I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Fall of monarchy desired by the nation and leader
There are a few demands that all the people of Iran are making- and as one of those people I myself am also making them- and about each one of which doubts sometimes arise. One of these demands which all the people are voicing is:" We do not want this Pahlavi dynasty." All the people are saying this. Today, if you go to the mountainous regions of Iran or the provincial cities, the people there are all saying the same thing:" We do not want this." Sometimes the demand is that they do not want the Shah, and sometimes they say:" We don't want this dynasty." This is the Iranian nation's demand. Of course it is not the demand of those who are the servants of America or of the Shah, those who earn their daily bread from him, but they should not be counted as being a part of the nation. Those who fill the bazaars and the fields of Iran, those who run the factories of Iran comprise the nation of Iran, and their call is this:" We don't want this dynasty."
This is one of the principles about which I have always spoken and about which there is no doubt to make someone ask:" What is the wish of the people?" Or" What is the wish of so-and-so?" There is no doubt; it goes without saying that we do not want this Pahlavi dynasty. First it was Rida Shah, now it's the turn of Muhammad Rida Shah, and if, God forbid, this dynasty should remain in power, then later it will be the turn of Rida Pahlavi. We do not want them. No explanation is needed on this matter for there is no question about it. If someone were to say something to the contrary, then this would be against the demands of the Iranian nation; it would be against my demands as a member of the Iranian nation.
The ambiguous slogans of liberalists
If someone says that we want constitutional law, or we want free elections or a government of the people to rule over the people; then whoever may say such things is saying something which is quite different from the demands that we are making. He either does not know what he is talking about or he means that this dynasty should remain and constitutional law should be implemented. The meaning of constitutional law is that this dynasty should remain, and the meaning of free elections is that the order for the elections lies with Shah, that he must issue a decree for the elections to take place. This is contrary to that which we are saying. We are saying that we don't want any of this. There is no question about this. Those who say that they want the constitutional law are also inevitably saying that they want this present set-up to continue. Therefore, between these two opinions there can be no compromise. No one can say that we are both making the same demand. No, these are two different demands. «1»
We should learn from the people what it is that the Iranian nation is demanding, just what it is saying. As everyone has witnessed in these demonstrations that the nation has embarked upon in the various cities and which continues to hold in every city, that which the people are shouting is:" We don't want this dynasty," and sometimes they say that they don't want the Shah. So there is no question about what the people want.
Answering the vain talks
It is true that the Shah has created some doubts about this demand and some people are repeating what he says. From time to time some people in Iran who have connections with this regime, people who want this regime to be retained and some of whom would like to secure a position for themselves in the regime, a ministerial post or the premiership, write letters repeating what the Shah is continually saying, and some respected individuals have also voiced concern in this regard. They repeat what the Shah is saying that his going would threaten the independence of the country! That he is the one who is preserving the country's independence! Sometimes the Shah would put it this way and sometimes he would say that if he were to go the country would be divided, that Russia would take one piece and Britain another and Iran would be reduced to the province of Iran. It would become something like Uzbekistan, a part of another country! Thus he argues that he should remain to preserve the independence of Iran and prevent it from being cut up into pieces! Sometimes he says four parts! He himself says Iran will be divided into four parts. So most probably one part would go to Russia, one to America, another to Britain and the part which is left would most likely be for Iran. Tehran would belong to Iran, but the other cities from one end of the country to the other would each become the possession of another nation.
This is how they have cast doubt on the first demand that we are making, that this dynasty must go. They say okay this is so, then they ask:" But what of the country's independence if this dynasty does go?" And they make a lot of other points about which I have repeatedly spoken. However, concerning this matter that if the Shah does not remain in Iran then the country's independence will be lost, the people are saying something very similar, only they say that there is no independence because he is in Iran!
We should evaluate just what a country's independence is, then decide whether with him around, the country enjoys independence and were he to go it would lose that independence, or whether independence has actually already been lost because of his presence and were he to leave, the country would find it again. Which one of the Iranian government's main institutions now enjoys independence?
A look at Iran's military
Well, the most important one, about which he boasts so much- at times saying that its strength puts it at such and such a level when compared to all other countries and superpowers- is the army. The army is one of the country's institutions which should be independent; it should not work for foreigners and the hands of foreigners should not be involved in its running. Independence of the army means that it is under the control of its own country and that foreigners and those outside the country do not interfere in its affairs; the army should be in no way linked to them; links to another country or being subjected to the influence of another power run counter to the idea of independence. Is then our army independent? Is it not subjected to the influence of another power? Or is our army presently being controlled by these forty-five thousand American advisers- as some put the figure- who are in Iran? Do we at present have an army that is under the command of the Iranian government? Let us suppose that the government is itself one with an independent will and let us appraise its army from this point of view. Is the Iranian army one that belongs solely to Iran that works solely for Iran and for this nation and one that is in the service of this nation?! The army belongs to the nation; an army is for the protection of the country and is to serve the nation just as any government in any country is there to serve the nation. So we will appraise the Iranian army to see whether it is an independent army and a national army, one that is for the nation and is to the advantage of the nation, or whether it is an army dependent on others, in the service of others and one which acts against the interests of the country and the nation.
Plundering of resources
As everyone knows our oil is leaving the country, is in fact going to waste, at a rate now exceeding that which is necessary to meet the needs of the country. It is going into the pockets of America and others, and that which the Americans give us in return for this oil is weaponry! In their own words eighteen billion dollars worth of it! The people in Iran cannot use these weapons; they don't even know what they are, let alone how to operate them. So, American advisers have to be there to show the Iranians how to work them. This weaponry has been brought into Iran not for the benefit of Iran, but to create bases there for America. That which America does for us in return for these bases is to take our oil! It takes our oil and in return creates these bases for itself! If in the first place America had said that it wanted to build bases for itself in Iran against the Russians, the Soviet Union would have stood up to it and told it not to make that mistake! So it is on the pretext that because the Americans take oil and the Shah wants to make his country a powerful one that he has, hitherto, received eighteen billion dollars worth of weaponry in exchange for the oil. This is the figure given by Carter. Is there a reason for him, buying this eighteen billion dollars worth of weaponry that Iran cannot operate, other than because the Americans wanted to build bases? Today, even in the mountains of Iran their underground bases can be found.
Army heads in service of the US
The oil workers have stopped work saying that they don't want to give their oil away, now who is pressuring them to return to work and why? Why is the bayonet being used to try to force them back to work? The army is doing this. Why? Should these workers return to work so that this oil, this black gold, will flow again for other countries, for America? This is why the army is not our army! The army is not independent. For if it were, it would not want to make sure America got its oil. The army is an army dependent on America and under the command of American advisers. They use this army to oppose what the nation wants. The nation says the oil is ours, the army says the oil is America's!
At present it is the practice of the army to use bayonets to force the oil company workers in Abadan and the vicinity to return to work so that oil can be exported. «2» This action is something that the army is doing against the nation of Iran. It is an act of treason that it is committing against the nation of Iran; or rather the heads of the army are using it to commit an act of treason against the country. These heads are under the supervision of someone else, and it is America itself which is carrying out this action. So the Shah should be saying, should be maintaining that if he goes we will be independent! If he goes the army will no longer be under the control of America and will no longer force the people, or rather the (oil) workers, to give the oil to America. At present the workers are forced to keep the oil flowing to America and every day to take large amounts of oil from the pocket of the Iranian nation without the people deriving any profit from it.
This is the way in which the wealth of Iran is being destroyed. Part of this wealth goes into the Shah's pockets and into the pockets of these sixty thousand people who are described as his rapacious followers and an even greater portion goes into the pockets of America and Britain while the gas of this country goes to Russia. Now the people want to stop giving the oil away, but the army tells them they have to. If the army were independent, it would not tell them to give it away. It is because it is dependent that it tells them to do this.
