Speech [The need for the resignation of the armed forces]

They have launched another series of propaganda ploys claiming that the Islamic movement has but one clear aspect and that the rest of its programs are vague! That which is clear is that all the people are saying this regime and the Shah must go and an Islamic government must be established. This is now on all the people's tongues. However, a group of uninformed individuals have been spreading the notion that this Islamic government does not have any clear program of its own; that they (Islamic activists) thoughtlessly talk about an Islamic government and that neither the Islamic government nor the Islamic activists have any definite program of their own, claiming that the Islamic Republic does not have a solid base, that it is but a vague idea and allegations such as these!

Well, we have two steps to take: the first one is to eliminate the present (monarchical) base and end the current situation. This, they say, is clear. Do they have any objection to this? Which step does those who, in their line of thinking, oppose this (Islamic) movement, disagree with? Are they questioning the first step that calls for an end to the present order, to this regime and to Iran's present situation which is now at the crest of decline after fifty years, that they are saying such a state of affairs has to remain? Do they believe that this regime must stay? Of course there are those- advocates of the Shah and his regime, individuals affiliated to him or America- who believe that the present situation should remain as it is, or in the words of some, that the Shah should" take a low profile" out of the limelight. This is the scheme they have contrived. But does this group really believe that the present situation is all right and should remain? Or is it that the situation is bad but expediency necessitates that it remains so because there is no other way? If they believe that the situation is all right, then it means that those fifty years of repression is all right! Censorship of the print media and other publications, and the security organization's divesting them of freedom are also good then. Can they really claim so? How can they have the impudence to say that such things are good while all our publicity and propaganda machinery is kept under surveillance and is being regulated by the security organization and no journalist has any right to oppose any issue dictated by them, and the radio and its propaganda vehicles do not have any freedom to air any program except those which they impose? While such repressive practices exist, can they really call them good? Can a Muslim or a human being state that such things are good? If so, then let one of those who disagree with us come forward and announce the same. Whoever they choose, it could be the Shah himself or any one of his cronies, should come forth and confess that their broadcast and print media are powerless and do not have any freedom in news broadcasting, that everything is regulated by the security organization and all these media should air only what they tell them to and that all these are good! Let one of those who believe that the Shah should stay in power state this in writing. They should publish it in the papers or on a leaflet and sign it! They should write that:" I, Mr. so and so, believe that such repressive measures are being taken, but I say they are good." Or, let him admit, too, that our education, which is backward, is backward and that they will not let us have an independent educational system; that our educational system is a subservient one, subservient to the will of embassies. Let them come forward and admit all these and say:" We want the Shah to stay because our educational system should be this way; it is a marvelous thing and it has not been forced on us." Let them say it is a great thing; that it is wonderful that our educational system is retarded and that they never let our youths be educated and trained in the sciences in a way that they become constructive. Those who believe that the Shah should remain in power must publish these matters if they really believe in them and think they are right, that things should be as they are and believe that they are good the way they are. Find someone from all over Iran to state this, publish it with his signature affixed thereto and introduce himself that:" I, Mr. so and so, the son of so and so, confess to such a belief." I do not think that such a person can ever be found. Or, find someone to admit that:" I confess that the regime's foreign military advisers are actually controlling our armed forces and that they are under foreign domination, under foreign military advisers, but that such things are good! It is good to be under their domination! Likewise, the various kinds of misfortunes that we have been afflicted with (are good), be it in the main precincts of the cultural order, the military or the economy." They must admit the fact that they are giving our oil to America so freely and in exchange they are setting up a military base for America in Iran. Let them admit this and declare:" What we are doing is good! It is being humanitarian or being kind, generous and hospitable to one's fellow men and this sort of thing; that we give away our oil- well, as a gift- to another country! Well, we want to give (America) our oil as a present and the recipient compensates us with guns instead of money." The thing is, they (the US) are not giving us the guns; these weapons they bring into Iran, they do so because they want to install bases to guard (their interests) against the Soviet Union! You see they cannot just do this without an excuse, so on the pretext that they are paying for the oil, they remunerate us with weapons instead of money. Weapons! Does Iran need weapons? These arms' quantities are so enormous and excessive that the Iranians do not know what to do with them or how to use them. They do not even teach them how to use these weapons. These Americans want to set up a US base here to shield themselves from the Soviets. You see, if they (the US) say they want to build a base with no excuse, it will cause a big commotion (among the Soviets) and so `Big Brother' «1» will also create an uproar and say:" What will I do in this corner?" They (the regime) do not want these things to happen. So, they say that the US is buying oil and giving something in exchange for it! What is it that the Americans give us in return? In exchange for oil, they are giving us weapons. However, the real issue is to establish military bases for America. Presently, there are bases erected in many parts of Iran and they are all operational. They say that it is something that has already been done and is still being done. Perhaps, it is really good to be so" humanitarian!" So, if they consider it such a good deed, then they should find one crony of the Shah's or America's to certify such things in writing, the way I am bringing them up, and sign it. But nobody can say that such things are good.

