Supreme Leader's Speech
at Imam Khomeini Naval Academy in Noshahr
(2012/09/18)
The following is the full text of the speech delivered on September 17,
2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution at
Imam Khomeini Naval Academy in the city of Noshahr.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I would like to congratulate you dear youth and the dynamic and
motivated officers of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran's
Army on your graduation. I would also like to congratulate the youth who
will start treading this path in our military academies from today. Your
path is the path of glory. Your path is the path that any liberated man
would praise in his heart. It is the path of defending lofty Islamic
values, which is a vital necessity. You are already on this path and you
are treading a sensitive and dangerous part of it. The Armed Forces
spearhead the resistance of the Islamic Republic, divine government and Is
lamic civilization against the enemies and ill-wishers. Our dear youth
follow this path with motivation, love, awareness and insight, which will
bring about honor for them in this world and in the next. Dear people, the
path you are following is a spiritual and auspicious path. Appreciate the
value of this path. No matter in which part of the Armed Forces of the
Islamic Republic of Iran's Army you are serving, consider your services a
righteous deed that will be rewarded by Allah the Exalted and will improve
your spiritual status in this world and in the next.
I would also like to congratulate the honorable officials of the
Islamic Republic of Iran's Army as well as the officials of this
university on the efforts that they have made to educate you dear youth.
Today's programs were beautiful and innovative. May God bestow success on
you so that with every step you take, you can help our country and our
honorable and supportive nation take a step forward. Tod ay love for
progress, action and innovation has filled every part of our country. In
different areas - including scientific and technological areas, areas that
involve innovations, and political and social areas - everybody is
thinking about introducing novel and innovative ways. And this path is
open to you dear cadets and young officers of the Islamic Republic of
Iran's Armed Forces. You enjoy the blessing of youth and you are making
efforts in scientific environments. You also have the honor of serving in
the Armed Forces, which are described by the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.)
as strong walls that protect peoples.
As time passes, the importance and value of making efforts to
strengthen the Islamic Republic becomes clearer. In their confrontation
with this great and vibrant movement, today the enemies of Islam and the
Islamic Ummah feel that they have fallen behind. For this reason, they do
idiotic things. The recent insult to the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.) is
a lesson that will go down in our history. Leaders of the arrogant powers
refuse to condemn this move and they fail to do their responsibility in
the case of this great crime. They also try to distance themselves from
this event. They claim that they are not involved. We do not insist on
proving that certain people or government officials were involved in this
crime, but the behavior and methods of the leaders of the arrogant powers,
American politicians and certain European countries have caused peoples of
the world to point the finger of blame at them. They should prove that
they were not an accomplice in this great crime and they cannot do so by
simply denying their involvement. They should prove their innocence with
actions. They should prevent such transgressions. Of course, they will not
do so and the reason is clear.
Organizations which are affiliated with the arrogant powers have the
motivation to insult Islam and what is held sacr ed in Islam. The great
wave of Islamic Awakening is what causes them to do such idiotic things.
They reason that because of their respect for freedom of expression, they
cannot prevent people from committing such great sins. Who would believe
this in the world? In the countries where there are specific red lines
that help maintain the principles of their arrogant power, in the
countries where they seriously enforce these red lines and use force to
stop people from violating them, who would believe that in those countries,
government officials feel obligated to respect freedom of expression when
it comes to insulting what is held sacred in Islam?
Today in many western countries, nobody dares question the Holocaust
whose nature is questionable. According to the reports I have received, in
America if people decide to write something against homosexuality on the
basis of psychological and sociological principles, they will be prevented
from publishing their wor k. How is it that these people feel obligated to
respect freedom of expression? Whenever it comes to evil Zionist policies
which require them to violate ethical principles of peoples and to corrupt
young generations, freedom of expression becomes meaningless and nobody
has the courage or permission to publish anything against wicked and
malicious Zionist policies or against an issue like the Holocaust, but
this is not the case with insults against what is held sacred in Islam,
insults which are aimed at making Muslim youth in Islamic countries lose
respect for what is held sacred in Islam. Nobody would believe their
claims. Nobody would believe that the American regime is a supporter of
democracy, a regime that supported a person like Hosni Mubarak for thirty
years and a person like Mohammad Reza Pahlavi for thirty five years in
spite of all those crimes he committed in Iran. Nobody would believe that
their invasion of Iraq and their attacks against Saddam Hussein were an
effort to fight dictatorship. They create dictators. It is their support
that has enabled the regional dictators - who have ruled in our Islamic
region during different eras - to bully and oppress their own people and
make them suffer from discrimination. How can they claim to support
democracy? Nobody would believe their claims.
Today global public opinion is against American and Zionist policies.
Yes, governments do not protest because of certain considerations, but
peoples cannot tolerate this any longer. Whenever they find such an
opportunity, they protest against centers affiliated with America, against
America's social and political centers in different countries. They hate
American and Zionist policies.
The confrontation between Islam and the arrogant powers of our time
will undoubtedly end with a victory for Islam. The Islamic Republic has a
great responsibility to fulfill in this regard and an important part of
this responsibility fa lls on the shoulders of you dear youth who serve in
different parts of our Armed Forces. I hope Allah the Exalted bestows
success on all of you. I hope Allah the Exalted raises the spiritual
position of the honorable martyrs who have sacrificed their lives over the
past 32, 33 years. I hope He associates their souls with His saints in the
hereafter. I also hope Allah the Exalted associates our honorable Imam (r.a.),
who opened up this path for all of us, with His saints.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings
13/09/2012
The following is the full text of the message issued on September 13,
2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution to
condemn an American-made film which insults the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.).