So this is the shape of our army which is one of the things about which he is always speaking, saying we are independent and boasting that we have an army. This is the state of our army. Is this army of ours in the service of the people? Is it in the service of the nation? Or is it against the nation? Who constitutes the nation? The nation is made up of these merchants of the bazaar, these cultivators and farmers, these industrial and office workers. It is made up of all these people who have stood up and are saying that they don't want him.
Iran in a general strike
Government offices, one after the other, are going on strike. The employees are shouting out that they don't want to go to a job from which others benefit, and consequently they are leaving their jobs. Our universities are closed; our schools are closed; these days everything has shut down. There has been a shutdown in all sectors of Iran. What is the aim of this strike and for what reason does the army want to break these strikes? Why have the people closed up shop and gone on strike? To find the answer one should listen to what they are saying and what their demands are. One of their demands is that they do not want this dynasty. This is one of their demands, one which is even among those voiced by the oil workers who say that they do not want the Shah, that it is the Shah who is betraying them in such a big way and that the amount of oil they are exporting to other countries is pricking their consciences.
Army's attempt to break the strike
The nation has risen up to attain independence and freedom, the army has risen up to stop them from attaining independence and freedom! If the army were an army in the service of the people, if it were an independent army, one which served Iran and was under the command of the nation, a nation in whose hands everything should be placed, then this army would enjoy independence. It would not stand against the nation, trying to break the strikes upon which the nation has embarked. The heads of the army and the military prime minister give the commands and subsequently the army is set loose into the streets beating and killing the people in order to break the strikes! The people are striking because they want independence; they want freedom and an Islamic government. That which breaks these strikes is opposing the wish of the nation. The people say we want freedom and it says no, there should be no freedom! It is opposed to their wishes. If it were of the same opinion as the nation is then it would not break these strikes. It does so because it opposes this wish of the nation. The nation wants independence, but these people oppose this.
Army commander: Shah or Carter?
Thus, the country's army is opposed to independence! According to army regulations, the Shah is its commander-in-chief, but in point of fact the commander is Carter! This is the reality. Do we enjoy independence with all these advisers in the country? Can independence be created with one word? As I have said before words in our day and age have lost their true meaning. Many impressive-sounding words are spoken and much whitewashing has been done. But these words have no substance. The word independence has no substance." We are independent!" "If I go the independence of the country will be lost! The country will be divided!" That wretch too says that the people are shouting because the Shah has given them an aggressive freedom, because he has given them freedom too quickly!! Words have lost their meaning. Words are used the true meaning of which is unclear! They mean something else! Are we independent? Wherever you look in the country you see we have no independence, we are dependent. This army above everything else caters to the desires of the Shah. Such an army it is that he constantly brags about; an army which does not serve the nation but is in the service of America. It kills the people of its own nation in order to satisfy the interests of the Americans.
Dependent educational system
So now let's take a look at the education. Do we have an independent educational system that others do not interfere in? Do we have universities that are independent, that think for themselves and are run by the university chancellors? We can only dream about such a system. Have we ever had a correct educational system from the constitutional period to the present time? It was always a dependent system, a system that others devised for us! This is why if the tonsils of a viperous prince were to become inflamed and he were to come down with tonsillitis, they would bring doctors from America or Europe to treat him or alternatively take him there for treatment! At one time we did have a proper, independent university, if we had one now, then we would have proper, independent doctors. When we want to tarmac a road, we have to hold out our hands and ask people from other countries to come and do it for us! How shameful! The story of tarmacking roads in Iran is quite an amazing one: with the excuse of tarmacking a road, the nation's wealth is destroyed. The same is true for the very many other jobs which are carried out there. If we need a building put up, if we want to build a hospital, then most certainly someone has to come from abroad to draw up the plans and tell us how to build it! If we had a (proper) educational system... we have had modern schools for over seventy years now, from the time that Dar al-Funoun was established, and it has been for many years now that we have had universities; if these universities had been to the benefit of this nation, if they had allowed our youth to receive a proper education, if the system had not been an imperialist one, then everything would have been put right by now and our youth would have been people who would have stood up to the government. If we had had one independent university then the country would not have found itself in the state that it is in today where everything is in ruins.
