Speech [Overall national support of the Armed Forces of the country and the necessity to ignore rumors spread by the enemy]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

You gentlemen who are present here from the various groups of society are the living exemplars of sacrifice and are the living proof of the crimes of the superpowers. These photographs exposing the major crimes of the superpowers that have been committed at the hands of the Ba`ath Party of Iraq and these beloved ones who have lost their health and are sitting before me are the biggest and the most commendable evidence of self-sacrifice for the Muslim country and for beloved Islam and are the best proof of the crimes committed by the likes of Saddam and their lords and masters.

I find myself wanting while expressing my thanks to these forces that have been dedicated to the cause of Islam and these young members of the Islamic forces and particularly the Air Force that probably took a lead over the rest. I must thank and commend the entire Iranian nation- those who are at the war fronts as well as those who are supporting them from behind the fronts- for their selfless participation in what can be called a jihad.

My brothers and beloved ones! I acclaim the services of all of you who have participated in this jihad, whether you belong to the Armed Forces, the Army and its other bodies, or the revolutionary guard corps as well as the civilians from among you whether you are from the tribes or from the towns. And those of you who are at the warfronts- whether you belong to the Air Force or to the Navy or the Army or whether you are revolutionary guards or ethnics or others- you are all witnessing that the entire Iranian nation from every nook and corner- women, men, the young and the old- are standing in support of you. And this is an absolutely unprecedented spiritual and Islamic phenomenon, the like of which can not be found anywhere else. These youth from the different towns, from the tribes, and from the other sections of the nation who come to the battlefronts to support you are not in any way compelled to do so. This support stems from the love that they have for Islam and for the Islamic country.

If, God forbid, there are some people or groups among the Armed Forces or the Revolutionary Guard Corps or from among the others who are at the battlefront that claim that the nation is not with you or some section of the nation is not with you or if they claim that you do not have the support of the clergy, do know that they are forces that do not want this country to settle down. Stay aware and decide for your own selves. Switch on the televisions and the radios and see for yourselves that all strata of the country- the women, the men, the youth, and the adolescents- all of them are expressing their support and are taking due action. Also know that those elements from the Armed Forces, the Police or the Revolutionary Guard Corps who tell you things that are contrary to what your own hearts, eyes, and ears are witnessing are not your well-wishers. They are either speaking out of ignorance or they are the agents of vested elements. They are either appointed to create rifts between the Army and its various bodies or to create opposition between the Army and the Revolutionary Guards or then they are ignorant people who are inflicting harm to this Islamic country out of their ignorance. You are witnessing that the nation is with you in support and the nation is witnessing that these armed forces along with all their various bodies as well as their personnel are selflessly devoted to Islam and Iran. The evidence is in the photographs of the youth who have been martyred or disabled at these warfronts. These evidences have been put before the nation so that they are not under the misconception that, God forbid, there are people at the warfronts who are neglecting their duties. At the same time, you can see that the nation is behind you in support so do not think that you have been left alone and that the nation or some groups from the nation are against you. The present Army is very different from the previous one. You should know that in the days of the previous regime if the Army had to fight against a group or a government, neither did the army show any enthusiasm or willingness nor did the various sections of the nation support it. It is the blessing of Islam and the Qur'an that is with us today. Only the power of Islam can unite all the strata of society and can create such a popular movement.

All those who do not leave you at peace at the warfronts and all those who want to present a distorted and unreal image of you to the nation are the enemies of this revolution, knowingly or unknowingly; and are at the service of the superpowers. It is a major crime to choose to be at the service of the superpowers knowingly, and it is a similar crime to be at their service out of ignorance. Today, if a word is uttered in order to demoralize the Armed Forces, the Police, the Revolutionary Guards or the ethnics, it is a word directly aimed against Islam. And even if an undue word is uttered against the organizations that are serving this country it is against Islam. Whenever Islam is faced with danger and the Muslim countries are faced with danger it is a duty to show forbearance and to push behind one's selfishness so that the country does not face defeat and the Army, God forbid, is not disintegrated.

