[In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful]
The progress of the movement and the Shah's retreat
The Islamic movement of Iran has now reached its climax and is going through a period in which it is bearing fruit. The Shah is now resorting to a variety of measures as he has done in the past. One of the forms which these measures of his have taken has been to establish a government, a `government of reconciliation! ' And that was the government which, from the time it was formed until the present, has killed thousands of our youth, massacring them and plunging the whole of Iran into a state of mourning. They wanted to deceive the people by appearing to have become reconciled with them, and so the government announced its reconciliation with the people, and also said that the calendar was to return to being what it legally was in the first place (that being the Islamic calendar). They gave the law of the Zoroastrians and the Rastakhiz Party a miss, «1» and later scaled down those arms deals that they had made «2» and either cancelled or cut back on the deals concerning atomic energy. «3» These are all tricks which they are busy playing in order to silence this movement; to destroy this wave which has appeared in Iran and which is laying everything to waste like a raging flood, and to put out the fire in people's hearts. And initially they may well make certain compromises, and make it appear as though there are certain freedoms, as though there is" an open, free climate"- to quote them- but following this, as soon as this affair (the uprising) has died down and that burning passion which has now flared up in Iran has cooled down, then, once they have had chance to re-establish their footing and they feel sure that no such movement will again start up, they will make such an attack and will inflict such damages on whatever concerns the nation, that neither the clerical front, nor the political front, nor those from the university or the bazaar, will ever again be able to breathe!
The situation which has now arisen in Iran has wounded this venomous serpent. Those things of which he (the Shah) was always convinced in his own mind- ideas which told him:" there is only I, and the rest of the nation are all my supporters; love of the Shah exists throughout Iran; everyone is under my command and no one dares or could possibly want to oppose me" all of these ideas have caved in! The veils screening these ivory towers, these fanciful ideas which they had impressed upon the people, ideas which bore no truth but which were nevertheless conveyed to the people in impressive, dressed-up terms- these veils were drawn back somewhat and these lofty ivory towers that they had erected fell to pieces one by one, many of the hopes and ambitions that they held being trampled upon. He (the Shah) is now a wounded viper who, given the chance, should the nation show any signs of weakness or of relaxing its efforts, will lift up its head and this time will inject its poison into all sectors of society- a poison for which they will no longer be able to seek a cure.
Futility of martial law and coup d'etat
All of these measures to which he has resorted are acts of deceit; like his forming a `government of reconciliation, ' a reconciliation which they now recognize as something which would seem to be even worse than war between the nations! Those conciliatory measures they believed they had taken, appeared in the form of a crude martial law system, and again, in governing by martial law they suffered defeat. Martial law indeed! Now, it is just them and their public announcements which are left! They announce in public announcement number whatever, that no more than two people are to walk together in the streets. But on the contrary, in the very place where martial law is in force, 300,000, 500,000 people and sometimes more, march in the streets chanting slogans and saying whatever they please! Yes, martial law also failed. And due to the failure of martial law and the confrontation between the fist and the tank, they realized that the fist is more than a match for the tank; that the nation's will preponderates over the cannon and the machine-gun.
And neither do they hold out any hope for a military coup d'etat, although they do still give it some consideration. Yes, a military coup d'etat! «4» That is in fact what we are now faced with, a military coup! For what is a military coup anyway? When a military coup takes place some military figure or other takes charge of affairs and, should he be a really callous person, he treats the people harshly, although sometimes he may not in fact be callous. So today martial law is in force throughout the whole of Iran. In some cities however, it is being officially enforced, whereas in others, it is being enforced unofficially. Now, throughout Iran, the definition of a military-governed country, and of depriving the people of everything, holds true.
