Speech [Deviant trends through the course of the Revolution; advising the army to refrain from involvement in political affairs]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Since this is the first time I have found the opportunity to see all you gentlemen together, I deem it necessary to express a few points.

Firstly, you have all been active on the scenes right from the onset of the Revolution and have witnessed the miseries that this country had faced. And all of you are well-informed on the history (of this country) and know what your country has suffered at the hands of the monarchial rule as well as the big powers, especially during the past fifty years. We could even say that what the army has undergone was probably worse than what the rest of the country has faced because with the employment of foreign military advisors in the army and with the state of affairs that ensued, they tried their utmost to damage the morale of the army. The morale and self-reliance of an army can only be maintained if it can independently manage its own affairs instead of functioning under the direction of foreign military advisors. Functioning under foreign advisors indicates that an army is under colonial influence and has no independent identity. Thus, as a rule, the plight of the army must have been worse than the other strata of this society. It was probably more tolerable for the rest of the nation to face the deprivations and sufferings but to force an army that should be defending and protecting a country and its frontiers to depend upon another country- no matter which one and how powerful it is- amounts to the destruction of the honor and dignity of that army.

In this regard, one of the most valuable gifts of this revolution that has been granted to us through God Almighty is that the hands of the big powers have been severed short of our army and their military advisors have been expelled from here. And today, you are independent and have your own commanders. When you work under your own commanders you no longer despair about having to take instructions from your own enemies. As you are aware, these big powers are the enemies of the masses and the countries, and the Muslim countries in particular. It is most deplorable for a man to be forced to humble himself in front of his own enemies and the enemies of Islam and his country.

From this angle, the gift that God Almighty has granted the army has also probably been more precious than what the other strata have received. Of course, all God's gifts are precious but now the army can, with the grace of God, honor its own dignity and function independently as it should. There is, however, some concern over a slight probability of the involvement of some hands in trying to revert (this country) to the earlier state of affairs. Although concerns over the return of a monarchial rule have undoubtedly been buried forever and do not exist anymore, some other problems, however, could be created. Those associated with the monarchy either support such a system or tend to believe that, in their own words," it is in the best interest of the nation to function under the big powers". Well, we also have some" religious" people who say their daily prayers, and probably even offer the supplementary night prayers, but who have been brought up to believe that the weak nations can never survive without the support of either of the superpowers. This is what they were taught in their schools. And even as they entered the society, such beliefs were repeatedly instilled into them. The newspapers and the magazines, too, propagated the belief that" you can never govern your country successfully" and that" to escape from the hold of the Eastern bloc, you would need to seek refuge in the Western bloc". Even the" religious" people believe that in order to escape from the clutches of the Soviet Union, which holds purely atheistic beliefs, we would helplessly need to join hands with the West, and now America. Although they do not wish to harm Islam, they have been brought up with such beliefs and think that they are in the interest of the nation.

During the past two years, and especially during my stay in Paris, they approached me with the suggestion of allowing the Shah to stay on as a ceremonial monarch while the country could be governed according to the law. I knew that they had been deceived. One of these respectable gentlemen approached me with this suggestion, to which I said:" What you are suggesting is to allow the Shah to stay on as a ceremonial monarch and not as an actual ruler. Even if we were to accept your suggestion, can you ensure that the Shah would accept it too? Or now that you are offering such a suggestion- and if I, too, start believing in such a possibility and compromise with him- could you be sure that he would not ultimately eliminate all of you?" He was left speechless and could not find any answer to this. What answer could he truly give me? Well, this is how these people have been brought up and they want the others to follow suit. In any case, they share a different approach and with their political approach they could, God forbid, revert us back to our earlier plight. Not in the form of a monarchy but in fact in the form of an Islamic Republic, like the ones we see in the other countries. They are merely called" Islamic" republics without any presence of Islam and are all under foreign influence.

I believe that it is a hundred times better to live under all kinds of adversity and hardship but to have a life of freedom and independence and eat whatever one has rather than living in grand apartments with hands spread out for help toward others and by bowing before others. Any self-respecting person would endorse this belief. This belief should be especially strong in the army. Things like the model of one's car should not hold much importance here and instead what should truly matter is one's honor and dignity as an army person.

There is a deviated trend in action these days. I do not want to indulge in personal names. But there certainly is a trend in action and if we examined the conditions that they have recently brought forth in the newspapers, we would find to our dismay that they are insidiously trying to push this country back toward America. It is important for this issue to hold the same gravity in the eyes of our army commanders as it holds in the eyes of Islam. And even if one merely suspects the presence of such a possibility, it should be confronted, instead of waiting to confirm the matter. There are certain matters that should be pursued and opposed even if a suspicion arises, provided the suspicion is based on firm grounds. Even if you only suspected- based upon a logical suspicion- the presence of a snake in this room, you would walk out of the room to avoid the snake.

