In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
His Eminence Hujjat-al-Islam Haj Sayyid `Ali Khamene'i- may his graces last:
We thank God that the enemies of Islam are foolish groups and individuals. And we are grateful to God that right from the onset of the grand Islamic Revolution, through all their plots, conspiracies, and all the speeches that they delivered, they only ended up making our nation more consolidated and united. And the Prophetic saying," Those who support this religion cannot be eliminated by corrupt men" «2» became manifest. They only managed to expose themselves further wherever they gave speeches. And the articles they published only managed to awaken our nation further. And all their assassinations of our leaders only added to the resilience of the united ranks of our nation. Today, by attempting to assassinate you «3»- as someone who hails from among the descendents of the Noble Prophet (s) and Imam (`a) and whose only crime is to serve Islam and the Islamic country and to serve as a selfless soldier at the warfronts and as a learned teacher on the pulpit, and as a powerful orator at the Friday and other congregational prayers and as a compassionate guide in the service of the Revolution- the enemies of the Revolution have proved the pathetic level of their political acumen, their" support" for the masses, and their" opposition" of the oppressors! They have such a dearth of political sense that they sullied their hands with this crime immediately following your speeches at the Majlis and the Friday congregational prayers and among the masses, and directed their evil intentions toward someone who is well-known in the world of Islam for his invitation to goodness and righteousness. Through this inhuman act of theirs, instead of evoking terror among the masses, they have only managed to make the Muslims more determined and united. Doesn't this savage and amateur act indicate that it is high time that our precious deceived youth freed themselves from their treacherous traps and it is for their fathers and mothers to ensure that their beloved children are not sacrificed for the whims of the criminals and for them to prevent them from getting involved in their criminal activities?! Do they not know that by getting involved in these crimes their youth will only get dragged to ruin and will lose their lives for the selfishness of a handful of criminals?! We can take pride before God Almighty and his true Wali- the Baqiyatullah, may our souls be sacrificed for him- over these soldiers who spend nights in worship and their days in serving God Almighty at the warfronts and behind them. I congratulate you, dear Khamene'i, for serving this oppressed nation at the warfronts as a soldier and behind them as a clergy. And I pray to God Almighty for your good health so that you can continue to serve Islam and the Muslims. May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you.
Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini