MADRID- In his first speech of the year, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei analyzed the current situation of the country and outlined the objectives to be achieved during this new year of 1402.

Firstly, he began by discussing what has already become a tradition: the new motto for the current year. This motto serves as a reminder, both for government officials and the general public, of the objectives to be achieved.

Continuing with the tradition of selecting mottos with an economic background (for example, last year's annual motto was "controlling inflation and promoting production"), this year Ayatollah Khamenei chose the motto: "A leap in production with the participation of the people." This objective, in general terms, is based on maintaining an economic vision always framed within a horizon of justice.

It is crucial to remember that the notion of justice is vital for understanding the ethical and political articulation of the Islamic Republic. Since its foundation in 1979, the Islamic Republic has portrayed itself as a bastion against oppression and discrimination. Iran derives its political identity from the interpretation of Islam made by Imam Khomeini, considering it as the pursuit of truth and justice by all individuals.

During his speech, Ayatollah Khamenei recalled how "the enemies of Iran," especially the United States, have attempted to harm the country using economic tools such as sanctions. For the current Supreme Leader, the resilience of the Islamic Republic has allowed it to withstand these pressures. It is important to remember that from the perspective of the Islamic Republic, the economic sanctions faced by the country are not seen as an alternative to war, but rather as a war by other means. Authorities understand that these sanctions ultimately aim to undermine the country's political independence and regional autonomy.

Ayatollah Khamenei has consistently emphasized the importance of adopting political and economic measures to counteract sanctions. In this regard, the Raisi government, following these recommendations, has developed its policy of "neighborliness and convergence," aiming to neutralize the impact of sanctions through economic collaboration with regional countries.

Continuing with the economic issue, Ayatollah Khamenei outlined a series of short and medium-term objectives. Among them, notable goals include the transformation of the tax system, an 80% increase in the production of essential consumer goods, and the expansion of production in the agricultural sector. It is important to note that all these objectives must be achieved without neglecting the welfare of the population.

Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized that these objectives must meet two basic political requirements upon which the Islamic Republic stands. Firstly, popular participation, which ensures a circulation of power and ensures the presence of the republican part. On the other hand, there is the Islamic part of the equation, represented in this case by the horizon of justice, as previously pointed out.

This horizon of justice was also reiterated by focusing on issues of corruption, abuses of power, and oppression in general. In this regard, Ayatollah Khamenei urged political and judicial authorities not to relent in their fight against these practices. From an Islamic standpoint, the ultimate ethical-political objective of the Islamic Republic is to create just living conditions on earth through a continuous struggle against oppression and injustice. Ayatollah Khamenei also addressed the legislative elections and the Assembly of Experts, held less than a month ago. These elections served once again to emphasize the importance of participation within what can be considered as the two constitutional souls of the Islamic Republic: the republican and popular soul, and the Islamic soul. Popular participation implies reaffirming the aforementioned circulation of power, which in turn guarantees the presence of the "republican soul."

Regarding the idea of popular participation, Ayatollah Khamenei reminded that there is a distinction between healthy political differences of opinion and partisan disputes that jeopardize the "unity of discourse of the Islamic Republic". That is to say, understanding that the Islamic Republic is based on a political discourse that prioritizes principles such as independence, autonomy, and the regional construction of an order free from external regional forces, anything that challenges that vision constitutes a threat to the very existence of the Islamic Republic. This can be explained as follows: According to the political principles established by Imam Khomeini, any attempt to abandon the fight against imperialism and injustice, as well as to cease support for the Palestinian cause, would transform the political nature of the Islamic Republic. Following Imam Khomeini's argument, Iran would become just another country in the region following a non-political and pro-imperialist version of Islam. Therefore, the very raison d'être of the Islamic Republic would be called into question.

But according to the Supreme Leader, the discursive unity that gives meaning to the Islamic Republic should not be confused with a homogenization of opinions; rather, it should be seen as a common political horizon that can be pursued from different directions.

Lastly, Ayatollah Khamenei focused a significant part of his speech on analyzing the current situation in Gaza. According to his analysis, the situation in Palestine highlights how oppression continues to prevail in the world. From this perspective, it is important to understand that the struggle in Palestine, besides being based on political considerations such as anti-colonialism, also has an Islamic aspect expressed in the existential confrontation between the forces of injustice and evil, represented by Israel and its allies, and the forces of God and justice, represented in this case by the so-called Axis of Resistance.

For Ayatollah Khamenei, the Axis of Resistance is not an Iranian creation in the sense that Iran controls the rest of the groups. As with most defensive alliances, each member of the Axis maintains a considerable degree of autonomy. For example, Hezbollah, is the most powerful non-state actor in the Axis. The late General of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Hamedani, wrote in his memoirs that Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was "in charge of all policies of the resistance axis in Syria" after their intervention in the country's civil war in 2013. On the other hand, the Houthis showed their independence from the beginning when they took the Yemeni capital of Sana'a in 2014, disregarding Iran's advice at the time. In other words, for Ayatollah Khamenei, the existence of the Axis of Resistance is not explained by a unilateral decision from Tehran but rather by a unity of political vision: opposing injustice and oppression in the region.

In this regard, and finally, Ayatollah Khamenei reminded that the Zionist Entity, the term used in the Islamic Republic for Israel, is facing an unprecedented crisis. Despite theoretically having all the key ingredients for victory, such as seemingly infinite and uncontrolled firepower, unconditional Western support, and nearly unanimous national support for genocidal war, the truth is that the Zionist political project is a failure in the sense that it cannot offer any kind of political future that is not mired in the brutalization and exclusion of the Palestinians.

According to the Iranian Leader, "the current situation facing the Zionist regime brings its downfall closer and closer."