In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
A people with unity of purpose
Our burdens are many and so too are the tactics which the Shah and his partisans resort to. The latter have in the past and even now still turn to various ways of suppressing the nation. They either resort to the use of force, employing the military, the security forces, the police and so on, means which experience has shown to be inadequate in calming the people, or they turn to the use of threats in the belief that threatening to assassinate someone «1» will have an effect and that our people are now reliant upon one person. This nation whose impetus now emerges from within and which is now acting on its own volition, cannot be motivated by any power to act in this way, whereby, as you can see, throughout a country of thirty-odd million people- from its villages to its large cities, its capital to its outlying cities, its remote villages- everyone is standing up with a unity of purpose and is loudly shouting with one voice," We don't want this Pahlavi monarchy." Even if at one time there had been some external motivating force involved or whatever, some kind of plea for action, which led to the present situation, nevertheless, now this is not the case. Now, whether those who are believed to have been the motivating forces are present or whether they are assassinated and so are not here any more, it makes no difference, for this nation no longer seeks to rediscover a course which it has already found; the path it is to take is now evident. The effort needed to show the people which path they should take has already been made; the path they are to follow is now evident. Our country and our people now act of their own accord. That is, when they observe a general shutdown, they no longer wait for so-and-so to tell them to do this, or for the head of the union or some clerical or political figure to tell them to do this; this is the furthest thing from their minds. Say they believe that today a shutdown should be observed, suddenly, across the whole of Iran, everywhere can be seen to be closed down. Shutdowns in large cities are observed due to the fact that the people there decide that today is the day for a shutdown. It no longer makes any difference whether someone is there or not to tell them to close down. These threats, which suddenly caused the people to talk about so-and-so being assassinated, let us say, are childish threats. The fire will not become extinguished once the assassination has been carried out. The fire may well become brighter, but even if not, it will certainly not go out. This is yet another childish tactic to which they (the regime) sometimes resort. They used to do this in the past, and they have done it again now.
The people will not be fooled
They recently saw how the government of reconciliation could not achieve its intended aims, and this was because from the start it was a government which intended to trick the people into being misled and which wanted to silence this movement. They made certain promises and took certain steps and so on, but all of which bore no relation to the people's demands, for the people were demanding something else. Yet in answering their demands, the government announced:" We have closed down the casinos!" But a thousand different kinds of centers of corruption still remained open! The main centre of corruption is the regime of Muhammad Rida Khan, whose doorway to corruption still remains open! Corruption here, not being used in its literal sense but being used to mean something even worse. Here corruption is being used to mean a royal court of utter oppression, a royal court of utter betrayal, of utter crime! If you were to close the doors to this (royal court), the nation would calm down to a certain extent- only to a certain extent of course, not completely. But you say you have closed the casinos! Are we to suppose that the people are doing all of this shouting and yelling and are giving so many lives because the casinos are open?! Is this what the people want, for the casinos to be closed down?! Of course, this is indeed one of the things they want, but one must listen to the cries of the people in the streets to see what it is they actually want. Once the true colors of the government of reconciliation were revealed and it became evident that reconciliation in fact meant martial law; that it meant finding a way out; that it meant handing authority over to one of the unruly rebels, to the kolis, to one of the down-and-outs, for them to deal with the people; that it meant clubs, beatings, repression, suffocation and so on. Once all this became evident, they then adopted another tactic, although it was indeed evident to us from the start that this government was not what it claimed to be but that instead it aimed to fool the people so that it could silence this movement once and for all by whatever means necessary, an aim which they have failed to reach however, this reconciliatory government having been in power for several months now and having fought the people to no avail. In his addresses, the Shah has said many times:" Surely we need to have a country. Even supposing that I was whatever, nevertheless we still need to have our country. If I should leave, then there will be no country! Do you not want to have a country? If I am not here, then the country will be taken from you! They will seize this country; they will annex it and treat it as their own! One part of it will be taken by the Soviet Union, another part by America, and yet another by Britain." Yes, this is what he has said:" Surely we need to have a country."
The Imam's response to `Ali Amini's statements
Recently, someone from among the Shah's `loyal devotees' who has set his sights on the Premiership «2» also gave an interview in which he put the cause of Khomeini's upset down to his having been through a lot and having suffered pain and so on! Of course these are the sort of things they always say! His argument is however, that others have also suffered, to a greater or lesser extent, but that they have let bygones be bygones (laughter from the audience). He says:" If so-and-so is a patriot- if he is that is, and indeed he certainly claims to be one- then although he argues that the monarchy must be abolished, he must lower his sights somewhat. He must relax his demands for the sake of the country, for it is said that our country is now in great danger due to its strategic location. It goes without saying that we need to have a country."(This is just what the Shah had said- a parliamentary delegate also having said this in the Majlis- and now he (Amini) too is saying it.)He says that we obviously want to keep our country and that even if someone has suffered some kind of imprisonment, exile, torture or hardship in the past, and that if he is a true patriot, then he is obliged to overlook this and to prevent us from forfeiting our country! What a catastrophe! We are about to forfeit our country! What he (Amini) is in fact saying is:" If I were to meet with him (Imam himself) then I would explain things to him, and were he to see that one of the nation's demands had been met, that some positive step had been taken, and were the people also to see this, then things would calm down a little- the problem being however, that the people have not yet witnessed anything being done. This government which has been in power hasn't done anything (to meet the people's demands)." Essentially then what he is saying is that:" It is best if I- and here I am quoting him- step in to show that action is being taken! Let the people see that something is being done; let them taste some kind of freedom so that they calm down."
Response to the claim that Iran will be separated into parts without the Shah
So this whole troubling affair is but another kind of tactical maneuver which has now been employed in the fight. He (Sharif Imami) took office on the pretext of forming a `government of reconciliation, ' and now this one (Amini) wants to do so on the pretext of `wanting to do what is best, ' on the pretext of being a patriot as he himself puts it, and wanting the best for his country. He has made sacrifices to ensure that the country is never forfeited at any time! And he has gone through a lot of trouble in order to come and hold talks with the Shah and then to go and visit certain people in Qum, although I'm not exactly sure whether these people actually consented to meet with him or not and it would seem that some of them did not. «3» Yes, he wanted to visit Qum and then take action to rescue the country! He (supposedly) wanted to rescue the country from the plan which Khomeini has designed and proposed- a plan which has jeopardized the country! By meeting with the Shah and visiting Qum- where it is still uncertain whether he was received or not- he wanted to rescue the country! He has made sacrifices and forsaken everything to save this country! He says that while he was visiting Qum, he saw the unrest there, the demonstrations there, and the shouts of protest which were sounded there. He says that he actually saw for himself what things were like and that these people will not calm down unless they see some kind of action being taken; unless some government takes over which can be seen to be doing something (to rectify the situation). In essence, what he is saying is that he should be allowed to form a government which would then calm the unrest and grant some kind of freedom and so on. And it would probably close down the pubs and take other such steps, but `His Royal Highness' must remain- he must remain to prevent this country from ever falling into the hands of Russia or Britain! It is the might of" His Royal Highness" that is now keeping Russia at bay and is keeping America at bay! (Laughter from the audience). No one has the right to tamper with this power. And the people must be persuaded not to destroy this power and not to present a challenge to this power which is now preserving the country!
Now, before anything else, we would like to ask this Mr." Loyal Devotee of the Shah," or, as others call him, Mr." America-lover," a question. Now that you have been to Qum, now that you have traveled by car through the streets of Tehran to go to Qum, you have no doubt seen the demonstrations which are being held in Tehran, not to mention those in the villages such as Hasan-Abad, `Ali-Abad «4» and so on. Indeed, you talk about having seen Qum, so since, praise be to Allah, you have the ability to hear, and since thankfully you have your wits about you, I would like to ask:" Did you not hear what they (the people) were saying, what they were asking for? These people who have taken their lives in their hands, who send their youngsters forward to fight, these mothers who send their young children out into the streets, children who are loudly crying out, did you not hear what they are saying so as to discover the cause of the nation's pain and the remedy for this pain?" Unless one discovers the cause of pain, one cannot treat it. The people are all saying:" We don't want this Shah" and you say that you will make them content! You will make them content about the Shah remaining! The people say:" We are discontent because this Shah has betrayed us; we don't want him." You however, are saying two things: one is that:" I have heard what the people have to say and they will obviously not rest until we meet their demands, or at least until we do something positive, do something to make this gentleman (the Shah) get on with his own life so that the people may calm down- to a certain extent that is, not entirely."
The other thing he is saying is:" Iran's strategic location is such- as if we don't know what her strategic location is like- that should these rebellions continue, Iran will be faced with great danger; but if we have the Shah, then there is no such danger!" Hence, what he is saying is that this danger will not arise while the Shah is in power, but, God forbid (as Amini would say), should this Shah leave, then the country will fall into the hands of two powerful countries, and good God, what a catastrophe that would be! But we argue that which has handed this country over to these two powers is this very Shah! Surely, the task that these powers mean to carry out in Iran, doesn't involve them coming and carrying away a certain amount of soil from Qum to the other side of the Russian frontier, and a certain amount of soil from Tehran to the other side of the American frontier! He (Amini) himself agrees that this is not the aim; the aim is for them (the two powers) to rule over our country. Indeed, is that not what they are now doing?!
The country is under American occupation
Yes, Iran's geographical location, being as it is, is a matter of concern to them, and more importantly, they are concerned about those things which are inside our country and which they are in need of; but are they not now in control of our nation's wealth anyway?! Are they not now devouring our oil?! And yes, in return they are setting up a military base for themselves. They give us money for this oil, that is, they give us weapons with which to set up a military base for them here. Doesn't the fact that they are taking our gas away mean that they predominate over us?! The wealth of this nation is slipping through its fingers. Doesn't the fact that America has brought about land reforms and the White Revolution, mean that it rules over us?! Is this White Revolution a revolution which belongs to the Shah and the nation?! He himself claims to be the nation! The nation has no part to play in this White Revolution; and as for the Shah, he doesn't come into it either. It was an American Revolution through and through! The whole idea of this revolution was for the Americans to take away that degree of independence which this country enjoyed in relation to other countries, because of its thriving agriculture. Indeed, does American predominance over us mean anything other than their gaining control over the assets we possess, the resources we possess, those things that we possess both beneath and above the ground, and their taking them away?! Do they not now have control over us? And if the Shah leaves then will they have control? If an Islamic government should come about which adheres to those words of the Qur'an which state that a non-Muslim is not to exert control over a Muslim, «5» would they (the foreign powers) then have the upper hand?! In any case Iran's geographical location demands that an independent power which has the support of the nation, a regime which enjoys the people's support and which has the force of the people behind it, be established here, to ensure that neither that country encroaches upon that one, nor vice versa. The strategic location of our country demands the presence of some kind of power, and not some kind of parasite, to stand in the way of those other two (foreign) powers and to guarantee peace in this part of the world! Our military and our army are now in a parasitic state. It is an army which is being run under American supervision and which is being managed in such a way as to serve American interests. Forty-five thousand, fifty thousand, some say up to sixty thousand American advisers and oil-devourers have played havoc with us and are now in our country. They have set up all of those bases here for themselves. Our country is under military occupation; our country is under American occupation. This gentleman (Amini) says:" They (the Iranian people) will be at great peril!" But is there a peril greater than this?! Our agriculture has been completely destroyed; was this not beset with perils?! You want to remove the danger facing the country now (at this late stage)?! You are the one who was in government when this whole affair first sprung up and when America imposed its will upon us! And I was the one who sent word to you that you were not to go ahead with this, that this would be the ruin of our agriculture. God bears witness to the fact that I sent word via his (Amini's) envoy, that he was not to go ahead with this. I told this envoy to tell him (Amini):" You (Amini) know this for yourself. You yourself are a landowner so you know that they cannot handle the country's agriculture. This country's agriculture will be ruined." It was you who ruined the country's agriculture for the sake of America! Yet now you want to put things right «6» by saying that they (the Americans) should never be allowed to gain the upper hand over us?! «7» Are we now independent?! Is a powerful nation now standing up to everyone and keeping them at bay, and do we now have an independent, civilized country of free men and women?! «8» We want to be a powerful country whose power is based upon the support of its people, a country which receives its inspiration from the people. If an army is backed by the people, then there is nothing that either this or that power can do. They (the foreign powers) want to ensure that the situation is such that neither of these two powers can attack the other, but «9» when there is an independent and powerful state involved, they cannot do this. By way of these intrigues.
you want to give these two powers the upper hand over us!
You don't want to settle the country's problems; you want to give even more of this country away! We want to rescue this country from these two (foreign) powers. You want this country to remain under foreign control forever. And just how do you intend to achieve this? By maintaining that if `His Royal Highness' were to leave, then this country would fall into disarray! By arguing that His Imperial Majesty must remain in order to keep these two powers at bay! But my dear man, it is this very same `Imperial Majesty' who has allowed these powers to rule over us, as did his father!
The reason for opposition to the Shah
This gentleman (Amini) makes out and believes that so-and-so has gone through a lot- and again, this is exactly what the Shah said- so-and-so" meaning myself. He says that" so-and-so" has suffered in the past and whatever. When he (Amini) says:" He (Imam) holds a personal grudge against me; he wants to retaliate," these are the exact words that the Shah had used, his exact terms. So you (Amini) now in fact serve as `His Majesty's' loudspeaker, in that just as he (the Shah) spoke of the need to have a country and said that if he were to leave then indeed there would be no country, so you too also say that if the Shah were to leave there would be no country. These words of yours are identical to those of the Shah. The latter says that our country's situation is such that if he were to leave then the two foreign powers would approach the country from either side. Yes, you are his loudspeaker! He (the Shah) says:" He holds a personal grudge against me; he (meaning myself) is now retaliating. I threw him into prison, I sent him into exile, and now he is retaliating." And he (Amini) is his loudspeaker; he is repeating his very words. I always thought that they (the foreign powers) tell the Shah what to say and he says it- and that is actually the case, his superiors dictate what he is to say- but it is now also apparent that he (Amini) in fact reads a dictation of what has been dictated (laughter of the audience). It is with him (Amini) that I must set the record straight. I was never before a Prime Minister and I don't own a palace or any finery. I was the same person then that I am now that I have come here (to Paris). You «10» yourself have seen how there isn't even enough room to sit down comfortably in my house, and I wouldn't wish for any more than this. Even when I was detained and I entered that officers' club- initially, they took me to an officers' club- I noticed what a good place it was and how it had everything, things that my family have never even dreamt of! I told the guards who were present that this is better than my own home (laughter from the audience), and indeed it was; and then afterwards they took me elsewhere, «11» to a place similar to my own home but somewhat better! When in prison, my imprisonment was not one during which something bad happened to me so causing me to have a difficult time, it wasn't as if the Shah and I had a punch-out or anything! (Laughter from the audience). And as for those who were with me during my detention, those who were on guard there, they showed me kindness, they thought highly of me. After leaving that place, we then lived somewhere where there was a huge garden and a great mansion, somewhere that we had probably never before even dreamt of. «12» Then, when I returned to my own house, that once more became my home! And since I never used to go out and walk around as I do in the yard of this house in which I am now living, I can't say that I'm having a bad time now either! Furthermore, when they sent me to Turkey, personally speaking, it was much better there for me than it had been in Iran. That is to say, I didn't suffer in any way there. «13» Then I went to Najaf which was our home. And now I have come here, to a place which is again better than my own home. There is a garden here and everything! Thus I have not experienced any hardship- speaking personally that is- for this to be given as the reason for my opposing this person (the Shah). The nation's suffering is my suffering. When I picture the faces of those men whose children, whose sons have been killed, I am pained. Seeing the woman who strikes herself because of these things, and who cries:" Come and kill me; you who have killed my child come now and kill me," this causes me pain, not the fact that I have had a bad experience in the past, or that I am someone who has suffered in the past. No, on the contrary, I have had a very good time. That which pains me is the disaster which has befallen our nation. Indeed, should a Muslim not feel pain for his own nation, then he is not a Muslim. I cannot call the person who wishes to be like this a Muslim. We don't consider he who shakes hands with the hand of a murderer to be a true human being, and indeed, neither can he be a Muslim. This is what hurts me and not the fact that they detained me or took me to prison. I am pained for sure by the fact that they sawed off the `ulama''s legs! «14» That they burned them by immersing them in boiling oil! I am pained because our `ulama' have spent seven, eight, ten or fifteen years in prison. This gentleman's father (Imam points to a member of the audience) spent several years in prison. This is what pains me. These people have now however, been released from prison. Yes," we freed the political prisoners!" Or as he (the Shah) puts it," We granted them a pardon!" So is that now it? Now that the political prisoners, the prisoners who suffered ten years in prison- one honorable `alim «15» having been struck so hard on the face that it