Even if we suspect that the current trend that can be seen in the newspapers is aimed at preventing this country from attaining stability, we should pursue the issue. During the days of the interim government there were talks of dissolving the Assembly of Experts, an idea that was Amir Intizam's «1» brainchild, as we discovered later. In those days, some people- Mr. Bazargan «2» and his associates- approached us saying:" We are thinking of dissolving this Assembly". I asked them:" Who are you to take such a step?! Under what authority do you have the right to dissolve the Assembly? Go and instead mind your own business." As soon as they saw my firmness, they conceded.

The issue of dissolving the Assembly of Experts came up because the veterans from among them persuaded the weaker ones (into making this suggestion) because they had discovered that the Assembly of Experts had become an" Islamic" assembly and had turned into an assembly, most of whose members were Islamic scholars. And as you all know, they fear the presence of Islamic scholars. So it scared them off to see that this assembly had turned into an assembly of scholars. And if these Islamic scholars were to formulate the constitutional laws, they would formulate laws that would surely not be to the liking of the East and the West. And that is why they instigated these people and coerced them (into this action). These people, too, despite their background in politics, are unfortunately not very well-versed. And so this was the background that instigated this move.

This entire issue was followed by the issue of a referendum. They started making announcements through the newspapers, referring to a" return to Bahman 22". One of these gentlemen mentioned somewhere that what was meant by" returning to Bahman 22" was reverting back to the times prior to Bahman 22 and to the monarchial days, or in other word, to return to the early days of the Revolution. And irrespective of whatever progress had been achieved thus far,(they suggested) to start all over again. And after two full years of striving to establish peace and harmony and the Islamic Republic, to spoil everything! (In their words) "And now that we did not manage to succeed, let us repeat the referendum and see what happens- just for safe side!" Why? All this was because they had discovered that even the Assembly of Experts had turned out as an assembly of Islamic scholars, most of whom were staunch Muslims. Similarly, the government, too, had turned out to be a staunchly Muslim one. The Judiciary, too, had fallen into the hands of staunch Muslims. And all this had turned out to prove against their wishes.

They wanted us to have a Majlis like the earlier ones. And they wanted it to have members that held Western inclinations. And that did not happen!

That is why they started trying to destroy everything; (planning to) hold another referendum after two or three years. A referendum to question the very choice of establishing an Islamic Republic! A referendum questioning the constitutional law! A referendum questioning the appointment of a president! And a referendum to question the choice of having a Majlis! What does all this imply? It implies that they are trying to shake the foundations of this country. Now that this country has attained stability, the credit goes to the Revolution for succeeding in achieving all this within one year. And they wished to deprive the country of all this, thinking:" Now that things have not worked out our way, let's start all over again.(And claiming that) The people's decision is final". If the people's decision is final, then it was these same people who have voted for the Majlis, for the members of the Majlis, for the Islamic Republic, and for the Constitution. These votes were not cast by the Europeans! It was these same people who had taken the initiative. Which people do we now need to begin all over with? Coming back to our people, these people will not change (their decisions) even if the government falls fifty times! They are under the false impression that if the government falls this time, some other group (of their preference) will come into power. Least do they realize that if the government falls this time, not a single one of them will get elected again. The people know very well this time which people sincerely believe in Islam and which ones are weak or do not even believe in Islam. If the government falls this time, and if another referendum is held, it will only cast them all aside. It will only bring in a new set of people chosen by the nation and not vice versa. They restrained themselves earlier, waiting for things to go wrong, believing that things may weaken in a year or two, paving the path for America to return to" teach" us everything again. And since we are incapable of governing ourselves, let them come and govern over us! And that is why they brought up this issue.

I want to ask you gentlemen to stay awake and alert! Your enemies are standing-in-wait right outside the gates of Tehran and Iran. There are enemies of the country even within it. All these enemies are not at the same level. Some of them are serving the interests of the enemies out of ignorance. Some of them are our sworn enemies who do not want this Islamic Republic to exist, no matter what else replaces it. (It is irrelevant) whether it is a republic or a democratic republic or a people's republic; it does not matter what other republic is established as long as there is no sign of Islam in it. Because if an Islamic Republic is established and if the Constitution, too, is an Islamic constitution, then there would be no possibility for the return of their lords and masters! And because according to these gentlemen, we would then be deprived of a" civilization" and would not be able to catch up with the" civilized" nations! (According to them) we either need to fall into the hands of America or the Soviet Union, failing which, we would become reactionaries and would be cast aside. This is a mistake these gentlemen are making. They have been put into fear right from the beginning. They have turned into weaklings. They have no idea of the truth. They have no idea of the power of Islam. They have no idea of the power of a nation. No matter how small a nation is, if it is determined to achieve something, it is bound to succeed. If the superpowers want something else, it is their problem, because they are always looking for abundant countries to strip them of everything. And that is why they never seek out sterile regions. Moreover, they are smart enough to know that if all the people of a nation or even if most of its people stand in resistance against all adversity, they can no longer dare to occupy it and to ravage and plunder it. So they design plans to corrode the country from within. They put experts on the job to topple everything. You must remain alert.