Undermining the educational progress of the youth
The youth constitute an important force in our country and they (the Shah and his regime) have destroyed this force. They have squandered the energies of the youth. Two groups of young people who came abroad to work in the field of nuclear physics came to see me- the number in one of the groups was quite large- and they said that they were all agreed that what they were doing was quite useless! They said their work was futile because Iran has oil and if we suppose that we have oil for another twenty years, then after that time this kind of nuclear physics in which they are involved will be of no use. The work they are doing is therefore useless, and, more importantly, they told me that they are not allowed to learn anything, that they are kept at a low level beyond which they cannot progress, adding that the training they had received in Iran was more than the small amount they were being given abroad! They said they had been brought over here to be kept at a low level so that they could not progress. Our youth are not allowed to acquire an education.
The story is the same in the Iranian universities; that is the system is such that they are kept at a certain level. The system is an imperialist one. We have an educational system which is in a state of dependence. We do not have an independent system. Through this educational system which is dependent on the imperialist government, they want to keep the youth in a state of backwardness like this. It is at the hands of that man who talks about taking us to" the gates of a great civilization" «3» that our youth are presently being kept at a low level and are not allowed to progress!
So much for our education which is an imperialist education, one kept in a state of backwardness and not allowed to progress. It produces neither competent doctors nor skilled engineers. Nothing comes out of it right. They have paralyzed the country by depriving it of its force of young people. We do not have a force of young people at present.
Corrupting the human resources
Look at this culture of ours, that part of our culture which is prevalent nowadays, they count this corruption which exists in Iran nowadays as being part of the culture! The cinemas are considered to be part of the culture! They say they stem from the culture! And which cinemas do they mean? Those cinemas which have destroyed our youth, our force of young people, those which have paralyzed them so that whatever happens means nothing to them! They (the Shah and his regime) are creating an atmosphere whereby it is enough for the youth to busy themselves in the pursuit of bacchanal desires! They are destroying, and in some cases have already destroyed, the very roots of this country. Each country is a country because of its human resources; if its human resources are of no use then it is no longer a country. These people are destroying our human resources; everywhere our human resources have nearly dried up. So, if he goes our cultural independence will be lost, will it?! What independence do we enjoy for it to be lost? He says if he goes independence will go with him! He asks what will become of our country without its independence! We want independence.
Overall dependency
The problems of our country stem from the fact that it has no independence! Its culture is not independent, its army is not independent and neither its economy is. Its economy is in a state of dependency. These people do not do anything right. They have created a dependent economy which is, to use their terminology, a montage. They have to bring in goods from abroad, to buy goods from abroad, and we assemble them. We are consumers, bring in the goods and let us consume! We are a consumer country. Such an agrarian economy this Iran of ours enjoyed at one time. It enjoyed such farming and cultivation that it did not need to turn to foreign countries. Indeed, Iran exported goods, it was an exporter. «4» It took only one of its provinces: Azerbaijan, Khorasan or Fars, to meet the needs of the whole country, but now it has been reduced to a state where even the regime itself in its appraisal says that we can produce only enough food to meet the country's requirements for a thirty- or thirty-three-day period, in order to meet our needs for the rest of the year we have to hold out our hands to others.
