Interviewer: A reporter of the French newspaper, Le Journal
Question: [About the army, do you wish the army to join the people? Are you sure that if you issue a decree for jihad, the army will not suppress your supporters?]
Answer: There are some commanders in the army who support the Shah and are themselves an accomplice of the Shah in his crimes, embezzlement and plunder. It is evident that they have distanced themselves from the people and will never join them. But the soldiers and officers, who are in touch with the people and are themselves suffering because of the Shah's regime, will sooner or later join the people. According to some reports, an evidence of the joining of the army to the people is the suicide of some of the soldiers and officers and sometimes they commit suicide after killing their commanders. Also there are some reports about the mass execution of the soldiers and officers by the regime. But what is certain is that the Shah cannot continue his rule through relying on the army or suppression of the people.
Q: [About oil, what will be the oil policy of the Islamic Republic? Will the ceiling of production remain at the present level? Will the agreements signed by the former regime remain valid? What is your stance on the oil prices?]
A: What can be said right now is that we will not seal the oil wells, but will not auction them either. Nor can anybody impose his will on us; the utilization of oil should be only through its sale. Why shouldn't we be able to replace the oil revenues with the oil itself in our economic system? And about the ceiling of production, its price and the agreements signed by the former regime, the future government, the real representative of the people, must decide about these issues.
Q: [About the regime, the republican system that you are going to establish will be an Islamic one. Will you accept to head the government?]
A: First of all the people should elect competent and reliable people and delegate the responsibilities to them. But I cannot personally accept any particular responsibility in this organization, but at the same time I, along
with the people, will always supervise the situation and will carry out my guidance responsibility.