Speech [The manner of the coming to power and coronation of Rida Khan and Muhammad-Rida]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

First, I would like to thank you gentlemen for taking the trouble of coming here to meet with me and for your condolences on this tragedy of the martyrdom of Mr. Murtada Mutahhari. I hope that God grants all of you gentlemen and ladies the favor to be at the service of Islam- which in fact is service to mankind- and that all of you and we, God willing be successful.

You all are aware of what passed over in Iran in the course of more than fifty years. Certainly, not all of you have witnessed it, considering that most of you are young; but right from that time, from the coup of Rida Khan, until today, I have been a witness to all the events. Rida Khan arrived on the scene, and initially by resorting to chicanery, pretending to be religious, chest beating, organizing mourning sermons, and going from one religious theater to another in the mourning month of Muharram, deceived the people. After his government consolidated its hold on power, he started to oppose Islam and the clergymen such that it was impossible for us to organize a mourning ceremony.

If some mourning ceremonies were going to be organized, they should have been held before the call to prayer of dawn and would be ended on the stroke of the adhan[ call to prayer ]. The secret service agents would roam around in order to make sure that no religious gathering was held. They either imprisoned the clergymen wherever the clergy were and got rid of some of them, or killed them. And yet in that very period, those who revolted against Rida Shah were the clergymen, when all of a sudden there was a revolt in Mashhad and the incident of the Goharshad Mosque took place where the tragedy of the massacre of the general public took place in the Goharshad Mosque; and then all of a sudden the revolt in Tabriz happened and following it, they arrested the great religious scholars of Tabriz and sent them into exile- and apparently they were deported to Sunqur; and next it was the turn of the religious scholars of Isfahan to revolt. In this uprising, the rest of the religious scholars of the land gathered in Qum from all over and made Qum the center; but again with the chicanery and coercion, they silenced this too and stifled it; and you saw for the period of several years that he was in power and reigning, what he did to the people and what he did with our resources that perhaps, history may never be able to account correctly. And when it was the time for him to go, and he went, the British went on the air and announced on Radio Delhi, which was at that time under their control, that it was Britain who brought Rida Shah to power, and later because he betrayed them, they took him away. When they took him away, they packed the crown jewels of Iran in suitcases and shipped them with him. And he too himself collected the jewels and filled the suitcases with them. And, they put him on a ship for a destination outside Iran. In the middle of the sea- the way we were informed at that time- another ship came and was placed alongside this ship and they asked him to board the other ship. After he had boarded, he asked for his suitcases and was told that they would also reach later. They took him to the island of Mauritius while the suitcases containing the jewels went to England.

And after him, his son Muhammad-Rida has written in one of his books Mission for my Country: «1»" The allies entered Iran and thought it expedient that I- Muhammad-Rida- should stay." He has confessed that the allies imposed him, but later on, I was told that it was deleted from the book and you all are well aware of the treasons and crimes that he has committed- especially in these last few years. It is not possible for everybody to know of all the crimes that he has committed because some of these crimes were perpetrated in such a covert manner that nobody except himself knows about them, and perhaps some of the individuals who were close to him. And, nobody knows of all he has done except himself and for example, Carter or the likes of him. «2» He too when he wanted to go, collected the jewels and in addition, has left behind in Iran large amounts of debts to banks. These people borrowed as much as they could and fled.

However, with the will of the Blessed and Almighty God, and the supreme efforts of our nation, this wall was demolished. And the traitors went away, and many of them were given their due punishment; and he too will receive his due punishment. And, these people went away and plunged the country into chaos and left. In other words, it could be said that almost nothing has been left for our country; its economy is in a bad shape; its culture is in a bad shape and it is in need of rebuilding, and that must be done with the efforts of all. In others words, no single section can rebuild it, in the same way that if a single section wanted to carry this movement to its peak it could not do it; it was when all the sections joined hands that this barrier could be broken. From now onward too, all sections must be together in order that they be able to carry this burden to the end, and the movement to its destination. Each person must not place it on the shoulder of another. Each individual is responsible and is obliged to work according to his capacity; wherever he is, to the extent that he can, he should assist; and this unity of expression must be safeguarded because if God forbid, this unity of expression is lost, and God forbid, we revert to defeat, then Iran shall not see a bright day any more. Therefore, we all are duty bound to safeguard this unity of expression and to safeguard this movement and an important key to it is that it should be for the cause of God. It was because this movement was `Islamic' that it bore fruit so quickly, reached its destination, and smashed these great barriers.

May God willing, all of you be successful, and all of us be successful and determined to take this movement to its conclusion; and, this country becomes your own; and the resources belong to you; and the agriculture be of yourself; and you manufacture all its things for you. Now, that some of the remnants have remained and some of the agents who are present under various names in Iran are not allowing these problems to be solved and calm to be restored in Iran, we are duty bound to prevent them in whatever way we can, and at least not to allow them to infiltrate the sections of the people; not to allow them to infiltrate the secondary schools. For example, you should instruct your children, that if these people come into their primary and secondary schools and, they should block their way and prevent them from entering. If you know anybody in the factories, you should tell them and the workers not to allow the corrupted people to infiltrate. These people do not want peace to be restored in Iran; they want Iran to be in disorder and turmoil so that it be circulated abroad that Iran has no progress and cannot govern itself; and then God forbid, they bring about a coup, and once again things go back to the former situation. You must be alert to these various groups who cause these troubles, who sometimes kill the people; who sometimes go to the factories and do these sort of things you should be aware that they have ill intentions and their aim is to revert this circumstance to its previous condition so that their masters could come and gorge on the resources of this country and also give some to them.

And I pray to the Blessed and Almighty God for the success and health of all; and I hope that all of you be successful in your service to Islam, in your service to your country; and may God willing, these remnants be exterminated and that we once again move this caravan to its final destination. May you all be successful, God willing.