Speaking at a three-hour ceremony in Tehran on Thursday marking the birthday anniversary of lady Fatima al-Zahra [SA], the daughter of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), Ayatollah Khamenei told thousands of attendees that Iran continues its forward movement amid existing problems and deficiencies across the country.
"By the grace of God, the country is moving, striving and progressing," he said.
The event coincided with the birthday anniversary of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Ayatollah Khamenei praised the role of religious eulogists (madah) in preserving and expanding the literature of resistance, describing it as one of the bases of resistance literature.
He defined national resistance as "resilience and steadfastness against all kinds of domineering pressures," including military, economic, media, cultural and political forms.
The Leader said global arrogance has for over a century sought to change Iran's "religious, historical and cultural identity," but the 1979 Islamic Revolution rendered those efforts futile, and in recent decades the nation has continued to frustrate its adversaries through unwavering resistance.
He described the current era as the center of a broad "propaganda and media war" against Iran, noting that the enemy has realized this land cannot be conquered through military force.
Ayatollah Khamenei identified the primary goal of the enemy — led by the United States and supported by some European countries — as erasing the effects, goals and concepts of the Islamic Revolution and causing the memory of Imam Khomeini to fade.
He urged eulogists and religious gatherings to become strongholds of adherence to revolutionary values and to immunize the younger generation against the enemy's goals.
In closing, the Leader acknowledged widespread problems across Iran, including dust pollution in Khuzestan province raised by one eulogist, but stressed, "We have many shortcomings, but the nation, day by day, through resistance, sincerity, goodwill and justice-seeking, is creating dignity and strength for Islam and Iran."
The ceremony began with poetry recitals and eulogies performed by eleven prominent eulogists.