reason that just the other day or just two days ago i met with attorney general eric holder to really thank him for all the work that the justice department has been doing precisely on this issue. >> would any member of the united states person until be a member of that committee or its cooperation? >> it's a cooperation. >> ok. >> do you have concerns about the iranians for ieds and contributing negatively to the security environment in iran? we heard a lot about that in the last administration. >> i think obviously the security situation in iraq could benefit from less trans-border shipments of various weaponry or explosives. and i think that goes with iran as well. >> what's the level? >> again, i don't want to

characterize the level of it. i would ask you to direct that to the pentagon. >> an indication of what we were talking about earlier, chris' next activity is a phone call with secretary clinton so we've got time for one more question. >> and i don't know if kim jong il -- >> we could talk about that next. on corruption, i mean, that was also a big issue in the last administration. and now maliki seems to have cracked down on corruption so much so that people believe a lot of people inside iraq are fearing that he is using it as kind of a political intimidation. >> well, i think a lot of countries and iraq's state of economic development have so-called capacity problems. and one element of capacity problems is corruption problem. i think it's healthy that iraqis are talking about this

and trying to address it. to the extent that there's concern about it being abused, i think that goes to the question of whether there are proper procedures in terms of what they're doing and law and order, whether indictments are well founded, whether there's an effort to make sure that warrants are properly excuted, et cetera. i think it continues to be something that we watch very closely and are in very close contact with the iraqi authorities about. >> thank you very much. >> a speech now on the recent iranian elections with remarks spoken yesterday at prayers. this is courtesy of iran state-run press tv.

>> i recommend all the respected brothers and sisters who have attended the friday prayers here, i recommend them all to piety and to refraining from evil. what i'm going to raise in this sermon is the issue of the election. which is the topic of the day in our country. for the time being. there are three issues i want to address three different groups. the first one is i address the

general public wherever they are in the country. i would like to mention some points. here at this point to your respective people. there is one thing i want to address the political aliege and the candidates of the presidential election activists and those who have been active in the process of election as well. and also i have something to tell the leaders of world arrogance, the western countries. some of the western countries of course. and those leaders of some of the media that they are running. the first point, which i'm addressing you, the respective

people, i want to express my appreciation and thanks to you people. in my speeches i do not want to exaggerate while addressing my audience. but regarding the recent election, ironed tell you great people no matter how i exaggerate, how much i exaggerate, it's still notsf nothing and it doesn't really matter to exaggerate. you really have made a greet accomplishment. the tenth presidential election was actually of great show in

which people indicated their feeling of responsibility toward the country. it was a great manifestation of people's participation in the affairs of their country. it depicted very well people's solidarity with their establishment. truly anything like what you did in this country i have not heard of any such thing in various kinds of democracies in the world now, be it artificial, fabricated democracies, or those democracies that are really in which they are referred to. people's votes.

[chanting] in the islamic republic too year after the islamic revolution, of 1979, there is no other president like any election like the one the last friday. a turnout of almost 85%, that means almost 40 million voters,

you can see the role of the 12th i am m behind -- imm behind such incidents. this is a sign of god's blessing to us. it is necessary to mention from the bottom of my heart to address all you people across the nation. i feel humbled in your presence. our young generation, our young generation showed and proved understanding and insight. they are committed like the first generation of the revolution that they have the same commitment of the first

generation of the revolution. the difference is during the revolution days in the heat of the revolution all hearts were excited and during the war they acted in a different way. these days, this understanding, this insight that you can see, you can see the change in feeling and fervur and enthusiasm in our youth these days. this is nothing to be ignored. this must be reckoned with. of course there are differences in taste. some people support some principles or support a certain candidate, some others back another person. and hids words and his ideas, which is natural. but you can see a collective commitment amid all this.

