Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Friday Prayer Sermons in Tehran

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds. We praise Him, seek His help, ask for His forgiveness, and put our trust in Him. We send blessings and peace upon His beloved, His chosen one among His creation, the guardian of His secrets and the messenger of His messages, our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, the infallible guides, especially the Awaited One of God among the inhabitants of the earth. And peace be upon the leaders of the Muslims, the protectors of the oppressed, and the guides of the believers. "I advise you, O servants of God, to be conscious of God."

I recommend all dear brothers and sisters who are attending the prayer, as well as myself, to observe piety and God-consciousness, and to be vigilant in our speech, actions, and even thoughts. Today, in the first sermon, I will address the important issue of these days, which is the matter of Iraq and its very complex events, and in the second sermon, I will dedicate most of the time to an address in Arabic to our Arab brothers and sisters in Iraq and other Islamic countries, with a brief portion for other recommendations. Before delving into the matter that today captures the hearts and eyes—not only in Iran but throughout the world, especially in our region—namely the issue of Iraq, I would like to briefly mention another matter that I believe is of great importance for us as the Iranian nation, and that is the adherence to the recommendation I made at the beginning of the year to all officials and all people: the issue of collective efforts to serve the people and demonstrate the effectiveness of the system in practice.

We speak in the name of Islam and act in the name of Islam. If there is weakness or deficiency in our work, the loss is not only ours; Islam also suffers, and the enemy takes maximum advantage of this very delicate point. The officials of the system and the capable men of the Islamic Republic have the ability, with the vast resources that this country possesses—both its unparalleled human resources and its extraordinary material resources—to solve all the problems of the country, not only economic problems but also moral, cultural, and social issues in the best manner. The men who are at the helm of affairs can solve all these problems with seriousness, determination, solidarity, and by addressing the main issues, and this work must be taken into consideration by the officials of the country. Our dear, aware, intelligent, and noble nation must demand this from the officials of the country in various sectors, whether the executive branch, the judiciary, the legislative branch, or various institutions that are part of the governmental structure. This is a duty, and I have said that the officials of the country should consider this year as a year of competition in this work. This competition is a right. This competition is correct and pleasing to God. "So race towards good deeds." The competition is also for each of the sectors to call their various units across the country to this great contest. The judiciary should invite the courts throughout the country to this competition so that after a few months or a year, they can make an assessment and see which of the courts has been able to respond more to the complaints of the people, address their pains, gain their trust, and close cases in the best manner; this should be an advantage. Each of the various ministries should invite their different sectors across the country to this competition, and they should also conduct this comparison. The government itself should hold this competition among the various ministries, invite them, and determine which of the twenty-some ministries has more accurate and clearer statistics in serving the people, and that should be an advantage. They should also inform the people about this. Representatives, both their individuals and their groups, should see within the parliament which plan, which bill, and which law is more beneficial for the people and better and faster resolves the problems and knots of the people, and they should advance it and compete in this work. This is a legitimate, correct competition that is pleasing to God Almighty. The people will also feel and understand that they are being served. Various agencies should have this competition in their joint work. The executive branch, the judiciary, and the legislative branch should compete in combating corruption, in fighting bribery, and in combating individuals with malicious intentions. This is the correct competition. This competition is my recommendation. The issue of Iraq is very important, but the significance of this issue, fundamentally, is no less than that. Therefore, this is my first point.

However, the issue we are discussing today is the matter of Iraq. An important event has occurred in Iraq. This country has been subjected to military attack, and a regime has fallen from power. Now there is a nation with its demands, aspirations, requests, and capabilities, and a group of claimants has surrounded this nation. Important events are unfolding. The entire Islamic world is also watching to know the clear position of the Islamic Republic on this matter. Of course, during this month of intense developments, the officials of the country in various sectors have expressed their opinions, and these opinions are correct. Today, the situation is in a very exceptional condition.

It is necessary for me to speak a little about this matter. Of course, Iraq has been full of difficult and bloody events in the last century. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the British placed a non-Iraqi family as the royal family in Iraq. Over a few years, three kings from them were in power consecutively: the first died, the second was killed in a suspicious incident, and the third was torn apart by the people. These were the ones the British had put in power. Then, coup governments came one after another. For almost ten years—from 1937 to 1947—coup governments came and went. In 1947, the Ba'athist regime came to power, with the first leader of this regime being Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr and the second being Saddam himself. So they were in power for another ten years. Three coup and military governments came, the first leader of the first coup was killed, the second was killed in a suspicious incident, and the third was dismissed.