Continuous defeats and the Shah's new tricks
Therefore, the first trick to which they resorted was to establish a government of reconciliation with all that it entailed, including making claim to its religious affiliations, for when this government was first installed he referred to himself as a clergyman, claiming that he was a clergyman's son, that he was someone whose mother and father came from a religious background and so on. «5» Then his government began to make those concessionary and deceitful moves, and that was when, from the moment this government was established, I impressed upon the people not to be taken in by this deceit for this government was in fact worse than that military-style government! This government posed a greater threat than the other one! With a military-style government, one knows that this government has been installed so as to use the bayonet when dealing with one, and so one obviously behaves with caution and so on. But when a government is installed through deceit with the intention of keeping the people in their place, this catches the people off their guard; and this is extremely dangerous. Right from the beginning, right from when it was first announced that a government of reconciliation was to be established, I informed the people of the issues entailed in whatever way I possibly could. However, this government of reconciliation was defeated and martial law was enforced throughout Iran! It was enforced officially in twelve of Iran's major cities, but now this too has met with defeat. Martial law is still in force, but it is a defeated martial law. According to martial law regulations, no one is to come out at night- they put the initially-designated curfew back two hours, then, again brought it forward, announcing that the people were to do whatever two hours earlier than they had to do before- yet the people opened up their shops and while seated there, began to recite the Qur'an. The government was thus compelled to put the curfew back by the same number of hours that it had previously been brought forward. «6» Demonstrations also continue to be held on the same grand scale in all of those places where either martial law, or indeed another form of law, is in force- that is to say, those places where martial law is officially in force, or where it is unofficially in force! Hence, this too has failed, and because of this, any plans to stage a military coup or to appoint a military figure as Prime Minister will also fail. Should they be stupid enough to establish military rule nationwide, that is, to appoint a military figure as Premier with a view to frightening the people, then let it be known that the people have shed their fear, they no longer heed threats such as these. Even small children have rendered the police powerless and have stood up in confrontation against them. The latter fight with bayonets, cannons and tanks, and the people, with fists, stones and these kinds of things. Thus, martial law, the government of reconciliation, and military coups, are all doomed to fail. These can no longer be considered as viable options. These moves are ones which will fail and indeed have failed to achieve their intended objectives; no matter how much they may want them to work, they will not.
Another measure resorted to, has been for them (the regime) to choose certain persons for the Premiership say, and thus to further their aims. This sometimes means them selecting someone with whom the people are somewhat familiar; and sometimes it means them selecting someone who has not featured predominantly in the government, either while these recent governments have been in power or during those periods when he (the Shah) has engaged in acts of oppression and cruelty. They themselves have realized that the nation will no longer accept those who have held a key post, headed a ministry, or have been a parliamentary delegate during this government's term in office. But they are making a mistake in trying to fool the people in this way. Sometimes a person's resignation from a ministerial post; sometimes from a parliamentary post; sometimes a person's withdrawal from the Rastakhiz Party «7»- all of these are now tricks which this nation of ours no longer falls for.
Parliamentary delegates not the nation's representatives
It may well be that someone (in the government) has really and truly repented, but even disregarding those great sins which he has so far committed, those acts of betrayal which he has committed to date, it is likely that one act of betrayal is common among all other such acts, that being the parliamentary delegates' awareness of the fact that they are not the nation's true representatives! Indeed, this is not something known to the parliamentary delegates alone. Everyone knows that this Majlis does not belong to the people and that it is a Majlis which was established on the Shah's orders, at bayonet point- at first there was no need to use the bayonet or other coercive measures, but now there is, for initially it was established on his orders, and there again, not in fact his orders, but according to the instruction list which would come to him from the (foreign) embassies. He himself admitted that not so long back they would present a list and the foreign embassies would determine who were to be parliamentary delegates. «8» Now however, it is not like this! No indeed, now the situation is as I have explained and even worse still. All of these delegates without exception know, and indeed knew at the time they actually entered Parliament, that they are not the true representatives of the people and that this Majlis is a violation of the Constitution. But in spite of this they still entered the Majlis, all of them. Those who violated the Constitution and entered the Parliament while knowing that this is in contravention of the Constitution committed an act of betrayal with the very first step they took into the Majlis. Now even if we overlook the things they did in Parliament and disregard their changing the Islamic calendar- an act of such outrageous impudence toward the station of the Holy Prophet- even if we overlook this, the fact that all of these delegates voted for these things, and that these things came about because they gave them their unanimous approval, cannot be overlooked. It may well be that one of these delegates now asks for forgiveness and argues that when they brought this proposal to the Majlis, he didn't want to give it his vote but that he was afraid not to, or again, argues that he did not in fact cast his vote, but even so, you entered a Majlis which lay in contravention of the Constitution, as someone who has been given the authority to act on behalf of the nation, and this is treachery. Just stepping into the Parliament was itself a treacherous act. Therefore the nation does not accept these people who have at any time been a part of this government, this illegal government that is.