The duty of every army person and every garrison is to refrain from undue interference in political affairs. This is because if a soldier has to get involved into political affairs, he will not be able to do his own job successfully. If a soldier's mind has to become pre-occupied with matters like who should be in power and who should not, and what should happen to this or that party, he can no longer be called a soldier. He becomes a politician in the guise of a soldier. All of you should stay alert and all the chiefs of the armed forces should take care to prevent the army from getting involved into political affairs. Entering into political affairs would mean a loss of dignity for the army. Political involvement within the army has an effect worse than heroin. In the same way that heroin destroys man, involvement in political affairs corrodes the army from within and robs it of a correct perspective. Keeping this in view, one of the things that you need to ensure seriously and powerfully is to prevent the army from getting involved in political affairs. Do not permit politicians to come there and speak about political issues. They can of course come and counsel you all and suggest certain amendments if required and empower you; all that is welcome. But if any of them tries to infuse some political issues into the army, it is a plot, even if the person himself may be unaware. It is a well-designed plot and he has become its unsuspecting executor.

The main issue that the superpowers are dealing with today is the realization that we now have an army that- by God's grace- is, both, united and powerful and it has been at war for more than nine months now and is advancing ahead each day, and this has evoked a deep fear in their hearts, gradually bringing in despair. That is why they are trying to create some internal problems in our army. One of the biggest problems they are trying to cause is to entangle our army in political affairs and to provoke it into making political statements. They are trying to cause conflicts between your ranks so that one group begins confronting another by supporting opposing political parties and so that your minds are constantly pre-occupied with all these party games! This is what could ruin the army.

Therefore, I command all the army chiefs to take care not to allow the military personnel to get involved in political affairs and not to allow any politicians to come and speak there because they could unknowingly provoke others. This is very important for the army to keep in mind. You should stay alert because just as I spoke to you gentlemen regarding drugs and if these people, too, enter the army, they will bring ruin to it. This is among the issues that the army should powerfully comply with.

One of the things that these political groups could insinuate to the army is that the army holds no significance in the eyes of Islam and the Islamic Republic. You all saw that at the very onset of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, one of the first things that the ones under the influence of the politics of the foreign hands brought up was that" this army is taghouti and that it should be eliminated". They labeled you all with the word" taghouti" in order to mislead the people! Well, we, too, were aware of the whole issue and what their intentions were. That is why we condemned such talks right from the very beginning and insisted that the army stayed on. It was with the uprising of the army that this nation could go ahead and everyone joined hands and went forward. They intended to rob Iran of this power and to ruin the army so that this county would be left without any army and so that Mr. Saddam could infiltrate easily and comfortably anywhere into this country! And so that Mr. Carter and Mr. Reagan could enter this country and do whatever they wanted. They wanted to pave the way for such things. You should firmly know that the army holds a very significant place in Islam. Islam considers the army as indispensable to itself and honors and supports it. The Iranian nation which is also Muslim, and all of us as Muslims, will protect the army with all our might. You should totally put aside and forget all their incitements to you regarding the future of the army. Iran and all its Muslim people are the friends and supporters of the army. And you can see for yourselves how, as you are (defending the country) at the warfronts, these people, too, are behind you and are supporting you in all ways possible without any coercion. (You can see how) small children come in with their money boxes for you and old women bring in all the gold that they have collected over the years to present to you.

Iran needs an army. Islam needs an army. But an Islamic army. One of the important pre-requisites for the army, as I must mention here, is for you to be Islamic. It was mainly with your belief in Islam that you were able to overpower the big powers. Since the army as well as the Revolutionary Guard Corps and the rest consider martyrdom as the greatest individual triumph, every time they come to see me, they cry and ask me to pray for their martyrdom and I pray for their victory. When such a spirit can be found in an individual or a group they are triumphant. Such a spirit has come to be nurtured under the tutelage of Islam. No other school can nurture a human being into crying for martyrdom! Just yesterday, someone who had lost a leg came here on crutches. I shook hands with him. And he asked me to pray for his martyrdom! This spirit is born under the influence of Islam. Strive to strengthen Islam in the garrisons wherever you are.

