In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
With strength drawn from the Absolute Power of God, we begin this session.
Hello, friends. I am Hossein, a traveler and the session guardian.
(Audience responds: Hello, Hossein!)
I kindly ask everyone to observe fourteen seconds of silence to seek refuge in the Almighty and free ourselves from our greatest enemy—our own ignorance and unawareness.
(Fourteen seconds of silence observed)
Thank you, friends. I now request our esteemed secretary to provide a summary of the previous session and announce today’s agenda.
The secretary: Hello, friends. My name is Shahin, and I am a traveler.
(Audience responds: Hello, Shahin!)
In the name of the Absolute Power of God, today the third session of the 87th round of Congress 60 workshops—dedicated to both travelers and companions—dated May 13, 2026 is held with the agenda “What Have I Done to Strengthen Congress 60's Scientific and Financial Foundations?” The session started under the guidance and supervision of Mr. Dezhakam and me Shahin as the secretary at 09:52 a.m.
(Audience applauds)
Mr. Hossein Dezhakam: Hello friends, I’m Hossein, a traveler.
I hope you are all well; by the grace of God, I am fine too. Today is the 23th of Ordibehesht 1405 (May, 13, 2026).
It’s been about two and a half months since our last session—in other words, we hadn’t met for 75 days. Of course, that was understandable, given that the country was going through war and conflict. Fortunately, we were finally able to hold the session today. Given the circumstances, it was only sensible to be cautious and avoid large gatherings—having 200 or 300 people together in one place at once. We had to take those precautions. Thankfully, though, the situation today made it possible for us to hold the live workshop and be together with all of you. God willing, I hope the same conditions will continue for future sessions so that we can gather together again.
The first Didebans’ (watchmen) session of the year 1405 was held on Monday—that is, the day before yesterday—on the 21st of Ordibehesht at 1:00 p.m. in the Simorgh Building, chaired by Mr. Hossein Dezhakam as the Guardian, with Mr. Ali Khodami (Dideban) serving as secretary.
The following topics were discussed and reviewed:
1) The agents and border guards of Congress 60 branches, in coordination with the responsible Dideban, may decide whether or not to hold anniversary celebrations of liberation from addiction at their respective branches.
Conditions vary across different parts of the country. In some areas, nothing may have happened at all—there may be no issues and no incidents of conflict whatsoever. In such places, branches can continue holding their workshops, classes, and liberation anniversary celebrations as usual. In other areas, however, the situation may not be suitable for these activities. That is why we have left the decision to the border guards and agents themselves. They understand the conditions of their own branch better than anyone else and are in the best position to decide whether workshops or liberation anniversary celebrations can be held. Therefore, this authority has been entrusted to them.
Another point is that those whose liberation anniversary is coming up, even if celebrations are not being held, can still submit their names to the Publications officials so that I can give them the gifts I usually give every year. That is another important point. There is also something else that came to mind while we were talking. Every year during Nowruz, we would celebrate together, set up the Haft-Sin table, and the others would come for holiday visits. They would give me holiday gifts, and I would give gifts to them in return. But now it has become one-sided—everyone comes expecting gifts, but no one gives any back! Well, you are not just one or two people—you are ten thousand people! (Laughs). It seems this has become the norm. The guides come around and have forgotten that this tradition is supposed to go both ways—at least once a year! I just wanted to mention this so that you are aware of it; consider it a little side note in parentheses.
2) The educational workshops of Congress 60 in all branches will begin at 5:00 p.m. until the end of the summer. In branches where liberation anniversary celebrations are held, sessions will begin half an hour earlier, at 4:30 p.m.
3) In the official publication titled “What Is Congress 60?” for the year 1405, one of the annual objectives is to submit statistical and performance reports of Congress 60 to the relevant authorities and organizations.
We have been doing a great deal of work, but we haven’t reported it to the relevant authorities. For example, we have published scientific papers in some of the world’s most reputable journals and participated in numerous international conferences in countries such as the United States, Spain, the Netherlands, and others, where we are invited to deliver lectures. Yet none of this is widely known or reported largely because we had chosen not to publicize it ourselves. Obesity is one of the most complex and serious problems in the world, but we have essentially managed to solve it quite easily and are continuing to work on it. The same goes for smoking, addiction, and our research on other diseases as well.
