Speech [Importance of maintaining harmony and solidarity between government and nation]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I think that some of the changes which happened in Iran after the revolution have something to do with what we have achieved. One of these changes is the harmony between the government and the nation. Perhaps this is on top of other changes. We must maintain this harmony at whatever cost. If, God forbid, you lose this harmony, you will fail in your job and the country will, God forbid, regress back to what it used to be before. I do not think that aside from Iran, at least as far as I know, we can find such harmony between the nation and the government. We do not have such a thing; that's, the government does not have such a thing as discussing an issue behind closed doors and then impose it on the nation just like Fahad's proposal.

The regional governments, all of them, we mostly have these governments in mind, or to be more exact, most of them decide on things without people and even without taken their interests into account. They do not care about what the nation thinks about the issue. To them, the people have nothing to do with it. If any where there is kind of a consultative assembly, it is just an outward appearance like the consultative assembly at the time of Muhammad-Rida and Rida Shah where there was just the form so as to say they also had an assembly, but an assembly should be organized by the nation itself without imposition. It should be the opinion of the nation without having it forced on them. I do not think that you can find a place where everything is in the hands of the nation and the government is made up of the nation and serves it.

Neither you nor we want things to regress back to what they used to be during the time of Muhammad-Rida or the time of Rida Khan. If we get weak and do not maintain this harmony, there is fear that those who were dealt a blow by Islam and those who are worried about the situation in Iran and the whole region would do something and find a way to weaken the country and create differences among the individuals of the nation and between the nation and the government. They might find a way to install another Rida Shah as the president of the Islamic Republic and not as a king but as a president who is fully Islamic, practicing Islam more than you and I. That's why maintaining this harmony must be a top priority on the government's agenda. Those in the government should not think whether proposals or ideas must be accepted by the nation, even when they are not in its interest.

You see that they go to America and come up with a proposal between Egypt, Tel Aviv and Washington and later argue that this proposal must be put into effect; they do not care about the Egyptian, Palestinian and Lebanese nations. They do not care about the wrong done to them; they just care about the interests of the superpowers with total disregard for nations. As you experienced during the time of Muhammad-Rida and Rida Shah, the government did not care about the nation because the traitor at the top did not care about anybody. Rida Khan and Muhammad-Rida Khan did not care about anybody. This treatment helped them impose their authority, because there was only one person and it's possible to reach understanding with one person. The reason why they do not want the nation to get involved is that it is not easy to build rapport with him. They do not want the nation to be involved, as it is not easy to build rapport with a nation. But they can do that with one president, with a prime minister or with a king and in this way they can tell him what they want and he in turn imposes it on the people. The people were not prepared and the superpowers did want them to be. And governments ran things in way that they left the nation out of everything. The idea was that: You are the rulers and must do everything by yourselves.

Now things have changed in Iran and the president must definitely govern in coordination with the nation; the prime minister along with the cabinet run all the affairs. In Iran there is no longer such a thing as" the nation has nothing to do with politics; we are the government". This is one of the biggest changes in Iran that has helped you push ahead by the grace of God. You cannot do what you are doing right now in Iran without having harmony with the nation. Harmony with the nation means paying attention to what they want. The people want a good governor who is upright. Well suppose there is a governor in a given place who is not on good terms with the people. You remove him and put in his place another one. And the `ulama' in the cities do not want to rule, they just pay attention to the interests of the people. They may say that a certain official is not compatible with the interests of people. It is not an important thing; you just put him in another place. Or if he is the sort of person who messes up everything wherever you put him, just put him aside and forget him. The point I am trying to make is that rapport between the nation and the government is when there is understanding between the clergy and the nation.

You have seen how the clergy came under attacks during all this time. Perhaps no one of you has experienced the time of Rida Shah to precisely know what they did. The clergy came under all sorts of attacks because they saw the clergy and the nation were in full agreement with each other. If they stayed alive and established an identity, they would cal on people in case they wanted to do something. Well, Rida Shah also saw that in many places like Khorasan, Isfihan, Azerbaijan and other places the clergy were the ones who triggered off the uprising. The main point is that they want to sidestep the people from daily matters. Not having any contact with the people or with daily issues is a big harm that occurs to governments while they are not aware of it.

You should understand the point that whatever you have is from the people. If it had not been for the people, especially the oppressed ones in the poor neighborhoods of the cities, you would have been either in prison or in exile or isolated. All of you would have sat at your houses without speaking a word. If you had spoken, you would have been thrown in prison and persecuted or exiled and so on and so forth. This nation came and helped you out of all troubles, set up an assembly, approved of the Islamic Republic, installed a government and elected a president for the republic. Whatever we have is because of the people, especially the oppressed people. Those at the top have nothing to do with the people; they are busy with their own business and want to create discontent. Another point is that they had free outlet for their carnal desires but now they do not. These free carnal passions urged them to do whatever they wanted, have whatever parties they like and enjoy whatever facilities they wanted. Now under the Islamic Republic such things are not possible. Therefore, they either engage in sabotage or have nothing to do with you. It was the people who saved you from torture and trouble and put you at the helm of the government. As long as you have the people, no harm will come to you from them, because they harm by drawing plans; they do not kill the people. They want the nation to work for them, they do not want to ruin the country; they want the country to flourish so as to benefit. Yet, they draw up plans to cause a rift between the nation and the government and between the government and the clergy. If this rift grows wider little by little, it will cause discontent and the people will dissociate from the government, in which case you should either have to use force or step down.

This is a divine gift given to you, to all of us and to all Muslims. So, take it and hold onto it. I would like to say the same to the president and the prime minister and to all of you. Wherever you are and whenever you want to send officials, make sure that they are in tune with the people. Just as you want to be of the same view with the people they too should be one with the people and with the clergy so as to have harmony with people. All the government agent should have harmony with the people. This will lead to solidarity between the nation and people and this way Iran will be protected and no one can do anything against it. Their chief act is to create discord. First of all they prefer to create discord among different nations, and if they fail to do so, they will try to create discord between a nation and its government, as it is much easier. They order countries to bring forward some proposals, then they would say people might get angry, but they cannot do anything. In this way they create differences. This difference can gradually reach a point that may bring about their downfall.

This is the current situation in the region where a few people want to rule over the whole region. They do not care about the nations because people have nothing to do with them and with what they want. We say to the nation and to all nations that they should know that today is not like yesterday. Today, people are aware that a minority must not rule over an overwhelming majority. People are aware of this point. In the Islamic countries people are saying that they should have an Islamic republic. They do not want a democratic republic, or anything western guised as Islamic. We do not want another western monarchy now that we have got rid of our monarchy. Now, all nations and almost all Islamic nations have become aware of this issue. They want to have what happened in Iran. So, you should maintain this and keep it going. You should keep it going with all its forms. God willing, you should all feel that you are really servants of the nation.

The prophets had such a feeling that they saw themselves as servants. No prophet imagined that he was ruling over people. There was no talk of ruling. The great prophets and saints of God had the feeling to guide and serve the people. You too should have this feeling deep down in your hearts that we have really come to serve the people and when we serve them we have served ourselves; that's, if we can make this country push ahead under this condition and with the preparedness of the people and their harmony with the government, whatever happens to the government, the people will rush to help. You may know that in the past soldiers were taken to the battlefields by force. You saw how many people rushed to warfronts when I was asked to announce we needed soldiers. I did not say a word and people flocked in thousands till they said it was enough. They know they are going to war to get killed. Such a nation which has undergone this change by the grace of God should be appreciated. We should serve them.

Actually, when I see such youth, and compare their words and state wit mine. I really feel embarrassed. God has placed them in our hands. This is a divine act and no human can do it. If all humanity come together to convince someone to volunteer for death they cannot do it. This is the work of God.

Therefore, the highest priority on the agenda of the government should be creating rapport between people and the government. We should not just say" we have understanding." You who are the minister of finance, make sure you send individuals who are righteous and who are harmonious with the people, not individuals who do just like what was done in the past. If the minister of interior wants to send someone or want to send governors, he should send governors who are in tune with people and the clerics, not someone who can create difference that will gradually grow wider. When there is a difference between the governor and a mullah, this difference will be extended to lower levels. In such circumstances people will not desert the mullah to gather around the governor. People naturally want the mullahs, because they are the base of Islam. People want Islam and they are like the representatives of Islam. Therefore, whenever anyone wants to send an official to a given place, he should look carefully into the official and what he is like. What he was like and what he should be like. And he should be advised to have harmony with people and the clergy and that he should not go there and start opposition people.

We should maintain these things. If these things are maintained, you will not have to think that someone can harm you from the outside. God willing, they cannot do anything. May God protect you. If you are at the service of God, in whom God is interested, God will protect you. May God grant success and victory to you. You people, the government, the president, the parliament and other organs should join hands to fulfill your duties.

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