What is left for them to do now is to say something else in this regard. They- these cronies, or may I say, slaves and lackeys «2» of the Shah- should say:" No, it is not so and, as `His Imperial Majesty' has declared, we are independent; we do not need anything. Our armed forces can resist Russia, Britain and America!" In his (Shah's) own words:" The US is not our patriarch that we have to listen to every word it dictates!" With these words, do they want to say that America does not have any military base in Iran? They should look around; bases are so visible here and there, in the mountains, everywhere. All of them are conspicuous. They have been set up all well equipped with underground passages and sophisticated equipment. This being because you are giving away too much. They claim that they do not give America any oil! They deny it. They could at least say:" We do and what a good thing it is that we do!" But they deny the fact that they are giving oil to America, even though the whole world knows quite well that they do! They say they sell a moderate quantity, but everybody also knows that you (Shah) give it away profusely because you, yourself, have admitted that our oil resources will be exhausted in twenty to thirty years' time. It is such since you are giving away too much. The United States has oil and does not have need for it. It has plenty of oil wells from which it does not extract its oil. It means that the Americans have their own oil wells and are also aware of their underground oil resources, but they have sealed off their wells for their future consumption and are benefiting from `His Imperial Majesty's' trifling gift while their own oil resource is safely untapped underground! They dug their wells, tapped them, sealed them off, sat on them and then stretched their hands begging Iran and other countries for oil!

They say:" We do not give away oil. We haven't given oil to America, or, if we have, it has been but a moderate quantity." Well, by the oil revenues you are getting and the billions of dollars worth of arms you have imported, it is obvious how much of it you are giving America and the other countries. They brag:" We give them oil, but we are getting foreign exchange!" Very well, let one of them put it in writing that they are getting money from America. They all admit that they are giving away oil and getting arms in exchange. Do they believe that such arms and all this equipment and these facilities are necessary to the country? Do we wish to gain power like that of the Soviets' or become as powerful as America? Is this why we need these weapons? Do we have experts in proportion to such and do we really use them ourselves?

It is public knowledge that there are about 45,000- some say 60,000 - of these American advisers here and experts who enjoy political immunity. And not only these advisers but every single American here! They have been granted immunity from prosecution. These are tales that history should record so that people will understand in the future what the Iranian situation had been. During Rida Shah's time, when the Capitulation Bill was rescinded, «3» as they had claimed, it was merely a verbal rescinding. Of course, it now really is abolished. And what a hue and cry they had made in their propaganda stunts when they proclaimed that `His Majesty' had decided to annul the `Capitulation Bill, ' and so on and so forth. For quite a long while, the newspapers, the radio and other media celebrated the annulment of Capitulation Bill by `His Majesty Rida Shah'! They highlighted it with so much pompous publicity for some time. Then, on that day when" His Majesty Muhammad Rida Shah," legitimate heir to" His Majesty Rida Shah," revived the Capitulation Bill for the Americans, «4» once again the same uproar was raised as to what a great service he had done! The poor media, held captive by the security organization, had to proclaim it. They dictated to them to publish it and the press had to oblige and propagandize what a great service it was and that no service could have been greater than that which `His Majesty, ' the Shah, had done. What had he done? That which his father had rescinded, he had now readopted! We are supposed to celebrate its annulment and then celebrated its re-adoption! (Audience laughs). The situation in the country is analogous to that of the poor rooster's when it laments that it gets beheaded (for the dining table) be it at funerals or at weddings!" (Laughter from the audience).

Iran's situation is such: there is commotion whichever version is recounted- good or bad! These are things we hear and witness at present. Later, will people believe we have endured such regimes? During my lifetime, I witnessed such incidents. You do not have any recollection of such things, not a single one of you remembers. But in my days such incidents took place. That celebration (during Rida Shah's rule) occurred in my time. And now, this celebration and situation (under the Shah) and the commotion that ensued- all these took place during my time, too; both incidents happened in my time. This was the way things had been. We had to rejoice on both occasions because `His Majesty' treated the issue the way he did!

Are they saying such events did not take place?! Well, they did take place! But they say they were all right! What does this all right mean? It means that if a cook at the US embassy or a businessman, who is an American (in Iran), runs over a respectable (Iranian) citizen, say, a top official, a philosopher, a scholar, or anyone, and does it on purpose, the Iranian government does not have any right to hold him responsible for his action! The case should be referred to the embassy where they know how to handle the matter! What this decision, which he (the Shah) propagated so much and the man who introduced the bill to the Parliament «5» made so much hue and cry for, affirmatively proves is that every single American here is legally immune from prosecution. Nobody has any right, not even the Justice Ministry, to summon any American whatever (crime) he commits! The armed forces do not have the right to interfere in these matters; no one has any right to interfere in such affairs. Such issues will have to be resolved directly by Americans and in the precincts of the embassy, or, shall I say, in the US territory itself, and it is only obvious what the solution will be! Is this what they refer to as good? Is it very good that Americans enjoy immunity and nobody has any right (to protest)? However, if the highest official of this country (whoever he may be) runs over (an American) servant, he should then be prosecuted!? When it concerns them, no one has any right to even criticize them, but when it is the other way around, the Iranians should be tried?! Well, is this what they consider good?

Does he, who believes that the monarchical regime should remain and that the Shah must stay and rule, mean to say that so far nothing has gone awry and so the Shah must stay?! Or, he does not believe in it and does not approve of the situation. If he believes that the situation is all right and that he approves of it, then let him put it in writing with his signature affixed and state that:" I believe in this system and it is quite favorable; that is if we cause a servant of theirs any trouble, we will have to face charges but if the victim is one of our dignitaries, then nothing should be done to them!" I do not think that a person or a human being can ever attest to such in writing. Yes, some of these (supporters of the regime) have really let their humanity slip, just like `His Majesty' himself who is totally bereft of any spirit of humanity; he is possessed by a spirit other than a human one; that is why he is saying all this bosh and tosh. Nobody can ever really say such things the way he does!

Looking at the other side of the coin, we see the expediency of his overthrow. From this view, you cannot say that the things, that is, everything that has happened to the nation so far- like our educational system being backward or the economy being insolvent or parasitic- is really good. Our whole military is supervised by American advisers. I suppose this is also good!? You cannot admit this either. What is left for you to do is to admit that:" Well, we believe these things are terrible but we had to do them because we had no other alternative, it had to be this way. We had to endorse `His Majesty' and his remaining in power because we had to acquiesce in such arrangements. They made it expedient for us to accede to the notion that our education could only improve to a certain extent. They compelled us to accept their domination of our armed forces; that our Parliament members be appointed by them and that neither we, nor the nation, had any power to interfere (in the elections)! We had to oblige and because we were compelled to do so, things should be the way they are." Now, the Iranian nation has risen up against them and is saying that it does not agree with all these so-called exigencies, but up to now nothing has been done. Presently, the people are mobilized and are following up the issue. Well, if they agree that this is wrong, but that they had been forced out of necessity to accede to it, the Iranian nation has risen up en masse stating its rejection of such so-called exigencies you have done. The Shah says:" I have a mission to serve my country." He himself had written a book entitled Mission for My Country, and I, too, confirm he had carried out a mission to serve his country. But he says:" I had a mission to do this and that, to take my nation to the so-called `gateway of the great civilization'." I say you had a mission to sell your country's oil, demean your educational system and reduce your country to what it is now: a total ruin which we call our country! If they aver that the regime has committed treason but which you (Shah) insist as expedient and imposed, can we accept such statements from a Parliament member, a minister or the Shah that they had been forced to betray the nation?! If that is so, then relinquish your post! Who has forced you to become a prime minister? Who has imposed membership of Parliament on you? Or pushed you into becoming a minister? Who forced you to become the king? Resign! A person who does not have the courage to safeguard the nation's interests, confront the foreigners and a person who is held captive by foreigners and who believes he has to sacrifice his country's interests for them should resign. Granted you want to keep your monarchy in place, but should you commit all this treason?! Are you not blameworthy? Who says your monarchy has to be preserved? If you are a man, or a human being, a man who is not a traitor, proclaim and say that you cannot protect your country and serve the interests of this nation, and thus you are resigning! Then you will see how people will shower you with blossoms enough to reach the empyrean! Unlike now that everybody is crying out:" Death to the Pahlavi monarchy!" They are crying this out because they have not seen any good deed committed by you to serve their interests. Who has compelled you to stay on the throne so that you can commit all this treachery? How can a person fabricate excuses for this? Well, that Parliamentary deputy who has been representing such and such constituency in Parliament for ten to fifteen years, serving as a representative, not of the people but of the Shah, or worse, the representative of the (US) embassy- they are all aware of this themselves- such people trod on that pile of debris, «6» and carried out whatever vile deeds they wanted, they committed whatever treason they wanted. Can we believe their pronouncements that they were forced to do so? Who told you to become a representative in the Parliament? Did anybody coerce you to surely become one? Stand behind the rostrum and announce it, tell them the story that you have been sent on behalf of the (US) embassy; that you are not a legitimate representative of the country and for this reason you are relinquishing your post in the Parliament and then you will see how differently the people will deal with you. Can this be a reasonable excuse that a representative says he is not to blame because he was compelled to be one? And can the Shah claim he is free from blame because the (US) embassy compelled him? Who else wants to exonerate himself? What is this nonsense?