Principle of monarchial rule of the Pahlavi's dynasty is illegal
Yet another point to note is that in principle monarchical rule by the Pahlavi dynasty is a contravention of the constitutional law- yes, the very principle on which the monarchy is based. As anyone of my age or even a little younger remembers, when Rida Shah came and staged a coup no one was at all able to say anything in opposition to him. As for those who do not remember or have never heard of this, they can go and ask the more elderly men about it, although this affair is in fact something quite obvious and well-known to all. No one had the power needed to speak out against him, and if there were a few people who were strong enough to do this, these were the odd ones who could not make any impact, those who were unable to achieve anything.
The Constituent Assembly, which they set up during Rida Shah's reign in order to alter the contents of the constitutional law, was an assembly which was opposed by the nation. It wasn't a case of the nation being unaware of what was going on; the nation was actually against it! However, the people didn't dare to express their opposition although no one actually went to cast their vote either. The people stayed put; they got on with their own affairs; they didn't dare to speak out. The parliamentary representatives of the Constituent Assembly, an assembly of appointed delegates which was established in order to alter the contents of the Constitution, to overthrow the Qajar dynasty and install the Pahlavi dynasty, were not the people's representatives! Everyone knows this. Rida Khan knows this too; even now as he lies in his grave, he knows that these were not true representatives. His son also knows! As for these parliamentary representatives, unlike us, the popular masses, who remain little informed, they are now well aware of what is going on; and they all know that the underlying principles of the Pahlavi monarchy indeed lie counter to the law, counter to the constitutional law. And if his (Rida Shah's) reign as monarch did not accord with the constitutional law, if the Pahlavi monarchy did not accord with the constitutional law, then neither does his son's monarchy, for the fact remains that when the latter's reign is a violation of the Constitution, so too is the appointment of parliamentary representatives. Even if the latter are appointed by the people, the Constitution states that the king must give the order for such an appointment to be made, and we do not have a king to give such an order. The people did not have a king. This king in fact never was. A king whose reign is a violation of the constitutional law is not a king. These representatives are aware of the fact that this so-called dynasty of kings came to power unconstitutionally, and that consequently, whatever they (the representatives) do contravenes the constitutional law. I am talking in their own language. I am using their own logic as a premise for my argument, since they no doubt respect the constitutional law. Hence, by taking this matter of the Constitution and that contained within it into account, I assert that we have never, from the outset, from the time of Rida Shah down to the present, had a true representative of the people! The people however, were unaware of this fact, or if they were aware, then they were not in a position to determine who was to represent them- there was just no chance of this. Therefore, throughout their entire reign, both the monarchy was a violation of the Constitution and so were those who were in the Majlis. As for the Senate, half of its members were to be appointed by the Shah and the other half by the nation. But the nation was not sufficiently informed and we in fact had no Shah to make such an appointment, for the Shah was not a legitimate king. Hence, those who were appointed to represent the people or to administer their affairs, have all represented or administered in contravention of the Constitution- all of them!
With regard to this other measure to which they resorted, which involved changing one key figure for another, and choosing someone whom they believed was not disadvantaged by having held a governmental post during their time in power- a move which involved turning to the universities for example, and choosing a university lecturer who had not held a governmental post while they have been in power- now let's say that this has been done, and the person in question now wants to enter Parliament, this again is a violation of the constitutional law, for who is in fact putting him there? Who appoints him to the Premiership? And what kind of Majlis sanctions his Premiership? Which Majlis does this?! The Majlis which is a violation of the Constitution, the monarchy which is a violation of the Constitution; and thus, this Premiership too is a violation of the Constitution. God forgive me, but imagine if they were to go and bring the honest and trustworthy Archangel Gabriel down from the heavens to the earth, and that they were to incarnate him here, he who is so pure, clean and chaste, even if they were to do this, nevertheless, according to their own reasoning, the constitutional king would still have to appoint the Prime Minister and the Majlis representatives, and then the Majlis would have to sanction this appointment, but indeed, we don't have a constitutional king! «9» From the very first day the Constitution was not abided by. From day one of the constitutional law, this very law, which they all (supposedly) agree to, was not abided by. One of the articles stipulated in the constitutional law states that five mujtahids «10» are to have a presence in the Majlis and are to supervise affairs to ensure that those laws passed therein do not contravene the religious law in any way. This is what this constitutional law of ours says; this is what the supplementary constitutional laws say. So in fact they deceived the people from the very moment that the Constitution was first composed. They engaged in deception from the beginning- just like they want to now deceive the people by bringing a government of" reconciliation" to power. From the very moment that they first laid down the Constitution, these evil fiends who were wise to the situation deceived those clergymen and devout believers who supported them. These fiends acted deceitfully; they accepted the supplementary constitutional laws and so on, but when the time came to act according to these laws, this they did not do. That is, they did not bring five mujtahids to the Majlis! Initially a meeting of sorts was held, but that was just for show, then that was it- nothing. Now its nearly fifty years, in fact more than fifty years, that the clergy have not been allowed into the Majlis whereby to supervise affairs, and this contravenes the constitutional law. So supposing that Gabriel does actually descend to earth and that His Majesty now wants to go to the Parliament to appoint him and to give him his authorization so as to receive the approval of both the lower and upper Houses, here, even the honest and trustworthy Archangel Gabriel would be violating the constitutional law, for this act is not legal. His office would be illegal. And therefore this measure resorted to would not come to anything.
