In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Jamadi al-Awwal 21,1398 AH
Salutations and greetings to the esteemed believers of Yazd and the other cities who observed the Arba`in of the bloody events of Tabriz by giving their own blood! Regret to say that we have to mourn Arba`in after Arba`in; in fact, the Arba`ins of this dark fifty-year period and the grief of this great nation. We have to mourn the events of these fifty years of repression, killings, incarceration, banishment, and, more importantly, the moral and cultural bankruptcy caused by this stigmatized dynasty which had a major role in keeping our young generation in a state of backwardness, and in leading them into corruption and prostitution, thus accomplishing its mission well. We also have to grieve over the wasting of our underground resources and, more important than that, the other" resources" which are our youths. We have to mourn over the British-coup d'etat staged by Rida Khan, and that of America by Muhammad Rida Khan.
According to the logic of the Shah and his hirelings, the noble people of Tabriz who rose in unison in that city with their earth-shaking cries of" death to the Shah", were a number of the foreigners who had been smuggled into the country. You the noble people of Yazd who valiantly staged an uprising, and by the general strike and the usual slogan of" death to the Shah", further maddened this American agent, are some of those who arrived illegally in Yazd from across the border. The people of Iran, from east to west and north to south, who are solidly against the Shah, are not Iranians! All these people have smuggled themselves into Iran!! According to this logic, the Iranians are only the Shah and his gang, the American and British advisors and employers as well as the Russians and Zionists; the international plunderers who have taken over Iran's economy!
We who are confronting such" logic" will not give up our campaign God willing until the removal of the reactionary monarchy and the establishment of the justice-dispensing Islamic government; until a government, democratic in the real sense, replaces dictatorships and bloodshed. Now, in order to achieve this sublime human and Islamic goal, it is up to all the various categories of people to rise in unity for the common cause. By perceiving the circumstances of time and place, they should shout slogans. They should abstain from demands that ultimately constitute a confirmation of the monarchy and ignore the unjustifiable bloodshed of the people of this land. They should point out the real source of all these atrocities, which is the Shah himself, and remind the world of the misfortunes of those living under this reactionary government. Community leaders should guide and support the nation in the path that it has pioneered and, identifying the enemy, has risen in revolt. They should not divert the nation from its chosen path at this extremely crucial juncture because of their aberrations.
Today, the brave nation, by finding its own path, has risen and has put an end to the excuses and those who make them. The avenue of excuses has been cut off; they are not admissible in the eyes of the nation and have never been so in the sacred presence of the Exalted Lord. Do those who are apologists and do not break their silence; even sometimes recommending silence, know what radical changes are taking shape? They have seen Ittila`at newspaper number 15,575 which, concerning the letter of thanks of Zoroastrians, says that it is stated in the Shah's reply:" The worldwide Zoroastrian community is thankful and deeply grateful to Shahanshah Aryamehr, because from the time that the Parsees emigrated from Iran, nobody else has, to such an extent, supported them in the revival and preservation of the history, religion and culture of the Zoroastrians." Have they realized that changing the calendar of Islam to that of the Ghebers for reviving Zoroastrianism, its faith and fire temples, Islam notwithstanding, is to suppress it? Do they know that in an interview abroad he has stated:" Religion has no role in my regime." Now, with the all-out repression and the deprivation of freedom in all its aspects, and the intolerable pressure being exerted, Iran is on the verge of an immense upheaval toward which it is proceeding apace.
The despotic establishment, its nerves shattered, has deprived the Iranians of the right to breathe by its continuing the killing and looting in various places such as Jahrom and Ahwaz; by causing sabotage and explosions in the houses of the freedom-fighters, as well as openly robbing, beating up and injuring the struggling people; by its savage attacks on the Muslim youths in the mountains by the" Vengeance Group" «3» created by the Shah, and by imposing back-breaking taxes on the committed traders as revenge for participating in massive strikes.
Whoever of the various strata of society- the workers, farmers, the old students and university staff, the military and civil atrocities- have, these fifty years, suffered because of the condition of this nation are aware and take attainment of freedom lies in overthrowing the Shah and his dynasty, the bitter enemy of the nation and the real source of its misfortunes. It is futile to think that clam will return to the country, that has lost everything because of him, without deposing him and exacting revenge.
I pray to the Exalted Lord for the unity of expression among Muslims, especially the dignified nation of Iran, and hope that the hands of the foreigners and their hirelings will be severed. May peace be upon those who follow the guidance.
Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini