Speech [Allah's uprising and its role; the black record of the Pahlavi family]

I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

"Say: I do admonish you to do one thing, to rise up for God; it may be in pairs or it may be singly ..." «1» God, the Exalted, has determined our duties. He tells the Prophet to inform the people that He admonishes them to do one thing; listen carefully, that one important thing which God wishes to exhort us all to do, which He commissioned His Most Noble Messenger to inform us what we must do, is to rise up for God, in pairs or alone. The admonisher is God, the Blessed and Exalted, the conveyer is the Prophet and the admonition is to do one thing, to rise up for God, either in pairs, which is the least number of people in a group, or alone.

Moses (`a) was given the mission to go to Pharaoh and invite him to God. He was sent to Pharaoh, a man with great power, he had more power than our Pharaoh has- as can be seen from the pyramids of Egypt- he even laid claim to divinity! Yet Moses was to be sent alone to confront him. Moses pleaded for his brother to accompany him to support him. So the order came for both of them to go, to go and invite Pharaoh to God so that he may fear God and mend his ways, that he may become a (true) human being. Moses (`a) was at first told to go alone, but after requesting God, the Blessed and Exalted, to allow his brother to accompany him, the order was given for them both to go and invite Pharaoh to the Truth.

Today, we do not need to wait for the means, for the money or the guns and tanks before we rise up for God, all that matters is that the uprising is for God.

Your uprising, your movement, should be for the sake of God, the Exalted, and for the benefit of the Muslims. God, the Blessed and Exalted, wants us to pay attention to the affairs of Muslims:" He who arises in the morning and gives no thought to the affairs of the Muslims is not a Muslim." «2» A Muslim is someone who attaches importance to remedying the affairs of the Muslims. This movement is for the good of a nation, it is not a movement which will benefit only one person. It is not a personal affair; it is not as if someone is doing something for himself so others have the excuse to say:" Leave him to it." This movement is for the benefit of Islam, which is more precious than anything. It is for the benefit of a nation. A nation of thirty-odd million is being suppressed every day. People are being killed or thrown into prison daily. Now as we sit here, we do not know what is happening in Iran, but everyday we hear reports about such and such a city, such and such a school, such and such a university. What is certain is that the people have risen; they have awakened and have protested. Protecting is not like this (that there are no lives lost) This is the result of the pressures, which, over these past fifty years, have created a complex in the hearts of the people. Now that they have found a way out through their newly-discovered unity, their ideological unity, they are ridding themselves of this complex. The uprising is an uprising for God, for Islam and to remedy the affairs of the Muslims.

If you weigh everything that we have lost because of this man, all the crimes that this man has perpetrated and the treason that he has committed- from giving our oil away to foreigners, ruining our agriculture, destroying our culture, to throwing away the dignity of our army- against the changes he made to our calendar, against his changing the Islamic hijrah calendar to one of the fire-worshippers; «3» you will see that this act of his is more significant and weighs the heaviest. Do not suppose that had the nation given him more time, this would have been the only move he would have made against Islam. Changing the calendar was merely the first step. The Zoroastrians were so pleased about it that they wrote to him saying that no one had done their religion as much service as he had! No one has done the Zoroastrian religion, the religion of the fire-worshippers, as much service! Changing the Islamic calendar was his first step; he had other plans but, thank God, the nation gave him a punch in the mouth before he could carry them out and now he has even had to reinstate the Islamic calendar. The pillars that he has erected are being destroyed one by one because of the blow that the people have delivered him. You must be patient; one by one these pillars will crumble. Just look at all the fuss that was made about the Rastakhiz Party over these last few years. The Shah sang his own praises loudly and even made non-membership of the party illegal- he who does not even know what law is- declaring that whoever did not join should get his passport and leave the country for he was no longer an Iranian. Such an important matter the Rastakhiz Party once was for him, but now it has come to naught and it is no longer recognized as a party! These pillars are crumbling. The Islamic calendar has had to be reintroduced and his party has been destroyed.

But now we are faced with another danger, and that is the transfer of the nation's wealth abroad. Today, two reports were given to me; one came from Iran and the other from one of the gentlemen here who had some information. The report from Iran indicated that yesterday, apparently, gold and the crown jewels were transferred to America. His father, Rida Khan, did the same thing when the Allies invaded Iran and expelled him. The Allied invasion of Iran is a story in itself three big powers: Britain, the Soviet Union and America poured into our country. It happened during the Civil War, «4» these three powers invaded our country from three points and the army about which Rida Khan used to rave so much- and now his son is doing the same only in much stronger terms- could not resist them even for one hour

The Allies invaded us, and, well, just the fact that foreigners had entered our country was itself a disaster for the nation. It was war time and they wanted to pass through Iran, but in reality they planned to remain there, and in their war with Germany they wanted Iran to be their" bridge of victory," as they put it. When they sent Rida Shah into exile, God knows that instead of mourning, the people rejoiced. He was so beloved of his people, just as his son is now! The king-loving nation of Iran loved their king so much that when the armies of three countries entered their land and plundered it, seizing it bit by bit; when the country faced all kinds of dangers from all directions- for the people did not know that the Allied armies would not harm them; they didn't know that the Allies were only interested in achieving their own goals- still the people were happy because the Allies had come and sent this wretch away with all the troubles that went with him! Such was the situation at that time, and now today had the people not risen, had the Muslims and Iranians, may God assist them, not begun this movement, this man would not have stopped here. He would not have been satisfied with what he has already done, he had many more plans.

At the time when the Allies came and sent Rida Shah away, an informed person told me how one of the high-ranking officials who had traveled with Rida Shah some of the way, perhaps even to the island of Mauritius, on the ship that was taking him into exile, had related to him that Rida Shah had taken numerous suitcases with him which were full of the Iranian crown jewels. These" crown" jewels did not belong to the king; they were the country's assets. This same person was told by the official that on the way, a ship used for transporting animals stopped the ship carrying this animal (Rida Shah) and that the (British) agents on board ordered Rida Shah to board their ship. When he asked them what he should do with all his suitcases, they told him to leave them where they were, that they would take care of them. And deal with them they did! They took him to the island and carried his suitcases off with themselves! Such a blow he inflicted on our country right at the time of leaving. He left, but he took the crown jewels with him. And now today we received a call from Iran to the effect that Muhammad Rida Pahlavi has sent gold and the crown jewels to America. Whether he has sent them there for his own use or whether the Americans will take them, we do not know, but they have been taken from the pocket of our nation. The people were not able to stop this thief from doing this, but they should try to prevent him from stealing anything else, God willing.

The second report that I received came from one of the informed gentlemen here. He told me that the cost of constructing the magnificent casinos on that island, «5» as well as the other expenditures for facilitating the activities of the buffoons of the world who came to gamble there, was met by the Pahlavi Foundation. That is it came from the pious bequests of the people and from the wealth of the nation. This gentleman continued by saying that now that the Shah and his regime have realized that their days in power arenumbered, they have sold these buildings to the oil company to get the money. They have stolen as much of the nation's wealth as they could up until now and transferred it abroad, and what is left they are now changing into money and sending it out of the country. This is the situation in our country at present. Some gentlemen have said:" Let him go, let him do whatever he wants as long as he leaves, it's worth him taking this money with him as long as he leaves." However, the people should try to prevent this.

Our nation has now risen, and its uprising is unprecedented in the history of Iran. I do not say that it has little precedent; rather it has no precedent in Iran's history. Never before in Iran's history has the whole of the country risen for one cause. Whenever there was an uprising, it was a case of only one city rising; Tehran rose, or, as during the Constitutional Revolution, «6» Tabriz «7» and Rasht «8» and gradually some other cities also joined in until the matter was settled. However, there has never been a popular movement in our country on the scale that we hear of today. There are demonstrations taking place now in cities which have never risen before; people are being killed during these demonstrations and all the people are shouting the same thing:" Death to this Pahlavi monarchy." This is unprecedented in our history. Yes, there have been uprisings before, there has even been a revolution, but not one that has engulfed the whole of the country in this way and during which the call of the people has been the same nationwide. This has been brought about by the will of God, the Exalted. Such a feat cannot be achieved by man; one should not say that so-and-so has done this. This is the doing of God, the Blessed and Exalted, it has happened because He willed it.

