Ayatollah Khamenei the Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces met today with a group of army commanders. Speaking at the meeting, His Eminence advised members of the Armed Forces to preserve and strengthen their religious and spiritual motives and to increase their preparedness. He stressed: "The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have the crucial and valuable experience of the eight-year Sacred Defense Era and it is necessary to constantly review and utilize this precious experience."

His Eminence said that the experience of the eight-year Sacred Defense has been exceptional in the history of the country and added: "During those eight years, all powers of the world, including the east and the west as well as the countries that were dependent on them, deployed their forces against the Islamic Republic of Iran and they provided the Iraqi Ba'ath regime with the most advanced weapons."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution reiterated: "The western countries that claim to support human rights and democracy did not even refuse to give chemical weapons to the Iraqi Ba'ath regime in the hope that they would be able to bring the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran to their knees."

Ayatollah Khamenei added: "In spite of all those efforts and all that support, the superpowers did not manage to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees. And this chapter of the history of Iran is a very valuable and great experience which has been made available to the Armed Forces."

His Eminence said that happiness and progress of nations depends on their patience and steadfastness at important historical junctures, further stressing: "With precious experiences like the Islamic Revolution and the Sacred Defense and considering today's good conditions, the Iranian nation will definitely clear the current juncture in a proud way."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the threats by the enemies of the Iranian nation and reiterated: "The multiplicity of the threats shows that the Islamic Republic is powerful because if the Islamic Republic were not very powerful and influential, the ill-wishers of the Iranian nation would not make so many desperate efforts."

At the end of his statements, Ayatollah Khamenei described the role of human resources in the Armed Forces as very important. He stressed that it is necessary to avoid complacency with the current advances and to preserve the spirit of the Sacred Defense Era.