Those who take any action or write or speak for the sake of their own vested interests should not think that they have grasped the true message of Islam; they are in fact the enemies of Islam, knowingly or unknowingly. But our vast nation of millions of people living in the different parts of this country as well as our Armed Forces and the Police who are at the warfronts or are serving behind the fronts should be certain that they are all working for the cause of Islam and they should not listen to people who intend to cause dissension among them or intend to create a rift between them and the nation or to separate the clergy from them. You should judge and decide for your own selves and should not pay heed to what the others say, whoever or wherever they may be. Judge for yourselves and see whether this nation supports you or not and see for yourself whether the clergy is with you or is against you.

Pay attention to the speeches of the clergy and the national representatives as well as the actions of the nation and then do not believe anything or any talks that stand in contradiction. Similarly, I request the Islamic nation and the honorable Iranian nation not to pay heed to rumors. Consult your own hearts and witness that those who are making sacrifices on the borders and are giving up their lives at the battlefronts for the cause of Islam are truly the armies of Islam and they are the ones who are protecting this Islamic country with their sacrifices. If someone speaks against them in your presence you should know that he is either an ignorant simpleton or a corrupt scholar.

Today one of the major conspiracies of those who wish to plunder this country and our resources and who have lost hope in other strategies is to spread rumors. Wherever you go, you will witness that they have spread some rumor against a group or against individuals. Rumor-mongering has become very rampant. Refrain from giving ear to these rumor-mongers. Do not listen to those who speak out of bias and self-interest. Check out for your own selves. If you are told that a certain group is against you, check out for yourself if it is true or not. In order to verify the truth, you should examine the words, the actions, as well as the writings of that group.

If someone disagrees with you within of himself, it will not cause you any harm but if someone openly declares his opposition to a certain group, then you need to judge for yourself. If someone comes and tells you that a certain section of our Army, our Gendarmerie, the Police, the Revolutionary Guards or others who are busy making sacrifices at the warfronts are, God forbid, negligent or treacherous, you should know that these words are from people who intend to create rifts between you and the Armed Forces and you should consult your own conscience. Those who are standing at the sidelines without involving themselves and are speaking against those who are making sacrifices each day and are getting killed or disabled each day, intending to create rifts among the nation- between the Army and the other parties or between the Revolutionary Guards and the Army- are the same ones who are spreading corruption and rumors and are resorting to such things in order to return the country to its earlier plight. Never lend your ears to such rumors. Check the truth for your own selves and if they make allegations against someone do not pay heed to them and instead check out that person's actions for yourselves. If you find that his actions are deviated, no matter who praises him, he is in the wrong. And if his actions are good, any allegations against him are unwarranted. We should be capable of judging independently and all the groups and the whole nation and all the forces- the Army and the Police and the Armed Forces as well as the civilians- should be able to judge for themselves. Do not accept what others have to say about this and that group without checking out for yourselves. Surely there are corrupt people in all groups who have infiltrated these groups to cause dissension among you and to breathe in differences in order to benefit themselves or their lords and masters who are those superpowers.

We have many enemies today and shall always have enemies. The blow that you have dealt out to the superpowers has been unprecedented in history. So do not expect them to remain spectators. When they can, they launch a military attack on us and if not, they attack us by spreading negative propaganda in our country. They intend to cause rifts among us. According to certain media sources, some of the leaders of the Muslim countries- whose countries are Islamic but not their heads- had participated in a conference in Ta'if where some of them, although not all, had said that we should cause differences between the Shi`ah and the Sunnis in Iran and should do something that will make them kill each other so that this Islamic government falls.

Our Shi`ah brothers and our Sunni brothers! Stay alert and if someone comes to you from among yourselves and speaks against your Shi`ah or Sunni brothers, know that it is the same plot which was laid during that conference and that they are putting into action that same plot that was proposed by those most corrupt leaders along with some governments. Stay alert and foil that evil plot! You are all brothers and the Qur'an has commanded you to have brotherly relations and all the believers are brothers. «2» It is not right for anyone to lend his ear to someone who wishes to cause a rift between him and his brother. Remember that if ever a rift is caused, God forbid, it will neither benefit the Shi`ah nor will it benefit the Sunnis and it will in fact end up benefiting the unbelievers and those who want to trample the message of Islam. May God grant health and happiness to all the various groups of our nation! May He inundate all our martyrs in His Mercy and may He grant recovery to all our disabled ones! I beseech God to grant health and happiness to the entire nation!

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