Speech at the Allegiance Ceremony of Clergy, Officials, and Various People of Isfahan Province

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

I reciprocally offer my heartfelt condolences to you, dear brothers and beloved ones, especially to the esteemed scholars, the honorable Friday prayer leaders, the respected teachers of the Isfahan seminary, and also to the dear families of the esteemed martyrs, the missing, the disabled, the captives, and the warriors who, with love for the Imam of the Nation and a sense of responsibility towards the revolution, have come from afar. Truly, you dear ones have passed one of the best tests throughout the period of the movement. You filled the front lines of the battlefield and the political scenes of the revolution and all the arenas where the presence of the nation was required.

Although I have often participated in the funerals of your pure martyrs and the large gatherings of the Basij and dispatches to the fronts and various other occasions, and have expressed my sincere feelings towards you, I remind you that what you have done throughout the years of struggle and after the victory in the path of the revolution, all of them are preserved in the divine record—whether in the unseen record kept by the 'noble scribes' and the angels of God, or in the record of external reality.

The divine record is not just the unseen record of our deeds kept by the angels of God and the divine agents and in the knowledge of the Lord; the other record of our deeds is what shapes and creates our destiny and life situation.

If you observe that today the Islamic Republic is introduced on the global stage and in international politics as a stable and established system, or if today Western countries—whose misconduct has caused dissatisfaction among the Iranian nation—are trying in various ways to win the satisfaction of the Iranian nation and to forget their unfavorable past behavior with the Iranian nation, or if you see that the judgment of analysts and politicians and those who speak about world affairs indicates that the Iranian nation has the power to preserve Islam and the Islamic Republic, all these realities are the product and result of your past efforts and today's struggles. In truth, these are the same sacrifices and struggles of yours that have been recorded in the world of creation. This is the record of the Iranian nation.

Whoever and whichever group among this nation has made more efforts, has a greater share in the honors and victories. If a nation does not defend its dignity and honor and abandons its goals and fears the world's bullies and retracts its words and retreats in the face of the enemy, its fate will be different, and the results it achieves will be other than what has emerged for the Iranian nation today.

Dear brothers! If today the Iranian nation is honored in the world, and if our leader shook the world with his passing, and if foreign guests and international observers speak of you with praise, it is due to your efforts and struggles. On the day when you were giving martyrs on the front and appearing in millions in the scenes of the revolution, some were short-sighted and did not know the benefits of this revolutionary movement. Short-sightedness is truly a great calamity. If a person sees the present but does not see the future; observes the immediate but does not see the long-term works, it will be a great affliction for the intellect and happiness of a person.

Today, thanks be to God, our situation in the world is good. This is not a slogan; rather, it is the reality. When we say our situation in the world is good, for a nation, it means everything. When a nation can prove in the tumult of the struggle of great powers that it does not need anyone to remain and be strong, then it is a powerful nation.

There are times when the world is calm, and peace and tranquility prevail in the region, and no one interferes with anyone's actions, just like a disturbance-free environment where every plant has the potential to grow and flourish, all activities are carried out calmly. But there are also times when such a situation is not visible; that is, the weather is stormy, there is deadly heat and cold, and not every plant can survive in such conditions, and only that strong, deep-rooted, and sturdy tree will remain. Today, the world's situation is like this.

The great powers want nations not to breathe without their permission, and their wealth and resources, instead of benefiting the nations themselves, should serve them! The great powers, thousands of kilometers away from their own soil and at the borders of small countries, bring warships, tanks, and armed forces, and when asked what they are doing here and why they have come to distant places like Vietnam, Korea, Iran, the Persian Gulf, and the Middle East, they shamelessly and brazenly answer that we have interests here and we are trying to protect them! And if they are told that you have come to these places to protect your interests, you are threatening the interests of the countries in this region, they say the principle is our interests, and the trampling of the interests of nations and the insecurity of those places is not our concern!

The situation of the superpowers and the world's dominators and the great highway robbers of the world is like this. Do they allow a nation to drink water without their permission and consent? The superpowers say sell as much oil as we say, and to whom we say and at the price we determine! To countries that have copper or gold or diamond or uranium resources, they say extract as much as we say, and sell at the price we say!

Today, the system of domination rules the world; this is a global system. The dominance of the system of domination over the world and human life has two sides: one side is the dominators, who are the superpowers; and the other side is the submissive governments that accept the shameless and brazen interventions of the superpowers; they are also accomplices in the crime. In the meantime, the nations are unfortunate, who are trampled and destroyed due to their ignorance, weakness, or lack of courage.

In the midst of this wild jungle and the tumult of domination where the powers are bad with each other and fear and account for themselves and have established a secret ceasefire among themselves to divide the world more easily and plunder the resources of countries, suddenly a nation has emerged that says 'no' to those powers and their dependents and to their bullying and interference and pricing. This nation stands on its own feet and bravely looks into the eyes of the great powers and says I am your enemy and oppose your domination, and as far as I can, I will fight you.

A nation that stands against them with such courage and indifference to the powers and speaks with self-reliance, its rule is that all the powers unite to destroy this nation and the system that has made the people of Iran like this. If we see that our nation and system, with these 'no's and with these courage and audacity and with the blows they inflict against it, not only have not been destroyed but have become stronger day by day, it is because the Iranian nation is very deep-rooted and powerful. The world has been forced to tolerate and accept the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation with this situation.

I and you are responsible. Responsibility is not specific to an individual or a group. The burden is on everyone; sometimes more and heavier, and sometimes less and lighter; 'All of you are shepherds.' The Islamic system is like this. We who are responsible must think to ourselves where this stability and power came from and what factor it was due to; so that we can firmly hold that factor and use it in the future.

Faith and sincerity and sincere action were the factors of our power and stability. The model for these values is the same noble person who shook the world with his passing today. That dear one, who was certainly among the friends of God, like the prophets and saints whose natural absence shakes the world, shook the world with his passing.

His faith in God and his path and goals was at the highest level, and he maintained untainted sincerity in himself, and he showed sacrifice and readiness to work throughout many years—even before the movement started in 1963. The Iranian nation was also truly a good nation for this Imam; he also wanted such a nation. The Iranian nation, by following its Imam and with the faithful and sincere response it gave him, is proud before the Lord and the angels of God and the spirits of the infallibles and history.

After this, the path is the same as it has been outlined so far. With faith and righteous action and sincerity, this path can be traversed and advanced. We are still in the middle of the road. The powerful hand of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) opened the way and removed major obstacles and left many instructions for our future.

The duty of the people today is first to preserve unity and sincerity and brotherhood with all their being and to disregard various tastes and motivations—not to put aside their tastes; but not to consider different tastes as a reason for opposition and sabotage and slander against each other—and to live brotherly with each other; secondly, the Iranian nation should be alert, so that wherever the revolution and the system require their presence, they are present in the scene.

They must truly consider the system and the country, which belongs to themselves, as their own and defend it, and support the country's officials and those who bear the heavy burden of execution; just as Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) recommended to the people throughout this period to help and support and accompany the officials. These statements were repeatedly issued and heard from his blessed tongue; after this, it should be the same.

With your conscious and sincere presence, all the small and large problems of this country and nation will be resolved. We are a nation that has many capabilities and can have a high level of material and spiritual life; we can be free and noble and honorable and prosperous and enjoy, and also be faithful and pious and righteous and chaste. This is the life that Islam has wanted for the Islamic nation and its supporters, and we can create such a life in the world with these pillars. The tools and means of work are in the hands of the Iranian nation, and our country will be the same country that will become a model and example for other nations and will, God willing, lead and guide them to the valley of salvation and prosperity.

May God preserve all of you and grant you success and accept these efforts and services and, God willing, make you—as in the past—among the effective elements in achieving Islamic goals.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings