ZAHEDAN, Sistan-Baluchestan Province -- Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei here on Monday paid tribute to the province's martyrs, saying in spite of numerous problems facing the region, martyrs helped in further promoting Islam.

Addressing relatives of martyrs of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war in this southeastern province, the Leader referred to disabled war veterans as "living martyrs" who follow the path of martyrs.

Praising the patience of relatives of martyrs, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the Iranian nation, by relying on such priceless values, has succeeded in neutralizing the enemies' conspiracy over the past two decades.

The Leader called on all the Iranian people to make great efforts to compensate for the backwardness imposed on Islamic Iran.

Prior to the Leader's remarks, Gholam-Ali Asli, director general of the provincial Martyrs Foundation, said the province offered about 2,000 martyrs and 4,000 disabled to the Islamic Revolution, IRNA reported.

Ayatollah Khamenei also warned of the enemies' "complicated plots" to stir up tensions along ethnic and religious lines in Iran as he exhorted the country's Shia and Sunni Muslims to remain vigilant.

"All walks of life of the nation, especially the clergy, must remain fully vigilant and neutralize all the seditious plots," he told a group of clergymen in the southeastern city of Zahedan in Sistan-Baluchestan Province, which has a large Sunni community.

"The enemy is very active behind the scenes and by using many tricks, including insulting the beliefs of Shia and Sunni Muslims, seeks to pit religious sects against one another.

"In the face of these tricks and plots, all the people, especially the clergy, must totally remain vigilant and insist on unity and amity as well as love among Shia and Sunni (Muslims)," Ayatollah Khamenei said.

God's assistance to those nations which seek to uphold Islam and justice is an "inviolable promise", he said, adding, "As I have said before, we can reach the world's peak of knowledge in the next 50 years if we try.

"There is no god except God; this slogan has questioned the existence of all world idols and global centers of oppression. That is why the centers of arrogance have not spared even one day in their efforts to torpedo and upset the evolution of the Iranian nation since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979," Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Leader arrived here on Sunday to meet local people and supervise the state of affairs in the province, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He was warmly welcomed by a huge crowd of local people.

The province suffers from infrastructure backwardness and widespread drug trafficking, and has experienced several years of crippling drought.