When all the people of a country are united in their aims, martial law or a military coup d'etat cannot stop them. This nation is now moving forward like a roaring flood with the aim of uprooting this Pahlavi dynasty, and it will succeed. Do not think that the superpowers, America and the Soviet Union, will stop this from happening; have no fear for they cannot oppose the will of a nation, especially the legitimate and just will of a nation. If you ask these people why this man should go, they would tell you how they have suffered under his rule, how for fifty years under the rule of this dynasty they have been imprisoned and suppressed; and if you ask them what they want, they will say they now want to be free. Freedom is a basic human right. Man should be free, he should enjoy freedom of expression, freedom of action, and he should be free in his own country.

Yet this nation has not even had a whiff of freedom during the fifty years that this father and son have ruled over it. Do not think that it is only now that the press is not free; at the time of Rida Shah it was not free either. I can remember that neither the press was free nor were the people free to speak out during his reign. Throughout the Pahlavi rule, the clergy have not been free to disseminate religious teachings, the preachers have been unable to express themselves freely from the pulpit; our `ulama' have not been allowed to speak out freely on a matter, nor have the merchants of our bazaars, our academics or our political groups. If they opened their mouths they were thrown into prison where they had to endure all kinds of torture, they were burnt by being laid over something that was heated until it was red hot, or were subjected to other methods of torture about which you have all heard. It is said that experts from Israel were brought in to teach the best methods of torturing the people both physically and mentally.

This was the state of our troubled country. Now, however, the people have had enough, they have reached their limit, such that the father whose son is killed says:" I am proud that such a thing has happened in the way of God and for the freedom of our country." Some of the mothers who visit me have stated:" We are happy, we have given our sacrifices and, God willing, He will grant them their reward." This is the attitude of the people now. The country of Iran is now a revolutionary country and its people have become a revolutionary people. This revolutionary nation cannot be silenced by such things. That which they want and which constitutes the last phase of their movement is to sever the treacherous hands of the foreigners from their country and to take control of its destiny and administer it themselves. They want to have control over their culture and education; they want their army to be in their own hands, this is the common aim of our nation and they are pursuing it like a roaring flood, which no one can stop.

At present, both America and the Soviet Union are studying the situation. It will not be the case that guns and tanks will be brought into the country or that two superpowers will confront one another here, one reacting when the other makes a move. They themselves will not be able to reach a compromise on Iran. These two powers are not going to pour into the country and divide it as the Shah is saying. This kind of talk is nonsense. He has taken everything so what is there left to divide? We want to be independent; we want to drive the foreigners out of our country. The country will be divided! What nonsense is this he is saying He also says that if he goes the communists will take over! This is all the talk of the regime. The security organization (SAVAK) tried to create a scene that is, it sent some of its agents to shout communist slogans in a demonstration at the university. It tried to do the same at Behesht-e Zahra but the people caught onto them and stopped them, saying," You are not communists, you are SAVAK agents!" There are no communists in Iran. Do not be afraid of what this wretch says, he is saying it for his own benefit. There are no communists in Iran; the people are all Muslim. This man «9» says that this party is his. Where are the communists? If a few young people who are not from SAVAK sometimes say certain things, it is because they have been deceived, when they realize what is going on.

Who is a communist? Will thirty million Muslims allow Iran to become a communist state? Communism is a lost cause in the world today. Indeed, it has been defeated, for the people have realized that Marxism or communism is an opiate used to lull the people to sleep! The Soviet Union used it to put her people to sleep; China did the same. These larger countries want to devour the smaller ones and they use this ideology to deceive the people (and facilitate their plans). A few of our own young people have been deceived and they think that communism is the answer to their problems. This is not the case. Communism is one of the world's defeated ideologies and is not worth paying attention to.

