‘Iran is a symbol of hope’: Snippets from Leader’s speech to sports, science medalists

By Press TV Website Staff

In a meeting held on Monday in Tehran with hundreds of sports champions and international Olympiad medalists, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei praised the young achievers as “symbols of growth and embodiments of national strength.”

He emphasized that Iranian youth, especially those who earned medals for the country across various disciplines, have demonstrated their capacity to ascend global summits and draw the world’s attention to Iran’s vibrant and promising future.

Ayatollah Khamenei commended the athletes and scientific prodigies for uplifting the nation’s spirit through their victories, particularly at a time when Iran is targeted by psychological warfare designed to demoralize its people.

“Your medals carry added weight,” he remarked, “because they were earned in a climate where the enemy seeks to weaken the nation’s morale and make it forget its capabilities.”

Leader also addressed key regional and global developments, including the Israeli-American genocidal war on Gaza, the recent 12-day war against Iran, the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists, the country’s expanding missile capabilities, and US President Donald Trump’s aggressive rhetoric toward the Islamic Republic during his recent visit to the occupied territories.

Below are the snippets from his speech:

US policy and leadership

• US President (Donald Trump) claims to support the Iranian people. This is a lie.
• Secondary sanctions imposed by the US (on Iran) over several years have pressured many countries. These sanctions target the Iranian nation.
• US is not a friend of the Iranian people. It is their enemy.
• President (Trump) says he wants to negotiate with Iran. But a negotiation whose outcome is predetermined through coercion is not a negotiation—it is an imposition.
• The Iranian nation will not accept anything that is imposed on it.
• Sitting down to talk and ending with a forced result is not negotiation—it is bullying.
• Iran cannot be influenced by coercion like some other countries.

Assassination of nuclear scientists

• US president boasts about assassinating Iranian scientists (during the recent war).
• Yes, scientists like (Mohammad Mehdi) Tehranchi and (Fereydoun) Abbasi were assassinated, but their knowledge cannot be killed.
• He (Trump) boasts about bombing and destroying Iran’s nuclear industry. Fine, keep dreaming.
• US has no right to interfere with another country’s nuclear industry.
• Iran’s nuclear capability has nothing to do with America.
• These interventions are inappropriate, improper, wrong, and coercive.
• If the US president is so capable, he should calm his own people.
• Reports say seven million people across various US states are chanting slogans against him. He should pacify them and send them back to their homes.

Gaza genocidal war and US complicity

• America is the main partner in the Gaza war—without a doubt.
• US president admitted they worked together in Gaza (with the Israeli regime).
• Even if he hadn’t said it, it was obvious.
• American weapons and resources were abundantly provided to the Zionist regime to bomb defenseless people in Gaza. America is complicit in this crime.
• US claims to fight terrorism, yet over 20,000 children and infants were martyred in these attacks. Were they terrorists?
• The real terrorist is the US—it created Daesh (ISIS terrorist group) and unleashed it on the region, then kept it for future use.
• In the two-year Gaza war, 70,000 people were killed according to official statistics.
• In the twelve-day war in Iran, indiscriminate bombings killed over a thousand people. Iranian scientists were also assassinated.

Iranian youth and national progress

• Young people (in the Islamic Republic of Iran) are working. The country is moving forward.
• You (the sports and science champions) are the embodiment of this work. This is the state of Iranian youth.
• The enemy does not want to see this situation and wants to stop this progress.
• What the enemy cannot prevent, it tries to distort with lies and half-truths.
• The enemy exaggerates flaws and hides clear truths, even reversing them.
• You who stood at the peak of sports or science have shown that Iran’s future is bright.
• This contradicts enemy propaganda that portrays Iran as gloomy and dark.
• The enemy wants Iranian youth to lose faith in themselves and feel demoralized.
• You foiled their plots and proved that the Iranian youth are capable.

Power of Iranian youth

• Youthful energy grows stronger with work.
• Young people should increase their efforts and dedicate their talents to their nation.
• Some may want to live in another country, but they should know they are strangers there. No matter what you achieve abroad, you are a stranger.
• Iran is your home, your land, your property—it belongs to you and your future generations.
• Look at how immigrants are treated in America and elsewhere—with hardship, bitterness, indifference, and cruelty.

