Statements in a Meeting with a Group of Air Force Commanders and Personnel

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 Awaited One among the inhabitants of the earth.

I extend my warm welcome to each of you dear brothers and sincerely send my greetings and salutations to all the hardworking and active members of the Islamic Republic Air Force in every corner of the country where they are present. I congratulate you in advance on the blessed occasion of the anniversary of the Prophet's mission, the Fajr decade, and the twenty-second of Bahman, and we hope that, God willing, the future of the Air Force's successful movement will be a bright and progressive one, in comparison to the past few decades.

Our meeting today, as is customary every year, is in commemoration of the astonishing event of the nineteenth of Bahman in 1357 (1979); it was indeed an astonishing event. Regarding that incident, I have spoken in detail with you dear ones in various meetings and have shared some aspects of the issues related to that event, but in my opinion, the wisdoms, lessons, and insights from that incident are inexhaustible. Working for God and doing so courageously and selflessly is blessed in this way. The Almighty God blesses all actions performed for Him. What does "blessing" mean? It means that its effects, benefits, and advantages do not cease; they continue; this is the meaning of "blessing." That incident is the same; we have repeatedly reiterated lessons from that incident, discussed it, and others besides myself—your friends, the officials of the Islamic Republic Army, and others—have spoken about it, yet one still observes that this incident has the capacity for learning, for one to take lessons from it. Now today, I will address one of these aspects that seems significant to me.

The Air Force took the lead in joining the revolution. Of course, the body of the army, which was healthy, popular, Muslim, and faithful, easily joined the revolution, but the Air Force was ahead of all. First, with the allegiance on the nineteenth of Bahman, they created that extraordinary incident, and then [also] with their resistance against the Shah's guard forces that attacked the Air Force training center; on the night of the twenty-first, they attacked, and the Air Force personnel who were at the training center—this very training center of Martyr Khodadadi—resisted, opened the armory door, provided weapons to the people, stood firm, and the youth and revolutionary elements were inspired and entered the field, both to assist the Air Force in that area and to march in the city of Tehran. I remember myself, it was perhaps around twelve or one after midnight, in Iran Street where we were at a house, the youth were walking and shouting that the Air Force was being crushed, and the people should come out; the people were coming out of their homes to assist them. This was the significant step of the Air Force in joining the revolution.

Now my point of interest is this: this pioneering action accelerated the revolution; this is the point today. This was the nineteenth of Bahman, the events at that training center were on the twentieth and twenty-first, and the twenty-second of Bahman was the victory of the revolution, which concluded the matter and the nation triumphed; the accelerating nature of this incident is clearly evident. In all actions, the element of acceleration has a decisive role. Now I will return to discuss the [element of] acceleration later. The Air Force was able to multiply the hope of the people with this action. Well, the revolutionaries were facing the guard forces and such; [this action] increased the hope of the people and their courage and weakened the spirit of the opposing side, the counter-revolution, the court, and their supporters; that is, this acceleration occurred in this manner.

This is also a very important point that after this first step, perhaps about five or six months later, the self-sufficiency jihad was formed. The first place in the army where the self-sufficiency jihad was established was the Air Force. This is the same spirit of action; that is, the same spirit that enables the active element within the army belonging to the court and the Shah to free itself and join the revolutionaries—this state of courage, this state of spiritual ability and strength—this spirit also advances in another field, which is the field of construction, and establishes the self-sufficiency jihad. The first place where the self-sufficiency jihad was formed was the Air Force. This is also an important incident; that within the Air Force, they thought to produce their own elements, equipment, and facilities, to manufacture parts, to repair broken parts, to clarify the intricate secrets of American technology for themselves here—something they had not been allowed to do until that day—and to get busy with work, this was a great step.

Before this great step, in fact before this movement, the Air Force was entirely under the Americans. Well, there were many faithful elements in the Air Force, I knew some of them; before the revolution, some elements of the Air Force were connected with me, we were friends, they would come and go. There were many faithful elements in the force, but the leaders of the force belonged to America. The tools of the force—the fighter jets and the other equipment in the force—belonged to America, were American property; yes, Iran had paid for them and purchased them; the planes were in the shelter of a certain airbase, but they belonged to America, the authority was in the hands of America, and the authority of their commanders was also in the hands of America. What I am saying is documented; it is not just slogans and the like. The mother of Mohammad Reza Shah recounts in her memoirs that one day Mohammad Reza came to me and said, "May the curse of this monarchy be upon it;" I asked, "What has happened?" He said, "I am the king of this country, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of this country, and the Americans come and take our planes to Vietnam, and I am unaware!" This is how it was; "ownership" [by America] means this. Now even if he was aware, he did not have the courage to prevent it; he would allow it, but they did not even ask for permission; although they were certain that their requests would not be denied, they still did not pay any attention to the king of the country to come and ask him for permission, saying, "Sir, we want to take your fighter jet to Vietnam to use against the people of Vietnam;" this was the situation of the Air Force.