They are all blameworthy! They are all traitors! They committed treason willfully in order to seize power. One person wanted to be the monarch for a while, another wanted to become a minister for a while, or, become a representative or a senator, etc ... They all purposefully committed treachery against the country and all those who have been part of this system and have served this system are all traitors. Not a single one of them is qualified enough to take up even the most menial job, even that of a porter! Gentlemen, these MPs and Senators are the regime's advisers, and their treason is very clear.

Assuming that you (members of Parliament) had not given your vote to any offensive issues and you were a person who wanted to voice your opposition to such, but can you deny that you were not the people's representative? Can you deny that you occupied a seat in the Parliament and received a salary for it? Can you put it in writing that you were not a Parliament member and that you went there for no apparent reason and you were not involved, that there was nothing where you went and you did not get paid either?! Tell the people this and in turn, they will say:" No, Mister, you set foot in the Parliament and got paid from the nation's coffers. You got the people's money and you were not even their representative. You acted against the Constitution, betrayed the people and embezzled their money when, in fact, you were not a representative." If a representative is appointed by the (US) embassy or the Shah, then he is not a true representative and his representation is illegitimate. For representation to be lawful for a certain constituency, the people of that area or electorate must elect him. Well, say then that you have been appointed. The Tehran representative should come forward and say that the people of Tehran had elected him, so the people can then deny any knowledge of his election and his person! The Azerbaijan representative should come forth and proclaim that he had been elected by the people of Azerbaijan, so the people can say that they do not know any one of these representatives. Where and how have the people known such representatives? Who knows these men?

Their excuses cannot be accepted merely because they asseverate that they have acted upon orders. They aver:" We were forced to obstruct the development of our education and to put our armed forces under (American) domination." All top ranking officials of the armed forces should have resigned when they witnessed what the American top officials had done. Of course, it was not possible at that time. If only all our civil servants had resigned when they understood that they would have American superiors and that they would be working under their supervision, if all of them had sent in their resignations to the Parliament or the Shah declaring their disagreement with the situation, then American advisers could have not possibly entered the country.

They are here because you have not shown any growth and because you are retarded, they are here to subjugate you and run your affairs. If you were progressive, or you were a human being, who cared for this country and land, or you were a religious human being- and religiosity is the very core of all the issues- then you could not possibly sit passively and wish to be just an official who kowtowed to anything that a man sent in by America said. It would be much better if you had resigned. Who has forced you to be a lieutenant-general or a general? You should have resigned; resign now.

Now that everything is as clear as daylight before your very eyes and you have witnessed the Shah's treacheries, and the Shah himself is ready to make confessions on the radio of all his sins which he calls" mistakes." He has been saying up to now that what he has done has been" mistakes" and he promises that he will not commit the same mistakes anymore. Now, that you see a king who has confessed to his crimes and has announced them over the radio, begging the people's forgiveness for his mistakes- all of you (the Shah's agents) must step aside right now; or abandon your posts in the army or join the people; do not attack people again and kill them. But you do, so you are all traitors! We cannot refer to you as human beings who can be trusted by the people. You are traitors in this country. You are not competent to do anything. Low-ranking officers cannot. They say they are ready to carry out some tasks for us. God willing, they will carry them out.

This side of the coin says that this regime must be toppled. It is corrupt. It is like a malignant tumor which, if not removed, will kill a person and annihilate (humanity). A sick person afflicted with a (malignant) cancerous tumor cannot just sit without having it removed for it will kill him. This monarchy is a tumor in this country which, if not extracted, will contaminate the whole country. We do not have any choice but to eradicate it. This cancerous tumor, which is more dangerous than cancer itself, has to be eliminated. I would like to leave discussion of the other aspects of the issue for another time as I am too tired to go on. May God bless you with success and grace. God willing, you will return to Iran one day when conditions there have changed. (Audience responds with "Amen").