Statements in Meeting with Thousands of People from Qom

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Thanks be to God, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the Awaited One of God on earth.

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters, esteemed and faithful people of Qom. There is no doubt that the 19th of Dey (December 9) is an inseparable page in the thick book of Iran's glorious history; it is a day of pride for all history. It is true that the movement did not begin on the 19th of Dey; the Islamic movement began fifteen years prior to the 19th of Dey, under the leadership of our dear Imam. During these fifteen years, the statements of the Imam, the wisdom of the Imam, and the speeches of the Imam — which continuously poured into the mentality of our society over time — as well as the thoughts of our Islamic thinkers in various regions of the country with the youth, in mosques, and in various centers, all contributed to the knowledge of the movement. This is correct; that is, the theoretical discussions of the Islamic movement gradually gained more solidity in the minds of the people over these fifteen years, but for this treasure of thought and theory to transform into a social movement, an important and effective incident was necessary. Thoughts were in minds, the ideas and knowledge of the movement had settled in the hearts of a large number of people — I do not say all the people, but in the hearts of a large number of people — and they were familiar with the foundations of the movement, but this movement had to be realized, it had to come into action, and those mental concepts had to be transformed into a tangible reality, into a movement. For this, a spark was needed; as if you imagine a vast collection of gunpowder exists throughout the country, it must be ignited; the incident of Qom played this role, the 19th of Dey played this role, it transformed those mentalities into movement. Of course, the incident of Qom was not a spark; it was a lightning bolt that descended from the sky by divine will. The incident of Qom appeared to be an event that occurred in one day, two days, or three days and was over, but the essence of the matter was not like that. The incident of Qom set this movement in motion; it came to Tabriz, it came to other cities, it spread throughout the country, and suddenly the country was ignited; this was the work of the incident of Qom.

When I say it was a "lightning bolt," the reason is that within less than about a year after the 19th of Dey, in the following Dey month, the monarchy was completely abolished from Iran. When this abolition of the Pahlavi regime occurred — which was a government that was dependent, corrupt, weak, and oppressive; the worst of governments; that is, perhaps truly there has not been a worse government than the Pahlavi regime in recent times in our world — when such an event occurred, then the ground was prepared for a popular and Islamic government to emerge; the very thing that our great Imam had promised. In the statements of the Imam, there were indications that instead of a corrupt government, a popular government would come; instead of a dictator, the people would gain sovereignty; instead of dependence on America and Zionism and all the scoundrels of the political world, an independent and dignified government would come to power. [With the incident of Qom,] the ground was prepared for this.

I should also mention that the crushing incident of Qom was actually caused and brought about by the wrong policies of the Pahlavi regime itself; they prepared the ground for their own downfall; they made themselves miserable; how? With miscalculations, with wrong calculations, with calculative errors; this is a great danger for all governments. Today, America is also suffering from miscalculations; today America misunderstands the issues, its calculations are wrong and erroneous. Back then, both America, which supported the Pahlavi regime, and the Pahlavi regime had miscalculations; they misunderstood. Almost ten days before the incident of the 19th of Dey, just ten days before this incident, the President of the United States in Tehran, at the January celebration of the Pahlavi court, gave a speech; he was intoxicated; with various intoxicants and so on, he was intoxicated. In that speech, he said: "Iran is an island of stability." Ten days later, the incident of Qom occurred; this shows that they did not know Iran. He said: "Iran is an island of stability"; he praised the Shah, he commended, he said Iran is like this, ten days later the incident of Qom occurred. They did not know Iran, and they still do not know it; our enemies did not know Iran and planned incorrectly, today they still do not know and plan incorrectly; back then, due to incorrect planning, they were defeated, today America will also be defeated due to its own erroneous planning.