Be that as it may, as I have stressed many times before to those who have visited me here, I would like once again to say that I feel it is imperative for you gentlemen to propagate the Iranian cause. This is the duty of those of us who are residing abroad, it is a duty, which we can all act upon, and which I believe will prove to be very effective. Each of us, wherever we are, should make people aware of the situation in Iran. At school, at university, wherever, tell your friends how he is destroying everything. He has ruined our agriculture; he is keeping our education in a state of backwardness; he doesn't let our youth develop correctly and be guided to the right path. He has created so many centers of corruption with the aim of depraving our youth. These are all plots, which the regime has devised or which others have devised and it is implemented in order to make our people indifferent toward social affairs and keep them from having anything to do with religion. So there are cabarets where we can go to spend a few hours, there are centers of corruption where we can go to gratify our sensual appetites while we remain oblivious to what befalls Iran, what befalls its wealth and its culture. To the best of our capabilities, we should enlighten public opinion abroad as to the situation in Iran. The foreign newspapers are reporting on events there and the national press within Iran is also gradually commenting on the situation; now you too tell your foreign friends what you know. You Iranians who are abroad now form a large community, masha' Allah [well done]; «10» if each of you informs ten people then a large section of society here will be enlightened and gradually a wave of support for you and your nation will be created, which will prove effective and valuable. This is a duty, which we must undertake. When our friends, our brothers in Iran are sacrificing their children, when everywhere in the universities, bazaars and mosques blood is being shed and lives are being given, the least you can do is take the trouble to help them by speaking out on these matters and attracting the attention of the press. They are looking for fresh news. Find it and place it at their disposal, so that, God willing, a great wave of support for your cause will be created which will make your task easier and remove this barrier blocking the way of the Muslims. Then, God willing, things will be different, and, God willing, our plan for a just and honorable government, which will answer the needs of the poor- not a government that is only for the rich and wealthy- will come to pass. We want a government, which will take care of the poor and wretched, those who have no water, or electricity.

Perhaps many of you gentlemen are unaware that some of the villages around Shiraz are without drinking water. Some of the people from this area are in contact with me and they tell me how they have to walk for miles in order to get drinking water for their children from a storage tank, in which water from the winter rain has been collected. They asked my permission to use some of the charitable donations and said they would put some of their own money toward the construction of a water-storage tank in their own village so that at least the women and children would not have to walk so far for water.

Yet we still hear talk of this `progressive country'. You can see the `progress' of which they speak, and the freedom. They say that at his (the Shah's) time, the country was free, with free men and free women! Yet you can see there are no free men, women or children. The regime kills both small children and old men.

Commanders called" kolis"!

They then describe their killers as `kolis'. «11» This is a new name that the regime is using now, its agents pose as kolis and attack a place, a theological school or a university, beating and killing people and the police stand by and let them do whatever they want. At one time the regime created a" group of avengers" who were bent on blowing up people's homes, and now its agents pose as kolis and attack the people. When they attacked the Faydiyyah Madrasah, they did so pretending to be peasants. «12» Peasants! How was it that they were all wearing eau de cologne if they were peasants!? (The audience laughs). What kind of peasants were they? Posing as peasants it was SAVAK agents who assaulted the Faydiyyah Madrasah and did what they did there, and now they pose as" kolis" in their attacks. In any case, we are all duty bound to help our brothers who have risen for their nation. You gentlemen here can help by propagating their cause to the best of your ability. I cannot say to what extent you can do this, you yourselves know how well informed you are of the situation in Iran.

I ask God, the Blessed and Exalted, to grant you all success and health, and I pray for you all. God willing, Iran will become an independent, free Iran, an Iran which belongs to you; not like today's Iran which does not belong to us and which is being plundered from all directions- one takes its gas, another its oil, another its copper, another its forests and another its pasturelands. We have proof for what I am saying. They have given the good pasturelands of Iran to the Queen of England and some of the plutocracy there. The best of our forestland has apparently been given to Austria, and yet the regime says that it has nationalized these lands. The Shah gives our resources away to foreigners and pockets the money himself. Can this be called nationalization gentlemen, when the country no longer has animal husbandry, when there is nowhere for the livestock to graze?

This is the animal husbandry situation in Iran, it has been destroyed and now frozen meat is imported from abroad. Iran had no need for these imports before, but these are the blessings given to us by this Shah! Our animal husbandry has been destroyed, as has our agriculture. Our oil is being taken now at such a rate that, as the government itself says, reserves will be exhausted in twenty or thirty years' time. It is being taken through pipes so large that it is said a man can walk freely into them; and there are not only one or two such pipes, there are many! Every few minutes a large tanker is filled with oil! This is how they are taking the country's oil, and in return they build bases for America and buy arms for these bases. Do you think they are buying these weapons for us? The Iranians do not know how to use these weapons. No, the Americans want to make bases in Iran, so they take our oil and build bases for themselves in return! This is the situation in our country. So much for our progress and our progressive society! Carter speaks of a progressive society and a free nation! He says the Shah has given us a `quick freedom' and a `quick democracy'. This is the quick democracy and the

progressive society that you witness in Iran now. May God preserve you all and may you be successful.