Iran, an arena for the looters
They (the Shah and his regime) have given away to others whatever could have benefited our country. The" nationalization" of our pasture lands indeed! I was informed of these things by someone who wrote to me giving me documented evidence to prove what he was saying; however the documents are not with me now; they were sent to me while I was in Najaf and unfortunately have been left behind there. The gentleman in question wrote telling me that when British specialists came to Iran and saw some of the finest pasturelands in a certain area- he did write exactly where they were- they remarked that they were the best pastures for the farming of any kind of livestock. And so the Shah and his regime gave them away to the British Queen and some other people! «5» Our forests have also been" nationalized," and they too have been given away to others! In this way they have fallen upon this banquet (which is Iran) and are plundering it! A part of the profit made from this goes into his pocket and toward preserving his rule. From every corner of the world we hear countries saying that they support him, but it is not because he is the apple of their eyes, no, they want the oil! And there is no one better than him to give our oil away to them. In the name of" land reforms" «6» they want to turn the country into a market for America! America has a surfeit of wheat which it has to throw away, to throw into the sea, so what better than to give it to Iran in return for oil or money.
They have completely destroyed the country's animal husbandry. They have completely destroyed its agriculture and they have given its pasturelands away to others. They have destroyed everything it had, leaving you (Iranians) in need of everything. If at one time these countries stop exporting to Iran, then after thirty-three days everyone in the country must go hungry. This is the state of the country that he says if he is not around, will break up! The country will no longer be a country! We need a country so let him remain so that this country will remain!
A few days ago in a speech he said:" Come, let us all think about the country!" [The audience laughs]. This is exactly what we are saying. The whole nation is of the same mind and that is why the people have raised their voices. They didn't think about their country before, but now they have begun to do so. They are thinking about their country now for they are shouting out and asking:" Hey, what the dickens do you think you are playing at devouring so much? You're ready to burst!" God only knows how much these people have plundered! You don't know and we don't know, but later on it will be discovered just what they did to the well-being of this nation and this country.
The lost independence
What do we have? What independence do we have to lose if you go? Do we have cultural independence to lose? Do we have economic independence to lose? Or military independence, do we have that to lose if you go? Just what kind of independence do we now enjoy that we will lose if you go? You go and let us put it to the test! [The audience laughs].
So this is their logic concerning the first aforementioned demand of the nation which is that he should go; the people want him to go, but they create doubts asking what would happen to the country if he did go! He himself is constantly talking about this. Now a certain group of people are repeating his words in an attempt to keep him in power. Why are they doing this? Well some of the reasons are obvious: they want to become ministers or whatever and they realize that were the nation to prevail, they would have to forget the idea, and for this reason they are now panicking and are making efforts to keep him in power. God willing, this nation will not be taken in by these people [The audience says God willing].
Fists mightier than bayonets
Know this, the bayonet cannot rule. There are times when this bayonet is not needed: when the people are not awake, when they are asleep in their homes, each one going about his own business. Yes, at such times they can frighten the people without resorting to the bayonet, they only need to threaten and frighten them by using someone with a few stars on his shoulder. But there are times when a change occurs in the people, and this is the case now. What is happening in Iran at present is an example of that change and wherever you look throughout the course of history you will not find an example like Iran. This change which has taken place in the people has no precedent in Iranian history, and I'm not sure that you would be able to find an example in the histories of other countries either of a period when within only a short space of time the people of a country changed to such an extent that they became something completely opposite to what they had been. There was a time when on the fourth of Aban it was absolutely unheard of for the people to disobey a command to put up flags. They did not do it because they truly wanted to, but because the police had told them to! And no one could argue with the police! This was the situation, but in a short space of time this nation changed, becoming another kind of nation, the kind whose small children and old men alike shout out in the streets:" Death to this Shah" and" Death to this Pahlavi monarchy." This is the transformation that has taken place, a country has changed from top to bottom, once it was one kind and now it has become another.
This movement cannot be stopped by bayonets; the bayonet does not possess such power. We have seen this for ourselves. They imposed martial law whereby gatherings of more than two people were prohibited; and the people listened to every word! Fifty thousand [Laughter from the audience], one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand came together in every corner of the country, in those places where martial law was in effect! When they (the Shah and his regime) saw that martial law was not having the desired effect, they went a step further- if indeed it was possible to go any further- and brought in a military prime minister and the government became a military government. But it was still the same thing. The people have seen the military; they have weighed it up and have defeated it. The power of the people, that is the power of the fist, has prevailed over the tank.