The people's remark:" We do not want the Shah"
Apart from this, if we now ignore the legal side of things and disregard the perspective in which they (the government) look at the matter, how could these things possibly make the people have a change of heart? Are the people crying out in despair of the ministers, saying:" Just look what our minister is like?" The people are shouting:" We don't want the Shah," yet you (the Shah) want to appoint a new minister?! Is this how you answer the cry:" We don't want the Shah," by saying:" This is who your new minister is to be?!" Indeed, why don't these foreigners who claim that this nation is demanding whatever, go and see for themselves just what the people really want? Let them go and see what the people in the bazaars are shouting; what those in the schools are shouting; what those in the universities are shouting; what those outside the universities are shouting; what those on the farms are shouting. Yes, let them go and see these people. Let them see just what these people are crying out all across Iran, just what it is that they want. If twenty-four hours should pass by without them having heard the said slogan chanted repeatedly by each person, then I shall take back what I have said, and shall simply go about my daily life. But they are sure to hear the people crying out that they don't want him (the Shah); they will hear them shouting:" Death to the Shah." Everyone is shouting this, from the small child who has recently learned to talk, to the old man, who, like me, is now only able to speak very slowly. Indeed, everyone is shouting that they don't want him. When an entire nation doesn't want something- even though the Shah is supposedly there to serve the nation- when it doesn't want him, then there is no way that he can be forced upon the people. Yes, they did force him upon the people, but to no avail.
They may even resort to dismissing one minister and replacing him with another, with someone who may well be a very good person, or even with people who have all been chosen by other parliamentary members and ministers, people chosen from among university figures or people who are virtuous men of distinction. If they heed such considerations that is- but nevertheless, the point is that the people's demands do not concern the ministers whereby they can be made content by being told:" There you are, we have provided you with a minister who is of honorable character!" The people are shouting that it is the monarchial dynasty itself that they don't want! The underlying principles on which monarchical rule is based have been false and erroneous from the start. Now, even if we were to suppose that the entire nation is not in fact crying out against monarchical rule as such, still, no one can deny the fact that all of Iran is crying out that it does not want the Pahlavi dynasty. The Iranian people are saying:" We don't want the Pahlavi dynasty," and you say:" I have got rid of that minister and appointed another one!" But this reply does not answer the former statement. This reply cannot put an end to the matter, for this is not what the people are demanding. If the people were shouting:" Our minister is no good; our parliamentary delegate is no good," then yes, they (the government) could change that minister for another, they could change that delegate for another, this would be feasible. But when this is not what the people are asking for, you are in fact doing something which does not accord with their demands; you are not doing that which the people are demanding of you, and therefore things cannot be put right. Therefore, this measure resorted to will also end in defeat. Its defeat is a hundred percent guaranteed because it is a measure which has nothing at all to offer (the people). And no matter how they carry out this deception, it will get them nowhere: should they wish to take the military option, this they have already done and it has failed. Should they wish to replace military rule with another form of rule, there is no telling whether those in the military would accept such a situation any more, for having seen a cruel system like that of this good-for-nothing (the Shah) suffer defeat, and knowing that they cannot outdo him when it comes to being wicked, they realize that any new form of rule is also doomed to fail. Hence, neither martial law, nor a military coup d'etat, nor these tricks, such as establishing a government of reconciliation- none of these have paid off.