has affected his hearing- now that he has come out of prison, is he to come and thank the Shah, asking him to remain?! Believe me, this is an impossibility! This nation cannot be appeased by the things you say. Neither could the Prime Minister «16» achieve anything, nor can he who awaits the Premiership! «17» There is nothing you can do. Neither the military, nor martial law, nor anything else, nothing will do the trick. See what it is that the people want and give this to them. The people, both children and adults, are shouting:" Freedom and independence;"" Give us freedom and independence, not Pahlavi rule." This is what our nation is saying, what both its adults and children are saying. Everyone, both those who are abroad and those who are inside Iran, are saying this. If you meet their demands then the people will have no complaint against you and they will calm down. But you want to keep he who is the prime culprit in power. They set Azerbaijan on fire and then put the blame on its police! This is what they did to console the people. This Mr. Premiership Prospector says that those who have committed an injustice against this nation must be punished, so I ask this gentleman: Who has committed an injustice against the nation? Tell us who. Come now, sit down and tell us who. Have the police killed someone without leave to do so?! Do policemen kill people without being given the permission to do so?! Do the governors general give unauthorized commands?! Does the commander of the armed forces give orders without the Shah's permission?! These actions could never be taken without the Shah's permission. This could never happen within the armed forces. It is he who is the `commander-in-chief'. «18» Unless he gives the permission, no one is killed.
Shah's punishment
Punish this criminal and we will kiss your hand. Go ahead and punish him! According to the religious law, even if he hasn't actually killed anyone he must still be sentenced to life imprisonment. The punishment for someone who orders for a person to be killed is life imprisonment; this is what the sacred laws of religion say. In an Islamic system of rule he must be imprisoned for life. However, it is said that he (the Shah) has actually committed murder with his own hands, and should this prove to be true then the punishment is just retaliation [qisas]. We don't wish for all of the crimes which have been committed You are to punish the criminal who is the source of all the crimes, the criminal in whose name all of the people regard these crimes to have been perpetrated, and whom they consider responsible for all their misery. You are to punish this criminal for the people to calm down somewhat. And once you have done this, there is the matter of independence that you must also resolve; otherwise this nation will not rest. These constitute stratagems which, from the beginning down to the present, have aimed at suppressing and silencing the various social classes in our country which form the driving force behind this Islamic movement. But crushing the movement by means of the military won't work; crushing it by enlisting the services of the Kurds or those from Lor or wherever, won't work; crushing it by acts of deceit and by establishing a `government of reconciliation' won't work; and neither will the pretext that our country is now in danger! As for the pretext that our country is now in danger, if this is the case, then come on, rescue it from danger! You say the Shah must remain? He is the one responsible for all the danger now facing us. Are we then to allow him to remain so as to preclude all danger?!
Islamic slogan
Gentlemen, you must all be united; shake off these differences which exist among you both within and outside Iran; discard any non-Islamic slogan. All of you should chant one slogan, one Islamic slogan. According to what some clerical gentlemen have written, a phone call was received from Iran which said that certain students had announced that they had resolved their differences, it said that they had resolved any differences that existed among the students and that they were now all a united front. May God preserve them. All of you, everyone must form a united front. If you each go your own way, then believe me, you will be crushed beneath the boots of oppression, boots which are to be found both within and outside the country, for evermore. Future generations will call you to account. If you do not take advantage of this movement today, while it still exists, then you will for ever remain trampled underfoot both by those abroad and those within the country.
You must all help, meaning that all of you who are present here must discard any differences which exist among yourselves; and you can tell these news reporters, these journalists, these people in the universities, these teachers, tell all of them about Iran. What is happening in Iran has been shown in a very bad light over here (abroad), and so now you must compensate for this and give them your side of the story. This is a service which you are able to do for this nation. You must brush all differences aside, unite with the Iranian people- those who are in Iran that is- whole-heartedly and unanimously, and tell people about Iran, about those things which the general public there are demanding. In the colleges and universities everyone is to shout out the same thing and to chant the same slogan, that being the slogan of unity in Islam. This is what can rescue you.
Others cannot come to the rescue; indeed, they will eventually get you hung. May God grant you all success and may you be triumphant, God willing.