Well, these are historical truths; the points I have mentioned are not analyses, these are realities that anyone who studies the issues of the country during that period — which most of you young people have not seen — will find clear; these are historical truths. Well, now we must learn lessons from these historical truths. Historical truths are not just stories — one must learn from stories as well — but we must learn lessons. I will present this lesson in a few sentences:

At that time, the Iranian nation had no cannons, no tanks, no missiles, no heavy weapons, no facilities, but it was victorious; why? While the opposing side had both cannons and tanks; they brought their tanks to the streets, fired them, but were defeated. The Iranian nation was victorious without having heavy weapons; they were defeated while having heavy weapons; why? The reason is that yes, the Iranian nation did not have heavy weapons but had soft weapons; soft weapons are more decisive in all fields. What was the soft weapon of the Iranian nation? The soft weapon of the Iranian nation was religious zeal, it was faith-based zeal, it was the sense of responsibility and duty that the great Imam had entrusted to them and had asked of them. The Imam even called for responsibility from the scholars and great authorities, he cried out: "O silent Najaf, O silent Qom!" The people also felt this responsibility on their shoulders. The soft weapon of the Iranian nation was love for Iran, love for their country. They saw that an American agent, an American mercenary, was ruling inside the country, just as unfortunately today in some countries, an American agent gives orders: "Do this, do not do that, put this in place, install this, dismiss this!" That day, Iran was like this, the people understood this, they saw it. Of course, not all the people were in the upper political echelon, but news reached the people, they understood. That day, the people saw the betrayal of the Iranian agents to their homeland — who were actually American agents; they were Iranian, but worked for America; they were Iranian, but worked for the Zionist regime — they saw, understood, became angry, became furious, this accumulated in their hearts. When the movement began, this accumulated anger emerged, it manifested itself, it showed itself. This was the spiritual weapon, this was the soft weapon. The main spiritual weapon of the people was their faith in Islam. They saw that the regime was openly and continuously taking a stance against Islam: they changed the lunar calendar, they altered Islamic concepts, they made school books un-Islamic, they promoted un-Islamic concepts; the people saw these things; aware and vigilant individuals noticed these and conveyed them to the people. This was the spiritual weapon; this spiritual weapon triumphed over hard weapons, over cannons and tanks.

Well, these matters relate to the past. I want to say that today the Iranian nation is more equipped and armed than that day; today, both our spiritual weapon is stronger, more equipped, and more prepared than that day, and our conventional hard and material weapons are incomparable to that day.

When it comes to confrontation and struggle against the enemies of the Islamic Republic, some people raise objections, saying, "Why do you always talk about enmity, why do you always talk about struggle?" They are neglectful, they do not pay attention. This struggle was initiated by them, America started it, the enemies dependent on America started it; why did they start it? Why is America so disgusted and upset with the Islamic Republic of Iran? The reason is clear; because the wealth of this country, all the financial resources of this country, were in the hands of America, the Islamic Republic came and took it from them. Today you see in Latin America, they besiege a country, they take actions, they do not even feel ashamed, they openly say it is for oil and we do this for oil! [Here too] it was for oil; Iran's oil, Iran's mines, Iran's farms. These vast plains of Qazvin, the fertile plains near Tehran, were in the hands of the Zionists and gradually they were developing them. In our Khorasan region, a very vast area between Mashhad and Quchan was being prepared to be given to the Bahais, to the Zionist agents and American agents. Their hands were free everywhere. The Islamic Republic came and cut off their hands; well, it is clear they would become enemies.

From the very first day, they have been hostile, and the Islamic Republic has confronted them, and this enmity continues to this day. Thanks be to God, day by day the Islamic Republic has become stronger. They attempted and failed in their efforts to eliminate the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic, thanks be to God, today is dignified, strong, powerful, and respected in the world, contrary to their wishes. This is the discussion. In these forty-plus years, they have done everything they could; that is, there has been no hostile action that could be taken against a country that has not been taken; they have conducted military attacks, security attacks, economic sanctions, cultural assaults, sent mercenaries, and some weak-minded individuals have been turned into their mercenaries with money; they have done all these things over the years and have failed, they have not achieved anything. Today, thanks be to God, Iran is powerful due to the blessings of the Islamic Republic; because the Islamic Republic is in power; if it were a liberal-democratic government, a monarchical government, or a government dependent on this or that, it would not have been like this. This is Islam, this is a popular system, this is an Islamic system, that is, it is the Islamic Republic that has been able to bring Iran to great advancements in science, technology, arts and literature, international policies, and many other areas. Some — of course, often foreigners start it, and then unfortunately some inside follow them, pursue them — say Iran is isolated; absolutely not! Iran, the Iranian government, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not isolated. They are deceiving themselves; Iran is not isolated. Today, Iran is presented as an independent, courageous, and future-oriented country in the world. Many of these activities have been carried out by our youth.

