Khatami Condemns All Forms of Corruption
Khatami made the remarks after he and his cabinet paid tribute to the late Imam Khomeini at his mausoleum. He said, "We should not think that only financial corruption is destructive, political corruption can be even worse than financial corruption."
"Absolute power can cause corruption and we should fight all forms of corruptions," Khatami added.
Saying that friends of the system and the Islamic Revolution had a very heavy burden on their shoulders at this time, Khatami stated, "We should always be attentive toward the nature of the revolution and the important roles religion and morality played in realizing it.
"Although religion emerges in individual beliefs and affairs of a person, in society those religious values can help them achieve freedom, security and justice.
"To be loyal to the Islamic Revolution, we should pursue our freedom, security and development within the framework of religion, especially in a country like ours in which the institutionalization of freedom and democracy faces grave difficulties due to historical factors. In the Islamic Revolution, power has value if it is won through justice and truth.
Khatami said that the second duty of the friends of the Islamic Revolution is realizing the true power of Iran and Iranians. "We should all try to provide the Iranian people prosperity and respect an Iranian under the banner of the Islamic Revolution."
He added that the Islamic Revolution was so popular only because it was based on religion and respected human rights.
"Not only do we respect our Muslim citizens and defend their rights," said Khatami, "but we also honor people of any inclination, with respect to the red lines of the system."
He also termed "efforts to remove large economic, cultural and social barriers of the society" as another task of the friends of the system.
Elsewhere, Khatami said, "We should be on guard against internal and external threats to our country."
Referring to the fact that the world regards the Islamic Revolution as one of the biggest events of contemporary history, Khatami said the importance of the revolution was in its "nature and structure" as well as "Iran's important geopolitical position."
"The Islamic Revolution was a revolution based on religion and was calling for social justice, freedom for the people and their control over their own future," he added.
On the other hand, Khatami said, the revolution took place in a country which other countries always sought to control because of its geopolitical position.
The revolution achieved victory at a time when Iran was under the complete domination of the United States and foreign military forces had made it the regional gendarme in order to safeguard their interests.
From the structural point of view, the president said, the Islamic Revolution was of great importance since it is based on the premise of "logic against the fist" and "guidance against suppression." "The revolution depended on the will of people whose hands were empty but whose hearts were full," he added.
These were the characteristics which could topple one of the most powerful regional regimes and immediately afterwards establish a system with a Constitution, Khatami said, adding that, that was the reason why the revolution became influential in the region and the world.
On the independence Iran achieved in the light of the revolution, Khatami said it was in fact the most important achievement of the revolution.
"Although our country, despite many developments, has many problems in political, economic, scientific and social areas and even some human rights are being neglected, it is a very important accomplishment for us that we are independent and we decide for ourselves," the president added.
"The main reason that Iran is being severely hit (by waves of hostility) is that it is an independent country," Khatami said.
On national sovereignty, Khatami said that permanent and competent power arises from the people and their will.
He added that the more people believe that they are the source of power and are part of the decision-making process and feel secure, the stronger the pillars of security and national strength will become.
Saying that it has been proven that power not only depended on military or judicial might, Khatami said those forces might be able to establish an illusion of stability, but if the government is not popular the stability would be shaky.
To maintain national sovereignty, Khatami recommended that people's needs had to be met and that this should be a priority.
Khatami made the remarks during an IRNA interview. Before the interview the president and his cabinet ministers laid a wreath at the mausoleum of the founder of the Islamic Republic and visited the graves of martyrs.
Yesterday was the second day of the Ten-Day Dawn, which marks the period between the arrival of Imam Khomeini in Iran on February 1 and the victory of the Islamic Revolution on February 10, 1979.