among all ranks of people, with a difference in their votes, you can see a consensus, a collective commitment for restoring and preserving their country, their establishment. everyone enters the scene in villages and towns and cities, in major cities and small towns. different ethnic groups with different fates, man, woman, everyone participated in this great move. this election was a political earth quake for your enemies, full. for your friends, this election was for your friends across the world it was a real

celebration. it was historical. celebration and victory for your friends across the world. 30 years after the victory of huge turnout of the people and showing their commitment to the islamic establishment and the late imam, this is a popular movement for renewing allegiance with the late imam and the martors, and for the islamic establishment it was a fresh breath. it was a new move. it was a great opportunity. this election showed off the religious democracy for the

whole world people to see. all those ill wishers of the islamic establishment saw for themselves what a religious democracy means. this is a third pass -- path in the face of dictatorial establishments and arrogant powers on one side and democracies devoid of the spirituality and religion on the other side. this religious -- this is religious democracy. this is what brings the hearts of people closer together and it pushes them to the scene. this was our ordeal. that's what i wanted to point out. this election. the second point regarding the election is that last friday's

election showed that the people have their confidence, they have their hope, they have their fervor and they live in this country with all the enthusiasm and feelings they have for their country. this is against what some media and your enemies say in their propaganda. that people in this country are not hopeful in the future, they will never take part in any election. if people do not confide in the islamic establishment, they will never vote. if people do not feel free, they will never attend the

polling stations. trusting the islamic establishment was evident in this election. and i will tell you later on that the enemies targeted this very trust of the people in the islamic establishment. they want this trust to be crushed. that's what the enemies want. this confidence is the greatest asset of the islamic establishment. they want to rip the islamic establishment of this trust. they want to create doubt, they want to cast doubt on the election. the confidence that people have in the establishment, they want to create panic among the people. the enemies of the iranian

people know without confidence there would be low turnouts. when there is low turnout, then the legislatesy of the establishment would shake. that's what they are after. that's what the enemy wants. that's what the enemy perus. -- pursues. they want to take away your trust so that your turnouts is no more there. so that legislatesy is no more there for the islamic establishment. this harms much more than setting fire to banks and putting buses ablaze. this is what cannot be compared to any other laws.

in such a great move the people actively turn out and the people are told that you have made a mistake, you shouldn't have confided in the islamic establishment. they're not trust worthy. that's what the anmy wants. this is what they had been pursuing even before the election. a couple of months before the election was held in late march i told people that the enemy is repeatedly whispering into the ears that voter fraud is on the way. that the vote rigging is on the way. they were paving the ground for that. and then i told our great friends inside the country, i give them the warning not to

echo what the people want to inculcate in people's mind. islamic establishment is trusted by the people. this is not gained easily. for 30 years, the establishment with all its officials and statesmen, with all its performance, with all the pains it's taken, it has managed to keep this confidence. the third point is the issue of rivalry. competition or rivalry, they were totally free at the same time serious and transparent

between various candidates. everyone was witness to that. the campaigns and the debates that you saw, they were to the point, straight, so much so that some people opposed them. and i will tell you that they were somehow right at times. some problems were also created. you can see the consequences. i should tell you here that we had this assumption and we still assume that the competition between the four president sl candidates was actually competition between people and currents or waves

between various groups of the islamic stash lirment. enemies try through various media and some of those media belong to the 79ists, ill wishers, they try to make belief in those media that there was a fight between supporters of the islamic establishment and the opposition. no, that's not true. they have no right to say that. that's not true. the four presidential contenders who entered the election race, they all are, they all belong to the islamic establishment. they have been and they still are. one of these people is the president of our country. the president, the hard working president who is serving everyone, who is confided by

everyone, one of those candidates used to be the prime minister of eight years when i was president myself. he was prime minister at the time i was president. for eight years. one of the candidates was the commander of islamic revolution guard corps for years and one of the major commanders during the course of the iraq-iran war. and one of those people for two terms had been in charge of the legislature. he had been the speaker of our islamic consulttive assembly. these are the armtment of the establishment. they all belong to this establishment. of course they have differences of opinion. they have various kinds of plans and projects which differ from one another.

