Speech [The youth's readiness for martyrdom and for supporting Islam]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I do not know whether to thank you for walking all the way from Maraghah to Tehran and the hardships that you have gone through, or should I feel ashamed for all the kindness that you are showing to me. I feel extreme delight and pride when I look at you young people who are prepared to get martyred and who are ready to defend your homeland. You are from Azerbayjan and your province has always been at the front line of the Islamic struggle. You are the offspring of those brave men who were pioneers in defending their homeland whenever anything threatened the independence and integrity of their motherland. Be aware, the events we are now confronted with are among the nastiest of all unhappy events. But the victory which you have gained through your unity with other youth is unique in the history of this land. Your victory was the victory of a Muslim nation, which was not equipped with modern weaponry against some powers fully equipped with all sorts of modern and up-to-date equipment. The tyrannical power was protected by other universal powers. This was the victory of Islam over the infidels.

You could be considered as the soldiers of the outset of Islam, those who opposed the infidels who did not want the progress of Islam. Good examples were Abousufyan and his associates. They did not want the Great Prophet (s) to establish Islam in `Arabia. They hated the spread of Islam because such an act was against their interests. They envisaged that they would be unable to plunder people if Islam prevailed. Therefore, they got equipped with all sorts of weaponry and mobilized all layers of the community against God's Messenger (s) but they did not succeed. The same thing is happening today: we are observing the same confrontation with the infidels. The Prophet of God lacked any military equipment, one group was fully equipped, with lots of wealth; the other group was equipped with little ammunition and poor but reliant on God. Because of this, God helped them to defeat the enemy. A few made life miserable for an enormous number of infidels.

Thanks to God your population is large now. Your faith, too, is magnificent. You should enhance you faith daily. You should make a pious man out of yourself; you should make yourself a pious one and a warrior for the faith. You will succeed if you train yourselves spiritually and mentally. We hope you will enhance Islam in the same way that the pioneers of Islam did at the outset of Islam. Now all superpowers are against us; however, we rely on Islam. Without Islam, we are nothing in front of other powers. When we have Islam, we have everything. We resemble those sixty Muslim warriors who confronted an army of sixty thousand men and emerged victorious. These sixty warriors performed a night assault. These warriors for the faith defeated their enemy. Islam made this victory possible. Now the conditions of our country and Islam are similar to those at the beginning of Islam. This means in those days Abousufyan and his associates tried hard to stop the growth of Islam. Now the same thing is taking place. Now those who have received blows from Islam since their interests have been nipped are trying to hatch conspiracies and are determined to create hardships for Islam. These agitators are decided not to let Islam progress in Iran and for the Islamic Republic of Iran not to materialize; they do not want a regime which is based on constitution which in turn is based on Islam.

I hope you young men from Maraghah and all young men from Azarbayjan will note that Islam's conditions today are like those at the outset of Islam when the Great Prophet (s) started his movement and decided to materialize have Islam. Today, you, young men, have arisen for God and for Islam and have advanced this cause with the slogan" God is Great". You will definitely improve the cause of Islam from now on with your resolution and strength. Be united. Cut those hands which try to destroy our movement by inciting an aggressive group to stand in your way. They try to deceive the simple-hearted villagers. They attempt to make this group of villagers oppose you, who have gone through so many hardships. Let Azerbayjanis note that anybody who goes astray from this path will be like Abousufyan and his associates, who hindered the prophet (s) from establishing an Islamic government. They were frightened by Islam because of their interests. Those who oppose Islam now are the ones who fear Islam. They are worried for their interests and those of their masters. They are mercenaries. Abousufyan and his associates were better than these agitators since they were not working for the foreigners, but these ones do. They rose up against Islam for their own benefits; but these have fought for the enemy's interests. They want to make your uprising futile. Every citizen of Iran should be aware of this fact, especially in those localities where Islam is vulnerable, such as Azerbayjan, Kurdistan and Balouchistan. It is because in these locations the foreign agents have more freedom of activities. Let our country men living at the border regions be vigilant. Let everybody take part in a movement which started at the Prophet's time. God is with you and will assist you all.

May God's peace and mercy be upon you.