Speech [The oppressions and irregularities of the Pahlavi era]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

This is by the blessing of Islam that we- all of us- are all gathered together. Non-commissioned officers, officers, soldier, Bakhtiyari tribes, and the learned- all- have gathered in the Theological School premises. In the course of approximately three hundred years- from the time when the foreigners found their way to the East- hands have been at work to divide the sections of our country, or rather the East, from one another. They separated the Islamic countries from one another and installed one of their own servants at the head of each in order not to allow nations to pay attention to their own issues.

We are witness to certain issues, and have been a witness since these fifty and some years. Of course if you do not remember that period, perhaps among you there are some who remember, but I do remember well, we were witness to the missions that was delegated to this Pahlavi dynasty- of which Rida Khan's arrival on the scene in Iran was the first and was a plot hatched by Britain- and after he had gone away by their own hands, Radio Delhi- which at that time was in the hands of the British- announced that we brought Rida Khan to power and because he betrayed us, we have taken him away. The day when Rida Khan went away, Radio Delhi announced the same thing that he was brought to power by us, but he betrayed us and because he betrayed us- for this reason- we took him away. They took him away. But, the suitcases that contained the crown jewels of Iran that he gathered and packed in suitcases in the course of the few days that he learnt about his departure, were taken away and loaded on to the ship that they had arranged for him. They put them on the ship and in the manner described by an important official- who was accompanying them on the voyage- to one of the theologians, who in turn narrated them to me, that they loaded the ship with the suitcases and set sail with Rida Khan on board. In the middle of the sea, they brought another ship that was specially designed for carrying live animals; they placed it alongside this ship and asked Rida Khan to board it. He went onboard the ship that was of course meant to carry live animals, and how well they transported him! Then he had asked about the suitcases and they promptly told him that they would arrive later. They took him away to that island while the suitcases, which belonged to this nation and contained the riches of this nation, were taken away to England. An identical incident happened in our era- of course that too occurred during our time, but this happened in this period which all of you remember. When these people in despair became aware that they would not be able to remain in power here anymore, withdrew the money that belonged to this nation from the local banks- massive amounts; stupendous amounts- and each of them borrowed as well as the jewels as much as they could, and things which they had to take with them they took away with them from here and deposited them in foreign banks such as in Swiss banks, American banks, and others in their own names or in his own name which is lying in those banks. Most of it is in his own name or in the name of his relatives and acquaintances; and all of it belongs to this nation. They plundered the country and left.

They have gone, and worse, the things, the treason that they committed at the behest of foreigners, was that they separated us from each other. They divided the clergy from the university. They portrayed the university in the eyes of the clergy as a source of immorality and a source of immoral acts. They portrayed the clergy to the university as being courtiers, backward, and so forth. They portrayed the nation to the clergy contrary to what it was like. They created animosities between brothers. In other words, they created enmity- to the extent that they could- among the clergy, teachers, university students and their likes as well as hostility between the armed forces and the nation. The nation was afraid of the army; the army thought that it had to behave in a different manner with the nation. This was the worst treason that they committed against our nation and to Islam.

This is the power of Islam; and now it is the power of the Islamic teachings that I a clergyman and these learned gentlemen have got together with you, the soldiers and non-commissioned and commissioned officers and with these tribes in the Faydiyyah Madrasah; that Faydiyyah Madrasah which in the era of the taghouti regime was plundered and its gates were closed until quite recently. This is the power of faith and teachings of Islam that brothers who had lost each other- or even if they looked at each other, it was as enemies and strangers- are now seated together like brothers and are airing their grievances to each other. You air your grievances and say that the barracks were like prisons and that you were not allowed even to recite your prayers in congregation- as one of the gentlemen mentioned.

Even those gentlemen who are seated over there and are of the tribes- even they- were deprived in the era when they came to power; and their deprivations were many. But, they are under the impression that it was only they who were deprived and that other places were prosperous and well looked after. Not at all, whichever section that we came across in this period, would mention the same themes that this gentleman mentioned just now- that we have nothing there; that there was no freedom whatsoever at that time and that they had none of the signs of civilization at that time- every section that comes to visit us mentions the same subjects; and all of them are speaking the truth. But, this is because you have information of the Bakhtiyari and the Bakhtiyari clans and are seeing with your eyes the condition of the Bakhtiyari clans and those things and problems that are present in that place; and the Balouch also are informed about the Balouch; and the people of Kurdistan also have knowledge about Kurdistan; the gentlemen also know about the situation inside their own barracks; we too have information about our own theological school. Each of us knows about the area in which we lived and which we consciously saw and felt; and the rest of it we heard. However, seeing is other than hearing. To feel it is other than to assume what is happening somewhere. You felt among yourselves what problems you had; the biggest of which was that the outsiders should come here; that foreign advisors should come here and dictate to us. For an army that must be independent that must not be under the influence of anybody it is very hard that foreigners should come; a handful of foreigners come and dictate to them, give orders and be commanders. And this is the biggest insult which bears heavily on the shoulders of our non-commissioned and commissioned officers; and this is what they did.