Well, these faithful elements of the Air Force transformed it from being American to being Iranian; they made the Air Force Iranian, it became Iranian; its commander was Iranian, its personnel were Iranian, its decision-makers were Iranian, its equipment was Iranian; yes, it was made in America, but it belonged to Iran, and they no longer had the courage to intervene. For a while, some wanted to return some of our F-14s out of negligence—God willing it was negligence, not treachery—they said we do not need F-14s! Well, they were stopped. The Air Force became Iranian, it became Iranian. Therefore, the Air Force has such a history; that is, its advancement and transformative power within the force and in the functioning of the force shows us such clear and evident examples.

Well, we said an accelerator is necessary; this Air Force was the accelerator of the revolution. The Air Force, at a specific moment, became the accelerator of the victory of the revolution and the accelerator of cutting the dependency of the force and the army on others; this accelerator emerged, but now I want to generalize the matter. At all times, there is a need for an accelerator; why? Because large and purposeful movements often become stagnant; even if not completely halted, they become slow and sluggish; large movements are like this. If you look at many revolutions in the world, you will see that a revolution has occurred, intending to bring about a profound and fundamental transformation, and after a few years, the same previous situation is repeated. I once traveled to a country in Africa during my presidency, where the Portuguese had previously ruled, and a local revolutionary president had come to power; the organization that we visited—where they hosted us and we interacted—was exactly the same as the complete form of the Portuguese commander; it was as if a Portuguese commander was sitting there instead of this black-skinned man who is now the president; exactly without any change! This is how it is; social movements suffer from these afflictions: the affliction of slowing down, the affliction of coming to a halt, the affliction of regressing. If this movement is to continue, it needs an accelerator. Now who is the accelerator? I will explain.

Of course, there is a fundamental difference here in the Islamic revolution compared to other places; the Islamic revolution has within itself certain elements that have attraction, and this attraction draws in growth; even if we have some losses, these growths replace those losses. What is this attraction like? It is like the vast range of goals, methods, and demands of the Islamic Republic. In the Islamic Republic, in the most difficult arenas, there is a struggle against oppression, a struggle against the oppressor, and standing firm against the bullying of the world's top tyrants, as well as the worshiping pulpits, the Jamkaran Mosque, the nights of worship, the Arbaeen pilgrimage, and the month of Rajab's retreat. Observe the vast range of work; there is both a struggle against oppression and a struggle against the self, as well as attention to the future of the country, and attention to God, spirituality, remembrance, and paradise, and the like. This very nature causes growths to replace losses, and slowdowns to occur less frequently. I do not want to say that no slowdown occurs, but the nature of the Islamic revolution inherently possesses such a nature.

Therefore, an accelerator is necessary. What is this accelerator for? It is to prevent the movement from becoming stagnant; to ensure that feelings of fear and terror do not arise in the face of large undertakings; when a large task is to be accomplished, feelings of incapacity and feelings of inferiority do not arise within the acting group; the accelerator plays a role in these areas.

Who is the accelerator and what is its role? The role of the accelerator is what I have mentioned. But who is the accelerator? In my view, the accelerator is what we call "the elites"; the elites of society. What do we mean by "the elites"? "Elites" does not mean famous, educated, and scholarly individuals; no, "elites" means that group of people who act with thought, understanding, and discernment in their work and are not subject to the prevailing atmosphere; "elites" means these individuals. These "elites" can be among various revolutionary activists, among tradespeople, workers, military personnel, clergy, and different groups; they can be among media activists, among student activists, or among political activists. I have previously spoken in detail about "the elites"; "elites" means this. Fortunately, in our country and among our nation, the elites are not in the minority; those who act based on a plan, thought, and discernment are widespread across the country, and this is one of the blessings of the revolution. In many countries around the world, it is not like this; now I have not traveled myself, but reports from some large and well-known countries indicate that people walking in the streets are unaware of what is happening around them in the world; they are only concerned with getting a bite to eat or increasing their wealth. It is not like this in our country; in our country, people who act with discernment understand what they are doing, recognize the alignments, know the enemy, understand the methods, and recognize the friends; they are not few, they are many; these individuals can play a role; they can act in critical situations for the country.

