[In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful]
Imam: It was intended that one day, in a way that will be obvious, when strikes are ended, affairs will be at your discretion the very day after. There should be strikes no longer. One day, universities will be re-opened and students will go back. Now, if problems arise, do not allow them to come until your adversities are smoothed away. What I mean to say is that strikes should be ended and you yourselves as well as the radio should announce it. There will certainly be problems afterwards; these will have to be resolved.
[University people's representative: I would like to say that there are three or four other problems which have been noted down and which I will place at your disposal. I, only, would like to explain that one of them concerns the provisional government. Obeisance to the government is obligatory and we definitely will obey; however, some issues are indefensible: Is it mandatory on us to defend those? That is, we will absolutely carry out any orders given, but sometimes they cannot be defended.]
Imam: Say exactly what you mean.
[The Representative: I would like to inform you that friends have said that this government is more a national coalition than an Islamic revolutionary government.]
Imam: I would like to say that this government is provisional to hold a referendum and set up, for instance, a constitutional assembly, which will determine the kind of regime, and then afterwards everything will be in the people's hands. People will decide everything themselves; they will determine their representatives, who will in turn determine the government. It is not a matter that anybody may impose things; imposition is not the order of the day. What has been formed now is solely (because it is necessary) to have a ruling body for the transfer of power; otherwise it was not possible. Regarding this, we have made use of popular votes and the religious law guardianship, which we have been empowered with, in order to set the provisional government up. That it has been set up does not mean it will govern forever. It has been written everywhere that it is a" provisional government." By" provisional", we mean that its power is limited to the setting up of a constitutional assembly and a consultative assembly; and even that is up to the people themselves. When the constitutional assembly has been formed, these are the people's representatives who will determine the regime. Subsequently, there will be a consultative assembly formed, also made up of the people's representatives who have been freely chosen and without any intervention. The people themselves will determine their representatives and hold the reins of affairs by virtue of the fact that these representatives are from among the people. It is not the case that this (government) will rule forever. From the view that it is a revolution and it is a revolutionary issue, it cannot be resolved soon. This will have to be dealt with gradually. You see that this country is in a state of confusion: that is, a clique of agitators left only to be replaced by yet another gang of disruptive elements! We should remedy these ills in order to calm the situation. When a calm atmosphere is established and the affairs fall in the people's hands and they themselves start running the country, then nobody can raise any objection to anyone. If you yourselves are to choose a representative, another shall choose another, then another one shall do the same; these shall constitute the nation's representatives who will then form a government. When this happens, nobody can raise any objection because it is the nation itself that has formed the government and no one has imposed it upon them. Now, we are left with no alternative except from solving this basic problem ...
[The representative: You have said that we should confirm this government. Certainly those orders regarding the future and which should be carried out shall be carried out, which is quite obvious; however, we want to be clear on whether this government should be reckoned as an Islamic government?]
Imam: (This government) is Islamic because things are to be carried out based on Islamic rules. However, we have to decide on our constitution which has been ratified and which is now under study «1» ... I have appointed a prime minister using the power of a religious law guardianship. When somebody has been appointed according to a religious law guardianship, then such a government is a religious law government. It is not the case that we will be executing affairs in this way for always. This is temporary and is to be done out of expediency until the basic principles are established. The issue is the Revolution. The question is we cannot treat the matter so strictly and delve into a scrutiny (of the government) until we find the right people. Now that we are doing things on a probationary basis, we should not raise objections. I will state the matter again. What we must all do now is to join hands and support this government so that the basic issue, which is setting up a parliament, can be resolved. Now our regime is not legal; we do not have a regime. The monarchial regime was toppled and the Islamic republic regime is in place because of my opinion. However, in the opinion of the world it should be set up based on people's opinion. We wish to refer to the people's vote based on which we will form the consultative assembly and a government that the people desire. Now, whether they want a monarchial regime or an Islamic republic, it is up to them to decide.
[The representative: What we meant is supposing that during the few months that the provisional government is running the affairs, it takes wrong measures ...]
Imam: Mistakes should always be pointed out. Mistakes cannot be (overlooked). I am not saying that you should follow anybody who is committing a mistake! You should point out mistakes. Everybody is free in speech. Write, express and write in the newspapers.
[One of those present: Is there any right to criticize?]
Imam: Yes, there is.
[The representative: The second issue concerns the army. We all know that this army had been formed in a way to preserve the monarchial order, not to defend the people]
Imam: This problem has already been resolved even before you have brought it up! This very day, I summoned Mr. Qarani «2», who came here. Mr. Yazdi «3», who represents the government, also came here. The former is the chief of staff. This week top ranking officers, from brigadier-general up will be thrown out. The low ranking ones will be assigned, in lieu of those, to perform (military affairs). If you are saying that we do not want an army, which is not what you are saying, I must say that we do want an army; we want a gendarmerie, a police force and all the forces. We must strip the ranks off the military's top brass who have come up the ladder through corruption and who are mostly, although not all, corrupt, and force them into retirement. Then, we should deal with the low ranking officers, put things in order and assess how they are. Thanks God, this has been resolved.