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
The Mighty and Wise Allah said: "Their intention is to extinguish
Allah's Light with their mouths: But Allah will complete His Light, even
though the unbelievers may detest (it)." [The Holy Quran, 61: 8]
Honorable people of Iran, great Islamic Ummah:
The wicked enemies of Islam have once again revealed their deep malice
by insulting the Holy Prophet (God's greetings be upon him and his
household) and in an idiotic and disgusting move, they showed that evil
Zionist groups are furious at the increasing brilliance of Islam and the
Holy Quran in the world today. The fact that they have made the holiest
person in all of creation the target of their disgusting nonsense is
enough to disgrace those who have committed this great crime and sin. What
lies behind this wicked move is the hostile policies of Zionism, America
and other leaders of the arrogant powers, who are vainly trying to make
young generations in the Islamic world lose respect for what is held
sacred and to extinguish their religious sentiments. If they had refused
to support the previous links in this evil chain - namely, Salman Rushdie,
the Danish cartoonist and Quran-burning American priests - and if they had
not ordered tens of anti-Islam films from the companies affiliated with
Zionist capitalists, today this great and unforgivable sin would not have
been committed. The number one culprit in this crime is Zionism and the
American government. If American politicians are sincere that they are not
involved, they should duly punish the perpetrators and the financial
backers of this hideous crime, who have filled the hearts of Muslim people
with pain.
And our Muslim brothers and sisters throughout the world should know
that these futile and desperate moves by the enemies against Islamic
Awakening are a sign of the greatness and importance of this uprising and
a sign of its increasing growth. "And Allah has full power and control
over His affairs." [The Holy Quran, 12: 21]
Sayyid Ali Khamenei
Shahrivar 23, 1391
(2012/08/30)
The following is the full text of Ayatollah Khamenei’s inaugural
address delivered on August 30, 2012 at the 16th Non-Aligned Summit in
Tehran.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Two Worlds, and may peace
and blessings be upon the greatest and trustworthy Messenger and on his
pure progeny, his select companions, and all the prophets and divine
envoys.
I welcome you honorable guests, the leaders and delegations
representing the member states of the Non-Aligned Movement, and all the
other participants of this great international summit.
We have gathered here to continue a movement with God’s guidance and
assistance and to give it new life and momentum on the basis of the
current conditions and needs in the world. The movement was founded almost
six decades ago thank s to the intelligence and courage of a few caring
and responsible political leaders who were aware of the conditions and
circumstances of their time.
Our guests have gathered here from different geographical locations,
far and near, and they belong to different nationalities and races with
different ideological, cultural and historical characteristics, but just
as Ahmad Sukarno, one of the founders of this movement said in the famous
Bandung Conference in the year 1955, the basis of establishing the
Non-Aligned Movement is not geographical or racial and religious unity,
but rather unity of needs. At that time, the member states of the
Non-Aligned Movement were in need of a bond that could safeguard them
against authoritarian, arrogant and insatiable networks and today with the
progress and spread of the instruments of hegemony, this need still exists.
I would like to point out another truth. Islam has taught us that in
spite of the ir racial, linguistic and cultural differences, human beings
share the same nature, which calls them to purity, justice, benevolence,
compassion and cooperation. It is this universal human nature which – if
it can safely steer away from misleading motives – guides human beings to
monotheism and understanding of God’s transcendent essence.
This brilliant truth has such potential that it can form the foundation
of societies which are free and proud and at the same time enjoy progress
and justice. It can extend the light of spirituality to all material and
worldly endeavors of humankind and it can create a paradise on earth for
human beings in advance of the other-worldly paradise, which has been
promised by divine religions. And it is this common and universal truth
that can form the foundations of brotherly cooperation among the nations
that do not share any similarities in terms of outward structures,
historical background and geographical location.
Whenever international cooperation is based on such a foundation,
governments will build their relationships with each other not on the
basis of fear and threats, or greed and unilateral interests, or mediation
of treasonous and venal individuals, but on the basis of wholesome and
shared interests and more importantly, the interests of humanity. In this
way, governments can relieve their awakened consciences and put the minds
of their peoples at ease.
This values-based order is the exact opposite of the hegemony-based
order, which has been upheld, propagandized and led by hegemonic Western
powers in the recent centuries and by the domineering and aggressive
government of America today.
Dear guests, today after the passage of nearly six decades, the main
values of the Non-Aligned Movement remain alive and steady: values such as
anti-colonialism, political, economic and cultural independence,
non-alignment with any power blocs, and improving solidarity and
cooperation among the member states. The realities of today’s world fall
short of those values, but the collective will and comprehensive efforts
to change the existing realities and achieve these values, though full of
challenges, are promising and rewarding.
In the recent past, we have been witness to the failure of the policies
of the Cold War era and the unilateralism that followed it. Having learnt
lessons from this historical experience, the world is in transition
towards a new international order and the Non-Aligned Movement can and
should play a new role. This new order should be based on the
participation of all nations and equal rights for all of them. And as
members of this movement, our solidarity is an obvious necessity in the
current era for establishing this new order.
Fortunately, the outlook of global developments promises a
multi-faceted syste m in which the traditional power blocs are replaced
with a group of countries, cultures and civilizations from different
economic, social and political origins. The striking events that we have
witnessed over the past three decades clearly show that the emergence of
new powers has coincided with the decline of the traditional powers. This
gradual transition of power provides the non-aligned countries with an
opportunity to play a significant and worthy role on the world stage and
prepare the ground for a just and truly participatory global management.
In spite of varying perspectives and orientations, we member states of
this movement have managed to preserve our solidarity and bond over a long
period of time within the framework of the shared values and this is not a
simple and small achievement. This bond can prepare the ground for
transitioning to a just and humane order.
Current global conditions provide the Non-Aligned Movement with an
opportunity tha t might never arise again. Our view is that the control
room of the world should not be managed by the dictatorial will of a few
Western countries. It should be possible to establish and ensure a
participatory system for managing international affairs, one that is
global and democratic. This is what is needed by all the countries that
have been directly or indirectly harmed as a result of the transgression
of a few bullying and hegemonic countries.
The UN Security Council has an illogical, unjust and completely
undemocratic structure and mechanism. This is a flagrant form of
dictatorship, which is antiquated and obsolete and whose expiry date has
passed. It is through abusing this improper mechanism that America and its
accomplices have managed to disguise their bullying as noble concepts and
impose it on the world. They protect the interests of the West in the name
of “human rights”. They interfere militarily in other countries in the
name of “democrac y”. They target defenseless people in villages and
cities with their bombs and weapons in the name of “combating terrorism”.
From their perspective, humanity is divided into first-, second- and
third-class citizens. Human life is considered cheap in Asia, Africa and
Latin America, and expensive in America and Western Europe. The security
of America and Europe is considered important, while the security of the
rest of humanity is considered unimportant. Torture and assassination are
permissible and completely ignored if they are carried out by America, the
Zionists and their puppets. It does not trouble their conscience that they
have secret prisons in various places on different continents, in which
defenseless prisoners who have no legal representation and have not been
tried in a court of law are treated in the most hideous and detestable
way. Good and evil are defined in a completely one-sided and selective
way. They impose their interests on the nations of the world in th e name
of “international law”. They impose their domineering and illegal demands
in the name of “international community”. Using their exclusive and
organized media network, they disguise their lies as the truth, their
falsehood as true, and their oppression as efforts to promote justice. In
contrast, they brand as lies every true statement that exposes their
deceit and label every legitimate demand as roguish.
Friends, this flawed and harmful situation cannot continue. Everybody
has become tired of this faulty international structure. The 99 percent
movement of the American people against the centers of wealth and power in
America and the widespread protests of the people in Western Europe
against the economic policies of their governments show that the people
are losing their patience with this situation. It is necessary to remedy
this irrational situation. Firm, logical and comprehensive bonds between
member states of the Non-Aligned Movement can play an important role in
finding a remedy.
Honorable audience, international peace and security are among the
critical issues of today’s world and the elimination of catastrophic
weapons of mass destruction is an urgent necessity and a universal demand.
In today’s world, security is a shared need where there is no room for
discrimination. Those who stockpile their anti-human weapons in their
arsenals do not have the right to declare themselves as standard-bearers
of global security. Undoubtedly, this will not bring about security for
themselves either. It is most unfortunate to see that countries possessing
the largest nuclear arsenals have no serious and genuine intention of
removing these deadly weapons from their military doctrines and they still
consider such weapons as an instrument that dispels threats and as an
important standard that defines their political and international position.
This conception needs to be completely rejected and condemned.
Nuclear weapons neither ensure security, nor do they consolidate
political power, rather they are a threat to both security and political
power. The events that took place in the 1990s showed that the possession
of such weapons could not even safeguard a regime like the former Soviet
Union. And today we see certain countries which are exposed to waves of
deadly insecurity despite possessing atomic bombs.
The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the use of nuclear, chemical and
similar weapons as a great and unforgivable sin. We proposed the idea of
“Middle East free of nuclear weapons” and we are committed to it. This
does not mean forgoing our right to peaceful use of nuclear power and
production of nuclear fuel. On the basis of international laws, peaceful
use of nuclear energy is a right of every country. All should be able to
employ this wholesome source of energy for various vital uses for the
benefit o f their country and people, without having to depend on others
for exercising this right. Some Western countries, themselves possessing
nuclear weapons and guilty of this illegal action, want to monopolize the
production of nuclear fuel. Surreptitious moves are under way to
consolidate a permanent monopoly over production and sale of nuclear fuel
in centers carrying an international label but in fact within the control
of a few Western countries.
A bitter irony of our era is that the U.S. government, which possesses
the largest and deadliest stockpiles of nuclear arms and other weapons of
mass destruction and the only country guilty of its use, is today eager to
carry the banner of opposition to nuclear proliferation. The U.S. and its
Western allies have armed the usurper Zionist regime with nuclear weapons
and created a major threat for this sensitive region. Yet the same
deceitful group does not tolerate the peaceful use of nuclear energy by
independent cou ntries, and even opposes, with all its strength, the
production of nuclear fuel for radiopharmaceuticals and other peaceful and
humane purposes. Their pretext is fear of production of nuclear weapons.
In the case of the Islamic Republic of Iran, they themselves know that
they are lying, but lies are sanctioned by the kind of politics that is
completely devoid of the slightest trace of spirituality. One who makes
nuclear threats in the 21st century and does not feel ashamed, will he
feel ashamed of lying?
I stress that the Islamic Republic has never been after nuclear weapons
and that it will never give up the right of its people to use nuclear
energy for peaceful purposes. Our motto is: “Nuclear energy for all and
nuclear weapons for none.” We will insist on each of these two precepts,
and we know that breaking the monopoly of certain Western countries on
production of nuclear energy in the framework of the Non-Proliferation
Treaty is in the interest of a ll independent countries, including the
members of the Non-Aligned Movement.
The Islamic Republic's successful experience in resistance against the
bullying and comprehensive pressures by America and its accomplices has
firmly convinced it that the resistance of a unified and firmly determined
nation can overcome all enmities and hostilities and open a glorious path
to its lofty goals. The comprehensive advances made by our country in the
last two decades are facts for all to see, as repeatedly attested by
official international observers. All this has happened under sanctions,
economic pressures and propaganda campaigns by networks affiliated with
America and Zionism. The sanctions, which were regarded as paralyzing by
nonsensical commentators, not only did not and will not paralyze us, but
have made our steps steadier, elevated our resolve and strengthened our
confidence in the correctness of our analyses and the inborn capacities of
our nation. We hav e with our own eyes repeatedly witnessed divine
assistance in these challenges.
Honored guests, I deem it necessary to speak about a very important
issue, which though related to our region has dimensions extending far
beyond it and which has influenced global policies for several decades.
This issue is the agonizing issue of Palestine. The summary of this matter
is that on the basis of a horrible Western plot and under the direction of
England in the 1940s, an independent country with a clear historical
identity called “Palestine” has been taken away from its people through
the use of weapons, killings and deception and has been given to a group
of people the majority of whom are immigrants from European countries.
This great usurpation – which at the outset was accompanied with massacres
of defenseless people in towns and villages and their expulsion from their
homes and homeland to bordering countries – has continued for more than
six decades with similar crimes and continues to this very day. This is
one of the most important issues of the human community.
