Speech [Some realities of being in exile - nation and state's duties - running the state with power and good will - avoiding slackness in offices]

I will shortly brief you of the events in exile. When we entered Iraq from Turkey and moved to Najaf, some people came time and again to state on behalf of the government that I should feel at home and that they were ready to do anything for me. Then the governments changed one after the other until recently when I felt the need to be more active in Iraq. Little by little, the Iraqi governments began to prevent me from doing any activities. At first a few individuals were sent to control my house in the guise of protection. Then rumor went about that some had come to assassinate me; once they said they were fifty people. I denied the rumor because never do such a number of people would take part in assassination; it must be one person. Then they increased the number of guards again claiming that they wanted to protect me. From the very beginning, I told my friends that it is not a matter of protection rather it is aimed at controlling our behavior. The security chief came from Baghdad afterwards. He was a mild-mannered person; his comments were much of a compliment." You are free to do whatever you like." Several days after he left, a man, who was said to be higher in rank, came and told me formally that they were committed to their agreements with the Iranian government. So they could not let me do any activities against the regime. The day after that he came again and said that I should not write anything, speak or fill a cassette and send it to Iran because it was contrary to their commitments. I told him that it is a religious duty on my part and that I would write manifestos, speak on the pulpit in due time, fill tapes and send them to Iran. It was my religious duty. I told him he could fulfill his own duty as well. Then he said something and finally I told him that I did not like to stay in Najaf because I wanted to move where I could do my service freely. He said:" wherever you go, you'll have the same problem"; that is, I would be blocked. I told him I would move abroad, something I had not thought of till that moment. I would move to Paris, which is not dependent on Iran. He became uneasy, but did not say anything. Mr. Du`ayi, «1» who is an ambassador, was there for translation. He told me they wanted to maltreat my friends but did not mean any harm to me. So I was worried about my friends. I asked Mr. Du`ayi to get a visa. They rejected to give him the visa. Then, we decided to move to Syria but before going there, we had to stay two or three days in Kuwait. I did not think of going to France at that time. Then we decided on a day to move to Kuwait under the control of some agents. Getting out, I met Mr. Yazdi «2» who has been with us since that time. Then we headed for Kuwait. When we got to the border, after a few minutes, an agent came and said," You cannot go to Kuwait". I think this was due to their relations with Iran. I told him," Ok, we will go to the airport and will depart from there." He said," No. You should move to Baghdad the next day. I decided not to go to any other Islamic countries because we were likely to face the same situation. We decided to move to France. So I wrote a manifesto addressing the nation about the conditions of our departure. All this was God's will and out of our control because we were not to move to France; God set the scene as such. I have not done anything by myself so far. Everything is His. Sometimes, we do not think of anything to happen, but it happens. Lately, when we came to Tehran, the regime declared martial law. I did not know why, but it occurred to me to break it. Later, we found out that it was a plot for a military coup. Again, God did this because I was not thinking of such an intrigue to happen through martial law. We just wanted to obstruct it by force of habit. When we arrived in Paris, such gentlemen as Mr. Habibi, «3» Mr. Bani Sadr «4» and Mr. Qutbzadeh welcomed us. «5» They had chosen a place in Paris, which I said was not suitable for me. Then, we went to that nearby village. «6» Little by little, people came from around. At first, the French government exercised a little caution; however, later it treated us kindly. We published our viewpoints more than we expected. Sometimes, American news agencies came there to hear our comments. They told me that it would be broadcast in the U. S. and some other countries. I told them about the problems of Iran and the sufferings inflicted on the nation. Different strata of people living abroad came there in groups every day. This helped strengthen us. They also did some activity, gave speech and held gatherings. Recently, when we wanted to come back to Iran, severe measures were taken to prevent our return. Before that, several people came on behalf of the US government to dissuade me from coming to Iran; one of them who were a politician in the guise of a tradesman told me that it was soon to go to Iran and supported Shah a lot. After Shah left and Bakhtiyar, his right successor in crime took the hold; a new wave of efforts began to prevent me from coming to Iran.

They sent me a message, via the French government, that if I go to Iran, there will be a bloodshed and hubbub. I figured out that my coming to Iran would be to their disadvantage because if it had any advantage to them i. e. they could detain us on our arrival, they would not make such comments rather they would ask me to come to Iran. Then we headed toward Iran. God has supported us from the very beginning of the revolution till now.

One of the great helps God, the Blessed and Exalted offered the nation was to prevent then from serious confrontation. If they wanted to deal with us as they did with regard to Afghanistan, we would have suffered colossal loss. Now, what caused them to be reluctant is whether some fear overtook them or else, we have thank God reached this stage. Thank God, so far so good. There has been a small loss. What we have gained is great. Hopefully, the gentlemen, Mr. Bazargan «7» and his cabinet, whom I like and am familiar with, will cooperate to get the job done.

I want the nation to help the revolution and government. Now, we have served the government, which is different from former governments that imposed themselves on the nation and wasted the national resources. It intends to save the honor of the nation and to serve people. Certainly, such a revolution will have its opponents, especially from among those who feel their interests are at stake. There are some roots of opposition, which are dispersed throughout the country. They create obstruction and spread negative propaganda against us. The nation should know that we are the victors and make a free, independent and Islamic country. It is our greatest wish to enforce Islamic rules all over the country. I call the ministers' attention to the point that in this Islamic country and the state-run departments nothing should be done contrary to Islam and national interests. The departments and the whole country should be purged.

The country should be run with your power and good will, so that all problems can be solved. God, Almighty, will support us as long as our motives are divine and pure. He helped us to conquer a power, which was supported by superpowers because people had good will as people of the time of appearance of Islam. Now, some women come and ask me to pray for their martyrdom and some others wanted me to allow them to go to fight in Kurdestan. However, I told them that it was not advisable for them to go there and that the army itself would do the job. Some mothers are proud of their martyrs and want to sacrifice the rest of their children. It was a change the same as the one which had happened within Muslims in early Islam, wherein people regarded martyrdom as deliverance for themselves and were not afraid of being killed; they perceived of this world as a passage for the other world which is the destination of all human beings. Then, our victory owes much to such a spiritual change within people because we did not have any arms and tactics to win. The things we had were faith and unanimity. I beg the Almighty God to maintain this unity of expression and to help solve our problems.

I want all ministers and oil minister in particular to exercise great care in doing their jobs and I want the staff there to support him. He «8» is a competent and cautious man. I am a little critical of his" cautiousness". I hope that he does his job properly. I ask the oil company staff to cooperate and to work for the country and not to shirk their responsibility and stop working. Now, the country is yours, oil is your own and will be sold to the benefit of the country. When everything is our own, we have to serve the country. We have to treat the country kindly as our own family. This is a public duty; that is everybody from ministers to workers should serve the country.

I am surprised to hear that sometimes some clerks shirk their responsibility and even refuse to work at all. You have to dismiss them if they are linked to the former regime. If it is not the case and they are from among the people who like Islam and Iran, I do not know why they do so. The wage they receive is in exchange for working. They are not permitted to spend the wage if they shirk their job. Therefore, those who believe in Islam, their country and the revolution must work properly and even more to compensate for the shortcomings of the past. Hardworking should replace shrinking of job. Those who work in offices and observe that different strata of people are now serving in schools and even in deserts should also serve so that the pay they may receive becomes legal. I implore the Almighty God to awaken all of us to serve the nation and help us proceed healthfully on this divine direction so that on the Day of Judgment our record is clean and we save our honor before God. May God protect you all and help you work prosperously!