Speech [The conduct of the ambassadors and the matters pertaining to the embassies must be in congruity with Islam; exporting the Revolution by the development of Islamic ethics and truths, not by force]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I pray to the Blessed and Exalted Lord for the safety of all the gentlemen, whether the ambassadors and embassy staff, or the dear students studying overseas, who have come to their country. I think that the duty of you gentlemen who are (working) in Iran's Islamic embassies, in foreign countries, and, likewise, our dear youths residing abroad, is graver then the duty that we who are living in Iran, have. Our nation knows about Islam and its aspects. Suppose a man or a group acts against Islam here, the people will condemn him or the group. But as for you, you are in an environment such as the West, or in places where there are no Muslims. And even if there are, they are not acquainted with the Islamic issues as they should be. Therefore, if you or the embassies happen to behave in a manner not fully in line with Islam, the people there would conclude that such is the way of Islam. If our embassies abroad continue in that same taghouti manner or nearly like it, it means that Islam has not yet permeated the embassies. During this period, as has been reported to me- I do not know the latest position- regrettably, our embassies are not Islamic as they should be, whether in the places themselves or the conduct of their staff. And this is especially so in all respects in the case of the female employees. They have not been able to fathom what the Islamic Republic is. Some of the ambassadors, sent by the Noble Messenger (s) to the courts of the great monarchs of that time, used to push aside the silk curtains with their swords on entering the courts. This gesture meant that they were breaking the pride of the pharaoh- like kings of that time. It may seem simple, but this is not the issue. Those people who went as ambassadors were ordinary `Arabs who were dedicated to Islam. They wanted to make the kings understand at the very outset as to what their outlook was and the creed to which they belonged. They wanted to show that such courtly pomp and splendor had no effect on them. There are many people that panic and would panic on meeting some dignitary whom they considered a very important person. This is particularly so in the age of these big powers, and in this last half century, with regard to him (the ex-Shah) as well, the one at whose hands we have suffered. If a top official visited a certain place, he would behave with the people as if he were a king. He never took the people into account. I myself was witness to this fact. A district collector had come to Golpayegan. In those days, Khomein lay within that district. The merchants had come to meet him. He ordered that the biggest merchant among them be tied to a wooden post. I, then a boy, witnessed the incident. That merchant was a respected and well-known merchant in Khomein's bazaar. He, religious person, was the head of the merchant community there. But this corrupt official behaved with him in everybody's presence in such a way as to have him tied up and bastinadoed. Such were the things that they used to do. Sometimes, when a respected figure or an" `alim" would go to visit the officials, these people would bring some unfortunate person and tie him to a stake in the" `alim's'" presence. It was a way of conveying a message to the visitor that he had to obey them. The conditions were such, and even worse than this. This act of the ambassador or the ambassadors of the Prophet was simple but significant. It broke the pride of that" pharaoh" at the very outset. The Late Mudarris, too, had this habit. He would sit on a carpet spread in the courtyard of his house. He would prepare his hookah for himself whenever he wanted. In the meantime, the governor would enter. You do not know how important the office of the governor was in those days. The governor used to say that Mudarris would hand him the hookah and tell him to pour water into it while he lit the fire. The governor would become flustered. Mudarris telling him to pour water in the hookah used to have a great effect on him. He (Mudarris) would compel him to pour the water while he lit the fire in order to get the hookah ready. The purpose of this act was that the approach to the unscrupulous minds ought to be such at times so that they do not desire to impose on the others from the very beginning. If, as was the common practice at that time, that person had been shown humbleness and respect, he would have imposed the thing that he was after on him. But the adoption of such an informal and hard-hitting kind of approach did not allow him to impose whatever he had in mind.

You who are based abroad are in contact with the other ambassadors, the foreign ministers and all such people. If you go to the foreign ministry, you must not become proud because you are in the presence of so-and-so; the foreign minister of America or the Soviet Union. You ought to bear in mind that you are the ambassador of an Islamic country which is more powerful than all these powers. It is also more honorable than all these" honorable" ones- in case they have any honor.

You must maintain your dignity from the very beginning. Among the important points which you, just like us, are obliged to observe is that your actions there, your behavior with the embassy staff, the basic work of the embassies and their condition and also your dealings should be such that by these means your revolution is gradually exported to the countries to which you have been assigned. Ethics are such that when one is particular about them observes them; the effect spreads and influences the people who, by nature, are innately good. It is improper training that spoils one's nature.

You yourselves should remember that you have gone to a country which you wish to transform so as to be like your own one. You want to export Islam to it. Exporting Islam means that the Islamic morals, Islamic culture and Islamic deeds be such as to attract the attention of the people there. One of the important matters is that there must be a publication in every embassy. It should not be like those of taghouti times. The publications ought to be moral and Islamic in content and contain events that have taken place in Iran. As you see, propaganda against the Islamic Republic is being made almost everywhere in the world. All-round propagandas is being made, whether by the propaganda organs of the West and its dependent countries, or the East and its dependent countries. They are doing this because they have become terrified of the Islamic Republic. Apart from having lost their interests in Iran- they will be lost for ever, God willing- they are afraid that this movement and this revolution will spread abroad and find its way into the other countries. When the people there come to understand what Islam is and realize that they want it in their countries, the enemies will fear that these places will become like Iran. They are afraid that their taghouti regimes will gradually fade away, and, God willing, it will be so. Instead of spending money like it used to be spent at that time on evil things and those taghouti parties which were all against Islamic moral, and also the expenses there on the things you know, you should spend the money on propaganda. You must make it known to the world what Islam is and what the condition of our country is. You must counter all the propaganda of every kind. You must acquaint the other countries, all the other ones, of that fact there is in Iran and the way in which things are happening in Iran. Acquaint the people with Islam, the Islamic movement and the Islamic Revolution. Do not let the fear enter your minds that you may be belittling yourselves by conducting yourselves in a plain manner with the other embassies considering all the things they have. As a matter of fact, you by your acts can humble those edifices and foundations of oppression and evil. Do not think that you will feel small in case you are plain in your actions; your embassies are plain and are in some ordinary place and if they act as centers for the dissemination of knowledge, learning and ethics, not at all. This is what the westernized ones say. They think that we will be humiliated if we do not behave like the West. We are now determined not to be like the West and not to be dependent. We are determined to be free and independent. You can now see that the nations that have not been influenced by the propaganda done by America, the Soviet Union and their camp-followers are looking at you with wonder and pride.

Man's greatness does not lie in his dress, his hat or in owning an automobile, villa and such things. Man is a reality. He becomes noble and great when the reality is manifested. You have seen that the greatest persons were the prophets; and they were also the plainest. While being the greatest of all people and acknowledged accordingly by everybody, they were, at the same time, the simplest in their way of life. All the prophets were like that. History portrays them as having been very simple in their dealings. What their condition was at the advent of Islam is very clear, and also the condition of the governments, and the army commanders, and how those at the helm of affairs behaved with the people. They were so unassuming and unobtrusive that whenever one from outside would enter the Prophet's mosque where the people were seated, he could not identify the Prophet among them. He had to inquire in order to find out. The reason was that there was no such thing as people sitting in a more" prestigious" place or a less prestigious one. They would all sit together. I do not know whether they used to sit on a straw-mat or a rush-mat. But do not imagine that there were carpets like the ones you are sitting on. They used to sit together around one another. But their greatness was such that it impressed the world. Man's greatness is related to his inner spirituality. It has to do with his mentality, his conduct and his deeds; not with the model of his car. It dose not lie in having a guard and servants. Such things do not make a person great. They make him fall from that position of his.

You gentlemen who are in the embassies are bound by reason and religion to keep the embassies as simple as possible. Your behavior with your staff- your subordinates as you say- ought to be brotherly. They will obey what you say, but your conduct should brotherly. Similarly, the entertainment of your guests, your own way of life and of those who work there should be changed to the Islamic way so that whoever comes there will see Islam in practice. No matter how much we clamor that we are Islamic and are from the Islamic Republic, it will be to no avail because when they see that in practice we are otherwise, they will believe us no more. They will only believe us when they see that our actions are Islamic as well. Our actions should not be taghouti in nature. Our actions, our words, our behavior must all be Islamic. Our utterances ought to be Islamic so that this Islamic Republic (system) spreads to all the other countries. Making Islam spread does not lie in doing it at bayonet point or by force. Its diffusion can only take place if Islam, its realities, its ethics and human morals develop here itself. It is your duty to see that this happens. You have to accomplish this task and ensure that your acts and your writings are in line with the Islamic Republic, You must publish a magazine in which the pictures and the topics presented ought to be in conformity with( the norms of )the Islamic Republic so that, by such means, Islam makes inroads into that place. You should know that you have to carry out propaganda. Our dear students, wherever they are and whatever groups they are in contact with, must, likewise, make efforts to discuss the issues concerning Islamic Iran. They must examine one by one the articles that appear in foreign magazines and newspapers of whatever place. By so doing, they must prove the falsity of the things, printed therein.

The main point is that we ourselves should be convinced in our hearts that we want our republic to be Islamic. What our tongues utter, our hearts should not deter. We should believe in our heart the thing we desire:" We want an Islamic Republic." Human beings should campaign against every crooked current. One ought to begin the campaign with himself. He should see what crooked tendencies he has. Everybody is bound to perceive some shortcoming or other in himself or herself. It is very rare for one not to see one's own shortcomings. Not perceiving one's own shortcomings is a defect in itself. Man should be trained. He should be trained so that he becomes edified. One must start with himself and his family. You must begin (the process) with yourselves and your families. All of you must begin by edifying yourselves so that you are well equipped when you go abroad. Our students should be careful to see that their conduct, deeds and utterances are in accordance with Islamic and moral principles so that in case they invite the people to Islam- which they must- their words are not at cross purposes with their actions. Your own condition should not be such that when you talk about Islam, the people make fun of you and say that so-and-so is such a type of person, and is inviting them to what things.

In any case, I pray to the Blessed and Exalted God for your health and prosperity; for everybody's. It is the duty of our people to behave in such a way as to display (the greatness of) Islam to the people of foreign countries. Although some (undesirable) people have infiltrated into certain places, our conduct being at variance with Islamic norms will give our enemies the excuse to bash us and the Islamic Republic with all their might. The responsibility of this is greater for our youths overseas, our ambassadors and embassy employees, all the Islamic associations abroad, all Muslims and, likewise, the Iranians and non-Iranians living abroad, that it is for us who are in Iran. Everybody has a duty, but yours is graver and greater. May you succeed by the will of God in introducing Islam everywhere. The people that are innately good, as most people are, will accept it after becoming acquainted with it. On accepting it (Islam), they will gradually begin to practise it. And this revolution will spread abroad bit by bit. May the Almighty protect all of you, God willing. May He give you and all of us success in striving to strengthen Islam everywhere, and in being the missionaries of Islam, and the army of God the Blessed and exalted. Mat our country and all the Islamic ones attain prosperity and security, and, likewise the oppressed of the world. May you be successful and triumphant, God willing.

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