Speech [The continuation of the path of the revolution; the need to maintain order and discipline in the armed forces]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

As I have been told, you have come from different regions of this country. I thank all of you gentlemen for coming here and pray to God, the Blessed and Exalted, for everyone's health. I have a particular, personal problem. It is that my doctors object to my speaking everyday or twice a day. They collect here and tell me not to speak too much. In case I do not give speeches for tow or three days, the foreign radios start broadcasting that this and that has happened to so-and-so, and conclude that the end will come for him within two or three days, within a short time, and such things. I remember the story of a child who used to pray for his teacher to die. The teacher died, whereupon the child's father took the child to another school; the supposedly old type. The child again prayed for the teacher to die; and the teacher did die. His father took him to yet another place; to another school. There they told the boy to pray for his father to die as even if this (latest) teacher dies, there is (always) another one. Now these foreigners and those subservient to them should pray for the weapon of" Allahu Akbar" to be taken away from the nation. But this prayer will also not be granted, because even if I am not to be alive, the nation itself will exist.

Our nation, today, is not at a standstill. Its campaign and progress are not concerned with my presence or that of anybody else. Our people, today, have found the way and know what to do. They will advance along the same path they have found and in the same manner that they have come so far. It is not a question of what will happen if I am not around. Their (foreign) radios should not unnecessarily broadcast these things as they have no effect on our people. They have found their way and they will take that path only to final victory, God willing. All our government institutions are taking shape and will all come into existence soon. And, God willing, our nation will not be entangled with questions about the course its economy should take and how its other affairs ought to be handled. The people are following Islam and our weapon is" Allahu Akbar", just as that slogan you gentlemen raised; and what a good slogan it was. One whose weapon is" Allahu Akbar", and whose supporter is the Blessed and Exalted Lord, is not concerned whether or not somebody should necessarily be present (on the scene). The presence or absence of a person makes no difference whatsoever to our nation's Islamic movement.

I pray to God, the Blessed and Exalted to endow you with strength and power, and I ask you not to fear anybody but God and to pin your hopes on nobody else except Him. If we set all your hope on the Blessed and Exalted Lord, in the sense that your hope ends in Him, and this hope of yours gives you assurance, I can assure you that this country will see no harm. Always keep this point in mind. All the people, whether the government officials or the non-government ones, the military authorities or the civil ones- the whole nation- ought to set hope on the Blessed and Exalted Lord, the Source of all power and light, without fearing any conspiracy. Those people that are supported by God should not fear the conspiracies that are constantly rumored to occur in various places. Of course, our army, our police force, gendarmerie, Islamic guards, our national volunteer corps (Basij) and the Islamic volunteer Corps should always remain watchful. They should keep an eye on suspicious movements and report anything they find to the relevant authorities. While exercising maximum caution, and maintaining surveillance over suspicious movements, they should rest assured that they will remain invulnerable as long as they keep God in mind.

This is the umpteenth time that I am recommending to the armed forces that order be maintained in each and every force. It is their duty to remain orderly. If the system lacks order, it is not a system; it is chaos that cannot accomplish anything. The pasdars should observe discipline; the subordinate ranks ought to obey their superiors. The army should observe discipline and the chain of command. There should be coordination and fraternity among all the armed services. None of the services should detach themselves from the mainstream. They should have relations with one another, and their heads, too, should work in close relationship with one another. In case problems arise, they ought to sit down together and sort them out. Disorder in any one of the services or disharmony among them should not exist. There should be concord and unity among them because, today, this country belongs to everybody and, therefore, all of you must endeavor to protect it; especially so the armed forces. In case disturbances arise in any part of the country, they (the armed forces) should go there and quell those disturbances. They must not wait for the disturbances to subside or for the people to restore calm. In case there is anything amiss in any part of the country or any offenses are committed, or, supposing, some thieves do something or hatch conspiracies, the armed forces are duty-bound to go to that place and eliminate the offenders and so take care of the problem. I hope that God the Blessed and Exalted will keep this nation, that was kept suppressed and repressed for many long years, safe and sound from now on, and that our country will enjoy absolute independence. I hope that those that had previously oppressed this nation and had been cruel to it, will be frustrated by it. My God endow you with strength and might.

The peace and mercy of God be on you.