Political and military leaders of the usurping Zionist regime have not
avoided any crimes during this time: from killing the people, destroying
their homes and farms and arresting and torturing men and women and even
their children, to humiliating and insulting that nation and trying to
destroy it in order to digest it in the haraam-eating stomach of the
Zionist regime, to attacking their refugee camps in Palestine itself and
in the neighboring countries where millions of refugees live. Such names
as Sabra and Shatila, Qana and Deir Yasin have been etched in the history
of our region with the blood of the oppressed Palestinian people.
Even now after 65 years the same kind of crimes marks the treatment of
Palestinians remaining in the occupied territories by the ferocious
Zionist wolves. They commit new crimes one aft er the other and create new
crises for the region. Hardly a day passes without reports of murder,
injury and arrests of the youth who stand up to defend their homeland and
their honor and protest against the destruction of their farms and homes.
The Zionist regime, which has carried out assassinations and caused
conflicts and crimes for decades by waging disastrous wars, killing people,
occupying Arab territories and organizing state terror in the region and
in the world, labels the Palestinian people as “terrorists”, the people
who have stood up to fight for their rights. And the media networks which
belong to Zionism and many of the Western and mercenary media repeat this
great lie in violation of ethical values and journalistic commitment, and
the political leaders who claim to defend human rights have closed their
eyes on all these crimes and support that criminal regime shamelessly and
boldly and assume the role of their advocates.
Our standpoint is that Palestine belongs to the Palestinians and that
continuing its occupation is a great and intolerable injustice and a major
threat to global peace and security. All solutions suggested and followed
up by the Westerners and their affiliates for “resolving the problem of
Palestine” have been wrong and unsuccessful, and it will remain so in the
future. We have put forth a just and entirely democratic solution. All the
Palestinians – both the current citizens of Palestine and those who have
been forced to immigrate to other countries but have preserved their
Palestinian identity, including Muslims, Christians and Jews – should take
part in a carefully supervised and confidence-building referendum and
chose the political system of their country, and all the Palestinians who
have suffered from years of exile should return to their country and take
part in this referendum and then help draft a Constitution and hold
elections. Peace will then be established.
Now I would like to give a benevolent piece of advice to American
politicians who always stood up to defend and support the Zionist regime.
So far, this regime has created countless problems for you. It has
presented a hateful image of you to the regional peoples, and it has made
you look like an accomplice in the crimes of the usurping Zionists. The
material and moral costs borne by the American government and people on
account of this are staggering, and if this continues, the costs might
become even heavier in the future. Think about the Islamic Republic's
proposal of a referendum and with a courageous decision, rescue yourselves
from the current impossible situation. Undoubtedly, the people of the
region and all free-thinkers across the world will welcome this measure.
Honorable guests, now I would like to return to my initial point.
Global conditions are sensitive and the world is passing through a crucial
historical juncture. It is anticipated that a new order shall be born. The
Non-Aligned Movement, which includes almost two-thirds of the world
community, can play a major role in shaping that future. The holding of
this major conference in Tehran is itself a significant event to be taken
into consideration. By pooling our resources and capacities, we members of
this movement can create a new historic and lasting role towards rescuing
the world from insecurity, war and hegemony.
This goal can be achieved only through our comprehensive cooperation
with each other. There are among us quite a few countries that are very
wealthy and countries that enjoy international influence. It is completely
possible to find solutions for problems through economic and media
cooperation and through passing on experiences that help us improve and
make progress. We need to strengthen our determination. We need to remain
faithful to our goals. We should not fear the b ullying powers when they
frown at us, nor should we become happy when they smile at us. We should
consider the will of God and the laws of creation as our support. We
should learn lessons from what happened to the communist camp two decades
ago and from the failure of the policies of so-called “Western liberal
democracy” at the present time, whose signs can be seen by everybody in
the streets of European countries and America and in the insoluble
economic problems of these countries. And finally, we should consider the
Islamic Awakening in the region and the fall of the dictatorships in North
Africa, which were dependent on America and were accomplices to the
Zionist regime, as a great opportunity. We can help improve the “political
productivity” of the Non-Aligned Movement in global governance. We can
prepare a historic document aimed to bring about a change in this
governance and to provide for its administrative tools. We can plan for
effective economic cooperation a nd define paradigms for cultural
relationships among ourselves. Undoubtedly, establishing an active and
motivated secretariat for this organization will be a great and
significant help in achieving these goals.
Thank you.
3.2.2012
In the Name of God, the Beneficent and the Merciful.
All praise belongs to God, the Lord of the worlds, and may peace and
blessings be on our prophet and master, Muhammad, and his pure descendants
and elect companions and those who follow them in good works until the Day
of Retribution.
Members of the Islamic Ummah in all places!
May peace and God’s mercy be on you all.
In this month of Rabi (Arabic for ‘spring’) and at threshold of the
anniversary of the birth of the Last Prophet (s), I want to offer
congratulations on behalf of the Iranian people and all Muslims of the
world for the first anniversary of the Spring of Islamic awakening and
resurgence of Arab brothers and sisters from Egypt, Tunisia and Libya to
Bahrain, Yemen, Jordon, eastern Arabia and other Islamic lands.
An eventful year has passed. For the first time the people’s vote was
dealt with respect, and moderate Islamist trends in both countries won at
the ballot. The same thing will also happen in Libya. This Islamism, with
characteristics such as being anti-Zionist and anti-dictatorship, aspiring
to independence, freedom and progress in the shade of the Quran, will be
the certain route and decisive preference of all Muslim nations.
This tidal wave which settled the destiny of Islamic Iran three decade
ago about this time of the year (Bahman 22/February 10), delivered a heavy
blow to the axis represented by the United States, NATO and Zionism, and
overthrew the biggest secular and puppet dictatorship of the region. The
same wave now overruns the entire Arab and Islamic Middle East these days,
in the same manner and with the same demands.
It is the will of God to arouse the nations, and the century of Islam
and the people’s age has commenced and it will influence the destiny of
entire humanity in future. Have not the youth and the intellectuals in
Washington, London, Madrid, Rome and Athens taken to streets under
inspiration from the Tahrir Square? The demand for return to Islam and the
call for restoration of Islamic identity, dignity and freedom resounds
through the most sensitive parts of the Islamic world, and the cries of
“God is greater” are heard everywhere.