These Islamic associations will benefit you all. If anyone tells you that these Islamic associations are useless and that they are reactionary,( know that )they are saying these same things about all of us and all of you. They only desire to sidetrack you all with this label and to replace you with what they call" progressive" people! And who are these" progressive" people? These" progressive" people should either come here from America or from the Soviet Union. All their talks of" reactionaries" versus the" progressives" amount to Islam and Iran versus America and the Soviet Union. All these Islamic associations are beneficial for us. However, I have also advised these Islamic associations to keep their activities focused on Islam and to refrain from interfering into other affairs. This is the responsibility of the commanders. And if ever some elements come and incite you with claims like" these Islamic associations are useless" or that they are detrimental or" reactionary", you should know that this is their same plan to gain referendum.(They hope that) maybe these clerics will get sidetracked and these religious people will get sidetracked and these Islamic associations will close down and that maybe the things will revert to what was during the taghouti times. They are aiming at stripping them (the Islamic associations) off their main essence. These are some important issues that require your attention.

And I am aware of the conditions within the army. It is not as if I do not know. I am aware of who the people are that sometimes approach you all and what they say and what reactions they evoke. You should take care so that, God forbid, some day the Iranian nation does not end up saying that the army is useless and that it has nothing to do with Islam and such stuff. You can be empowered only if you have the support of the nation. In the same way that the nation cannot survive without the presence of an army, an army, too, cannot survive without a nation. An army that does not have the support of a nation cannot be called an army in the same way that a nation whose army works against it cannot survive. You should try your utmost to strengthen your bonds with the nation and that will be moving powerfully in the direction of Islam. As long as the people find that you are on the path of Islam and that you are on the same path and direction because of which they have sacrificed their blood and for which they called out slogans of" God is the Greatest" and fell out on the streets and got crushed under the tanks and saw all such tribulations, they will support you. But if some day they feel that, no, you have strayed off a little from that path, they will forsake you. The people have not tied any brotherly pacts with individuals! Not with any of us.

If this nation finds some day that I have strayed from the path that it and this great wave (of people) has chosen for itself and if it finds that I am trying to swim against that wave, they will destroy me; and this applies to anyone and everyone.

We should strive, both, as our national obligation as well as our religious obligation to protect this country. And the safety of this country can be guaranteed if this army is a selfless and cohesive Islamic army that works in unity with the nation. The army itself should be well-consolidated.

And the other armed forces should also share brotherly relations with the army, as they already do. And you should take the Revolutionary Guards Corps under your wing while they do the same with you. You should all strive together to salvage your country.

And another point that may be beneficial to repeat, although it may not seem that important, is that there is possibly a group of people in your garrisons who have been deceived and may be complaining and saying things- people who against this path, which is the path of Islam, end up supporting whoever they want, which goes against the path of Islam. The commanders should trace out such people. And those who wish to stay in the army and work for the interests of the country, which is not any different from the interests of Islam, should maintain this spirit of independence and refrain from getting inclined to this or that (political) group.

Our army is the army of Islam and if, God forbid, anyone- whether a soldier or a commander- finds that he cannot adjust to this kind of life, he does not have to stay on in the army and he can find another job for himself. The army commanders should dismiss such people so that they can make their living elsewhere. They should not stick on and, God forbid, ruin the army. These are the things that I wished to remind you gentlemen.

And yet another point is that you, and specially the army commanders, should strive toward accelerating the pace of your advances. This is because Saddam and his supporters may begin to propagate that since the army commander-in-chief has been dismissed, the Iranian army has weakened.

Although I know that people like Mr. Bani Sadr are good orators, you are the people who make the advances (in the battlefronts) and it is our soldiers who make the sacrifices. However, there is every possibility that Saddam and his supporters may resort to false propaganda in order to boost the morale of their army and to demoralize our army by resorting to such tricks.

If you manage to gain a couple of victories, you will thwart their plots and Saddam will no longer be able to propagate that our army has been demoralized. No, there is no question of being demoralized since nothing has happened. Our army is very much there and its commanders will manage it. The President will dispose of his duties as a president and does not have to be the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

These were the issues that I wanted to discuss with you and (I wished) to assure you that as long as you serve Islam as its soldiers, Islam will support you and as long as you strive for the cause of Islam and the country- as you are doing now, by the grace of God, and shall continue to do- the nation will also continue to support you. As you may have already realized, all your bitter experiences of being under the control of the foreign countries during the period of Muhammad Rida have been replaced by the sweetness of independence and being the army of God Almighty and" Allahu akbar" and, God willing, things will be still sweeter in future.

May you be triumphant and victorious and succeed in protecting Islam and the independence of your country!

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