[The representative: Pardon me, Haj Aqa; but officers from the rank of colonel and above were never promoted to a higher rank unless the Shah had known them one by one, their murky dealings and treacheries.]
Imam: As I have said, judicial issues are religious law issues. They cannot be resolved by treating these people with belligerence, anger and cynicism. These issues should be dealt with, God willing, by a judicial court which will be set up according to a certain criterion right this very night or, perhaps, tomorrow in order to indict them. Assuming that I am at odds with someone, a judge's decision should not be influenced by the fact that I do not like the person involved. Based on this criterion, a person proved guilty of murder will be meted out with the death penalty. Stolen items will be confiscated from anyone who has been proved guilty of robbery, and who then will duly be punished or flogged. Anybody who has been proved guilty of committing any offense will be rehabilitated. God willing, the setting up of this court is also underway.
[The representative: Haj Aqa, an issue of great importance about the military is that, based on the current and extant system in the army, that is, the connections and norms among its personnel, is divest of any Islamic aspect and so cannot remain in place.]
Imam: It is not the case that there are not any Muslim military men. Those low ranking personnel are not as corrupt as the top ranking ones. Whatever corruption prevailed in the military has been concentrated among the top brass. The low-ranking ones are not that corrupt. We cannot say that the army should be done away with. We must preserve the army in another way. We should dismiss the high-ranking ones, from the brigadier-generals and higher, and then organize the low ranking echelon. We then assess these people, and whoever is found dishonest will be dismissed and replaced by honest ones.
This problem is not something that can be resolved right away. It is not like that now the Shah is gone and the next day everything is resolved! They destroyed everything and then left. Now, you should rebuild and improve it.
[The representative: What is your opinion on setting up a national military force instead of making efforts to reorganize this army and allocating a budget again for the purpose?]
Imam: This will be done gradually. As I have said this will happen gradually, gentlemen. We cannot say now that an army, which has been organized systematically and disciplined, step aside just like that. Do we want a disorganized, undisciplined army?! This cannot be so; this will have to be done gradually.(A popular force) must be properly trained and then transformed into an army. However, this cannot be done just like that.
[The representative: Haj Aqa, a state founded upon fear ...]
Imam: Sir, I would like to ask you to set aside the characteristic of aggressiveness young people possess ... Once I was a youngster myself! Young people have certain expectations, which are caused by that energy in them, and as a result, they want all the problems be resolved overnight. This is not the case. The issues are problematic; there are problems now. There is turmoil every place in the country you turn your head to. Putting an end to this turmoil should be of top priority in all agendas. This turmoil should be resolved by the concerted efforts of the military and national forces. At the present time, we do not have a trained national force; the national force we have now is a guerilla force. This national guerilla force is doing its duty quite well. The saboteurs who are causing all this chaos should be crushed through our joint efforts together with the gendarmerie and the police forces.
Let us eliminate those saboteurs and establish some peace and quiet and then we shall deal with the next issue.
[The representative: Haj Aqa, I am sorry to say but what the issue concerns are some elements in the armed forces ...]
Imam: An organization exists (for this matter). An organization is going to be set up. When the military organization was in place, it used to say Shahanshah! Shahanshah (consecutively)! That is all over now. The term Shahanshah is now obsolete! And when this is so, it is no longer an issue if certain people say Shahanshah night and day. This matter is now history and will be effaced off soldiers' memories. But this issue needs a little time. We should consider the matter from all angles. A revolutionary issue cannot be resolved immediately right after we say so, destroy something in its path and advance forward. When (the Revolution) was won, the Iranian Revolution became the best revolution which has ever taken place in the whole world, thanks to Allah. By this I mean, it had very few casualties. And what we have defeated and destroyed was the over 2,500- year-old monarchial regime. You have severed its hands and curtailed foreign interests off your country. These were what you have won. You also had some casualties and of course, we have lost a thousand lives. In other revolutions, a certain number of people would get killed and devastation would be incurred. We should not expect that right after a revolution peace would reign. We should name this revolution a white revolution and not a monarchial revolution. This revolution is truly a white one. This national revolution of Iran could topple a monarchy within twenty-four hours and turned things topsy-turvy. But now the situation (in the country) is in disarray and we should bring things into order if it becomes necessary. They (the government) have promised to us that this week order will be established and we hope that other things will be rectified little by little, God willing. May God keep you all. May you be successful.
Allow me to rest a bit. I am tired. God willing, we will all join hands in the construction (of the country). This country is in ruins and has been stricken by an earthquake! A quake-stricken country should be reconstructed through the joint efforts of everyone to make it prosperous. Everyone should join hands. Everyone is duty-bound; we are duty-bound. You should all join hands. May God keep you all.