Since 1947, for about thirty-some years, the Ba'athists have been in power, which must be considered the hardest period for Iraq, especially during the independent rule of Saddam. Now that Saddam's regime has been overthrown, Saddam himself is in an unknown location, and the situation is very suspicious. What has happened in Iraq is not just one issue; it is actually four issues. The Americans, the British, and their propagandists want to conflate these into one issue and create a simple "yes" or "no" in public opinion, but they are wasting their efforts. There are four issues; it is not just one. Just yesterday or the day before, a message from Bush and Blair was broadcast to the people of Iraq. Of course, the people of Iraq had no electricity and could not receive it. The content of the message was that we came to Iraq to free you! They summarize the issue by saying that we came to free you and save you from Saddam. In this one sentence, there are two major mistakes: one is that they say we came to free you; meaning the Iraqi nation does not have the ability, power, or capability to do this, and we must do it for them. This is a very big mistake. The second is that this statement is also a lie; because to free a nation, they do not rain fire, bombs, and missiles on their heads, and under the pretext of wanting to destroy a military base, they do not destroy cities, villages, and gathering places in this manner and do not bring about these atrocities—which I will briefly refer to.

The issue is not freeing the people of Iraq. There are four issues that must be distinguished. One is the issue of the fall of Saddam. There was a conflict and contradiction between Saddam's interests and the interests of the American ruling body that led to a confrontation and conflict. They were stronger and overthrew Saddam; this is one issue. Regarding this issue, we have a clear position, which I will also present. Our position on each of these four issues is clear. We distinguish the issues so that the position of the Islamic Republic, which is based on Islamic thought and consideration of the interests and benefits of the country, becomes clear. So one is the issue of the fall of Saddam. The second issue that has occurred in Iraq and continues is the atrocities that have befallen the Iraqi people. This is separate from the issue of the fall of Saddam and has another ruling. Our position on this matter will also be stated. The third issue is that a foreign force has invaded a sovereign country under various pretexts, such as claiming they have weapons of mass destruction, supporting terrorism, and so on. These pretexts can always be stated over loudspeakers. These pretexts do not justify military aggression against a country and breaking its borders. We will also present our position on this matter. The fourth issue is the future administration of Iraq, for which they have plans and schemes and naive ideas in their minds. This is also a separate issue. Each of these issues has its own ruling.

Regarding the first issue, which is the fall of Saddam, the matter is essentially that Saddam had no conflict of interests with America from the very beginning. Of course, it is also reported; I cannot assert this definitively; however, the Americans themselves claimed that the CIA had a role in the Ba'athist coup in Iraq in 1968. It may be true, and it may not be. I do not want to say anything that we are not certain about, but there is no doubt that after that, especially after the Islamic Revolution and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, their interests became intertwined. Before that, they had sat down with the Iranian tyrant, Mohammad Reza, and reached an agreement. It was evident that their interests were aligned. After the revolution occurred, their interests became common. Saddam had territorial ambitions towards our country, and America was opposed to the establishment of the Islamic Republic and wanted to restore the tyrannical regime. These interests intertwined, so in 1980, when the imposed war of Iraq against Iran began, and Saddam launched an aerial attack on Tehran on the first day, the Americans did not even cast a disapproving glance at him from the very first hour and increased their support for him day by day. These are certainties; there is no room for doubt. Of course, one possibility is that he had coordinated with America beforehand. I cannot claim this because I do not know. There are, of course, reports in this regard. During my travels when I was president, some leaders of Islamic countries told us that he had coordinated with some places beforehand. In any case, we are not certain. What we are certain about is that after the war began, the maximum support was provided to Saddam by America, and they even pressured the United Nations in various ways to compel it to support Saddam. We endured this war for eight years. Saddam was useful to the Americans because he was able to keep the Islamic Revolution occupied with a bloody internal issue, namely war, for eight years. Well, war requires a lot of effort and mental focus. If the revolution of a country does not get embroiled in such a bloody war at the beginning, there is room for reconstruction and for significant work. Saddam occupied the best of our times for the benefit of America because their interests were intertwined. Then, when Saddam attacked Kuwait in 1990, a conflict of interests arose, and they saw that this man's ambitions were such that they endangered American interests in the region; because attacking Kuwait was an attack on American interests. If they did not stop Saddam, he might have attacked Saudi Arabia afterward. He himself said this at that time! He said, once I take Kuwait, I will go forward, to the Emirates, to Bahrain, to Qatar, and wherever I can! Saddam's intention was this. Well, at this point, their interests conflicted. From here, the pressures from the United Nations and propaganda against Saddam began. Saddam was not someone who could resist against America. He was willing to back down and come to terms with them, but the Americans could not, and Saddam was a problem for them. If the Americans had come to terms with him, they would have lost their friends in the Persian Gulf. The rulers of the Persian Gulf were not willing for America to strengthen Saddam again, as they were afraid. On the other hand, if America was to put Saddam under pressure, they would lose their interests in Iraq. Therefore, there was a conflict for America. Iraq, a country with so much oil, so many resources, and a population of about twenty million, was very attractive for America in this important point of the Middle East. America wanted to be present in Iraq, to operate, to plunder, but they could not. Because if they came to terms with Saddam, there was a problem on the other side, and if they did not come to terms, they would lose these interests. This conflict between America and Saddam's regime gradually intensified. Therefore, they thought of a way to remove Saddam and clear Iraq for themselves. These events follow that. Therefore, the claim by the Americans or the British that we came to remove Saddam for the sake of the Iraqi people is a completely disgraceful and obvious lie. This action was not at all for the sake of the Iraqi people. They removed Saddam because their interests conflicted with Saddam's interests; otherwise, when their interests were aligned, they supported him, just as they did during the war.