Every year Congress 60 holds tree-planting ceremonies. So far, we have reclaimed hundreds of hectares of desert, carried out seed planting and desert restoration, and planted countless trees—but we have not reported these activities to the country’s authorities. Sometimes, someone who wants to donate 50 kilograms of rice to people in need will divide it into multiple bags, quickly take dozens of photos, and even change clothes for different shots, just to show that “we are helping.” But at the very least, what we do should be communicated to the country’s authorities so that we don’t swing to the other extreme [when we keep silent and do not report our activities]. They need to know—truly need to know—what is happening in Congress 60 and what results it has achieved. These results should also reach the public so people become aware and informed, helping to prevent wrong approaches to treating addiction, smoking, and obesity. Many people lose their lives due to obesity surgeries. The reason is that we have not publicized our achievements.
Fortunately, the book "Body Construction and Weight Loss" has been published. I once went to an office and thought it would be a good idea to bring some copies with me to give as gifts to anyone who was significantly overweight. But what I saw there surprised me: most of the staff were overweight—around eighty percent. Even the senior managers and department heads, all sitting behind their desks, had noticeable obesity, along with their deputies. This really shows that obesity has turned into an epidemic. So this year, we should try to document our activities in all branches. Whether it’s tree planting or any other work we do, we should take photos and videos. Each province can prepare its own archive and submit it to the public relations department of Congress 60, so it can be reported on to the relevant authorities and institutions.
4) Following the recommendation of Mr. Mehdi Sedighi (the Dideban of new-comers’ guides) and with the approval of the Congress of Didebans, Mr. Majid Shoraei from the Razavi branch in Mashhad was appointed as the Assistant Dideban for Newcomers’ Guides. Additionally, following the recommendation of Mr. Babak Lotfi (the Dideban of OT and public relations) and with the approval of the Congress of Didebans, Mr. Morteza Ekhteraei from the Ferdowsi branch in Mashhad was appointed as the Assistant Dideban for OT.
The Didebans present at the meeting were: Ms. Annie Kamandar, Ms. Hajimir, Ms. Azarpour, and Amin Dezhakam, Ali Ashkezari, Babak, Mehdi Sanchouli, Ali Majdian, Reza, Mehdi Sedighi, Mohammad Sadegh, Alireza, Asghar, Ahmad, Majid, Javad, Abdollah, and Ali.
Well, I mention some people by both their first and last names, while for others I only use their first names, because some names are very common. For example, half the country is named Ali and the other half Reza; among women, half are named Zahra and the other half Fatemeh (Jokingly). That’s why sometimes we have to use last names as well.
So, this was the report related to the Council of Didebans.
Another issue we’ve been discussing a lot lately is OT – the opium tincture we work with. As you know, prices have gone up across the board, and many items have become scarce. Some things have changed, others are now hard to find, and of course, some people have even started stockpiling certain items.
For example, take petrochemical materials. As far as I know, around 30% of the petrochemical plants have shut down [because of war], while the other 70% are still operating. The government has also banned petrochemical exports, so in theory prices shouldn’t be rising. But in reality, prices have tripled because people are hoarding supplies. The same thing was happening with the opium tincture (OT). In that case, though, there wasn’t enough raw opium available for factories to keep producing the syrup of OT. Whatever supply they did manage to produce was quickly bought up and stored away in warehouses. The moment something becomes scarce, people start stockpiling it so they can later sell it at a much higher price.
So, I brought up that suggestion—the idea of making opium tincture (by the people undergoing addiction cure themselves)—and honestly, it’s really not a big deal. Congress 60 had already been using opium in addiction cure for ten years before opium tincture was introduced. Opium tincture is basically just a mixture of opium, water, and alcohol. Making it isn’t some extraordinary or complicated thing.
Actually, the same treatment could be done using raw opium itself, but the problem is that opium is difficult to measure accurately. That’s why it’s turned into a syrup of OT—so it can be measured much more easily. Otherwise, there’s no problem. For example, you can’t easily measure one-thirtieth of a gram, or 100 milligrams, or 50 milligrams precisely.
Anyway, this year we had an enormous amount of rainfall, and, well, as God wanted, the wind scattered some poppy seeds across the deserts, then the rain came, and suddenly the deserts are full of opium poppies. (Laughing jokingly) So really, there’s no reason to be overly concerned about opium.
Opium prices have even reached 250 to 300 million tomans (about 1750 USD). In some places, its price has now dropped to 80, 90, and 100 million tomans, and I believe they could even fall further to around 40 million tomans. That means opium tincture has come down to as low as 4,000 tomans (0.02 USD) per cc. What I want to say is that those who bought and hoarded these syrups have made a losing bet.
Those who have been hiding them should understand that prices will continue to fall. So there is no need to worry. These days, in some cities, Congress 60’s members don’t go to clinics to get OT. They say, “No, we can prepare it ourselves—it’s cheaper.” The clinics call them and ask people to come, but they refuse and say, “We’re not coming.” It’s as if, back then the clinics were the ones acting superior and keeping their distance, but now it’s the patients who are acting that way. So there’s really no need to worry about opium tincture. The government is working hard to get this system running properly. I was at the Anti-Narcotics Headquarters and spoke with both the secretary-general and the deputy in charge of Drugs Demand Reduction. The officials there are seriously focused on solving this problem. They’re putting in every effort to get things moving, even considering importing opium, since trafficking has decreased and opium is no longer being cultivated in Afghanistan, which has created some difficulties. The authorities been working extensively on this and coordinating a lot. So the plan is to make this system work, and hopefully it will—by importing opium in some way and putting things in order. In any case, there’s absolutely no need for concern on our side about shortages of opium tincture or what we should or shouldn’t do.
Do not get opium tincture from anywhere other than official clinics under any circumstances. Counterfeit versions are even being produced using fake bottles that look exactly like the genuine ones, sealed and packaged. These may contain untreated water, methadone, diazepam tablets, lorazepam tablets, and all kinds of other substances. Therefore, OT should only be obtained from clinics—either directly from clinics or prepared by yourself according to the instructions I have already provided. The point I wanted to make is that, in Congress 60, there is no need for us to panic if, for example, the medication is temporarily unavailable.
Well, if it had been some other kind of medicine—like a heart medication—then no, we wouldn’t have been able to make it. We don’t know how to make diazepam, or lorazepam, or methadone. There are a lot of things we simply can’t produce. But alcohol? That we can make. You just take raisins, ferment them, and there you have it (Laughs). Making OT is really not that complicated. Some things can be made, and some things can’t. Of course, since we do not drink alcohol, we do not make it. (Laughs) My point is simply that some things are possible to produce, and others aren’t. Fortunately, opium tincture is one of the things that can be made easily. We currently have 15,000 patients on OT—that really means 15,000 households, 15,000 entire clans or extended families. This is a constant cycle; people keep coming in like a river flowing into a lake, while others leave on the other side. Newcomers enter, while some recover and move on. It’s a continuous flow that never really stops.
Congress 60 is one of the most powerful NGOs out there—not only because of its scientific knowledge, but also because of its highly trained specialists and strong financial foundation. There’s really nothing else like it in Iran, and according to Professor William L. White, there’s no equivalent anywhere in the world that has successfully brought all of these elements together within a single organization. Studies and research have highlighted this as well. In one of his articles, William L. White explained that Congress 60 in Iran has managed to integrate psychological, medical, and social treatment methods into one unified approach.
Over the years, many organizations have tried to achieve something similar (but they couldn’t). Groups like NA focus mainly on spiritual recovery and avoid medication altogether. On the other hand, some medical groups rely solely on medication and do not address the psychological side of addiction. Others focus purely on psychotherapy, while some work mainly on the social aspects of recovery. There are also rehab camps that follow their own separate methods.
What makes Congress 60 unique is that it has brought all of these approaches together into one comprehensive system. Congress 60 firmly believes that addiction can be fully and permanently cured.
We are recognized by scientific communities around the world, yet unfortunately not by many academic circles within our own country. Universities abroad invite us to give lectures and participate in conferences, while inside the country we rarely receive the same recognition. That’s why we must continue doing our work and stay committed to our path of cure and recovery. No matter how big the tsunami may be, we will suffer the least damage from it, and no serious problem will come our way. With the mindset and way of thinking we have, we are able to face and overcome any challenge. So there is really nothing for us to worry about.
Today’s agenda is: “What Have I Done to Strengthen Congress 60's Scientific and Financial Foundations?” This question applies to every individual. Now, despite the fact that we had not held any meetings for three months, the expenses still continued. There was rent to pay and many other ongoing costs. Altogether, the payments and expenses we covered in the year 1404 amounted to around 450 billion tomans (about 2,620,000 USD). That means our daily expenses were roughly 1 billion and 230 million tomans. Whether it was a holiday or weekend, whether meetings were held or not, whether there was the Eleventh Law (where a money basket goes one by one and each person donates some money for the sake of Congress 60s aims and goals) or not, whether Pahlevans (someone who donates 600,000,000 million tomans, 3500 USD) paid their contributions or not, whether fines were paid or not—these expenses still existed. Every single day, we faced costs of more than 1.2 billion tomans. Even though we were inactive for three months, fortunately we did not run into financial difficulties. We were still able to cover these daily expenses of over 1 billion tomans. We still had expenses such as rent, chair purchases, and other ongoing costs, although of course some expenses were reduced during that period.