The Arab nations do not want their dictatorships. They will no longer
tolerate the domination of unbelievers and tyrants over their lives. They
are tired of poverty and backwardness, humiliation and vassalage. They
have tried secularism under the aegis of socialism, liberalism and
nationalism and found them all ending in dead-ends. Of course, neither are
the Arab nations after extremism, violence based on religion,
retrogression, or sectarianism and obscurantism tagged with Islamism.
The elections in Tunisia and Egypt and the popular slogans and trends
in Yemen, Bahrain and other Arab lands indicate that all want to be
“modern Muslims” without leaning towards the extremes of puritanism and
Westernization. Espousing the slogan of “God is greater,” they seek to
rescue themselves from a century of humiliation, despotism, backwardness,
colonial rule, corruption, poverty and discrimination by taking resort in
a combination of spirituality, justice, rationality and popular rule based
on religion. And this the most rightful way.
What were the qualities of the Arab regimes that fell before the wrath
of their people?
They were hostile to religion, were henchmen and puppets of the West (the
U.S., Britain, etc.), and were in a league with the Zionists while
betraying Palestine. They had established dynastic and hereditary
dictatorships while the people dwelt in poverty and backwardness by the
side of enormous wealth of the ruling families, languished in the midst of
discrimination, injustice, absence of lawful freedoms and answerability
before law. These were their common traits.
In some cases, even the pretense of Islam or democracy could not fool
the people. These are the most salient indexes for understanding the
nature of uprisings of the Arab nations, including those who have already
attained big victories and those who will do so, God willing.
Every other thesis concerning the nature of these movements, which have
been launched with the slogan of “God is greater,” amounts to turning a
blind eye to the reality with a view to continuing exploitation,
imposition and misdirection in the future. The future conduct of these
revolutions will be judged on the basis of the same principles and the
same ideals will serve as the criterion of their loyalty and deviation.
Everything can be known by its opposite, and revolutions can be understood
from their opposition to qualities of the regimes they have shaken. The
revolutionaries should remain vigilant against efforts aimed to carve out
false goals and alter their slogans.
Without doubt, the West tries to change the revolutions into
counter-revolution and thus preserve its domination over the Arab world by
renovating and remodeling the old regimes while discharging the sentiments
of the masses, by rearranging major and minor cogs and changing its pawns
and carrying out superficial and plastic reforms within a make-believe
democracy.
After successive defeats in the decades of Islamic awakening and
especially during recent years—from Iran and Afghanistan to Iraq, Lebanon
and Palestine and now Egypt, Tunisia and so on—following failed tactics of
open violence and hostility to Islam, the West has resorted to the tactic
of constructing surrogate dummies and fake models, aimed at substituting
anti-human terrorist acts for the pursuit of martyrdom; bigotry,
fanaticism and violence for Islamism and jihad; chauvinism and tribalism
for pursuit of the interests of Islam and the Ummah; Westernization and
economic and cultural dependence for independent progress; secularism for
the pursuit of science; compliance for rationality; corruption and moral
chaos for freedom; dictatorship for order and security; consumerism,
worldliness and love of luxury for development and progress, poverty and
backwardness for spirituality and detachment.
The rivalry of the two poles of Capitalism and Communism for the sake
of power and wealth is now a thing of the past, and today two opposite
poles are represented by the world’s oppressed led by the Islamic movement
and the arrogant led by America, NATO and Zionism. These two main camps
have emerged and there is no third.
In the brief opportunity at my disposal I do not wish to tarry on
reviewing the past and expressing appreciation for the Arab nations.
Without doubt our eyes and those of the world are all turned towards the
region and we admire the risen nations, from the Arabian peninsula to
north Africa. But now I wish to talk about today and tomorrow.
Last year in this Friday prayer I addressed the noble Egyptian people
while the inauspicious shadow of Husni Mubarak still loomed over their
heads. Today, when a new era has been inaugurated and the dictator is
under trial, we contemplate the future of the movement in honorable Egypt
with a greater hope.
What are the components from various sides that are present within the
revolutionary arenas?
1) The United States, NATO, the Zionist regime and their allies and
stooges in some Arab regimes.
2) The people and the youth.
3) Islamic and non-Islamic parties and political activists.
Where do they stand and what are their objectives?
The first group has been the primary loser in Egypt, Tunisia and the
remaining movements and so will it continue to be.
The legitimacy, and now the very existence, of the Capitalist pole and
Western model of liberal democracy now face decline even in Europe and
America with conditions similar to those of the Eastern Communist block
during the eighties. Moral and social collapse, unprecedented economic
crises, major military defeats in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Gaza,
downfall or instability of most of their puppet dictators in Muslim and
Arab countries, especially the loss of Egypt and unprecedented dangers
faced by the Zionist regime from north and west as well as from within,
the exposure of the menial character of International organizations and
their selective and politically motivated approach to issues of democracy
and human rights, their contradictory, jumbled and duplicate standpoints
with regard to Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria,…
These matters have immersed the first group in a crisis of global
confidence and a deep crisis of decision-making. Now their biggest
objective, after failure to control and suppress the nations, is to try to
take charge of the control room of revolutions through penetration of
influencial parties, preservation to the utmost extent of previous
structures of the corrupt regimes and settling for superficial and
ostensible reforms, rebuilding their indigenous forces in countries where
revolutions have occurred, and to halt or reverse the course of the
revolution through bribes, threats and—possibly in the future—
assassination, through buying some individuals and groups, through
extinguishing the people’s hopes or preoccupying them with subsidiary
issues or internal conflicts, inciting ethnic, tribal, religious or
inter-party conflicts, fabricating deviant slogans for changing the nature
of popular movements, exercising direct or indirect control of the
revolutionaries’ minds and discourse and drawing them into political games
or causing division in their ranks, and through them among groups of
people, making behind-the-scenes compromises with some elite with false
promises, such as of financial assistance… these and dozens of other
tricks, of which I have earlier pointed out some examples in the
International Islamic Awakening Congress.
