasm toward realization of the goals of the Islamic Revolution.

Imam Khamenei said "forgetting the facts and truths of the Revolution by the Iranian nation" is one of the goals of the world’s Satans.

He called the formation of a group with the characteristics of the IRGC as a unique incident in the great revolutions of history.

"There are flaws and weaknesses in all human groups, but in the history of the country, there has never been a military group with such spiritual, political, moral, and human uprightness," he maintained.

The Leader also described the growth of the IRGC as unique.

He pointed to the organizational expansion of the military force shortly after its formation, saying, "About two years after its formation, the IRGC, with the support and cooperation of the Army, in several major operations, including Fath ol-Mobin and Liberation of Khorramshahr, played a decisive role and managed to show the enormous power of the Revolution’s defense power to the enemy."

During the same meeting, Imam Khamenei explained the answer to this important question: “What feature does the Islamic Revolution have that causes some to become hostile towards it, necessitating the need to guard the Revolution before them?”

He described the "political establishment of Islam" in Iran as a clear answer to this question.

"Standing up to oppression and helping the oppressed is a key and sensitizing feature of political Islam. This makes a regime like the Zionist regime, which is based on occupation, oppression, coercion and torture, to be stubborn and hostile toward a system such as that of the Islamic Republic," he added, while describing the features of political Islam.

The Islamic system's opposition to Arrogant Powers' encroaching on the interests and resources of nations was another feature that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution considered to be the cause of the colonialists' conflict with the Islamic system. "In contrast to the colonial approach, the Quran has instructed us to treat other nations in a just manner. This even includes nations whose beliefs and behaviors are different to us," he stated.

Imam Khamenei outlined that the wealth accumulation and development of countries such as England and France over the centuries has been due to their occupation, colonization and exploitation of other countries.

"You find some political analysts asking, ‘What has the Islamic Republic done that has allowed a certain country to oppose it?’ The answer to this question is clear. The evil colonialist system with all its history can obviously not be good with the Islamic system."

The Leader also pointed out a command in the Quran that instructs people to have faith in the dignity of all human beings regardless of their color, race, or the region they come from. "According to the logic of the Quran, a black person is no different from any other person. So, can the Westerners, who spread the logic of racial discrimination in a disgraceful way, be nice toward the Islamic system?!"

Imam Khamenei underlined that another important reason why certain countries are hostile toward the Islamic system is because the Islamic Republic has served as a role model, a pioneer, and a driving force for resistance movements in the sensitive West Asian region. He added that if the Islamic Republic had not become a role model, the enmities would have been less.

Imam Khamenei further compared this to the way that the armies of three Arab countries had been handicapped in the face of the petty Zionist regime in the years prior to the victory of the Revolution, i.e., in the Six-Day War of 1967 and the 1973 war. "After the Islamic Revolution, it got to a point where this [Zionist] regime spent 33 days trying to defeat Hezbollah in Lebanon. But it failed and was forced to flee in disgrace."

The Leader underlined that the difference between the pre- and post-Revolution age is equivalent to the difference between the Six-Day war in 1967 and the 33-Day war.

"Today, we have reached a point where in the occupied territories of Palestine and in the western region of the Jordan River, young people are moving and attacking in such a way that they have crippled the Zionist regime."

Imam Khamenei explained that the characteristics of political Islam has inevitably made it an enemy of the evil, spiteful, promise-breaking and lying satans.

"When we know about our enemy, our motivation to guard [political Islam] becomes more profound and it prevents us from making mistakes in knowing the opposing side. Imam [Khomeini] used to say with his perceptive insight, "Vent all your shouts on the US."

During the meeting, the Leader also recalled the crises, riots, insecurities and extensive activities caused and carried out by terrorist groups in different regions around the country at the beginning of the Revolution. "The documents of the US spy nest in Iran also revealed that these incidents took place within the framework of the same Western strategy which was based on creating one crisis after another in Iran," he added.

Imam Khamenei outlined that these crises were overcome by the IRGC and it was this organization that had come to the rescue of the people in the affected provinces. “The enemies tried to undermine and paralyze the Revolution by creating continuous crises. They then plotted to put an end to the Revolution with a measure similar to the coup that took place on August 19, [1953]. However, the IRGC thwarted it. This is the reason why the enemies have so much hatred and animosity towards the IRGC."

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution described the IRGC’s performance during the Sacred Defense as a very important and brilliant chapter of its existence. "The ever-increasing growth in the IRGC’s capabilities is another dimension of its performance, which has created security and deterrence for Iran," he added.

The Leader attributed the reduction and non-repetition of the phrase "military options are on the table" to the IRGC's deterrence power and capabilities. "Everyone knows that this phrase has become trivial, meaningless and worthless," he said.

He described the IRGC's performance in construction and infrastructural matters as honorable, brilliant and in unparalleled dimensions. "The Revolutionary Guards have served the people with all their might through public services, overcoming deprivations, during natural disasters and incidents such as the coronavirus pandemic."

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution described the enemy's main goal of creating cruises in Iran to undermine the country's security. "If there is no security, there will be no economy, employment, or infrastructural activities. Factories cannot be set up, and there will be no science, universities or research centers. Therefore, their main goal is to disrupt the country's security and to disrupt people's lives."

He considered the CIA, Mossad, and British MI6 spy agencies to be the main perpetrators behind the design and creation of the crises.

"Of course, they also use internal and external agents and Western-oriented and indifferent elements, but the main perpetrators are the spy services."

At the beginning of this meeting, the Commander of the IRGC, Major General Hossein Salami explained the capabilities and performances of the IRGC in the fields of military, security, intelligence, science, economy, construction, health, services, propagation and the creation of hope.