Interviewer: A reporter of the French Television
Question: [I would like to thank you for accepting us and the French Television to interview you. Our correspondent has reported from Tehran that millions of people hold demonstrations in the streets of Tehran. Are you aware of this issue? What is your opinion about these great demonstrations in Tehran?]
Answer: The demonstrations are not held in Tehran alone; they are held in other cities as well. I believe that it is a referendum being held by the nation for several times on the rejection of the Shah- the former Shah- his government and the Royal Council. The Iranian nation wants an Islamic government and it is a public referendum in favor of the Islamic Republic and nothing else; the nation does not accept anything else.
Q: [You talked of the Royal Council; Mr. Tehrani came here and announced that he wants to meet you and talk to you. Do you want to meet him and have a connection with the Royal council?]
A: I cannot have any connection with the Royal Council. He requested to meet me. I asked[ my colleagues ]to remind him that unless he does not resign from the illegal Royal Council, and does not announce that his resignation was due to the illegality of the council, I would not meet him. «1»
Q: [As you mentioned, a public referendum is underway in Iran and the huge population there want you to go back. You have said so far that you would go back when the time was appropriate. If so, what will you decide?]
A: I repeat again that whenever I deem it exigent and my going is the most appropriate, I will go.
Q: [We have some information that there are hunger strikes in some of the barracks and military units. Do you think that it is the sign of the beginning of the Army's turn to you?]
A: We hope that the Army returns to all the strata. Of course, some of the army personnel have returned back to the nation. But it is in the interest of the Army that all its personnel return to the bosom of the nation and not have any contact with the Shah who has gone and will never return. They should not imagine that they must be loyal to the Shah. The Shah who has betrayed the nation, made our army dependent, committed such crimes against their brothers, paralyzed our economy, and destroyed our agriculture does not deserve to be heeded. The army should be the army of the nation. We think that the Army is ours and if there are some traitors among them, their account is separate from others. We hope that all of them return to the bosom of the nation and we will welcome them.
Q: [For a long time you have been demanding the exit of the Shah. Now that he has gone, do you want your friends in Iran to assume power? How? Legally or through the pressure of the public opinion; that is, through the demonstrations they hold?]
A: The pressure of the public opinion is the same as the law. They imagine that the monarchy in Iran came through the people's vote in the beginning, whereas it was not so in the beginning either. Our law is that the monarchy must be established through the general elections, but now the public votes have dethroned him, rather frequently have dethroned him. Thus we should assume the power through the pressure of the public opinion- which is really the law- and establish the government.
Q: [Naturally, then, many questions will come to the fore, including one saying that the Ayatullahs have as much wealth as the Shah has and probably receive assistance from various countries. Where does this support from various countries come from? And there are others who say that your coming to power is tantamount to a return to the past?]
A: As for the wealth of the clergy in Iran, it is a sheer lie whose falsehood is clear. I also deny receiving any assistance from other places; no assistance is rendered to the Iranian clerics from anywhere; no financial assistance is given to them either. But the people are interested in the clergy, they are religiously interested in the clerics and whatever assistance they want, the Iranians would render to them and they do not need foreign assistance.
Q: [How about the second part of my question, that is, returning to the past?]
A: What has been said about returning the country to the past is what the Shah has spread, for he is clutching at every straw to rescue himself from this entanglement. We agree with all manifestations of civilization and would like our country to be equipped with all the achievements of civilization, but not the way the Shah did it. The Shah turned all the civilizational manifestations into corrupt and corrupting centers: the cinemas were the centers for corruption; he spoiled the morality of our youth; increased the centers for licentiousness; and increased the centers that increase the addiction of our youth to things such as heroin; and we are opposed to all of these issues. We are not at all opposed to the effects of civilization and progress. We are against the Shah's intrusions that have taken us backward and now Iran must work hard for several years to make for the destruction and corruption the Shah has created in Iran.
Q: [Let me thank you on behalf of the French Television for accepting us here. Do you think that you will regret the day you will leave here; leave this place?]
A: Place is not important for me. Wherever I can serve humanity and my nation, that place will be good for me. So long as I can serve here, I am interested to stay here; the moment I cannot serve here, I will not be interested in this place; I will be interested in the place where I can serve.