Some menial and conservative Arab regimes are also striving with their
full power in league with the U.S. and NATO, even if it were for their own
survival, to halt the march of time and to reverse the course of
revolutions in the region, or to lead them into a no-man’s land. Their
sole resource for this influence are petro-dollars. Their real objective
is to defeat the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain, … to
stabilize the Zionist regime and ensure its survival, and to dismantle the
anti-Zionist front in the region.
The second and really significant group is that of the nations. What do
they want? Repeated opinion polls held by Americans in Egypt and most
Islamic countries have given them the facts. From 2003 to 2008 the trends
of mosque-going and practice of Islamic customs, including women’s dress
and donning of the head-scarf, have increased by 40 to 75 percent among
people from Egypt and Jordon to Turkey and Malaysia. Also the amount of
disgust with the United States has gone up in Islamic and Arab countries
by an average of 85 percent. The hope for a future victory has increased
twofold among Arab youth, especially after the victory of the youth from
Hezbollah and Hamas in the 33-day and 22-day wars and U.S. defeat in Iraq
and its exit without making any gains.
Favorite personalities amongst Egyptian youth are anti-Zionist Muslim
combatants and they name their newborn children after them.
Disgust with Zionism and concern for the issue of Palestine and desire
for Islamic dignity are the main indices of these nations.
In recent elections, 75% of Egyptian people voted for Islamic slogans.
The same banner was raised by the majority in Tunisia, and in Libya this
ratio if not more is not less. The people have the same demands for future
from their representatives and new governments. The people of honorable
and free Egypt do not want an Egypt of Camp David, a subordinate Egypt
bogged in poverty, an Egypt subservient to American orders and allied with
Israel. They also do not want a retrogressive and extremist Egypt, nor one
that is secularized and Westernized. The real demand of the people and
youth is an Egypt that is free, dignified, Islamic and progressive and
they are not after any conflicts. The main body of the Egyptian army is
with the people but some within and outside Egypt want to create in the
future a confrontation between the army and the people, and everyone must
be vigilant. The body of the Egyptian armed forces will not tolerate the
influence of United States and Israel’s friends.
Similarly, when there is talk of Islamism in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya,
what is meant is the Islam of the Apostle of God (s) which had cast its
shade of mercy and safety on non-Muslims citizens, including Christians
and Jews. Islamism does not mean a call to religious warfare between
worshippers of God or a sectarian war between Muslims. Egypt is the Egypt
of the Academy for Rapprochement between Islamic legal schools and the
country of Sheikh Shaltoot.
The people of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya should know that what they have
is an unfinished revolution. Although they have taken long strides, the
story has just begun. The problems that were created for us after the
victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran—which still persist and with
God’s grace and mercy they failed in all their attempts and will continue
to fail—were hundreds of times greater than the ones that revolution had
faced before the Shah’s downfall. You should be vigilant, and take your
revolutions forward step by step until the final stages with medium and
long term programs.
The regime of the Egyptian despot was one of the first Arab states to
betray the ideal of Palestine and open the door of compromise with the
Arabs, until they sold off Palestine—all except one Arab regime—and made
peace with Zionism. The Egyptian regime was one of two main Arab regimes
relied upon by America and Israel. The present hypocritical U. S.
president chose Husni Mubrak’s Egypt to send his deceptive and
hypocritical message to Muslims. But the people of Egypt have voiced their
opinion in the course of their revolution and brought everybody out of the
illusion.
Today Egypt should place itself once again at the forefront of defense
of the Palestinian ideal and discard and burn the treasonous Camp David
pact. A revolutionary Egypt cannot provide energy and gas to the declining
Zionist regime out of the pockets of its people in suffering and need.
My third addressee are the parties and political elite in Egypt and
other revolutionary countries. Islamic intellectuals and combatants in
North Africa, from Egypt and Tunisia to Algeria and Morocco, and
especially Egypt, are fathers of the idea of “Islamic awakening” and
preachers of the unity and dignity of the Ummah, and of liberation of
Quds. Today you are heirs to the blood and legacy of thousands of martyrs
and tens of thousands of those who have suffered imprisonment, exile and
torture, and of combatants who made sacrifices for successive decades for
such a day and victory.
Brothers and sisters! Be wary of God and take care of this great trust.
Pride and naivety are two major faults that follow the first victories.
You are the persons who bear the biggest responsibility for building a new
system, safeguarding the achievements of the people, and solving the
problems of the movement. The world and regional powers who have suffered
a setback undoubtedly harbor satanic designs, from contemplating outright
elimination and revenge to causing doubt, fear and temptation in your
hearts, in order to destroy the revolutions through you and create
conditions worse than before.
They try to bring the masses to an standstill or deceive them through
political and religious elites, or even make them disaffected and
regretful. Your decisions, standpoints and steps will be taking on
historic proportions, and this period is the Night of Destiny-making for
the history of your countries.
In few sentences I wish to convey to you, brothers and sisters, the
essence of an experience of 33 years of resistance by the Islamic
Republic:
1) Don’t trust America or the NATO. They have no concern for your
interests and those of your people. Also do not fear them. They are paper
tigers and have rapidly become weaker. Their domination over the Islamic
world is merely a product of our ignorance and fear for the last 150 years.
Do not pin any hopes on them and do not take them into account. Put your
reliance solely on God, the Most High, and have faith only in your people.
They had to swallow defeat in Iraq and left empty-handed. They achieved
nothing in Afghanistan. They were defeated in Lebanon by Hezbollah and by
Hamas in Gaza and were brought down by the people in Egypt and Tunisia.
Nothing has worked out in accordance with their plans. The idol of the
West has been broken like that of communism, and the nations have shed
their fear. Be on your guard in the future lest they make you afraid.
Do not distance yourselves from the people and do not grant concessions
or enter political games with the temptation of their financial aid, or
under deception of their degenerate theories of nation-building, or their
sinister promises, or fear of their ‘eternal’ power! Never enter deals
with the enemies of Islam and the people, do not compromise your
principles and do not be timid, while of course abiding by rationality and
wisdom. However, you should know that wherever you show weakness you will
be forced to take a step back and lose ground in your subsequent moves. Do
not allow the U.S. or NATO to entertain hopes of seducing you.
Similarly, do not enter into the game of petro-dollars belonging to
henchmen and allies of the West among Arabs, for you will not be able to
emerge safely from it in the future. Israel is bound to vanish. It should
not last and will not. It will be the beginning of deviation on part of
the present uprisings to concede to the survival of the Zionist regime and
to continue conciliatory and submissive negotiations initiated by the
fallen regimes.
2) The general demand of your nations is return to Islam, which of
course does not mean a return to the past. If these revolutions do remain
genuine with God’s leave and continue without succumbing to plots and
disintegration, your major problem will be deciding how to build a new
system, writing the constitution and administering the country and the
revolution. This is the same important issue of reconstructing an Islamic
civilization in the modern era, a process in which the Islamic Revolution
of Iran has been engaged for more than three decades and has many sweet
and bitter experiences to be shared with you.
In this great struggle, your major challenge will be: how to compensate
in the shortest possible time for a drawn out history of backwardness,
despotism, irreligion, poverty and dependence that have overshadowed your
country; how to build up a society with an Islamic approach and in a
democratic manner with due attention to rationality and science, while
overcoming successive internal and external threats; how to
institutionalize freedoms and social rights without giving in to
liberalism, to bring about equality without giving in to Marxism, to bring
about order without giving in to Western fascism, to preserve your
commitment to the progressive Islamic Shariah without falling victim to
stagnation and obscurantism; how to be independent without being isolated;
how to make progress without being dependent and subordinated; how to
manage scientifically without being secularized and conservative; how to
prevent some leaders from becoming corrupt or prevent the enemy’s agents
from penetrating the ranks of the revolutionaries, and so on and so forth.
Definitions must be reexamined and rectified. The West has offered and
will be offering you two models, that of the exclusionist (takfiri) Islam
and the secular Islam, in order that the model of a principles-based,
moderate and rationalist Islam does not gain ground among the revolutions
of the region. Redefine the terms carefully.
If being “democratic” means siding with the people’s interests and free
elections within the framework of revolution’s principles, all of you be
democratic, but if it means falling into the trap of a secondhand and
dummy liberal democracy, no one should be a democrat.
If Salfism means a principled adherence to the Scripture, the Prophet’s
Sunnah, loyalty to authentic values, combating superstitious nonsense and
deviations, and reviving the Shariah and negating Westernization, let all
be Salfis. But if it is taken to mean bigotry, obscurantism, violence
between religions and Islamic sects, it will not be compatible with
innovativeness, tolerance and rationality which are essentials of Islamic
thought and civilization, and such Salfism itself will be cause of spread
of secularism and irreligion.
Be suspicious of the Islam promoted by Washington, London and Paris,
whether the secular and Westernized kind or the petrified and harsh
vareity.
Do not trust an Islam that tolerates the Zionist regime but confronts
other Islamic sects mercilessly, extends a peace-making hand towards the
U.S. and NATO but encourages tribal and sectarian warfare, is harsh and
stern towards the faithful and kind and merciful toward the infidels.
Distrust American and British versions of Islam which will draw you
into the trap of Western capitalism, consumerism and moral degeneration.
The United States, Europe and some menial oil-producing Arab regimes
are the main supporters of the Zionist regime and major factor behind
fomenting discord among Muslims. They are after converting the
revolutionary Arab movements into ethnic, sectarian conflicts and civil
wars between groups and nations. They are using the retrogressive, harsh,
obscurantist, petrified and exclusionist model of Islam or the Westernized
Islam, which compromise with Zionism, as two counterfeit models meant to
lead astray the Arab revolutionaries and scare you of the Islamic
Republic.
The Arab people have been neglected for a hundred years. Their dignity
and honor, and their opinions and rights have been openly trampled under
feet. Today the people have occupied the stage for the first time. The
Muslim ethos of the people is not superficial, ostensible and fake like
the “Muslimhood” of some pseudo-Muslim governments; neither it is
artificial and temporary. In the past decades, the elite as well as the
rulers used to take flaunt their closer ties with France, Britain, America
or the Soviet Union and used to shun Islamic symbols. Today everything has
been reversed.
You should know that the West will venture to take revenge, a revenge
on the economic, military, and political fronts and on the plane of the
media.
If the Egyptian, Tunisian, Libyan and other nations persist on the
Divine path, they will possibly be threatened with sanctions. There might
be terrorism, economic sanctions, civil war, proliferation of fifth-column
groups, instability, manufactured crises, and extremism working both ways,
and all will be tested so that you come to regret your aspirations and
slogans.
As for my final words, it is the readiness of the Islamic Republic and
the great Iranian nation to cooperate with you and serve you.
The Islamic Revolution of Iran was the most successful Islamic
experiment of the modern era in the field of self-reliance of nations,
with respect to the trust placed by the elite in the people, with regard
to discarding of the myth that tyrannical regimes and their overlords
cannot be defeated, with regard to breaking the assumptions of communism
and capitalism, with regard to presentation of effective models through
big advancements made by the country while preserving the people’s rule
and original revolutionary values, and in the fields of public service.
It began from mosques with the cries of “God is greater” and slogans of
“independence, freedom and Islamic republic.” It emphasized the laws of
the Shariah within a framework of the people’s right to rule, through
innovativeness and ijtihad. It staged an uprising launched with empty
hands and presence of unarmed millions in the streets, with anti-Israel
slogans raised even before the fall of the Shah, followed by stupendous
achievements in political, economic, scientific, technological spheres and
country’s development, that too in the midst of sanctions and total
economic and scientific blockade of 30 years!
The extensive Western propaganda to create Iranophobia, hypocrisy and
sectarian enmity has been waging for years to cut off our connection with
you, for they know and have themselves seen that the strongest support
given to Arab brethren and practical resistance on the issue of Palestine
and defeat of the slogan of “from Nile to Euphrates” and the epic
victories in Lebanon and Gaza— all these became possible with the support
of the Iranian people.
They have been telling you lies about us for years. The truth about
Islamic Iran is what I tell you now:
In the three decades of its struggles, our revolution has won victories
and of course it has had weaknesses. But no Islamic movement in the world,
following the domination of the West and the East over Muslims, had
advanced so far and overcome so many obstacles. There is much to be
discussed between us, brothers. In the capitalist media and the media of
global Zionism, Iran is accused of terrorism solely for the reason that it
has refused to forsake its Arab brethren in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq,
etc., and to officially recognize the occupiers. This, despite the fact
that we are the greatest victims of terrorism in the world, and these acts
of terror still continue.
If the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic had forsaken their
oppressed Afghan, Bosnian, Lebanese, Iraqi and Palestinian brothers like
the other ostensibly Muslim governments, and had it betrayed Palestine
like most Arab regimes did, had we kept silent and struck a dagger in its
back, they would have never accused us of supporting terrorism and
intervention.
We aspire to liberate the Holy Quds and all Palestine and this is the
biggest crime of the Iranian people and the Islamic Republic. They accuse
Iran of pursuing the atomic bomb and follow up their charges with
sanctions, threats and assassinations. Who are they? They are the very
ones who have manufactured and stockpiled thousands of nuclear bombs and
have even used them. And why? Because our scientists, physicists, chemists,
medical experts, nano-technologists and biotechnologists have broken the
scientific and technological monopolies of the capitalist world one after
another with the slogan of “God is greater,” such as the enrichment of
Uranium for medical and agricultural purposes and for energy, the
launching of satellites into space, stem cell research and other major
scientific and technical accomplishments.
They talk about Iranian or Shiah imperialism, although everyone knows
that we have never considered the Islamic Revolution as a purely Shiah or
nationalist Iranian revolution nor have we ever styled it as such.
Whatever costs we have incurred during these thirty years and threats we
have faced were on account of our commitment to Islam and the Ummah, our
ideals of Islamic unity, our call for rapprochement between Islamic legal
schools, and for liberty and dignity for our Muslim brethren from east
Asia to the heart of Africa and Europe.
They want to cut off our relations, or to make them cumbersome and
expensive.
The Iranian people, like the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen and
Bahrain, are proud to be lovers of the Household of the Apostle of God
(s). We regard any insult by any Muslim to the sanctities of other Islamic
legal schools as unlawful. We believe that all Muslims, including Shafi’is,
Ja’faris, Malikis, Hanafis, Hanbalis and Zaydis, and all Islamic sects
should launch a common global program for building one contemporary
Islamic civilization and a single powerful global Ummah of Muhammad (s) on
the basis of the Quran, Sunnah and reason, hand in hand together, with
feelings of fraternity and mutual respect and by engaging in wholesome and
brotherly academic discourse on issues of law and jurisprudence, theology,
Quranic exegesis and history.
Our ideal is the same as that of Sheikh Shaltoot of Al-Azhar.
Islamic Iran has made long and unprecedented strides in the fields of
science, technology, social rights, social justice, development, health,
restoration of the dignity of woman and rights of religious minorities,
etc. We are also aware of our weak points and with God’s help we will
remedy them, God willing.
This nation holds the highest record of people’s rule both with respect
to quantity and quality, with 33 elections in the last 33 years, extending
from councils at city and village level, to national parliament and
legislative assembly, to presidential elections and election of the
Leader, and we are at the threshold of the 34th elections.
Iranian universities, laboratories, factories and farms have produced
big Divine miracles without submitting to Western arrogance and its
materialistic models.
The regional equation facing the Resistance was changed with the help
of the Islamic Republic. The transition and upgrading from stones in
Palestinian hands to “missiles for missiles” in Gaza and other Islamic
resistance groups vis-a-vis the occupiers was inspired by the Islamic
Revolution. Yes, Iran did play a part in the first defeats of Israel,
America and NATO in places stretching from Palestine and Lebanon to Iraq,
and it is proud of this part.
Iran is not after Iranizing the Arabs or converting other Muslims into
Shiahs. Iran is after the defense of the Quran and the Sunnah of the
Apstle (s) and his Household (a), and after revival of the Islamic Ummah.
Assisting Sunni combatants belonging to organs of the Hamas and helping
the struggle of Shiah combatants of Hezbollah are equal religious
obligations for the Islamic Revolution and it senses its a duty in this
regard. The Iranian people and government declare loudly and decisively
that they believe in and are committed to the uprising of the nations, not
to terrorism, committed to Islamic solidarity, not to sectarian domination
or conflict, to Muslim fraternity, not to ethnic and racial rivalry, to
Islamic jihad, not to violence against innocent people.
Iran’s standpoint is also clear concerning the particular case of Syria.
The Islamic Republic has stood by the side of the nations in all
revolutions of the region and it does not believe in any exception to this
principle. The Islamic Revolution is supporter of legitimate rights of the
people in all Islamic and Arab countries, calls for reform of state
misconduct, removal of poverty, discrimination and corruption, restoration
of legitimate freedoms and necessity of observing the religion of God.
This is a policy which it has adopted and pursued for its own people, and
it does not except Syria from implementing these reforms.
An important point in relation to Syria is that the United States,
Europe and some corrupt and menial Arab regimes want to exploit the
pro-reform sentiments in Syria in order to strike a blow to a firm bastion
against the Zionist regime. Had Syria not been for years a generous host
of the leaders of Palestinian resistance, had it submitted to compromises
with the usurper regime, had it not supported those self-sacrificing
youths in the 33-day war fought by the Lebanese resistance, had it
submitted to the dictates of the United States, France and one or two
allied Arab regimes, had Syria and its people not persisted in clenching
the banner of confrontation with the Zionist regime at the forefront, rest
assured that thousands of weapons wouldn’t have been supplied through its
borders to the regime’s opponents for waging a civil war and the
reactionary regimes untouched by the faintest whiff of democratic rule,
would not have accused Syria of lack of democracy. This is also a great
test before us and we should be careful not to help the vicious enemy
succeed in its plans.
Let us pray for the felicity of all Muslim nations, and also realize
our grave duties and fulfill them in deed, knowing that God is in full
control of His plans.
God’s servants! Be wary of God, and be adversaries of the oppressor and
supporters of the oppressed. I pray for God’s forgiveness for you and
myself.
May peace and God’s mercy and blessings be upon you.
