Speech [Human rights; politics of selling oil; describing the general situation of Iran]

It was written in one of the newspapers that as soon as a military government is brought to power in Iran, America will support it. When such an action turned out to be against America's stance in defense of human rights, the White House spokesperson created the excuse that the measure enjoyed America's backing because the installment of a military government was necessary for the establishment of democracy in Iran, that it was the forerunner to the democracy needed to settle the people and restore order, and it was for this reason it had been installed. Moreover, it was argued that this was just a temporary measure, and later, when order was assured, a proper government would be brought in

All this talk about human rights and this Declaration of Human Rights is just a way for them (the superpowers) to devour these weak governments and justify their action. Do not suppose that the Declaration of Human Rights is a reality. Do these superpowers show even the slightest respect for human rights? We can judge from the actions of these signatories to the Declaration of Human Rights as to just how far they have acted in accordance with the principles of human rights. We can see in the case of Iran alone to what extent these signatories: America, Britain, Russia and Iran- for she too has signed it- have observed the basic principles of human rights. Freedom of expression, free elections, freedom of the press, radio and television, and freedom to propagate, these are basic human rights.

Does America not know that we have neither the freedom to propagate nor a free press? At present all press offices in Iran are closed because the military government has reintroduced censorship control and has arrested many different people. It is said that six hundred celebrated figures have been arrested so far. Does America not know that the press in Iran was never free in the true sense of the word? Even in those few days that they apparently allowed a partial freedom, not one of the newspapers could write a word about the Shah himself who is the head of the thieves. Not one single word was written about him in any newspaper in Iran, the Ittila`at and Kayhan included. Whatever criticism appeared was leveled at the government and the agents; all blame was apportioned among the agents, the government and the military, whereas the main culprit is the Shah.

If the press is free, then they should say who is perpetrating these crimes, and upon whose command these crimes are being committed. The Shah has been constantly engaged in such crimes now for more than fifteen years. Throughout the period that we have had a constitution in Iran, very rarely did we have a national election. Throughout the rule of Rida Shah and this Shah, we never had a freely-elected government or Parliament; Parliament was always formed at bayonet point. One of the people's basic rights is that they are free to choose their parliamentary representatives, for it is these representatives who will determine the country's destiny and will oversee the administration of all state affairs. If the Parliament is a legitimate one, then the country will be orderly and sound. However, if the Parliament is illegitimate, it will destroy the country, as it has done. Does America not know this? Does Russia not know this? Does Britain not know that in Iran neither the parliamentary representatives nor the press are free? Nothing in the country is free; everything is subjected to censorship and control, for bayonets are created by bayonets. All the parliaments have been created by the bayonet and under coercion from the Shah. Don't the Americans know this? Or are they aware of what is going on in Iran? They have ambassadors in Iran who send them information, they have agents there, the country is in their hands; they know what is going on. They know what our nation wants, but they are afraid that if the nation prevails then they will no longer be able to encroach upon the rights of the people. Those who shouted out in defense of human rights at one time are now supporting martial law and a military government; and although it conflicts with their stance on human rights for martial law deprives a nation of all its freedoms, nevertheless Carter and the American government continue to help and support the Shah. They are now trying to justify this support by claiming that this poor man is going through a lot of trouble to make the people free and the country prosperous, but that the people themselves do not want to be free and do not want their country to prosper, that the Iranian nation does not allow this Shah to give them freedom! Carter claims that the people lack good sense, that they are a group of savages who do not have the wits to see that freedom is good for them. He says that this disorder in Iran has come about because the Shah wants to give the people freedom, thus America is extending him its support so that the Shah can restore order in Iran and can, with peace of mind, grant the freedom he wants to grant. However, the people won't let this happen. Does Carter not know what he is saying? Does the White House spokesperson speak without understanding? Do they lack knowledge of the situation and thus they speak in this manner? Or does their knowledge of the situation lead them to speak in this way and they do so through clear-sightedness and because they are aware of what is really happening. The Declaration of Human Rights is a tool used by them to rob the people on the plausible pretext of doing something good. But this is just another face-saving tactic.

The Declaration of Human Rights is no different from the Shah's bestowal of freedom on the people or his provision of a free and open political climate! They are nothing more than idle talk. In this world such talk stems from people who do not have strong ideological foundations. Such people lack foundation; rather, their principles are based on nothing other than material values. Such talk is irrelevant.

A state can claim that it protects human rights when its government is based on divine religious tenets and it sees itself as answerable to a great power. Those who do not consider themselves answerable to a great power, who do not believe in a great power, who have no regard for a higher power or who do not believe that a real accounting and recompense will take place, then no matter how much they claim to be (true) humanitarians who want to protect the rights of men, their claims will always be simply claims, they will have no reality. As long as that most fundamental detail, which is belief in God, is missing, as long as there is no fear of Him nor of a reckoning on the Day of Judgment, then confusion and disorder will reign among man and mankind will be dragged toward corruption and ruin. It is human nature to do wrong. That which brings the human being onto the path, that which establishes control and determines man's path, is religion; it is belief in a beginning and a resurrection which can prevent man, even when alone with no one else to see, from straying. We do not believe all this talk that high rank and humanitarianism make a person care about humanity. It was the humanitarians who went to Iran even after the killings on Black Friday. It was that humanitarian who rules over a billion people «2» and claims to be both humanitarian and communist who went to Iran, flew over the bodies of the dead in a helicopter and (then) shook the Shah's hand and congratulated him. These are the humanitarians for you!

Do the superpowers, Britain, America and Russia, who have signed the Declaration of Human Rights and have laid the foundations for other similar projects, not know what is currently taking place in Iran? Do these humanitarians not know what is happening to the thirty million people in Iran? Do they not understand what is going on? No? Are they not informed of the reality? Is the truth that the Shah wants to give the people freedom and they are opposed to this? Is this the situation? Is this what Carter has understood the situation to be? Or has he come to this understanding through some supernatural means? Did this just come into his mind? No, Satan instructed him to say such things. This is the work of the Devil. They (Carter and others like him) are the Devil incarnate, they are taghouts.

So long as spiritual values are not respected, mankind will not be bettered. Such things as the amelioration of mankind and the protection of human rights will not be achieved unless they are attempted from a spiritual basis. We can see again how those rulers who came to power and relied on God treated man, and how those who did not rely on God and had nothing to do with spiritual affairs behaved toward the rest of mankind. We can see how one who ruled over a vast region would get up at night and go to the doors of houses to examine the state of the poor and weak and attend to their needs. This ruler once said that he, may God's peace be upon him, was afraid lest somewhere in his realm, in Yemen or somewhere, someone went hungry while he ate his fill, and for this reason he kept himself hungry. It was belief the unseen that made him act this way, for otherwise he was human just like everybody else. It was belief in the unseen that made this man such that when a soldier of Mu`awiyah's army robbed a dhimmi woman, a Jew or a Christian, of her anklet, he became so distraught that he said:" If a person were to die from regret of such a situation, no one would reproach him."

Such a man can be said to care about humanity, because he has belief; he believes in a world after this world. He knows that life does not simply revolve around eating and food; it does not only involve an animalistic life, he knows there is something else. Those who believe in spiritual principles can be relied on; man can place his destiny in their hands; man can make such people his representative, his minister or his president. Our call today is that this is what we want to do.

Our destiny has for the past two thousand five hundred years been in the hands of black imperial rule. Until recently this man was saying that the Iranian people liked the monarchy, that they were Shah-worshippers, yet throughout the history of monarchical rule in Iran these Shahs and Shah-worshippers- as he calls them- have been at each other's throats. Battles and disputes between them have marked this period. Even those kings who were reputed to be good, whose name `Jannat Makan' would evoke respect whenever mentioned, were evil. Shah `Abbas is one of them; he blinded his own son for the sake of his realm and his position! Anoushirvan `the Just' is another; he was one of the worst tyrants, and his oppressive acts have been recorded in history.

God knows how Iran has suffered under these monarchs. You yourselves are currently witnessing the actions of this Shah, this justice-seeking Shah, this Shah who wants to create a just society and claims to protect Islam! A short time ago in a speech he claimed that he wanted to propagate Islam and implement the constitutional law. Up until a couple of days ago he was a liar, and he is no different today. He is lying to the people and I know that they realize this. A short while ago these Shah-loving people of Isfahan set alight anything associated with the government and the Shah! Yet at the same time he was speaking about his friends who are the Shah-loving people of Isfahan, the Shah-loving people of Tehran, Yazd and Kerman and claimed that everywhere was the same. Was it this love of the Shah that a few days ago led the people to bring down that statue and break it into pieces, each person taking a piece as a souvenir? Are these the Shah-lovers?

Does he (the Shah) not know what state Iran is in and where the sympathies of the Iranian people lie? It is amazing. He is amazing. He installs a military government which tomorrow will set alight this city and that village and kill the people, yet still he stands before the people and comes out with such things as:" I give you a pledge, I promise, I guarantee that I will not repeat my past actions! ' What kind of madness is this? A philosopher or a physician should be brought to explain this. This brain should be inspected to see what kind it is that makes him speak such words. What kind of behavior is this? This kind of behavior needs to be examined; a normal person would not act this way. This is abnormal behavior. It is a miracle of nature! (The audience laughs). Yes, he has said this and it is truly extraordinary. (The audience laughs).

Be that as it may, he takes advantage of everything, but most of all he has taken advantage of the apathy shown by the nation up until recently. However, now that apathy has been transformed to ardor and he doesn't know what to do about it. According to the translated account of events that I read, the supporters of America who were in Japan «3» are once again talking about the oil problem. They fear that without (Iranian) oil, European industries and factories would cease to function. This was said in Japan to get the Japanese to join them in opposition. However, the truth of the matter is that we want to sell our oil to anyone who will give us money for it, not to those who will set up bases for themselves in return. It is amazing that some people are allowed to take our oil and set up bases for themselves in Iran in exchange. Do not think that those who give us weapons do so because we need them. These weapons they give us are those that they want to have in Iran to use to establish their bases there against the Russians for example. Even though this is the case, he (the Shah) does not say anything, so he himself agrees with this. When they want to do something they use the excuse that they are doing it to pay for the oil they have taken! The oil money does not go into the pockets of the nation, no, it goes into the building of bases in Iran for the Americans! This is how they are robbing this nation of its wealth.

We want this to stop. We are not going to cease selling our oil; we are not going to keep it. We want to sell it to whichever government is willing to give us the best price for it. The oil is ours, we are the sellers and they are the buyers. We want to have the choice, we do not want the choice to lie in their (the Americans') hands, we do not want it to be them who say how much we can extract, what price we can sell it for and what we receive in return for it. They take our oil and the money they pay for it goes back into their pockets through the bases they have built for themselves in Iran. We want this to stop.

The first right of a human being to which he is entitled, one which is recognized by all countries of the world, is freedom. We want to acquire this. The people of this nation have taken to the streets barefooted, they shout out and give their youth and are trampled under foot and under tanks. The women and men of this nation face the tanks shouting in unison:" Freedom, Independence and an Islamic government." We want a legitimate government, one that will respect the law. We oppose a government which shows disregard for all human rights and all international laws and which acts in whatever manner it wishes toward the people. We want a government like that during the first age of Islam, one which will govern no other way except in accordance with the law, in accordance with a law which is just and right, a law whose aim is to develop man and better him. We are facing these problems now, and as we sit here the troubles continue in Iran. But along with the suffering there is hope. We hope that, God willing, for all their might we will sever the hands of the superpowers which grasp our resources. (The audience replies with" God willing").

May God protect you all and grant you success.