Interviewer: Mrs. Georgia Gayer of the Los Angeles Times daily
Question: [Your Eminence, I thank you for granting this opportunity to me. What is the form of the Islamic government you are planning for the future? Is it a form of Islamic socialism? How does your Islamic government intend to run a modern industrial country?]
Answer: With regard to the form of our government, it will be an Islamic republic. Republic means that it will be based on the people's votes and Islamic means that it will be based on the Islamic canons. Other governments do not rely on the Islamic canons. With regard to the management of the affairs, there are some experts who are isolated now and they were marginalized during the Shah's rule because they were trustworthy people, for the Shah did not want to accommodate them. They are the very experts who will accomplish the task.
Q: [Your Eminence, are you interested in cooperating with the Marxist elements, do you attach any significance to it? Is there any compatibility between the objectives of your movement and those of the Marxists? Are you concerned about the Soviet objectives in Iran?]
A: Our objectives are different from theirs. We rely on Islam and monotheism and they are opposed to both of them. Our commandments are Islamic decrees, but they do not accept them. Hence, we are not interested in them, do not cooperate with them and will not do so. With regard to the Soviet Union, we are not concerned; no one can interfere in the affairs of a nation that stands on its own feet.
Q: [Your Eminence, there are press reports indicating that the Libyan government and the Palestinian Liberation Organization extend their financial assistance to Iran. Would you please explain the degree of the assistance your movement receives from the Palestine Liberation Organization, Libya and other countries and communist parties?]
A: We do not need their financial assistance. Although we need publicity assistance, no one has rendered any. The communist parties and other countries, like the other two, have not rendered any assistance. This is independence in its best sense.
Q: [Your Eminence, what are your expectations? When will this confrontation and war come to an end? What do you expect this war and its result to be? Do you consider this war a holy one?]
A: Yes, our war is a sacred one, for it is for the cause of Islam; it is for the sake of God. And whatever is for the sake of God is the most sacred of all things. And about the result, we will not stop our struggle until the hands of the aliens are cut off and the monarchical regime has gone. The people are not satisfied with anything except that.
Q: [In your opinion, how will your Islamic government deal with the banking issues and interest rate? How will it treat the industries? Are you closer in your thoughts to Saudi Arabia or to Libya? Do you think that your thought is different from all of them?]
A: About the banking interest, we should establish interest-free banks. We do not consider interest lawful. With regard to the industries, we will establish the industries in Iran in the best possible manner. What prevails in Iran in the name of industries is mere assemblage and is basically useless.
Q: [How about Libya?]
A: That is another issue. We agree with the Islamic issues that they implement.
Q: [What will be the nature of the relations of the Ayatullah's government with the United States? Will you continue the sale of oil to the West? What will be the nature of your relations with the Soviet Union?]
A: We will treat all the countries on the basis of the principle of mutual respect provided that they do not interfere in our internal affairs; and we will sell our oil to any willing customer. We will stop the wrong, excessive and harmful oil policies, otherwise we will sell oil.
Q: [What will be the nature of your relations with the Soviet Union?]
A: Just like our relations with the United States. Relations will be alike.
Q: [With regard to social issues, how do you envisage the presence of the women in the universities or their working in the society? Will you impose any restriction that currently does not exist in the society, on them? What is your opinion about the family planning and coeducation in the universities?]
A: Women will be free in the Islamic society and there will be no restriction on their admission to the universities, working in the offices and being elected to the houses of the parliament. What will be restricted is moral decadence in whose regard both men and women are treated equally; it is unlawful for both. The family planning will depend on the government's decision.
Q: [Would you please explain the historical background of your historic movement and its expansion over the past fifteen years since you have been in exile? How did you organize such an effective movement and who were the organizers of the movement and what kind of relations and insurance had been there that are unbelievable for the world?]
A: The details of the genesis of the movement and its preparatory steps are very lengthy. What I can say in brief is that since the beginning of the establishment of his usurping reign, the Shah committed countless crimes and at one stage he was thrown out of the country, but unfortunately there was negligence. The fifteen-year-long struggles began when the Shah took some measures against the interests of the nation. In the beginning the `ulama' of Islam opposed him and this opposition led to my overnight arrest. It is said that some fifteen thousand people were killed on June 5,1964. I was in jail for about one year. After my release I continued my struggles and exposed the Shah's crimes and corruption, until one of the greatest treacheries of the Shah, that is, the issue of the Capitulation Law came to the fore, through which the Shah granted immunity to the American advisors in Iran. Since the law was to the detriment of the exigencies of Islam and the country, I strongly opposed it, but I was arrested overnight and directly exiled to Turkey. I was in exile in Turkey for one year. Then I was handed over to Iraq and stayed there for about fourteen years. During this period I exposed the Shah's crimes either through my statements or my speeches. I never kept silent and mentioned every cataclysm and then I came here. With regard to the organization of the popular Islamic movement of the Iranian nation, it is a movement that encompasses the entire nation, sprouting from them and the people. They believe that this movement should continue until it bears fruit. Of course we, the clerics, guide the people and have exposed all the crimes of the regime. Thanks be to God, the illumination of the clerics has been useful and the people have awakened. An intellectual change has been created in the Iranian society so that the entire nation is unanimously traversing one path and pursuing one goal, that is, the elimination of this dynasty, the abolishment of the monarchical system, and the establishment of the Islamic government- a goal which prevails throughout Iran. The people in the capital pursue this goal, in the north, south, east and west[ of the country ]too they follow the same goal. They have all raised the slogan of" independence, freedom, Islamic government" and want it. Why shouldn't they? The Shah has plundered all their extrinsic and subsoil resources. He has also destroyed their political, military, economic and cultural independence. They want, and we all want, to punish the Shah for his misdeeds and the voice of people for the punishment of the Shah has reverberated in Iran. The Shah has no way other than leaving, of course, if he is not arrested by the people. The United States and other countries that support him are offenders and commit a blunder; and this support is to their detriment and they must revise this policy.
Q: [Has there been any contact between the American officials and you?]
A: No.
Q: [Where will you go after your stay permit expires in France?]
A: I have not decided yet.