Speech [Rida Khan's colonialist mission of crushing the clergy and the tribes; the plot to disband the army]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

These photos of our martyrs and the energetic youths of our nation that I see in your hands are a matter of pride to us but also the cause of sorrow and regret. I request the Almighty to have mercy on their souls, to bring the disabled ones back to health and to give you and the bereaved families of the martyrs health, prosperity and patience. We and the whole nation have experienced these bereavements that have overtaken you. They are the nation's children and our brothers.

What I wish to say and bring to your notice is that from the time Rida Khan came to power in Iran until now when your Islamic nation's movement has fructified the big powers that had installed him in Iran, had been taking stock of the situation based on worldly and materialistic considerations. They had not reckoned with other issues. That is, they were not able to focus on other things and take them into account. In the days of Rida Khan, many efforts were made for them to make their way into these countries, particularly Iran, and to dominate them. Many were the means they had to embark on wholesale plunder. One of these was to crush this country's tribes and, stripping them of their tribal status, put a stop to their traditional migrations and, instead, make them reside in one region because, as they saw, these tribes were a source of support to the country. The various tribes of Iran are many. They are everywhere in Iran: in Khouzistan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Fars, Sistan and Balouchistan and Azarbayjan. They constituted a backing for Iran. Hence, the big powers attempted to crush the tribes and almost did so through Rida Khan. We now understand what role the tribes have in Iran. Some of them are fighting bravely in the war. These tribes, such as the Bakhtiyaris, the Qashqa'is of Fars and the like are all faithful to Islam.

They volunteer to go to the war fronts. But it is hoped that there will be no need for all the tribes to go to the fronts. Now we understand that the big powers were aware of the strength of the tribes as they had made a thorough study in this regard. They had been defeated by the Tangestanis. «1» Hence; they were after an opportunity to annihilate the tribes completely. This was a plot drawn up by them at that time. Likewise, crushing clergy, too, was part of the plot. They had suffered long at the hands of the clergy. England, particularly, had come to grief over the Tobacco Agreement. «2» Therefore, one of their plots was to deprive the nation of this power by crushing it; by separating the clergy from the people and the people from the clergy. One of the other measures adopted in the days of Rida Khan was to ban the groups that take out processions in the months Muharram and Safar, from doing so. This was also a force to reckon with that they had banned at that time. Such examples are many. When his son's «3» turn came, he who was similarly a traitor surpassed his father in this regard. Everybody is aware of the things he did- I need not go into details- until the revolution took place.

When the revolution took place, you saw that the army commanders, who were corrupt, either fled the country or were captured. The army itself remained faithful to Islam and the country as, basically, it is so. Ever since, it has been said that the army should not exist as it is the army of taghout. Following this allegation, one can hear such things even today. In this war, the army has shown the extent of its loyalty and power. Seeing that the army had taken the nation into account and joined it, they began to look upon the army as a thorn in their side. Because of the elements that were at their back and call that were in league with them, they had been saying ever since the revolution occurred that the security forces and the military are all taghouti. They said that the army, the police and the gendarmerie must be disbanded and formed again from the beginning. This was a plot. Its purpose became clear to us. Now we know as to what they used to be afraid of and what their intention was. Today, the army, the police and the gendarmerie have the most important role. Now that we are at war with the heretic Ba`athist forces, they want us not to have anything while the enemy should have everything. More than all this was the issue of the pasdars. All their efforts were directed at getting the pasdars disbanded, saying that they were not necessary at all and that the other forces were sufficient. They wanted them out of the picture. We saw the role the pasdars have played in this war. Thank God that, today, the pasdars, the police, the gendarmerie, the army, the tribes and all the volunteers and the popular forces are together bludgeoning the forces of falsehood and will continue doing so. Such were the plots that they had hatched. They are doing such things even now. You must not be oblivious to the things they disseminate. You should bear in mind that the groups which were subjected to greater assaults, have been and are being attacked more by these perverted people as they are useful to the nation and detrimental to the enemy. If you see them attack the guards more, it means that they fear them more. If you see that they want to crush the army or separate it from the people, it means that they are afraid of it as well and so on. If you see that they want to oust the clergy from the scene, you should understand that they fear the clergy, and also feared them in the past.

You are our brothers. You are the honorable heirs of those who brought honor to Iran's history and filled its pages with glory. Rest assured you the disabled ones, who brought pride to Iran, that your names are registered in this world and the next (for the meritorious services that you have rendered). You have changed the course of history. Our nation changed the current of history. They had taken everything into account. They used to take everything into account except the spiritual factor. They held a crooked view of the world; they were blind to it. Both the leftists and rightists looked at spirituality, which a person beholds with the right eye, with a squint eye. They both had a distorted view of the tribes. They reckoned wrongly with the clergy, the army afterwards, the military, the security forces and the pasdars. But spirituality was the one thing that they had not taken into account at all. They had never thought about the people's attachment to God and Islam; the attachment that makes them takes the lead in seeking martyrdom and sacrificing themselves. I get visitors daily. They come to me; they cry. They request me to pray that they attain martyrdom. I pray for them to be prosperous and to get the reward of a martyr. The enemies had not considered this factor. Either they had ignored the history of early Islam or were unaware of it. Weapons and the implements of war did not bring victory for Islam in its early days over the two vast empires because the Muslims did not possess weapons. They had a camel. Some had horses. There were only a few horses in the whole army. They also had swords, either blunt or sharp. The other side- whether the Persian or Roman Empire- had everything. They had all the equipment and implements that were customary in those days. They possessed all the paraphernalia of war. But one thing they lacked- faith! Since they had no faith, orders would be passed in some of the battles that their army must be bound together to prevent the soldiers from running away. According to history, they would be chained together and taken to the battle front. You, my brothers, ought to know that our enemies have everything except faith. You have faith which is above all things. You have everything thank God.

I hope that just like in the early period of Islam, the power of faith and the Islamic army, with faith in itself and belief in God and the Day of Judgment, overcame those great empires that had dominated almost the entire world of the time, and had possessed all the powers, you- while being nothing in comparison with the big powers and the superpowers according to worldly standards- too will take the lead, God willing, on the spiritual plane and stop these powers from interfering in (the affairs of) your country. I hope that you will dispatch this corrupt Ba`athist regime, which is in its death throes, to the cemetery. You must, however, be careful in safeguarding this faith and the unity that it has brought you. We have given many martyrs and many of our youths we killed and disabled. But our people, the men and women, the young and old, have not lost their faith, thank God. They are sure that with their faith, they will overcome all the powerful countries that intend to commit aggression against us. May God give you victory. May He bless the souls of our martyrs and make our disabled ones recover quickly. May He reward our people and safeguard their unity of expression.

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