The power of religion, the power of faith, has prevailed over the tank and over guns. This power is a divine power. It is a divine power which has vanquished these tanks, guns and machine-guns with these fists. Thus, martial law was defeated and a military government arrived. Their military government is the same as their martial law, it is nothing new; the only difference is that at the time of martial law the prime minister was a politician and now the prime minister is a military man. They are both two old men who are good for nothing! [Laughter from the audience]
Military coup d'etat, a conspiracy already defeated
Let us suppose that this military government will pass too, the next step, if their way of thinking is once again confined to such methods, will be a military coup d'etat, whereby the Shah will go and the military will take over the reins of power. But it will still be the same military, it will be nothing new, it will be the same military that yesterday enforced martial law and was defeated by the people, and which today forms the military government and has been defeated by the people, for indeed it has been defeated. Tomorrow it will be the same thing, it will be nothing new, the people have seen it all before. They won't be experiencing something strange that will frighten them. It will be the same military, only they will have called it a military coup d'etat! This too will be defeated. A country whose people have risen up and have clenched their fists and say:" Shoot us, but we want independence, we will not go away," whose men and women are saying the same thing, cannot be driven back by bayonets. That woman whose four children were killed and who shouts as she does in Behesht-e Zahra inviting the people to clap not to cry for her dead children- and as one person said the people both clapped hands and cried over the disaster which had befallen her- is not going to be frightened by this, it is nothing new. Such a country cannot be driven back by bayonets.
People's duty to keep up the movement
Keep this uprising, gentlemen. It is the duty of us all to do so. It is my duty as an akhound, it is the duty of you sir, it is the duty of you merchants of the bazaar, you workers and you scientists. We all have a duty to fan the flames of this uprising which has appeared in Iran. Through this movement you can attain your independence and secure freedom for yourselves. You and I will be held accountable by God the Blessed and Exalted, we will be held accountable by the future generations if we cannot, if we are not competent enough, to utilize this movement which has appeared. You have to be competent enough to utilize this movement. Do not let this movement subside. Those who are in charge of affairs, the heads of political parties, the `ulama', the religious students, the merchants of the bazaar, the people from the universities, the people from the Justice Ministry, the lawyers from the Justice Ministry, the various groups of people in the country should not let these strikes subside, they should not allow this movement which is alive in Iran now to die down. If, God forbid, this movement should subside, then we will be under the yoke of oppression for all times, and the next time this man draws his sword he will sever your line.
Negation of a step-by-step policy
I told some of the gentlemen who had come to see me and spoke about a" step-by-step policy" saying we should take one step now, wait a while and then take the second:" Gentlemen, if you relax in this step, then in the second they will defeat all your plans. They are not going to wait after you have taken the first step allowing him to reign but not rule!" After all these crimes that he has committed they say that this man should now reign but not rule! They are after quelling this uprising in whatever way they can. If this movement is stopped, if this fire which is aflame in the hearts of the people- may God make it brighter ["Amen" of the audience]- is quenched, then it will not be possible to start it again or for another one like this to occur, everything will be lost. If this man's position is made secure before you achieve your aim, if such a disaster should occur, then you will suffer for time to come, and your sufferings will not be the same as they are today, he is only catching his breath now, then he will discontinue your line. Be vigilant! The Iranians should be vigilant, the Iranians should be aware of the sensitive stage they are at, of the sensitive situation that Iran is in at present. The situation today is not the same as it was before for us to say:" Well, if not today then tomorrow." No, this is no longer possible. You are in a life or death situation!
I ask God, the Blessed and Exalted, to help this movement and He will help [The audience says" God willing"]. God will support you provided that your uprising is for God and is to establish His religion ["God willing" from the audience].