"If the nation and authorities preserve the main features of the Islamic identity, no enemy would dare to harm the country," Ayatollah Khamenei told a large group of students and professors in the university.
 
Expressing satisfaction with his meeting with the students, Ayatollah Khamenei termed honesty, spiritual preparedness and freshness as characteristics of university students adding that the university students play an important role in the country.

Ayatollah Khamenei appreciated the country's progress in the field of medical, nanotechnological, nuclear and other modern technologies, adding that the target for the nation was to turn into a reference for the world.

"The great wish would be materialized through the endeavor of professors and university students," he added.

The IR Leader then pointed to the history of university movements in Iran and said, "According to historical documents, the movements always resisted against dictatorship and imperialism." Ayatollah Khamenei said that the murders of three students in Tehran University during an anti-American march in 1953 further highlighted their anti-arrogant mood.

Ayatollah Khamenei also highlighted the anti-arrogant mood of the university students by mentioning their move to form the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), fighting against armed groups in universities, seizure of American embassy, participation in the 8-years Sacred Defense and fighting against different plots in the course of the past 30 years.

"The student movement has proved to be against cruelty. It opposes any crimes against the oppressed people in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and other nations across the world."

Ayatollah Khamenei also urged the students to avoid the trap of political deceptions, material attractions and false spiritualism.

"Formation of the Islamic system in Iran was a response to the historical need of the Iranian nation. Surely no system except the Islamic and religious system could eradicate the royal system which was dependent on America. The great presence of the people and the great national movement was not possible unless under the leadership of the late Imam Khomeini," IR Leader added.

Ayatollah Khamenei then noted that the Islamic System had been targeted by the arrogance and the Zionist network because of what it approved or rejected in the international diplomacy.

The Islamic Republic definitely rejects domineering policies and ethical secularism while it is approved of efforts to preserve Islamic values, defend world innocent people, and conquer scientific peaks.

"If we budge on these principles, the enemy hostility would indeed decrease. They mean to make us to budge by saying that Iran should change its conduct," Ayatollah Khamenei noted.

Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out the Islamic System would never budge on its values, adding that the system could push back the equipped enemy by sticking to its platform.

Comparing the current position of America in the Middle East with its position 15 years ago, Ayatollah Khamenei said that the country had grown more hated and humiliated, having seen the failure of its projects in the region, especially in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan while the IRI, which has been primarily targeted by the projects, had made advances.

"The resistance and progress point to the might and the enduing grandeur of the Islamic System," the IR Leader said, adding that in order to keep the situation, the aspirations of the Islamic Republic must be preserved.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that the legal and official structure of the Islamic Republic, including the three branches of power and other bodies were not enough to secure the survival of the system, adding that in order to secure the system, it was essential to preserve its identity which is its aspirations.

"The true identity of the Islamic system surfaces in its aspirations, namely justice, human dignity, equality, ethics and resistance against enemy," the IR Leader said.

The IR Leader warned that if Islamic ethics and justice are ignored and the authorities refuse to serve people and show weakness towards the enemy, the attribute of 'Islamic' could be of no help for the system.

The Islamic Revolution Leader urged the nation to take care of the spirit of the system, noting that loss of spirit was gradual so that many fail to notice it or may notice it when it is late.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the most important responsibility of the students was to keep a watchful eye and keep the Islamic system from deviation.

"In the past thirty years, especially after the demise of Imam Khomeini, there were many efforts to spoil the spirit of the Islamic System. They failed under the auspices of God's favor as well as people's vigilance," Ayatollah Khamenei said.

"At one point, the separation of religion and politics was publicized in our press. Even some were explicitly defending the tyrant, callous regime of Pahlavi," the IR Leader deplored, adding that the only way to combat any deviation was to highlight ideological, intellectual and political boundaries and to preserve the Islamic features of the system.

The IR Leader named the features as justice seeking, sincere work, unstopping scientific quest, firm resistance against alien greed and brave defense of national interests.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the country's nuclear issue was only one of many issues which concern national interests, adding that if the nation relinquished the nuclear right, the way would open for the enemy to infringe on other interests of the nation.

Ayatollah Khamenei named bravery of authorities as another significant feature of the Islamic Republic, saying that given one day weak and timid authorities take national offices some day, the fate of the Islamic Republic is doomed, even if the public is courageous and prepared.

"If some day, the like of Shah Sultan Hussein (a timid Iranian ruler a few centuries ago) are to run the country, the Islamic Republic would fail even if the people are courageous. Timid authorities would transform courageous nation into timid ones," Ayatollah Khamenei said.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the Muslim nations across the world stand as a strategic base of power for the Islamic Republic. He then pointed to US negative propaganda to sow discord between Muslim nations and the Islamic Republic and said that despite all those efforts, the Muslim nations hold respect for the Islamic Republic because the Republic was supporting Muslim nations, including the innocent Palestinian nation, as a principle policy.

Ayatollah Khamenei assured that the enemy could fail to harm the country if the nation and the authorities preserve the features of the System.

Ayatollah Khamenei also urged the nation to keep its national and economic drive, adding that the day the nation achieves its deserved dignity, the aliens would be frustrated.

"The great and bright day is not distant," the IR Leader promised.

Ayatollah Khamenei then appreciated the Elm-o-San'at University as being the venue for training such great national personalities as the Scared Defense commander Haj Ahmad Motavasseliyan and the serving President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.