In any case, they came, applied military pressure, and Saddam fell. Is the Iranian nation happy about this or not? Of course, they are happy. The Iranian nation has been saying for twenty years, "Death to the Mojahedin and Saddam." Now death has come for Saddam. Our people's happiness in this matter is like the happiness of the Iraqi people. Our position is exactly the position of the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people are happy about Saddam's fall; we are also happy about Saddam's fall. Saddam was a dictator, a bad, oppressive, unfaithful, and very wicked person. He ruled tyrannically over a nation. He was a very bad presence for both the Iraqi nation and for us as a neighbor. Therefore, the occupiers saying that the happiness of the Iraqi people is due to our arrival is one of those statements that is truly worthy of mockery. The happiness of the Iraqi people is due to Saddam's fall. A few days ago, one of the European television stations showed a scene from Baghdad; they asked a young man something, and that young man clenched his fist and said, "Death to Saddam and death to Bush." He said death to both at the same time. Of course, this was only once, and news censorship did not allow this incident to be repeated; otherwise, if you ask a thousand people from Iraq, nine hundred of them would respond the same way. The happiness over Saddam's fall has nothing to do with the arrival of the occupier that they should attribute it to that. Now, if a few people in Baghdad waved their hands, it does not mean that the people welcomed them at all. I have clear information from various aspects that the people did not show any goodwill towards the occupiers, neither in Basra when the British came nor in other cities when the Americans entered. They did not show any goodwill at all. If they had any happiness over Saddam's fall, that happiness was overshadowed under these bombings. In these few weeks, they have made the people suffer greatly.

Therefore, in this war between Saddam and the occupiers and aggressors, the Iraqi people were neutral. The Iranian government also announced that it was neutral. The meaning of neutrality is this. Both fronts, the Saddam front and the aggressors' front, are oppressive. The Iraqi nation did not side with either in this war. The Iranian nation and government also did not side with either in this war; meaning we did not provide the slightest assistance to either. Neutrality means this. We did not help Saddam to preserve himself, nor did we help the occupiers to achieve victory sooner. We completely utilized all our resources to ensure that no assistance was provided. Of course, those who spy and monitor everywhere with satellites know this; it is not necessary for us to tell them. But the Iranian nation should know that during this time, the government and officials of the country made every effort and succeeded in preventing anyone from assisting either side, and no assistance was provided. Of course, if the advance of the aggressors was swift, it was due to this neutrality of the Iraqi people. If the Iraqi people had sided with Saddam in this war, the aggressors themselves know that they would not have been able to advance this quickly. When the hearts of the people of a country are not aligned with the leaders of that country, this is the result. The Iraqi people had been beaten, insulted, humiliated, oppressed, and struck by their own leaders, so they did not support them. Therefore, the enemy of that country, namely the aggressors, was able to advance quickly. Of course, there are discussions and debates on this matter as well. We have stated that our nation is happy about this matter. Our government and officials are also happy. Of course, both the nation and the government and our officials have some doubts about this matter; about why Baghdad did not resist like Basra. I mean, after the first week of the war passed, the situation of the war changed. In the first week, the war was serious, and they said the serious war would begin after this. But after that, the aggressors stopped for a few days, and then when they started again, there was no proper defense. In fact, Baghdad surrendered in two or three days; meaning it fell, and no proper defense was made for Baghdad. While in Baghdad itself—according to what we have been informed—there were about one hundred and twenty thousand armed forces. Now the defensive rings that were set up about one hundred kilometers away from Baghdad and the divisions of Saddam's guard were much more. Even Baghdad itself, which had about one hundred and twenty thousand armed forces, could not resist for two or three days against the attack; either they could not, or they were ordered not to resist; now it is unclear. The future will clarify these ambiguities. At this moment, we cannot judge. What is important is not what our judgment is. We must wait and see what the future will judge regarding this matter.