Last year alone, we spent 1.6 billion tomans on sugar and 1.5 billion tomans on tea. In other words, Congress 60 spent well over 3 billion tomans on tea and sugar in 1404. I’m mentioning these numbers simply to show the scale of the expenses we are dealing with and where the money is being spent. So how were we able to manage all of this? Many organizations have run into serious financial problems. Before Nowruz, the director of one NGO came to me in tears and said, “I honestly don’t know what to do with all these expenses when nothing has been accomplished.” They also had a lot of employees, and he said, “We can’t even afford to pay salaries or holiday bonuses.”
But we were able to get through it. Why? Because we have had such an agenda topic.
The cost of chairs alone amounted to 1.4 billion tomans—can you believe it? We spent 1.4 billion tomans just on purchasing chairs, and right now one of them has already broken! (one of the audiences fell down the chair, as it broke] (Laughs). These are the kinds of expenses we deal with. But fortunately, we’ve been able to manage and cover all of them successfully. The reason is that every single member of Congress 60 received the necessary education, achieved positive results, and came to understand that the secret behind their own recovery and success was that others helped them—people who spared no effort or sacrifice in supporting them.
Some people may not have enough financial resources, yet they still want to become Pahlevans and donate 600 million tomans. Even today, I turned some people down. Someone says they want to donate 600 million tomans, and I tell them, “No.” Why? Because I believe you must first become financially strong yourself. When you are financially secure, your contribution can continue in a lasting and meaningful way. I want each and every one of you to become strong and capable first. Then you can truly help. Then you can play a real role in strengthening the financial foundation of Congress 60—just as we have achieved together through mutual support.
Even if Congress 60 were closed for an entire year, we still would not face any financial problems. Fortunately, from the very first day Congress 60 began up to today, not a single one of our checks has ever bounced. Never once has the bank called us to say, “Your check has been processed, but there aren’t enough funds in the account—please add more money.” Something like that has simply never happened. That is because we have always paid close attention to financial matters and managed them carefully and responsibly. Of course, this is only possible under one condition: what you offer must be truly valuable. If I were to go and work within another system, I could never build it to this level unless what that system offers was genuinely valuable. If the product is really valuable, it will be used in business; if it doesn’t, it cannot be used in business. The important question is this: does what Congress 60 offers have any seekers or buyers demanding it? Absolutely yes. What Congress 60 offers is valuable, and many people are looking for it. They come here and learn. For example, someone says, “I lost 45 kilos here, they didn’t charge me a single penny, and I fully recovered from obesity.” That is why people are drawn to Congress 60.
One of the members said that a woman had lost about 30 kilos through unhealthy methods. As a result, the skin on her arms had become loose and sagging—about 20 to 30 centimeters of skin hanging down. The same was true for her stomach, her waist, and practically everywhere else. She said that when she wants to go out, she has to wrap the loose skin with bandages just to hide it and make it less noticeable until it tightens. That kind of outcome is not something that has real value in terms of offering or “trade.” But the services provided by Congress 60 are different—they are valuable and in high demand. Because people are educated, they see real results, and we have all witnessed that others help us without expecting anything in return. That is why we also try, with all our heart and all our strength, to continue doing this work.
What have I personally done for the financial matters of Congress 60 in 1404? Well, I’ve carried out many different plans and initiatives. During Golrizan (fundraising ceremony), I personally donated 5 billion tomans in cash to Congress 60—a single contribution of 5 billion tomans. There have also been many smaller contributions, but I prefer not to talk about those. God has blessed me, and I’ve shared those blessings with Congress 60. I have also taken many other steps and made various plans. I’ve also tried to keep the prices of books, pamphlets, and all other materials as low as possible for you. I tried not to increase the price of D.sap, which is a medication used by members of Congress 60, and it has remained the same as it was several months ago. While the cost of everything keeps increasing day by day, I have not raised prices within Congress 60. Financially, I’ve done my best to manage and plan things carefully.
I have absolutely no involvement in the financial affairs of Congress 60—neither do any members of my family. In fact, we have no connection to Congress 60’s finances whatsoever: not in handling money, not in receiving it, and not in any part of the financial process. Fortunately, everything is managed through the accounting office. When someone becomes a Pahlevan, they submit their checks directly to accounting, and the accounting team handles the rest. If there are expenses, petty cash is issued through accounting, the expenses are paid, and any remaining balance is returned and settled there as well. So, as you can see, neither I, nor my family members, nor any of Congress 60’s Didebans have any involvement in financial matters. Not even a single rial—not the smallest amount of money—has ever been under our control.
