Statements at the Meeting with the Organizers of the Congress Commemorating 12,000 Martyrs of West Azerbaijan

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 Muhammad and his pure family, especially the Awaited One among the inhabitants of the earth.

We are very grateful to the dear brothers who revive the memory of the martyrs with this extensive activity they have described. We need these names, these memories; the country needs the memory of the martyrs to always be alive, the names of the martyrs to be alive. We have seen the greatest personalities of recent centuries among these young people. These very young people from West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Isfahan province, and other parts of the country stood up and rushed to sacrifice themselves, showing their worthiness in defending the country and the revolution; these are truly the brilliant faces of our history.

Whenever our country has suffered humiliation, it has been because we lacked self-sacrificing men, brave men, and selfless men. Whenever our country has stood tall at any point in its history, it has been because we had such men. Today, thanks be to God, is a time when many great individuals have emerged; do not let the memory of these great men be forgotten. I tell you, there are motivations to make the memory of the martyrs forgotten; there are very strong motivations to bury them in oblivion; they want to present other things and showcase false appearances and false greatness so that the real greatness is forgotten. This congress of yours and similar congresses across the country in various provinces are, in fact, the antidote to that poisonous movement they are carrying out.

West Azerbaijan is among the two or three provinces where struggle and sacrifice did not begin with the onset of the imposed war; rather, it existed beforehand. Many provinces were in security and comfort; when the imposed war began, their youth went and engaged in struggle, but West Azerbaijan, from the very first day of the revolution, like Kurdistan and some other provinces—there are several provinces like this—was faced with issues that required struggle and needed self-sacrifice. West Azerbaijan stood against all events and truly fought. And it had good, faithful youth; I knew the late martyr Agha Mahdi Bakri before the revolution; he was a student at Tabriz University, and he and one of our friends, who was also a student at Tabriz University, came to Mashhad; it happened to be summer, and I was in one of the summer resorts around Mashhad; they came there, and I saw this young man. They were hardworking, they were engaged in struggle, they were insightful; they understood the issues of the country, the situation of the country. Therefore, as soon as the revolution occurred and events unfolded after the revolution, they maintained their presence in the scene; that is, they had a complete presence in the scene. This shows their awakening. And West Azerbaijan truly faced many problems, and it is good to remember Mr. Hassani (may God protect him); he is also truly among those who gave a good account during the struggles and in the period after the revolution; whether before the war, during the war, or after the war. Also, Colonel Zakiani, the commander of the 64th Division, who was also a brave officer—may God have mercy on him—was among the brave officers who were active with Mr. Hassani; in the events of Ushnuyeh, in the events of Naqdeh, and various issues. And what is important is that there, as Mr. Qureshi pointed out, Shia and Sunni, Kurds and Turks collaborated together in this field. When I went to Mahabad, in that meeting the people of Mahabad had with us, during the speech, that great Sunni scholar from Ushnuyeh—the late Qazi Khodari, who was my friend—despite being old and of very high age, he made his way from Ushnuyeh to Mahabad; he said he came to give a speech here. He stood there and spoke, and with very good expressions, he praised Imam Khomeini (may God be pleased with him) and likewise the officials of the country; that is, everyone truly collaborated and accompanied each other until they could carry this heavy burden home. Then they also suffered damage; I mean, perhaps apart from Sardasht, I do not think we have anywhere in the world that has faced an incident like that; that chemical bombing of a city is something very strange; the people endured, they tolerated; they were able to endure these events; this shows the greatness of the people.

And during the war, they truly worked hard, they made great efforts; these dear martyrs whose names you mentioned and many other martyrs from our great martyrs who were not from there but were martyred in West Azerbaijan. There was a field of struggle there, a field of work. The country truly needs to preserve and revive the memory of these dear ones. Everyone must pay attention to this issue that the matter of remembering the martyrs is not a local or regional issue specific to a particular people and a specific time; we always need this and must not allow this memory to become worn out. And many works must be done; one of these works should be to introduce West Azerbaijan with its steadfastness, with its courageous and informed approach to events and seditions to the people of the country so that they know. Today, when they want to introduce a province, they introduce it by its beauties and tourist attractions and such things, which is fine, or by its difficulties—like what Mr. Qureshi said that the per capita income here is less than in other places; well, this is also not a problem; they asked us to recommend this, we have no objection; we recommend it, God willing, our recommendation will have an effect—but what is important is that we revive those spiritual qualities, those spiritual distinctions that exist in this province, we should bring them to life, show them, highlight them; and show the people of the country the greatness of these people and the courage of these people.

God willing, may the Almighty God grant you success. This list that he mentioned of the works that have been done is a good list; that is, truly if these works are done well; of course, make sure that quality is not sacrificed for speed and such things; that is, truly everything should be done with quality and by specialized, expert, and efficient individuals; both the writings and the preparation of the video clips and the other things you mentioned, all of these should, God willing, be taken into consideration. We ask the Almighty God for success for you and ask God to unite the pure souls of our dear martyrs with the Prophet, to unite them with His saints; may He also unite us with them; God willing.

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