The Shah's resorting to club-bearing kolis and hooligans
Now, they are taking another course of action, and that is to call the kolis (gypsies) into play. God knows what a disgrace it is for a country when its government has a military force of which it is in despair, or which it is afraid to put into use, and when, in a country whose king, ministers and defense forces should, in principle, seek to establish law and order, they (the regime) turn to a group of hooligans for help! We hear of these kolis in Kerman. And in other places too, we hear of other mercenaries of theirs (the regime). They intend to remain in power under the protection of club-bearing kolis! That a person such as this (the Shah) should rule over us is for us a disgrace. That a person such as this should administer our affairs on our behalf, or that he should act as our representative, is for us a disgrace. Yet he (the Shah) is now continuing to survive as king under the protection of the club-bearing koli! However, this too is to no avail.
If the club is to be resorted to, then indeed, the people too have clubs! The people also took up the club in retaliation and got rid of them (the kolis). Of course, these hooligans were protected by the military, like the time before Khordad 15 (June 5), when they poured into the city of Qum and into Faydiyyah Madrasah and committed those acts of violence. On this occasion, the regime hired a group of their own people who stormed the religious school (Faydiyyah) and carried out the said deed while enjoying police and military protection. And this is what they are doing now. They are engaging in acts of violence while under the protection of the armed forces, the military. The `armed forces' indeed! This is one of those terms of which I spoke earlier as having lost its true meaning, our `armed forces' now only being a semblance of the real thing! Our `armed' forces have now become `destructive' forces. They pour into the provinces behind these hooligans. They have done this in several cities so far, pouring into the city and committing acts of violence there. But this too is a futile exercise; these measures resorted to are all to no avail.
Foreign propaganda to besmirch the movement
As for the propaganda spread by the Americans, the British, and so on, this too has now run its course; it will no longer get them anywhere. Certain publications have reported America as saying that an underground Anglo-Russian network has in fact orchestrated these disturbances, «11» meaning that the British and the Russians have joined forces and have told me to say these things that I am now telling you, and so this I do! Or that they have told those in the bazaar to shout out in protest, and thus the latter shout out! Or that they have also told the mullahs to shout in protest and have supposedly come and told you to shout these slogans that you now chant! It has been said in America that this is all the doing of an underground Anglo-Russian network, that these disturbances are being orchestrated by the British and the Russians. It is highly likely that the British are involved in this brazen interference. Their usual policy is to cast a slur upon themselves in order to further their aims- to besmirch this movement by saying that it is an Anglo-Russian affair! But this will get them nowhere either, because now even our children know that whatever they say is false! Let them say whatever they want to say. Not only all of our youth and our elderly people but even our small children know that these things that they say are empty, deceitful words, and that their purpose is to silence this movement. The people know that these things are said in order to silence this movement that is now causing all of the various groups which are plundering us to tremble, and which, God willing, will bring them to ruin (the audience:"God willing"). They know that these things are said to extinguish this fire which has been lit in people's hearts. This is something of which the people are now aware. Therefore resorting to these tactics is to no avail.
Shah must go
The key to that which would indeed be expedient, lies in the hands of `His Royal Highness' himself! No one else can provide the answer: the answer being for him to get up and leave! (laughter from the audience). He himself holds the key should he want calm to be restored! He ought to take his wife and children, leave this country and save himself, for I fear that the disturbance may get out of hand and that they (the regime) may even resort to killing small children, and we wouldn't like to see something like this happen, where even small children are exterminated. Yes, he himself holds the key- although of course the nation too has a part to play in this. I know what is best for him, and that is for him to quietly board some airplane or other at night and to go to those villas which have been provided for him abroad at such great expense! If our people let him that is.
[A member of the audience: They won't let him; they feel obliged to stop him sir. They feel obliged to stop him; they won't let him leave.]
Imam: God willing, they will track him down even once he has gone there.
God willing, God will grant you success. May you make progress and succeed, God willing. You are the victors; that is to say, you are already victorious. There is no need for him to leave, you have (already) pulled him down from his throne; he is no longer on the throne. Now he constantly has to resort to different measures (to survive). I prefer not to discuss some of these measures to which he has resorted. I prefer not to talk about them but suffice it to say that he constantly has to resort to new tactics. You have pulled him down from that lofty `Aryamehr' rank; you have brought him down to an inferior level whereby he is now busy resorting to the kolis! This constitutes a victory for you. May God grant you further victories and may you see this triumph through to the end, for this nation has always before been an oppressed nation, a nation which has until now struggled desperately under the heels of both foreigners and those within the country. May God grant you and grant us all success in rescuing this nation.