When I first established Congress 60, back in the early years, there was a rule that I myself had put in place: 20 percent of Congress 60’s total income was under my authority. In other words, 20 percent of all the organization’s funds were under my discretion, and I could use them however I saw fit.
But after five or six years, I realized that I hadn’t spent even a single penny of that money. So I said, ‘let’s remove this rule altogether. There’s no need for it anymore.’ Until then, 20 percent of Congress 60’s income had officially been reserved for the Base of Congress 60 (Mr. Hossein Dezhakam), but I decided that not even one cent of it should remain allocated to me.
So I canceled the rule completely.
Scientifically, we’ve published a lot of papers and carried out extensive testing and experiments on different animal models. But there was a period when we came under a lot of pressure because of dealing with serious internet access problems. We were constantly receiving revision requests from international journals, asking us to review comments, make corrections, and stay in close communication. For example, after submitting a paper, they might say, “You have one week to fix these issues and send back the revised version.” but we no longer had proper access to the internet. Naturally, this led to many additional problems and complications. Furthermore, papers published from Iran are subjected to extremely strict scrutiny. Recently, scientific institutions and journals have also started asking many questions such as: who funded the research, where the funding came from, who the researchers worked or collaborated with, whether the funding was governmental or connected to particular organizations, and many other similar issues. In some cases, if the research involves certain collaborations or affiliations, the papers are even removed from international scientific websites and databases.
Fortunately, Congress 60 has always been financially self-supported as an NGO, while also maintaining collaboration with Kharazmi University. One of the major scientific and educational activities we carried out last year was the guide entrance examination. Another scientific activity we carried out last year was the guide admission exam, in which more than twelve thousand people participated, as well as holding educational workshops, as you all know and are still ongoing. We hope we will be able to continue our work and activities. This year, however, we were unable to hold the tree-planting ceremony. Amin could not organize it because the situation [in our country] was uncertain. We have also been unable to hold the summer camp for the past two or three years, because conditions have not been suitable. In fact, all of these plans and programs are still there, but if they are not being carried out, it is simply because the circumstances have not allowed it. We must act in such a way that we can guide this ship smoothly through the storm. Thank you all very much for your attention and for listening.
I’ve been asked to say a few words, if I may, about being mindful of our neighbors in the early morning hours. This morning, around 4 a.m., some of our group members from other cities disturbed local residents by changing clothes and speaking loudly. We are a large group, and people come here by bus, car, or motorcycle. We’ve also provided space here for changing clothes, so there is no need to do this in the street. Yet some people were seen changing in public—opening car trunks and taking off clothing outside—which is inappropriate and disrespectful in a public setting. This kind of behavior is not acceptable and should be avoided. At all branches in every city, we need to set up a program where a border guard or agent is responsible for informing and teaching people who plan to travel to Tehran about how they are expected to behave once they arrive—what they should and shouldn’t do. For example, they should be told not to change clothes in the street, not to speak loudly, and not to park in front of driveways. Just a short walk down from Academy branch, there is a park you can go to in the morning. Instead of laying out a tablecloth on the sidewalk here for breakfast, you can go there. It has trees, tables, and benches, so you can sit there, have your breakfast, and eat comfortably. I need to ask Didebans to make sure this is properly explained in every city, so that anyone coming to Tehran is clearly guided on how to behave and what is expected of them. The point is that we’re all going to be living together as neighbors. We are a large population, so we need to learn to get along with one another and, as much as possible, avoid disturbing or inconveniencing those around us.
Dear friends, please note the following:
All forms submitted for First Journey (addiction cure journey), Second Journey, Companions, the 30 CDs, and Smoking Cessation must include a photo. All sections must be properly signed, and where required, must also be stamped. Where the form says “stamp and signature of the border guard,” some border guards say that the stamp is not necessary, but if the form is submitted without it, it will be returned. Before a guide signs any form, they should carefully check that everything is complete: Does it have a photo? Does it have all the required signatures and stamps? Otherwise, we will have no choice but to return it. For example, if someone has come from Mashhad and their form does not include a photo, we cannot sign it. If it is missing the border guard’s stamp, we cannot sign it either.
Please pay very close attention to this matter.
https://www.congress60.org/News/487128/%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-%D8%A2%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%B4%DB%8C-%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86%E2%80%8C%D8%A8%DB%8C%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%AD%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%BE%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%87%E2%80%8C%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84%DB%8C-%D9%88-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%B1%D9%87-%D9%85%D9%86-%DA%86%D9%87-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%87%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%85
Translated by companion Sepideh, Legion 22, Sheikhbahaei branch of Congress 60, Isfahan, Iran
Revised by Elahe