but they all belong to this islamic establishment. this competition was made within the establishment. it was not a competition between inside and outside the establishment. the sign nists radio and also some meania in the u.k. and in the u.s., they had been trying to say otherwise that this has been a competition from inside and outside the establishment. no, that's not true. it's been a competition within this establishment. i know them very closely. i know them all. i know their thinking, their tastes very well. i'm familiar with their personal traits. i work with all of them

closely. i know them well. of course, i do not approve of all their viewpoints. not all their viewpoints do i approve of. some of their attitudes and approaches could be criticized without a doubt. some of them i consider more appropriate to serve the nation as official, but it has been up to the people to decide. and that's what happened. people have picked who they wanted. my will was never told to the what i wanted was never publicized and people did not have to listen to that. people had their own yard sticks, they had their own criteria. and they acted on those. millions here, millions outside the country. they decided for themselves.

this is something that belongs is an internal issue of the islamic establishment. changing the reality is purely treacherous. it's not a fight within the islamic establish war it's not revolutionary and antirevolutionary elements. it's not true. it's only differences of opinion within elements within the framework of the establishment. and the people who voted for these four candidates, the people did trust in the establishment. they thought it's better for the establishment. and they voted for that person. they tried to choose the one they found most appropriate to serve this establishment.

so the people have also acted according to the principles of the establishment. well, the debates and the campaign while it was an important initiative, it was an interesting initiative, it was to the point, it was serious, it was transparent, it televised debates actually nullfid all the campaigns of those people outside who said this is only a show. they saw otherwise. they saw that they were serious. candidates are sitting there, discussing issues and they're exchanging their viewpoints seriously before these debates have been positive. they had some positive points and there have been some negative complications, too, that i will mention later. the positive aspect was in

these debates and televised discussions, everyone talked, said what they wanted to say, they uttered what they had in their minds and their hearts quite clearly. a wave of criticism faced their way. everyone had to respond. they were criticized and they had to make a response. and they defended themselves. the stances of individuals and groups without ambiguity, they were put forth for the public eye, naked, and honestly. they talked about their plans, heir commitments their their

commitments the their projects. all this was publicized for everyone. people could judge for themselves this way. people felt that in the islamic establishment they are not looked upon as strangers of outsiders. there was no inside and outside in the islamic establishment. that means everything is clear for the whole nation. everything was expressed clearly for everyone to understand. it turned out that the people's vote stemmed from the same contemplation. it's not -- the people's vote is not ceremonial in nature. the vote, the right of vote does belong to the people. people want to have their own pick. this is what the televised debates indicated.

for sure, one reason for an in crease, 10 million increase in the turnout compared to the last turnout in the previous election rounds has been the same factor, the fact that people thought and mentality, all this were involved. they came to the scene and they identified the person they wanted, and they voted. these televised debates also, they were conducted. they found their way into homes, to streets. this shows, this strengthens people's right to choose. this helps them nurture their minds and their thoughts. and it gives them a better decision making power. this is favored by the islamic establishment. i should add the point here

that such talks and debates should not lead to the point that results in carrying a grudge against one another. if it was the same way as it was that day, well, that was good. but if it's going to be turned into arguments, then gradually it will turn, it will bring grudge with itself and hard feelings. that's debate shuled be conducted at different levels. they should continue. of course by emitting and putting aside those negative parts they should continue. officials, individuals should

know that they are being criticized and they should feel responsible to come up with their own answers and feel responsible. if one individual is criticized at a time, this is considered an opportunity for him to enlighten people's minds and to reveal the facts and the truth. this is quite positive. of course, devoid of the short comings that i will mention shortly. the first debate during the year of if they continue during four years, then at the time of elks when such debates are seen, you won't see an explosive excitement or commotion. everything will be all the ideas will be exchanged, all the arguments will be made in the course of time. these are the positive aspects of these televised