For us too, they imposed all sorts of restrictions. Our mosques, our schools, our seminaries, all of these were under their influence; and they would not permit us to continue with our work. In this very Faydiyyah Madrasah, I, who at that time had classes, one day I came and saw that there was just one person. I asked what had happened. To which he replied that just before sunrise, all the theological students had fled to the orchards out of fear of the policemen. At the break of down, before sunrise, these students of religious learning must decamp into the surrounding orchards and return at night to their chambers. They returned late at nights to their chambers. You cannot surmise what we had been through in those times. We cannot mention all of them.

I had a chamber in the Dar ash-Shifa seminary in Qum. Our friends were a nice group who would gather there, sit around, and air their grievances. A few days later when this group had come together, a person came,- May God forgive his sins- and sat down and said in a soft tone that it would be good for them not to get together there. Our friends joked with him and he went away. The next day a detective agent came and stood outside the door and warned that the gentlemen should not gather there or else such and such would happen. From the next day, there was no gathering of the small group of seven or eight people. We a group of five, six, seven, or eight persons who were in the Dar ash-Shifa seminary were not able to stay in the chamber. When dawn would break, we would go to the house of one of the gentlemen of that area and gather there to discuss our problems.

We all had a bad time and a hard time; it was not only for you, our Bakhtiyari friends. You have seen your own plight while we too have seen our condition. The resident of every neighborhood also has seen his own situation and now assumes that the problems were only his; others were not in a situation as theirs. Everybody had a bad time, everyone had been to prison; everybody had suffered.

God willed that this transformation should occur with divine power; a miraculous transformation. A transformation should occur so that we gather here in fraternity and discuss our problems. A transformation should take place by which men and women, children, and adolescents stand face to face in front of guns and tanks and shout slogans in defiance saying that machine guns have no effect anymore. The machine guns would kill them; but the morale was such that they would clench their fists and chant slogans saying," They have no effect anymore."

The spiritual transformation that God, the Blessed and Exalted, blessed this nation with; and this transformation occurred in you gentlemen too, so that you joined with the people; was by the grace of God. God caused us to become friends, to get together, and strengthened our hearts such that we did not fear all that turmoil and they could not oppress us anymore. The great blessing that has been bestowed upon us has been bestowed in the form of a miracle; in other words, all the calculations of the experts turned out to be false. All the experts calculated that a big power backed by several bigger powers could not be toppled. The whole world had based their calculations on this matter.

The worldly calculations were such. They were ignorant of the will of God. The will of God is such that it causes a weak nation to revolt with empty hands; it cries out" God is the greatest"; gradually all the strata of the people join it; great rivers of the people connect to it in a continuous flow; the army joins it; the gendarmerie forces join it; the police forces join it. It was an act of God that a congregation was composed of these sections, all of whom were at odds with one another, became friendly with one another such that the army works for the people and the people work for the army and all work for Islam. The Blessed and Almighty God performed this miracle. And we must safeguard this miracle; we must safeguard this unity.

You should not become anxious because so far nothing has been done for you; so far nothing has been done for us either; nothing has been done for these people either. God willing; it shall be done; you all should be a little patient. As you are quite aware now; you suffered in patience under these heavy boots for fifty odd years; you bore every kind of pressure. I am aware of the sort of pressure that the tribes were under; I am somewhat informed about the tribes. I know the sort of pressures that you had to bear; but you bore patiently these hardships for more than fifty years; now it is the post- Revolution period. There is anarchy after a revolution; there is a troubled situation. These unscrupulous people made a mess of our everything and went away. Our economy is in a mess the government wants to take care of every place and to co-operate and help to develop it; but it needs time. Now also, some corrupt remnants of theirs do not let this government find the time. Everyday in some place or the other, they cause a disruption; everyday somewhere or the other, they create a situation that hampers agricultural activities; that hinders the working of factories; that prevents the reopening of schools. These must be done in stages, and you should all pray that God willing, calm be restored; and the Islamic Republic be established in a manner that we want, and in a manner that the Blessed and Almighty God has commanded. Every strata stands to benefit from it; both the happiness of the world and the Hereafter of everyone is insured.

I pray to God, the Blessed and Exalted for the happiness, health, and honor of all of you- you the officers; you the non-commissioned officers and the soldiers of Islam. Of course, all of us together are now soldiers, and are soldiers of Islam. I once again implore God, the Blessed and Exalted to grant happiness to all of you.