Statements at the Meeting with Members of the Congress Commemorating the Martyrs of Lorestan Province

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

Thanks be to God, the 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 remainder of God on the earth.

Welcome to each and every dear brother and sister, especially the esteemed and honored families of the martyrs. One of the best practices that has become customary in various provinces and cities is the commemoration of the martyrs; the memorials for the martyrs and the sessions held in their honor. You have done a necessary task; this work that you have been engaged in for the past two or three years is essential, but in my opinion, this work has started late; I mean, in Lorestan, with its characteristics and the values that are truly concentrated in this community, it should have been done much sooner. Well, it is still valuable now; may you be successful in the work you have done, God willing. The collection that I observed outside, the works that have been done — from [producing] books to various activities — are valuable works, good works. The statements of the esteemed Friday prayer leaders and the commander of the IRGC indicate attention to the essence of the matter and the goals of this work. God willing, may you be successful and supported.

I would like to say a word about the people of Lorestan and the Lur tribes; they possess remarkable qualities. As far as I have personally interacted with some of the distinguished individuals and various sections of the Lur tribes, two characteristics stand out more than others. One characteristic is bravery and valor. The Lur people are brave and valiant, wherever they are; this is true in the battlefield, in expressing their beliefs, and in various social aspects; they are courageous and valiant people. The second characteristic, which I also find prominent, is the issue of friendship, honesty, and loyalty; among the Lur people, this quality is truly remarkable. In my personal interactions — of course, I have also heard some things, but I have experienced these two qualities, along with other remarkable traits. The late Sayyid Hassan Taheri Khorramabadi, martyr Sayyid Fakhr al-Din Rahimi, the late Sayyid Jafar Shahidi — Dr. Shahidi — martyr Boroujerdi, these individuals whose ethics, behaviors, thought processes, and ways of life we have seen up close are truly remarkable. Or the late Hajj Agha Ruhollah Kamalvand, whom we observed for a period and momentarily from close range, and we have heard more about him. I remember in 1963 when Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) was under house arrest in Tehran for a long time and the revolutionary fervor and movement in Qom had somewhat subsided, the late Hajj Agha Ruhollah Kamalvand came to Qom, and a few of us went to see him to ask him to create some movement; this was the capacity of this gentleman, he was highly respected among the scholars and authorities.

Of course, the characteristics of these people go beyond this; now these two characteristics are more prominent. This spirit of bravery that I mentioned led to the Lur tribes being subjected to severe pressures during the unfortunate reign of Pahlavi I, including massacres, exile, imprisonment, and various pressures; they truly feared the bravery and valor of the Lur tribes, they preemptively acted and exerted pressure on them. However, what was prevalent among the people of other counties was the same characteristic; for example, in Mashhad, we had no connection with Lorestan, but we heard about the valor of Lorestan from the young fighters around us, they would recount things. There was a poem that the children of Mashhad would recite on behalf of the Lurs: "Daya daya, it is time for war"; this indicated that they were fighters, even during the oppressive atmosphere of the struggles from 1963 onwards.

However, I want to mention a point here: preserving the true image of the various groups that make up the Iranian nation, including the Lur tribes, is necessary for today's youth. The history of the Lur people in the last hundred years has two parts: one part relates to the Pahlavi era, a part of victimization where they were truly oppressed; the other part relates to the era of the Islamic Republic, which is a period of awakening, emergence, and shining of this community in various fields. Both pages must be preserved together; especially so that the youth know their history, to saturate the historical memory of the nation, both parts must be preserved and compared together. One side is victimization, and the other side is epic-making; one side is oppression that prevents the talents of the nation from emerging and suppresses them under pressure, while the other side is when this atmosphere opens up, they show themselves, and prominent personalities emerge, such as those I have mentioned. For example, the late Shahidi was the same person before the Islamic Republic, but the brilliance of this figure belongs to the era of the Islamic Republic; that is, before the Islamic Republic, this person who had studied and progressed at that time had no emergence or appearance; the Islamic Republic opened the space, and they shone. History must be reviewed and considered; we must not allow either of these two historical periods to be forgotten; both periods must remain in view and be compared together. In the era of the Islamic Republic, the Lur region — whether Lorestan or outside Lorestan where the Lur tribes are present — has truly shone brightly. Now the gentlemen have mentioned; the reports they provided were accurate and precise. All those martyrs, all those student and teacher martyrs, female martyrs, martyr women, martyr clerics, scholars, and personalities who were there, or military groups — whether army or IRGC — have truly shone and have had a very good presence in various fields, which continues to this day, thanks be to God.