Iranian missile capabilities

• Zionist regime did not expect Iranian missiles, built by Iranian youth, to reach and destroy their sensitive research centers. But it happened.
• Iranian missiles penetrated deep into important Zionist regime centers and destroyed them.
• These missiles were not bought or rented—they were built by Iranian youth.
• This is the identity of Iranian youth: when they enter a field and strive hard, they achieve great things.
• The armed forces had these missiles ready, used them, and still have them. If needed, they will use them again.

US president’s visit to occupied Palestine

• The nonsense (recently) uttered by the US president—shallow words and vulgar behavior—was meant to boost the morale of the other side.
• US president, during his recent visit to occupied Palestine, tried with empty words and clownish behavior to give hope to despairing Zionists.
• My analysis: they are desperate.
• In the twelve-day war, they were struck so hard they couldn’t believe it.
• They didn’t expect it and became desperate.
• The (US) president went to lift their spirits and pull them out of despair.
• These are the kinds of words spoken to desperate officials.

Iran’s victory in the 8-year war

• Iran, during the eight-year war after the revolution, achieved victory despite shortages and empty hands.
• It defeated Saddam, who was supported from all sides. Who did this? The youth.
• Innovations came from the youth. They organized military innovations to overcome the enemy’s limitless capabilities.
• The same applies in science. That was the battlefield. In the battlefield of knowledge, it’s the same.

Iran as a symbol of hope

• Our dear Iran is a symbol of hope—a symbol of hope.
• These whispers made by some about youth despair, the younger generation, and similar topics—these are unstudied claims.
• Iran is a symbol of hope. The Iranian youth are talented and capable.
• It is important that we recognize the abilities, skills, and powers of Iranian youth.
• Iranian youth have the quality that enables them to reach the peak, just as you have reached the peak.
• You became world champions in a particular sport or scientific field—you reached the summit.
• Iranian youth have the ability to reach the summit—provided they show determination.
• This talent exists within them. What is needed is determination, effort, and movement.

Scientific achievements

• Today, after all these years, Iranian youth are ranked among the top in many global research centers.
• They are in the top ranks—at least among the top ten.
• Our youth have done great work in nanotechnology, lasers, the nuclear industry, various military industries, and major medical research.

Value of medals and symbolism

• Every action you take is credited to Iran and the Iranian nation.
• The flag you displayed after winning competitions is very valuable.
• The prostration and prayer of our athletes after victories is very valuable.
• This is a symbol of the Iranian nation.

Olympiad youth as future leaders

• Olympiad youth today are shining stars.
• Do not be satisfied with what has been achieved—continue to move forward.
• If this star moves forward, in ten years it will be a sun.
• Great things can be accomplished.
• I urge officials not to abandon these youth.

Sports achievements after the Islamic Revolution

• In our country, some sectors advanced in leaps and bounds after the Islamic Revolution.
• One of those leaps is this year’s sports achievements by our youth.
• In wrestling, volleyball, and other sports, they managed to show themselves to the world.
• We didn’t have this kind of situation before. We didn’t have these capabilities before.
• What was shown this year is unprecedented in the history of our country’s sports.
• The same applies to science Olympiads—our teenagers managed to reach the peak.
• That means Iran stood at the top of an international competition.

Impact of medalists on national morale

• Medalists—whether in sports or in science—made the people in Iran happy.
• You made the Iranian nation happy with your ambition and effort. You inspired the youth.
• The medals you won this year, in recent months, through your own effort—these medals have a distinction over ordinary medals. Why? Because we are in the midst of a soft war.
• In this soft war, the enemy tries to depress the nation, to make it hopeless, to make it despair of its own capabilities.
• You, with your medal-winning, managed to move in the opposite direction of the enemy’s movement.
• In practice, you demonstrated and revealed the capability of Iranian youth and the power of the Iranian nation, which is manifested in its youth.
• Therefore, this medal perhaps has double value.
• It is the strongest response that could be given to the enemy—and you gave it.

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