dinner reception held at the Embassy premises

My dear sisters and brothers,

I think that you will agree with me in this belief that:

The concluding days of the holy month of Ramazan are reminiscent of the moments replete with joy and glory.

For those fasting persons who have engaged, during the days, in fasting, and , during the nights in offering prayers, recitation of the Holy Quran, and other devotional acts, the concluding day of this month which end in the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, herald the advent of a prideful celebration.

For you and for me, apart from this, the concluding days of this blessed month also bring to memory the emergence of an beloved country by the name of Pakistan, the voices of whose birth were being heard, since earlier years, on such holy days and nights, by all of its admirers, and also by the Iranian nation which has been and will remain as a faithful and sympathetic neighbor and ally for Pakistan.

But my nice sisters and brothers,

It is worthwhile that while spending our days and nights together at the zenith of all that happiness, we open our eyes to another reality as well. In the nook and corner of this same earth, we have sisters and brothers who right now are passing hard days and nights. Their security has been taken way, comfort to them has been denied, and they have been driven from their homeland where they had lived since the history is being recorded.

There are shelterless mothers who hold their innocent children in their laps in order to keep them immune from the ruins of walls and ceilings of their dilapidated homes. There are the suffering fathers who, in order to defend their lawful rights and their families, are engaged in resistance at all times, while the domineering and arrogant system gazes, with its indifferent eyes, at this brutal tyranny, and then closes them.

The Great Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini declared that the last Friday in the blessed month of Ramazan, "Jumatul Wida", be commemorated as the day of solidarity with the wronged and innocent people of Palestine. While we share our joy and happiness together, let us not forget the hardships and sufferings of our sisters and brothers in Palestine as well.

Let us keep the memory of Qods Sharif alive on this day.