We hope that, God willing, your efforts will yield good results. The point that the Friday prayer leader mentioned is an important one; the purpose of these commemorations is to create a movement. This point must be given great attention; there must be a movement of thought and action, and the valuable legacy of the past generation and the devoted youth of the past must be transferred to today's youth. The country is heading towards the summit, there is much work to be done, much effort is needed, and there are many dangers; we must traverse this path with strength and determination. If we want this to happen, we must utilize the historical past of this region and other parts of the country; everyone must utilize it and transfer the valuable legacy of the past to the current and present generation.

I want to say a word about the issue of Gaza; because today, at the forefront of the issues of the Islamic world, is the issue of Palestine and the events that are taking place in Gaza; all of these are events that shape the future. The Gaza issue is, on one hand, a matter of victimization, and on the other hand, a matter of power. Yes, the people of Gaza are truly oppressed, and this savage and bloodthirsty enemy — the usurping terrorist regime — knows no bounds in its crimes; that is, in one bombing, it martyr hundreds! This is how it is; it knows no limits. The victimization of the people appears in this way.

However, alongside this victimization, there are two important points; one point is the patience of these people, their reliance on God. These people have truly shown patience, some of their scenes have been shown by the media in the world and in our country; when their child is martyred, they praise God; when their child is martyred, they say, "I sacrifice for Palestine"; a wounded teenager praises God and recites verses from the Quran. This patience of these people is very important. The enemy wanted to force these people to surrender, to raise their hands, but they did not raise their hands, they did not surrender; this is a very important point. This same patience and reliance on God will save them; this will lead them to victory, and in the end, they will be victorious in the field.

Alongside this, another important point is that the blow dealt in this incident, in this attack by the Palestinian fighters to the usurping regime, is a decisive blow; such a blow has not been dealt to this regime before, and as we mentioned at the beginning, it is irreparable; the more time passes, the more it becomes clear that it is irreparable. The fact that you see the President of the United States, the leaders of the oppressive and wicked countries [such as] England, France, and Germany, repeatedly rushing there, is for what? Because they see it is collapsing, they see it is being destroyed; they understand this, [therefore] they rush there to prevent its destruction. If the threat of the collapse and destruction of the usurping regime did not exist, these world villains would not feel the need to repeatedly come there to express solidarity; this indicates that the blow was a very strong and decisive one. And the regime that has been wounded and is actually on the verge of collapse — which they are trying to keep alive with weapons and false bombs — since they could not overpower the fighters, they take their revenge on the defenseless and oppressed people, dropping bombs on their heads, [while] the fighters have remained ready for action and have maintained their spirit and motivation and capability for action, and God willing, they will continue to do so. In my opinion, anyone who speaks about Gaza must speak about the patience of the people and the power of the people and the power of the fighters; otherwise, they have been wronged; truly, this patience that they have shown is very important.

Another main point is that in this matter, America is an accomplice to the criminals; that is, in this crime, America's hands are up to the elbows in the blood of the oppressed, children, the sick, and women; in fact, it is managing this crime that is taking place in Gaza; it is America that is managing it.

The scope of this crime has become so vast that it has shaken the public conscience in the world. You see that people in American cities, in European cities, in capitals, and also in Islamic countries are openly expressing their opposition; despite the fact that in European countries that claim freedom of expression, the presence of people in street demonstrations in favor of Gaza has been prohibited — this is also one of their disgraceful acts; for everything else, demonstrations are allowed, but for defending the oppressed, demonstrations are prohibited! — but people did not pay attention, you saw on television the images of people participating. People around the world are agitated, and one knows that this spirit of anger that has arisen in people, this moral distress that has arisen in these countries, will create a reaction, and no one can stop this reaction; no matter how much they try, they cannot stop this reaction.

What I want to emphasize is that Muslim governments must not lose ground in this matter; it should not be that they think now that because the Americans or some other Western countries are doing something wrong and calling the defenders of their homes and homeland "terrorists," they too must repeat the same. Is someone who defends their home and homeland against the enemy a terrorist? The oppressive and usurping government that has seized their home is the terrorist. Muslim governments must be careful, political spokespersons must be careful not to repeat their words and know that in this matter and in future matters, Palestine will certainly be victorious.

The future world belongs to Palestine, not to the usurping Zionist regime, and the future belongs to them. Yes, [the Zionists] commit oppression, commit crimes, and create disasters, but the efforts they are making are in vain and will lead nowhere, God willing, with the permission of God Almighty. We hope that, God willing, the Almighty God will decree what is good for the Islamic world and the Islamic nation, and may He crush, humiliate, and subdue the enemies of the Islamic nation.

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