I want to say a brief word about the Iranian youth. Of course, not all youths are the same, not all people are the same; we have better, higher, lower, and lesser; we have all kinds among the youth, among the elderly, among the people, among the clergy, among students, and so on, but when we account in general, the Iranian youth, contrary to the lies of the enemy, is one of the most important assets of Iran; one of our most important assets is our youth. In facing events, advantages are needed; today, one of the most important advantages is our youth. The enemy wants to misrepresent the Iranian youth; it wants to say the Iranian youth is politically deviant, dependent on the West; the Iranian youth is religiously deviant, has turned its back on religion; it wants to say the Iranian youth is morally careless, corrupt; is weak spiritually; these are what the enemy wants to say. What they say about Iranians and mainly about the youth is completely wrong; it is not like that. The Iranian youth is the one who is a warrior in war; when war occurs, he shields himself. In various confrontations, [of those] youths who were not sent to the front — whether in the 60s [meaning] during the eight-year imposed war, whether in this war, or in defense of the shrine — how many were there who came crying, shedding tears, requesting to be sent, saying we want to jihad; this is valor. [The youths] are ready; thus, this image is completely wrong. Now I will mention two or three examples of the situation of our youths:

The Iranian youth is a warrior in war; in politics, he is insightful, he knows the enemy, he knows America; there was a time when it was not like this. In religious matters, he is committed; the rituals of I'tikaf belong to the youth, the marches of the 22nd of Bahman and Quds Day, in Ramadan with mouths fasting belong to the youth; these are mainly them, they are the ones who plan. The street celebrations for the half of Sha'ban, for the birth of Amir al-Mu'minin and Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) that have become popular in recent years, belong to the youth; the youth do these things. The religious celebrations and mourning ceremonies are full of youth. The funerals of martyrs are organized by the youth; they are the ones who honor the martyrs, praise them, and elevate them. Our youths are like this. The satellites that I mentioned that day, in one day we send three satellites, the youths send these. The precise scientific research in the fields of nuclear, stem cells, nanotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and others, is conducted by the youths; these are our youths. Our faithful youth, whether in university, in the seminary, or elsewhere, possesses these qualities; it is truly like this; they are ready to sacrifice themselves where necessary, they are ready to research and delve where necessary, they are ready to study where necessary, they are ready to be present in the political arena; this is our youth.

Yes, there are also those whose job is destruction. Last night in Tehran, in some other places, a bunch of destroyers came and destroyed a building belonging to their own country — for example, suppose in a certain building, they destroyed a wall — so that the President of America would be pleased; because he made an irrelevant remark that if the Iranian government does such a thing, I will come to your side — to the side of these rioters and harmful individuals for the country — these also take pleasure in him! If he can, let him manage his own country; there are various incidents in his own country. His hands are stained with the blood of more than a thousand Iranians. In the twelve-day war, over a thousand of our compatriots — apart from the commanders, scientists, and great figures — were martyred; this person said that I ordered, I commanded in the war! Thus, he confessed that his hands are stained with the blood of Iranians. Then he says I am a supporter of the Iranian nation, a bunch of inexperienced and thoughtless individuals also believe and accept this and act according to his wishes, burning trash cans, so that he would be pleased. Everyone should know: the Islamic Republic has come to power with the blood of several hundred thousand noble individuals; against those who are destroyers, the Islamic Republic will not back down, it will not tolerate the mercenaries of foreigners. You can be whoever you want; if you become a foreign mercenary, if you work for foreigners, your nation will reject you, the Islamic system will also reject you; this pertains to them. That person who is sitting there with arrogance and pride judging the whole world should also know that usually, the tyrants and arrogant powers of the world, like Pharaoh, Nimrod, Reza Khan, Mohammad Reza, and their likes, when they were at the peak of arrogance, were overthrown; this one will also be overthrown.

Dear youths! Preserve your religion, your political thought, your presence, your readiness, your seriousness in the advancement of the country. Preserve your unity. Preserve unity; a united nation overcomes any enemy. God willing, may God preserve you, and may He also preserve your readiness. God willing, soon, may God instill the feeling of victory in the hearts of all the people of Iran.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.