I would like to take this opportunity to remember the dear martyr Muhammad Jahan Ara of Khorramshahr and the martyrs who resisted in the oppressed Khorramshahr. I witnessed the events closely in Ahvaz during those days. Khorramshahr had no armed forces at all; not that it had one hundred and twenty thousand, but even five thousand or ten thousand. A few broken-down tanks were brought by the late martyr Aqarb Parast—who was a very committed military officer—from Khosroabad to Khorramshahr and repaired. (Of course, this was later. In the main part of Khorramshahr, there were no forces). Muhammad Jahan Ara and our other youths resisted for thirty-five days against the Iraqi invading forces—a well-equipped Iraqi armored division with a special forces brigade and ninety artillery pieces that were raining down on Khorramshahr day and night. Just as they were firing missiles on Baghdad, heavy mortars and artillery were constantly raining down on the houses of the people in Khorramshahr. Nevertheless, our youths resisted for thirty-five days; however, Baghdad surrendered in three days! Iranian nation! Be proud of these youths and your warriors. Then, when they wanted to take Khorramshahr back, again the IRGC, army, and Basij went to besiege Khorramshahr with forces far fewer than the Iraqi forces and captured about fifteen thousand prisoners from the Iraqis in one or two days. Our eight-year imposed war has a remarkable story of lessons. I do not know why some people fail to present the glorious issues of the imposed war.

Therefore, regarding the first issue, which is the fall of Saddam by the American and British invading forces, our position and summary is this: We did not assist either of the two oppressors. We are very happy about the fall of Saddam, and our nation is happy too. We were neutral, just as the Iraqi nation was neutral, and we are happy, just as the Iraqi nation is happy.

The second issue is the atrocities that have occurred in Iraq against the people during this time. These atrocities are not things that can be forgotten. Look! Twenty-seven years have passed since the Vietnam War, and many things have been forgotten; however, the atrocities that the Americans committed against the people in that war are not forgotten. About that, how many films are made and how many stories are mentioned! The aggression against the people remains alive in the memory of the world and in the public conscience. The highest rights of the people are the right to life and to live. These gentlemen came as defenders of human rights and took away the right to life from the people of these cities with these bombings. More than a thousand cruise missiles, thousands of heavy bombs, and countless artillery shells were continuously rained down on Basra, Nasiriyah, Diwaniyah, Hilla, Baghdad, and other cities. These people live in these cities. We know what it means to be bombed. We ourselves have been bombed. We ourselves have been subjected to missile attacks in Tehran, Dezful, and other cities. Is it a joke that dozens or hundreds of missiles are fired at a city in one hour?! They say we wanted to destroy military targets. How many military targets are there in Iraq that need to be destroyed with more than a thousand cruise missiles and thousands of bombs?! These destroyed the people; they created an atmosphere of terror and fear for the people, the children of the people were terrified, the children of the people were killed, and the children of the people were left without food. Those who understand the meaning of this are those who have a small child at home and have no milk; a mother has no food, no clean water to give to this child. Those understand the meaning of this. How many small children have bled their parents' hearts with their cries! How many young people have lain in these hospitals whose wounds were not healed! How many loved ones have been taken from families! Are these not enough?! Then, the insult to the people and the invasion of their homes! These scenes burn the heart of a person. Just on the basis of a slander or a false suspicion, they invade someone's home, cover the man's head in front of his wife and children, bind his eyes and hands, insult him, and threaten him. Are these not small calamities?! Are these not reparable?! This is also a very important matter. An American soldier inspects veiled Arab women; an American young man, who is unknown and from nowhere, comes to inspect an Arab woman who is completely covered from head to toe with a scarf and abaya to see if she has a bomb! Is this human rights, respect for human beings, and respect for human freedom that these liars claim?! These cannot be resolved with an apology. They hit, and then say: excuse us; we made a mistake! This has also happened in Afghanistan. Since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, this has happened many times. Just a few days ago, it happened again. They hit and obliterate a crowd with bombs, and then say: excuse us; we made a mistake! Can crimes be erased with "excuse us, we made a mistake"? This is the second issue, and we strongly condemn this issue; we sympathize with the Iraqi people; we condemn the aggressor, and if they claim to be human rights advocates, we consider them liars.

However, the third issue, namely the military aggression against a country under the pretext of the existence of weapons of mass destruction, is one of the ugliest and worst actions, and the global conscience condemned this act and deemed it illegitimate. I remember during the Vietnam War that sometimes protests against America took place in some parts of the world, but I did not see this global consensus that we see today in this issue. This global consensus did not exist during the Vietnam War. At that time, it was said that these gatherings and protests were organized by the Soviet Union. Today, who organizes these? In India, in Pakistan, in Indonesia, in Malaysia, in Africa, in Europe, and in America itself, people gather and form massive gatherings of thousands, tens of thousands, and hundreds of thousands, and their slogans are the same. Who organizes these? There is no central organization for this; rather, it is the global conscience and human conscience that condemns this act. This act is condemned. This is a very ugly innovation. This is a return to the era of aggressive wars and imperialistic expansions of the past. They take a pretext against a country, and then whatever the inspectors of the United Nations say that no, sir, there is none, they say you do not know; we know it exists! Then they come and attack. This is a very wrong act. We condemned this and will continue to condemn it. Of course, in our view, the United Nations fell short in this matter. Why did the Security Council not condemn the attack by America and Britain? Why did they not issue a resolution against them? Even if they vetoed the resolution, let them do so. The mere issuance of a resolution in the Security Council could have been a movement against them. Why did they not do it? Why did they not convene the General Assembly of the United Nations to condemn this act in the General Assembly? The Secretary-General of the United Nations should have taken more actions in this regard. There are expectations from the United Nations. Of course, for years we have not had these expectations anymore, and we see the performances and influences. However, in the world, these expectations exist. They acted very weakly.

America has proven with this aggression that it is a rogue state. The term "rogue" was attributed by the former American president to some countries of the world. Rogue means exactly what they were doing; a rogue against humanity and against the stability of countries. They have proven that they are truly the axis of evil in the true sense of the word. They have proven that they are indeed the Great Satan; the very name that Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) gave to them. The British also made a big mistake. The British followed America hoping to gain a share of the spoils, and they made a mistake. The British have had a very infamous and ugly face in this region, in Iran, in Iraq, in India, and elsewhere, due to the many wrongs and injustices they have committed here. For about thirty or forty years, a more sinister face than theirs had emerged in the world, and gradually the ugly face of the British was forgotten. This Mr. Blair has revived the ugly face of the British in people's memories. It was a big mistake. Therefore, in this third issue of military aggression, we have condemned this act in unison with the people of the world, we condemn it again, and we consider it an innovation and aggression against the Islamic country and an aggression against Islam and Muslims and against the sanctity of the Islamic Ummah.

The fourth issue is America's subsequent domination over Iraq. They want, in addition to the aggression they have committed and the atrocities and crimes that have occurred, to take over the administration of Iraq through a foreign ruler—an American and military ruler who is either a Zionist or completely connected to Zionist circles—and place him at the head of an Islamic and Arab country. They have, in their own minds, divided the spoils among themselves, and of course, the signs of disagreement between America and Britain are evident. Basra, which has a stronger smell of oil and is closer to the oil regions, and the British, who are very fond of the smell of oil, have been assigned to the British, while Baghdad, which is the center of power, has been assigned to the Americans, who also enjoy showing off their power. Of course, they have many disagreements, which will increase, and it will become clear to the people; however, it seems that for now, they have agreed in this manner. This is a return to the first era of colonialism and pure reaction. In the beginning, colonialism was like this; European colonial powers would forcibly take countries in Asia and Africa, and then they would place a military ruler on top to have complete control over the region. In India, Australia, Canada, Africa, and many other countries, they did this. After a while, they saw that appointing a foreign military ruler over a nation was a mistake and wrong; they changed the formula, finding rulers from among those countries and appointing them who would be completely obedient to them, providing them with assistance and resources, and they would leave the country open for the colonizers to do whatever they wanted. This method continued for a while, and they saw that this was also not right and made a mistake; because the nations would rise against these rulers who, although they were considered native and local, were dependent on them and were tyrannical and oppressive. After this method, they started changing the approach; this method was ostensibly democratic and involved cultural domination, where they would supposedly elect a ruler who was in favor of them. In Iran during the time of the tyrant, the same events occurred; first, the British appointed Reza Pahlavi, then Mohammad Reza, and then they saw that problems arose, so they forced him to appoint Ali Amini as prime minister, supposedly to implement reforms. When he saw that he was losing control, he said, I will implement the reforms myself, which were the six disgraceful measures that were implemented during the time of the tyrant. These are the colonial experiences that have been implemented in various times and places around the world. Today, they have returned to the first era of colonialism; that is, they take a country by force of arms and then appoint a ruler from among themselves there. This is a very strange, regressive, ugly, and humiliating act that indicates intoxication and arrogance that they are pounding into the ground.

Not understanding the situation and not recognizing the time is their next mistake. This has been condemned by almost the entire world, even governments, and they have said that this is an impossible act. Our position is completely clear, and I will state it. This act is wrong in every way. That ruler should not be foreign, nor military, nor Zionist; rather, it should be chosen by the people of Iraq themselves and without reliance on the support of the invading powers. The people of Iraq want such a person. Of course, the Americans have calculated everything in their minds. They think that we will appoint this person, then take control of the affairs, provide assistance, and then change the culture of the people; meaning they will seize control of education. In their minds, they want to do the same for Iraq as they did for Afghanistan. The Americans printed several tons of schoolbooks in Persian and Pashto for Afghanistan to distribute in Afghan schools so that the image of America does not appear ugly to Afghan children during these lessons, and the culture and historical perspective of the Afghans are completely reshaped. They think they will do the same for Iraq. This will certainly not yield the desired results for them. Among the teachers and the people, the depth of the crimes and enmity of the Americans is so great that it will certainly be passed on to the next generation and generations. Therefore, the fourth issue is not the same as the previous issues; meaning that even if they did not commit this act, that aggression remains a crime in itself, and the great sin and offense of the Iraqi nation is independent of each of these subsequent actions. One truly wonders how they can be so brazen as to openly say on television that the Iraqi nation cannot determine its own ruler! A nation with this history, with this background, with these scholars and political figures. How can a person be so shameless as to speak like this and accuse a nation of being unable? We consider this a disregard for the rights of the Iraqi nation and condemn it, and we will not accept a new dictatorship for Iraq in any way. The Iraqi nation will not accept this matter either. The Iraqi nation did not come out of the pit of Saddam to fall into the well of an American military dictator. Even if they appoint an Iraqi individual in this manner, the people will certainly not accept him. In any case, we consider the situation they are currently presenting as another aggression against the sanctity of Islam and Muslims: "And God will never give the disbelievers a way over the believers."

Military victory, even with the doubts that exist in it, is not evidence of ultimate victory. The Americans have also suffered losses in this matter and have incurred defeats. Now, they may not know and may not be able to see it, but certainly, in the near future, they will see the effects of these defeats. They have suffered four major defeats:

The first defeat is in the slogan of Western democracy and freedom. This very liberal democracy that they promote in the world has failed with this act. They have shown that liberal democracy cannot bring a nation to a place where they truly believe in the freedom of human beings. That thought, when its material interests require it, is ready to trample on the freedom, life, and rights of human beings. If the Americans are truthful and supporters of democracy, they should leave Iraq immediately and go out. You wanted to bring down Saddam; he has fallen. What are you doing in Iraq now?! If you are truthful and accept democracy and the rights of nations, you must immediately withdraw the military from Iraq and not interfere in Iraq's affairs; but it is clear that such a thing will not happen.

The Americans have also suffered an ideological defeat, and their slogans have been revealed as lies; this has been understood by the people of the world, and in the slogans they raised, it became clear that the people have understood the lies of the Americans. A collection of slogans from the people of the world that were either spoken or written on boards and placards during various demonstrations has been gathered for me, all showing that the people of the world have grasped the true nature of the matter. Some of these slogans are: "This war is a war for oil, not for freedom and human rights"; "This war is to save the bankrupt American economy"; "This war is an aggressive occupation like that of Hitler"; "The axis of evil is America, Britain, and Israel." These slogans were raised by the people of the world, not just the people of Tehran. These are slogans that the Iranian nation has sensed with its insight for a long time; today, the people of the world have understood these, and the public opinion of the world repeats these.

The second defeat for them is a political defeat. Today, America is politically isolated in the world. This American formula and solution of appointing a retired major general has been rejected by almost no government in the world—except for a few of their own. Arab, Islamic, and European governments have rejected it.

The third defeat of the Americans is the defeat of their military might, as they had pretended that they could dominate Iraqi forces within three or four days. Eventually, it became clear that not only could they not do it in three or four days, but even with more time, they could not gain control, and if the Iraqi forces had fought, these matters would have continued for a long time, and it was not even clear whether they would achieve military victory due to the high casualties. The Iraqis did not fight when they were supposed to. This is a question and ambiguity! As I said, we do not have a judgment; however, this is one of the questions whose answer will be revealed in the future.

The fourth defeat is the defeat of their media credibility. Their credibility in news reporting and media has completely collapsed. The whole world has understood that the Americans openly censor and attack journalists. Then they said they made a mistake; however, no one accepted this mistake from them.

Furthermore, they give false reports about their casualties. During this time, they said we had eighty, ninety, or a hundred casualties, for example. Everyone knows this is a lie. We do not know how many casualties they have. The casualty figures of the Americans should be asked from the mortuary workers in Kuwait; the people of America will also find out later. In the Vietnam War, they later said they had fifty thousand casualties; however, during the war, they reported these small numbers of ten, twenty, a hundred, and two hundred casualties.

One last sentence in my statements: Firstly, my understanding is that in this incident that occurred, the Zionists played the greatest role in both encouraging the American government to do this and in preparing the groundwork for it, and they also gain the most benefit from this new Middle Eastern plan that George Bush speaks of and repeats, and they themselves have prepared the groundwork for it. The new plan is the expansion of the Zionists in the Middle East; in the Arab and non-Arab countries surrounding them politically, economically, and if they get the chance, geographically; but for now, the greatest exploitation has been done by the Zionists and the wicked Sharon from this incident. These days, when all global attention is on Iraq, every day Palestinians are being killed and are under pressure, and heartbreaking tragedies are occurring there.

I would like to say something to the political activists in Iraq: Iraq has had many political activists. Today, the political activists of Iraq are facing a very significant and historical test. They must be careful not to make a strategic mistake. They should neither be elated nor terrified by the military victory of America over Saddam, as it will harm them. The political activists in Iraq should be careful about two things:

One is the issue of chaos, unreasonable revenge, and harmful rivalries. They must be very careful; because chaos will be detrimental to the people and the future of Iraq and will give the occupiers an excuse to solidify their presence there. Therefore, they must prevent unnecessary rivalries and wrong acts of revenge. For this, they should sit down, think, plan, and not allow it; this is achievable.

The second is to avoid cooperating and assisting the foreign rule. They must be careful not to let this mistake happen; because it will remain in the history of Iraq. If anyone helps the foreign forces today to stabilize their rule in Iraq, this will remain as a stain of disgrace for any individual or group that does this in the history of Iraq. The people of Iraq desire independence, freedom, and a government that arises from their religious and national aspirations; this is the demand of the people of Iraq. Those who have spoken on behalf of the people of Iraq for many years must be loyal to the people of Iraq and these aspirations and demonstrate it in practice. Engaging in secrecy and colluding with foreign powers will alienate the people from them. They should only consider the pleasure of God and the pleasure of the people and know that military victory over Saddam's regime does not mean political and cultural victory over the Iraqi nation. They achieved military victory over Saddam's regime, but this does not mean they have triumphed over the Iraqi nation politically and culturally, nor will it.

We swear by God Almighty and His saints and by the blood of the oppressed that He supports the Iraqi nation, the Palestinian nation, and all oppressed nations in confronting the factors of oppression; may He grant them victory in the shadow of steadfastness and faith, and we ask God Almighty to bestow His blessings and grace upon our dear and great nation.

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful By time. Indeed, mankind is in loss. Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds. And blessings and peace be upon our master and prophet, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and immaculate progeny. Especially upon the Commander of the Faithful and the pure lady, the Mistress of the Women of the Worlds, and Hasan and Husayn, the masters of the youth of Paradise, and Ali ibn Husayn, Zain al-Abidin, and Muhammad ibn Ali, the bearer of the knowledge of the prophets, and Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq, and Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kadhim, and Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha, and Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad, and Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi, and Hasan ibn Ali al-Zaki al-Askari, and the Awaited Mahdi (peace be upon them all), and peace be upon the leaders of the Muslims, the protectors of the oppressed, and the guides of the believers.

Dear worshippers! What I want to convey to you in the second sermon is to consider divine piety in all aspects of your behavior, actions, and speech. Also, know that the officials of the country in all areas and in the same area that was discussed in the first sermon are all striving to accurately identify and pursue the line of Islamic goals that align with the interests of the people and the benefits of the country. We ask God Almighty to grant them success in this work and enable them to pursue and follow what is their duty and in accordance with the interests of the country and the benefits of the nation, God willing.

I now address some of the points I mentioned to our Arab Muslim brothers:

Peace be upon the Muslim brothers and sisters in various parts of the world, especially the oppressed and persecuted Iraqi people.

The events that Iraq is going through these days are very important, complicated, and fateful.

Although the fall of Saddam's regime, which represented a model of oppression, cruelty, and violence, and which imprisoned the Iraqi people for many long years in the prison of his tyranny and bloody repression, constitutes a day of historical joy, the grievous calamities that the American-British attack has brought upon the people, and what the invaders are planning for the future of this people, leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of this noble and honorable nation and saddens all Muslims and the free people of the world.

The massacres that have befallen the defenseless people have made the earth too narrow for them. The moans of the widows and the wounded, the cries of the hungry children and the untreated injured, the destruction of people's homes, the detention and capture of passersby under flimsy pretexts, the violation of family sanctities, the imposition of a climate of terror and widespread horror, the insults and humiliations directed at honorable men in front of their children and wives, the destruction of the vital infrastructure of the country, and the dropping of thousands of bombs, missiles, and artillery shells on cities, each of which constitutes a war crime in itself—this has given the invaders a head start on the crimes that Saddam committed for many years.

No nation will feel more bitter and painful than to see foreign soldiers, intoxicated by their conquest, trampling on their homes and lands with complete freedom and controlling their destiny.

The Americans and the British have claimed that they launched this attack to remove Saddam and bring democracy and freedom to Iraq, while they deliberately ignored the fact that they were the ones who equipped the cruel and oppressive Saddam and supported him in every way that enabled him to commit those heinous criminal acts, and that they were the ones who let him loose to carry out the massacre of 1991 and did not even scold him with the blink of an eye. They were the ones who helped him use chemical weapons against the Iranians, and even against the people of Iraq in Halabja, and they turned a blind eye to it, and they were the ones who provided him with everything he needed in the eight years of war he imposed on the Islamic Republic, including weapons, media support, and they ignored all the calamities he inflicted on the Iraqi people day and night. The claim of America and England to gift freedom to the Iraqi people is one of the greatest absurdities. In reality, they are working to dominate Iraq, to control its oil, to dominate the Middle East, to suppress the Palestinian uprising, and to stifle the Islamic awakening. The appointment of a foreign military ruler over Iraq constitutes an insult to the freedom and popular sovereignty of the Iraqi people.

They are planning to erase the Islamic and national identity of Iraq and turn it into a center for American domination over the entire Middle East and its resources and human and material wealth. They do not consider the Iraqi people capable of determining their own destiny and possessing their natural rights in their land. In their view, the best Iraqi elements are those who provide greater service to the foreign aggressors and turn their backs on their people and homeland.

The public conscience of the Iraqi people and all free people, and history, judges that any service to America to achieve its vile colonial goals is a betrayal of Iraq and its people and its history.

The dream that the Americans and the British have will not be realized, as resistance stands everywhere with its language and its method against aggression and its language and behavior, and the Iraqi people, known for their honor and zeal, will not be an exception to this rule.

The oppressed Palestinian people have, through their valiant resistance, deprived the bloodthirsty Zionist enemy of its ability to break the spirit of resistance, and the believing Iranian people, through their unity and steadfastness, have been able to thwart the aggressive war imposed by Saddam's regime with the help of America and Britain—themselves—and the support of the former Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc in terms of weapons, media, and politics, and maintain the borders of their country and expel the enemy from it.

The Iranian cities have suffered for years at the hands of this oppressive Saddam from missile and bomb attacks, and their free sacrificing youth have been struck by chemical bombs, yet the resistance of the people nullifies all the myths of dictatorship, colonialism, oppression, and aggression.

The invaders were able to defeat the Ba'athist regime, which we expected from a regime that is not protected by its people but relies on oppressive and repressive apparatuses; however, these invaders will not be able to defeat the Iraqi people. If they want to avoid confronting the Iraqi people, they must immediately evacuate Iraq of their soldiers and completely refrain from interfering in the destiny of Iraq and its people.

The rule in Iraq and the Iraqi resources and wealth belong to the Iraqi people, and they are capable of determining their future government.

If the Americans are sincere in their claims of democracy, they should not interfere in Iraqi affairs so that the people can determine their future system and elect their officials through a public referendum and determine the appropriate method for reconstructing what these invaders have destroyed. The position of the Iranian government and people is clear.

We opposed the oppressive Ba'athist regime of Saddam, and we objected to the foreign aggression against Iraq. Regarding the war between Saddam and America and Britain, we condemned both oppressive sides and did not provide assistance to either of them, and we announced our non-alignment with either of them. However, we will not remain neutral in the conflict between the occupiers and the Iraqi people.

The occupier is an aggressor and condemned, and the resisting people are right and oppressed, and our moral and political support for every oppressed nation under attack is the path we will not deviate from.

The Iraqi people today bear a massive responsibility. Any negligence or fragmentation in their position will draw a dark future for them.

National unity, presence in the arena, and participation in forming an independent government that defends the Islamic identity are among the greatest duties of the Iraqi people, especially the scholars, intellectuals, and scientific and political elites.

I ask God Almighty to grant our Islamic nation success in following the path of purification and piety to achieve its desired goals. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Glorious. "And say, 'Work, for Allah will see your work and [so will] His Messenger and the believers.'" And I seek forgiveness from Allah for me and for you.

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent."

And peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.