The duty of these individuals is a heavy one; I want to convey this to you and to the entire nation. Those whom we call "the elites," meaning those who have thought, whose outlook is based on deliberation, who understand the situation, recognize it, and know what is happening, are not those who keep their heads down and follow wherever others go; these individuals have a heavy responsibility; they must maintain the general direction of the society's movement and prevent this movement from deviating. If the elites of society neglect this duty, the events that will occur will strike historical blows to nations; we have had many such events throughout the history of Islam. During the time of Amir al-Mu'minin, during Imam Hassan's time, during Imam Hussein's time, there were those who were among the elites, understood the matter, discerned it, but at the crucial moment, they did not show up; they fell into doubt, hesitation, laziness, and in some cases, treachery, and they also negatively influenced others, the crowd that follows the prevailing atmosphere; we have had such cases. In the Battle of Siffin, some fell into doubt because of the Qurans being raised on spears, and they caused others to doubt as well. Now there are reports—though I cannot say definitively—that some of these individuals acted with intent; they were not mistaken, but rather acted in collusion with the enemy! This can happen.

Therefore, I tell you that today the enemy's front has specific plans for the elites; they have programs for the elites in our country and in many other places to cause them to fall into doubt, to hesitate, to procrastinate, and occasionally to tempt them with the sweet and savory aspects of the world, to attract them so that at critical junctures, at sensitive points, where an action is necessary, they do not act, and the acceleration expected from the elites does not occur; they have plans for this.

The duty of the elites is this: at necessary times, they must neutralize the enemy's doubt-casting and confusion-creating efforts and clarify the issues; the "jihad of clarification" that I have mentioned is related to this. And we have seen within the Air Force individuals, elements—some of these martyrs whose pictures are here and whom we knew closely—who were articulate, logical, capable of reasoning, and able to influence others, and they performed their duties at necessary times. In the Quran, there is an example that I find very important; it is the story of the faithful man mentioned in Surah Yasin: وَ جاءَ مِن اَقصَا المَدینَةِ رَجُلٌ یَسعیٰ‌ قالَ یا قَومِ اتَّبِعُوا المُرسَلین؛ when three prophets were sent by the Lord to this people and the people did not believe and conspired against them and decided to destroy them, a brave and faithful man quickly reached the crowd of people and said: "O people! Follow the messengers; follow those who do not ask you for a reward and are rightly guided." Then it reaches this point; my point of attention here is: وَ ما لِیَ لا اَعبُدُ الَّذی فَطَرَنی وَ اِلَیهِ تُرجَعُونَ * اَ اَتَّخِذُ مِن دونِه آلِهَةً ... اِنّی آمَنتُ بِرَبِّکُم فَاسمَعون؛ with a loud voice, he openly declares his faith. The elites must be explicit, they must speak clearly, they must dispel doubts from minds, and not speak ambiguously or hesitantly. اِنّی آمَنتُ بِرَبِّکُم فَاسمَعون; listen! I have believed. This is an example of what the elites can do.

Now, if we want to mention a specific case in our time, in my opinion, it is the issue of Gaza. The elites in the Islamic world have a duty. The elites are scholars, scientists, politicians, and media personnel; they see what is happening in Gaza; they see how America, by supporting the Zionist regime, is inflicting damage on humanity; they see this; well, they must tell their people, explain, compel the people, and create a public demand so that their governments are forced to deliver a decisive blow to the Zionist regime. What is the decisive blow? We do not say they should go to war—because they will not, and for many of them it may not even be possible—but they can cut economic ties; this is the decisive blow. If the people and nations demand from their governments, exert pressure, this will happen, and this will be effective. Nations can mobilize their governments and compel them not to support the oppressive regime that is so ruthlessly attacking women, children, the sick, and the elderly, and can kill twenty-some thousand people in a few months; [they should ensure] that this regime is not supported. I have even heard that some Islamic countries provide weapons to the Zionist regime, and some also provide various economic assistance; well, this must be stopped. This is the work of the nations; the nations can exert pressure and compel their governments. Who can awaken the nations? The elites. See how important the role of the elites is and how they can take charge of such an important incident and pursue it.

Now, in our own country, the issue of elections is approaching; the elites can play a role. Certainly, if the elections in the country are held with greater enthusiasm, it will demonstrate national power more and bring national security; that is, when the enemy's front looks and sees the presence of the people, it observes the power of the system and sees that this country is a powerful one, the people are present and ready, the enemy's threats are neutralized; that is, national power brings national security; this is something very valuable and important. Here, the elites can play a role, they can energize the elections. All revolutionary actions are of this nature; in a few days, we have the twenty-second of Bahman rally; God willing, our dear people will participate in this enthusiastic rally. This also demonstrates power; in these 45 years, every year without exception, across the country—big cities, small cities, even villages—on the twenty-second of Bahman, people have come out into the streets, shouted slogans, defended their revolution, raised the name of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), and renewed their allegiance with the Imam. This year, God willing, by God's grace, it will be the same.

We ask the Almighty God to grant success to the Iranian nation, to elevate it, to honor it, and to crush the enemies of the nation, to enable the nation to prevail over its enemies, and God willing, all of you dear members of the Air Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran and all the armed forces—the army, the IRGC, the police, the Basij, and others—may be included in God's grace and may divine guidance and assistance be upon all of you.

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