284 Chapter Thirteen
the issue. Other than the use of the first person plural, he openly points to
his role in adopting the previous family planning policy:
(5) [.....] Masulin e keshvar dar in eshtebah sahimand. Khode bandeye haghir
ham dar in eshtebah sahimam. In ra khodaye mota’al va tarikh bayad bar ma
bebakhshad (www.khamenei.ir 10/10/2012).
‘The authorities are part of [responsible for] this mistake [wrong decision]. I
am part of the mistake as well. May God and history forgive us.’The contribution of population growth to the overall progress of the
country is a further point to be observed in the supreme leader’s speeches:
(6) hamchenan ke ma fekr mikonim ke agar chahar panj bacheh oftad ruye
dushe yek khanevadeh vaze zendegieshan chegune khahad shod, fekr e in ra
ham bokonid ke in chahar panj bacheh vaghti bozorg shodand o kari peida
kardand o shoghli peida kardand, che komaki mitavanand be pishraft e keshvar
bekonand (www.khamenei.ir 10/12/2013).
‘As we think how the life of families will be affected if the burden of four-five
children falls on their shoulders, we should also think about the time when
these four-five children grow up and get a job and their contribution to the
country’s progress.’In the first part of the statement, the amount of responsibility needed to
hold a family of four-five children is conceptualized as burden on the
shoulders of parents. This is the negative side of having a large family
alluded to by the leader. In the second part, he invites Iranian families to
take into account a broader, more important goal (contributing to the
country’s progress) which demands bearing the hardships of raising many
children.
The last two points in the leader’s remarks on population growth plan
concern women’s familial and social roles, and western lifestyle:
(7) Yeki az mohemtarin vazayef e zan khanedarist. Hame midanand. Bandeh
aghideh nadaram be inke zanha nabayad dar mashaghel e ejtemai va siasi kar
konand. Na eshkali nadarad. Ama agar chenancheh in be manaye in bashad ke
ma be khanehdari be cheshm e hegharat negah konim in mishavad gonah.
Khanehdari yek shoghl ast, shoghle mohem, shoghle hasas, shoghle
ayandehsaz. Farzandavari yek mojahedat e bozorg ast (www.khamenei.ir
01/05/2013).
‘One of the important duties of a woman is being a housewife. Everyone
knows that I do not believe that women should not have social or political
careers. It’s OK [that women have such careers]. However, it is a sin to look
down upon it [being a housewife]. Being a housewife is a job, an important,