“If an official does not have the courage to confront the corrupt inside the country, s/he will not have the courage to fight the oppressors outside the country,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on Saturday morning.
He made the remarks in Imam Khomeini Hussainia, Tehran, where Iranian workers gathered from around the country to meet the Supreme Leader on the occasion of the Labor Week.
“It is hoped that the Popular Government and the revolutionary parliament will pursue the fight against the seven-headed dragon of corruption,” he noted.
He highlighted the need to create a direct relationship between “income” and “work”, saying long-term plans are needed to achieve this ambitious goal.
“This is a very difficult task. This means that much of the asset and windfalls is ill-earned. We must stop the culture of accumulating unearned wealth in the country. This is a long-term and difficult task, but it must be done,” he said.
The Supreme Leader further urged officials to fight corruption and bribery, cut out the middlemen in the economy, and prevent profiteers from accumulating wealth through their special connections.
“All of these are detrimental to the society. Income must be directly related to work,” he stressed.
“Work is the vitality of the society. Work is the backbone of people’s lives. Without work, there is nothing. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the facilities we use that our lives depend upon are all the results of work. Who does the work? The worker. Therefore, what is the value of the worker? The value of the worker is the value of the society’s vitality, the value of people’s life.”
Elsewhere in his comments, Ayatollah Khamenei praised the country’s workers for drawing the line against the enemy and not letting the enemy exploit their legitimate demands.
“As far as I know, some of the protests that existed in the labor community were appropriate,” he said. “This helps the system and the government and informs the system. In such cases, wherever the responsible bodies looked into the cases, they realized that they (workers) were right. However, in these issues, the labor community drew the line against the enemy. They did not let the enemy exploit their protest. This is the labor movement.”
Highlighting the need to improve the workers’ livelihood, the Supreme Leader said when the workers have no financial concern and have job security, the quality of work and products will increase.
He described unemployment as the root cause of many forms of corruption, recalling that following several meetings on remedying social harms during the previous administration, he personally came to the conclusion that many of the social harms faced by the country are rooted in unemployment.
“The organization that are responsible for creating jobs should know how important this is for the society,” he said, calling for more investment to create jobs.
At the beginning of the meeting, Iran’s Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare Solat Mortazavi presented a report on the activities of the ministry, including on creating jobs, training and improving the skills of workers, developing the cooperative sector, increasing support for those seeking help, and expanding Social Security Organization and insurance support.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the report contained important points. Referring to Mortazavi’s good records in his previous responsibilities and the necessity of following up the announced plans, he added, “One should be careful in announcing any statistics, especially in important matters such as employment, housing and insurance, so that contrary to some previous administrations, all the statistics provided are accurate and without negligence.”
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