Speech [The Tir 7 catastrophe and the persecution of Martyr Beheshti]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I express my condolences to the Iranian nation and to you gentlemen who were the close associates of Mr. Beheshti as well as the other martyrs on this great tragedy. «1» The intention of your enemies is to focus their attacks on those who are the most competent. They target the people whom they fear. I have repeatedly mentioned that the late Mr. Beheshti lived a life of persecution in this country. All the opponents of Islam and this country had made him and his friends the direct target of their attacks. The man I knew for over twenty years and whose character I was well aware of and whom I believed to be virtuous and useful for this country was portrayed you know how by the opponents in their speeches and everywhere they went. They portrayed a virtuous man like him to be a dictator! You should be prepared for dealing with such issues. Or in other words, a country that has revolted for freedom and to liberate itself from the powers of the East and the West should be prepared to face all kinds of consequences. A man can either submit himself to all kinds of indignity and domination or then if he wishes to remain independent, he has to be prepared to face all kinds of consequences. Since our nation wanted to become independent and free and since it wished to sever the hands of the criminals from this country it is hoped that it will also withstand these consequences. These criminals mistakenly believe that Iran after the Revolution is also like the other countries in which if they blast a few bombs and if they eliminate a few of their beloved ones and martyr them, the nation will retreat. This is despite the fact that they have the experience with our nation in which, no matter how many times they assassinated our important personalities, our scholars, and our thinkers, our nation only progressed further with more determination; and shall continue to do so. It is not as if just because they have martyred a few people, the rest will resign. This has been a tradition from the very onset of Islam and all the godly people have shown resistance against all kinds of danger, hardship, and difficulty. No one will probably bear a lifetime of hardship that the Prophet of God (s) had undergone. And no one has probably faced the kind of hardship that he had faced right from his childhood and youth to the last days of his life and no one has stood up more determinedly against criminals and big powers. We have inherited this from the divine Masters. Well, an incident has taken place and I hope that this incident with which our enemies intended to inflict a setback upon us will, God willing, only prove to carry us further.

In my opinion, Mr. Mousawi is the best replacement for the late Mr. Beheshti and for us to handle these affairs speedily. And as usual I also seek the counsel of you gentlemen on this issue. As you all know, he is competent for this responsibility and is well equipped with, both, the jurisprudential expertise as well as the moral requirements for the same. My experience with him over the long years indicates that he is the most suitable person for this responsibility. Thus, I think he should be appointed today itself. If you gentlemen have any other opinion and if you have anyone else in mind please go ahead and introduce him. And if he gains the approval of the majority, their opinion shall be honored.

As you all know judgment is a very important matter. A judge should know that he is dealing with the lives, the property, and the honor and dignity of people. And you know very well that if, God forbid, an error takes place, it will only be aggrandized by the opponents of this movement and will be spread everywhere. You all witnessed how our opponents had begun with their plots and it was only through God's mercy that they got exposed. My advice to the respected judges is to keep in mind the importance of their responsibility and the importance that Islam gives to this issue and to take care to be discreet in their verdicts and as far as possible to try to foster reconciliation between the involved parties.

Nonetheless, it is a very important task and its responsibility is very high. You should take care to deliver on it competently.

I pray to God Almighty for everyone's success. This country belongs to all of you. There is nobody else here anymore. There are no foreign advisors. We want to handle things ourselves and, thus, need to be very careful to do a good job. In other words, if everyone only delivers upon the responsibility he has been vested with, soon, every aspect of this country will function smoothly. I pray to God for everyone's success.