Speech [Imperialist plots and the domination of the tribes by Pahlavi]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

The tribes of Iran were among the important pillars of the country. One of the missions given to Rida Khan was to eliminate the tribes. It was a plot in the guise of urbanizing them; to make these mountain people reside in the cities and so put an end to their traditional migrations. Such was the talk. But the real issue concerned the studies that the foreigners had been carrying out. What studies they made in our country. They studied the cities and surveyed the lands and the mineral-rich areas. These present modes of transportation did not exist at that time. The foreign experts came on camels to these deserts, which lacked even water and grass, in order to survey them and map them. They would discover the underground mineral deposits by means of the maps and the instruments at their disposal. And so they came to realize what (resources) this country had. This matter was not confined to Iran; it was the same in the other places. They studied all the Eastern countries, and, likewise, the mentality of their people. They aimed to find out what groups there were and in what manner the tribes should be held down and curbed so that they did not go against their plans and interests, or what ought to be done in the cities; what groups to be curbed, controlled and suppressed so that they could maintain calm in the country and take away whatever they wanted.

Their purpose was to purge the country of those people; to crush these people who had the power to jeopardize their interests. What they had realized in the cities was that the clergy constituted a powerful group. They had targeted the clergy before the universities had come into existence. After the number of the universities and the students increase, they, too, became the object of their attention. They suppressed them in a certain way, and the tribes as well. They had realized that once the tribes rose against them, they will not allow them (the foreigners) to secure their interests. They also wanted to move the tribes from their own areas to other places; to move them far away from their power bases. And so they did! They made many of the tribes move from their own places to other ones. It was clear that the tribes would lose their power once they were moved out from those mountainous areas, with which they were familiar, to some distant places. The plan itself was this: to disarm the tribes that had the ability to rise in opposition to their interests, and moreover to move them far away from their own places to other spots.

Most of you perhaps do not remember that these things occurred in the time of Rida Shah, and that they severely opposed and suppressed the clergy in places such as Tehran, Qum, Isfahan, Mashhad, etc., that were the clerical centers. We had also seen the acts of oppression that you witnessed and looked into closely, but in another way. You and every one of the people have experienced this oppression and suppression in some way. The excesses that were inflicted constituted one of the factors that resulted in your victory. An excess of repression gives rise to an explosion. Prolonged repression increases the frustration of the people who then wait for something to happen for an uproar to occur, for them to follow suit. The reason why all the people of Iran joined together in achieving this victory and why they cried out in unison that they did not want this regime but Islam was that they had experienced only misfortunes at the hands of the regime. Whatever they had seen was oppression. The regime destroyed everything in the name of bringing prosperity. In the name of urbanizing and- according to them- civilizing the tribes, they destroyed them and just about took the country to ruination. All the strata of the people became disgruntled, but they lacked the courage to speak out until the time when the clamor gradually began in the main cities. All the pent up frustrations resulted in an explosion because of which the regime, its power notwithstanding, was unable to withstand the people who had nothing. The important point was that repression aside, the cause of this explosion was the people's attention to Islam. Their faith made them push forward together in full cry. Therefore, the factor that brought you victory, and them defeat, was that they were oppressors and you, the oppressed. The frustrations started to appear gradually followed by the attention to Islam, and all of you made headway with Islam in mind. And you triumphed though you lacked arms and they had all the means at their disposal.

What should we do now? What has happened is history; it has passed. We who are now seated here and have further problems, have to think of what our duty should be. It is important that we know what ought to be done. You have to safeguard that movement just as it was, and that same key to victory: faith and the unity of expression. These two factors enabled you to overcome this power. Comprehensive conspiracies are still afoot, and though they are of no great consequence, they could still cause disorder and discomfort for the government and the nation. Even at this time, it is necessary for us to safeguard this movement along with that same secret and that same key to victory in that you were united and demanded Islam. If this is maintained, it will take you to the final stage of victory. However, if you, God forbid, lose this unity of expression, or if your aim is to set up a non-Islamic government, there is the fear that you will not be able to take another step. And they, in turn, will move forward. If you become slack, if you retreat, they will take a step forward and engage in further conspiracies. They are nothing much at present, but if we retreat, they will take a step forward and engage in further conspiracies. They are nothing much at present, but any retreat on our part will make it possible for them to advance, for their plots to increase and their remnants to join forces. If we disperse, they will gather together. This is exactly opposite to that by which victory was gained and became a reality. All the various groups had collected and in unison smashed the barrier. Now that the barrier has been smashed, we have another barrier to face; some other tasks to attend to.

If we are to lose this unity we had, if the various groups and the people, one by one, turn against each other, if the attention to our purpose- that of setting up an Islamic government- is lost sight of, if this fire that had been kindled in our hearts and the light of God's guidance that had been lit in our hearts become cold and feeble, and if on that side their numbers increase and on this side, our numbers decrease, the result, then, will be that they will eventually prevail over us. And if, God forbid, they do overcome us, it will not be like that time for them to leave so that you may lead your lives, albeit in the mountains and among your tribes. No; they will totally destroy you. That is, they will totally do away with the universities, the madrasahs, the city-dwellers and the tribes. They will destroy us if they succeed; but, God willing, they will not. However, we have to be vigilant. We have to be careful about safeguarding that factor that has brought us success up to here.

And this factor was that you had cast your differences aside that day( the beginning of the Revolution).

When the clamor arose that day and the people were shouting," Allahu akbar" and" Death to this monarchy" in the towns, villages and everywhere else, they never thought about their differences. All the people were together. They had put their differences aside. And this brought you victory; a miraculous one. Nobody had ever imagined that an empty-handed nation would achieve such a victory over a power that possessed everything. You will have insured your victory if you safeguard this unity of yours, and if you also eschew personal, tribal and clannish differences and disputes over property. The second factor concerns the Islamic republic and a just, humane government that everybody had demanded. If these two matters remain secure; that is, the differences must be eschewed and not allowed to arise- in case they do arise at any time between two people, albeit from your own tribe, all of you should gather and reconcile them and also behave like brothers; all of you- and on the other hand, you must be heedful of the fact that an Islamic government is to be formed wherein there will be no further injustice and oppression, and the foreigners will no longer be able to oppress us by taking away whatever we have, with nobody saying anything about it. There should be no more of this. If we maintain our unity of expression and remain united in our aim- the realization of Islam- we will be victorious up to the very end. That is, we will completely purge the country of these elements; these devils that are here at present and are creating mischief. And we will not allow others to meddle in our country's affairs either. We will manage the country ourselves, and only you will derive its benefits. It is a country rich in resources that are being plundered. They have also borrowed heavily from the banks and other places leaving behind debts that would take a very long time to repay, in case the money could be recovered from them and if the foreign governments allow. And this is another matter.

In any case my brothers, you have been successful up to now because of your brotherhood, unity, friendship, and affection. You should maintain all this from now on as well. You should maintain your brotherliness and tribal fellowship so that one tribe does not develop differences with another. If differences arise, God forbid, your tribal chiefs, the tribal elders and the other respected people should gather and settle the differences. Do not allow one youth to have differences with another youth. All the woes that befall a country are because of the differences that arise among the people. If all the people of a country say the same thing, nobody will be able to oppress them.

May God protect you and grant you health and happiness. May He protect your tribes that are the treasure of our country. May God keep you and may you be successful and triumphant.

May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you.