Ayatollah Khamenei lauds loyalty of Iranian workers to country

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has praised the nation’s laborers, saying they have thwarted enemy efforts to cash in on their legitimate grievances.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks on Saturday as he received a group of workers from all over the country on the occasion of Labor Week, calling for all-out efforts to root out unemployment and improve the conditions of workers.

“There have been a number of labor protests. As far as I know, some of these protests have been legitimate, and have been over delayed salaries, transfer of a business to another entity and other issues,” the Leader said.

However, he added, they kept the enemy at bay and did not allow it to take advantage of the situation.

The Leader further highlighted that the culture of seeking windfall profit should be stopped in the country.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that income should be consistent with the amount of the work that one does.

He expressed dismay over practices such as bribery and usury in the economic sector, and urged the government and Parliament to seriously deal with corruption.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution called on the Iranian administration and the legislature to press on with tackling corruption with no toleration.

“If an [Iranian] official does not have the courage to confront a domestic corrupt, he will not be brave enough either to fight a foreign oppressor. We hope for the government and the Majlis (parliament) to carrying on the fight against the menace of corruption,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

He called unemployment the root cause of corruption, saying, “A great proportion of rampant corruption has its roots in joblessness. Three or four years ago, we initiated a campaign with then administration to look into social ills. I even took in hours-long meetings aimed at addressing social harms. What I have personally come to the conclusion is that many of such ills are caused by unemployment.”

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