TEHRAN — Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei said Tuesday Iranian school and university students must equip themselves with knowledge and piety, hope and ethics, and learning and capability, describing their pursuit of knowledge as part of a historic mission to advance the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In a message marking the reopening of schools and universities, the Leader urged students to “break the boundaries of knowledge” and reach its “progress-making peaks”, saying they must ultimately fulfil their historic responsibility toward the elevation of Islamic Iran.
“The responsibility of students today is to strive to become equipped with knowledge and piety, hope and ethics, and knowledge and capability, and to remove the veils of ignorance and darkness,” he said. 
“So that, when they break the boundaries of knowledge and conquer its progress-making peaks, they may fulfil their historic mission toward the elevation of Islamic Iran.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said the beginning of the new academic year and the reopening of schools and universities offer a promise of “vitality, hope and the rapid movement of the nation toward a bright and glorious future”.
He said that future lies in the hands of Iran’s children and those educated in the school of Islam and the Islamic Revolution, referring to a generation in which the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, and martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei repeatedly expressed their hopes.
The Leader called for remembrance of students martyred in the recent imposed war, saying the beginning of the new academic year will revive the grief of families mourning children they had lost. 
“This year, the days at the beginning of the academic year that create memories will renew for us the grief of separation from our departed children. In schools and universities, the empty places of some students, professors and teachers will be felt.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said that grief will direct minds toward “the correct understanding of the confrontation between good and evil and the war between truth and falsehood”.
He urged students to protect their schools and universities as their “second home”, saying they should raise their awareness and understanding and improve their conduct and character so that these institutions become centers for the advancement of the country.
“I urge you to make the greatest possible use of the opportunity of several years of presence in this refuge of knowledge, literature, vitality and hope for ever greater self-development.” 
Ayatollah Khamenei said students should devote themselves to strengthening “the most important element of human life”, namely their relationship with the Creator, while also developing their relationships with other people, their compatriots and their families.
“During this period, practise thinking correctly and being innovative, and always be guardians of the roots of your national identity, your cultural dignity and independence, your mother tongue, the sacred flag of the Islamic system and its other symbols,” he said.
“Soon the time will come when it is your turn to find your appropriate role in society; at that time, by carrying it out in the best possible way, you will make yourselves and your country proud,” he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the importance of knowledge, when accompanied by piety and ethics, has become particularly clear at a time when “the barbarism of the system of domination”, especially the United States and the “fake Zionist regime”, is rampant.
“Today, in an era when the barbarism of the system of domination, particularly the criminal government of America and the fake Zionist regime, is rampant, the power arising from knowledge accompanied by piety and ethics is like a steel shield and a sharp sword that cuts off their aggressors’ hands from humanity,” he said.
“Today you enter classrooms in which generations who, only a short while before you, sat on those beloved benches are now creating honor and power for Islamic Iran on various fronts of defense of the homeland and honor,” he said.
“Those people will be your models and guiding lights, just as before them there were people in these same classrooms who were regarded as models of self-sacrifice, symbols of the greatness of the country, and great legends of nobility and magnanimity.” 
Ayatollah Khamenei devoted the closing section of his message to teachers and university professors, saying all people are indebted to their teachers at every stage of their education.
He described teachers as a “dear and beloved” group who often encounter the purest emotions of their students and said they deserve to be honored by everyone at different gatherings and on different occasions.
Ayatollah Khamenei also addressed teachers’ living conditions, saying the dignity and frugality commonly seen among them should not persuade officials to accept their current economic circumstances as satisfactory.
The Leader extended greetings and prayers to teachers, professors, students and schoolchildren martyred in the Third Imposed War.
“May the peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon the professors, teachers, university students and school students martyred in the Third Imposed War, and at their head our martyred wise leader and great educator, may God Almighty elevate his station, who had a great right over the remarkable acceleration of knowledge in the country.”