Speech at the Allegiance Ceremony of Officials and Various Groups from Yazd and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Provinces

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

I extend my heartfelt condolences to you, dear brothers and sisters, esteemed scholars, respected Friday prayer leaders, and the faithful people of Hezbollah, who have come from afar, on this great and heartbreaking calamity.

The brief history of our revolution is filled with events, each of which alone compels a nation to reflect and ponder. In all these events, two clear points are observed: first, the malice of the enemy; and second, the deep and unparalleled faith and sincerity of our Muslim nation.

Since the beginning of the revolution, every year, month, and week, we witness an event that rarely occurs in the history of nations, and it is for this reason that our nation is rich in revolutionary knowledge; because during the revolution, it has faced many instructive events, and this too is a blessing from God.

One of those events was the martyrdom of the late Ayatollah Sadouqi, a great scholar, a pioneer of the revolution, a sincere and long-standing companion of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), a vocal advocate and valuable supporter of the revolution, and a prominent and distinguished figure of the system. His martyrdom — as the third martyr of the pulpit in our time — was an instructive lesson and proved the malice and baseness of the enemy.

Our enemies are those who deal with people connected to God and religion, and with pure-hearted and sincere elders, with such malice that is only seen in the behavior of the most wicked creatures of God throughout history — like the Khawarij. This group also behaved with savagery and brutality towards the men of God and sincere believers during the time of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him).

The assassinations that occurred during the numerous events of our revolution revealed the true face of the enemy to the Iranian nation and the world. Who would have thought that the hypocrites and other terrorist groups would be so cruel-hearted, violent, malicious, and wicked? Did anyone think that their face of hypocrisy would be so ugly and vile, and that they would deceitfully invoke the name of God and His creation while treacherously acting against God and His creation?!

Thanks be to God, they were disgraced, and those who supported these groups also lost their reputation. It became clear what goals the claimants of human rights and the organizations that operate under this name in the world pursue, and what sinister objectives they follow under this guise.

The other side of the issue, which is no less important than exposing the enemy, is the manifestation of the depth of faith, sincerity, and steadfastness of our people. The events that occurred did not shake the hearts of the people; they did not create doubt in them, nor did they cause them to waver in the correctness of their goals; rather, on the contrary, every event that occurred made the people's faith clearer, their goals more evident, and made them more confident in the correctness of the path they were following.

The Holy Quran repeatedly mentions this tranquility and assurance of heart regarding true believers. When believers see bitter events and the pressures of the enemy and recognize the vile face of the opponents, their faith deepens, and they become more assured of God, saying to themselves: God and His Messenger had told us that on this path, there would be difficulties, hardships, terror, pressure, and enmity. What God and His Messenger had said came true; "They said, 'This is what God and His Messenger promised us.'"

Our dear Imam, that enlightened and radiant heart and that eloquent tongue of truths, had said from the beginning that on this path, there are hardships, terror, pressure, enmity, and propaganda. We saw that everything that happened demonstrated the correctness of the predictions of that divine and enlightened-hearted sage. Therefore, the path was the right one; because the faith of the people deepened moment by moment.

Another incident that showed the peak of the enemy's baseness and vileness was the downing of the Iranian plane by American mercenaries. Even though the Americans knew our plane was a passenger, defenseless, and civilian aircraft, they shamelessly shot it down and sent it to the depths of the sea. How did the world react to this crime? Here, the extent of enmity with Islam can be understood. The magnitude of their enmity indicates the greatness of our message.

I have said many times that before the victory of the revolution, the tyrannical regime would exert great pressure for every word that the heralds of the Islamic movement uttered throughout the country; while they themselves were apparently performing quasi-Islamic activities — religious speeches, Quran recitations, mourning ceremonies, and so on! They were extremely sensitive to the activities of the fighters. The enemy's reaction at that time indicated the correctness of our work. Essentially, as long as the enemy is not threatened, it will not be provoked to react. The enemy's reaction indicates that our work, words, message, and actions are dangerous for them.

Consider this: all these people who go to Hajj from around the world and perform the rituals do not create any sensitivity for America, Israel, and the dependent reactionary governments; but when the Iranian pilgrim goes to Hajj and performs the disavowal of polytheists ceremony and in their meaningful Hajj, cries out against the tyrants and idols of gold and power today, all the global arrogance apparatuses unite to silence their voice, and then they brought that great tragedy upon the Iranian pilgrims in Mecca. Therefore, the enemy reacts in moments of fear.

Islam, which carries the message of the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him), will certainly provoke the enmity of Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab. If you see that Abu Jahls and Abu Lahabs and the rest of the global disbelief leaders are indifferent to the message of Islam, know that this Islam is not the Islam of the early days and the Prophet (peace be upon him), and the true spirit and pulse of Islam are not observed in it. The Islam that frightens the leaders of wealth and power and the poles of ignorant and tyrannical power in the world is the pure Muhammadan Islam (peace be upon him).

It reaches a point where the American government, with all its grand claims and pretense of adhering to international laws, in front of the eyes of all the world's people and in the view of radars and cameras, shoots down our passenger plane from its ship; just because the plane belongs to Islamic Iran!

Their shamelessness, audacity, and desperate actions indicate that Islam has shaken the foundations of global disbelief and arrogance, and the leaders of these countries feel threatened by the Islam whose flag is today in the hands of the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation. Therefore, the indirect message of the enemy's hostilities is the power of the Islamic Republic.

For ten years, they have constantly been propagating that the Islamic Republic is unstable and declining; but in reality, their actions showed that our system is a word and a good tree whose "roots are firm and branches are in the sky, yielding its fruit every season by the permission of its Lord." The great Imam, with that radiant heart and clear mind, repeatedly proved this power to the world, and once again, at the time of the heavenly departure of that descendant of the prophets and follower of the divine prophets, its authenticity and strength became clear and evident.

Remember that our specific goals are summarized in Islam. Islam is not just a belief; Islam is the pure life of humans. When we talk about Islamic life and system, we mean a pure system and life in which all the good things desired by humans exist; both material welfare and social and spiritual security are provided, and spiritual purity, knowledge, insight, research, devotion, and attention to God are observed. Islam gives us these blessings. Islam has shown that it can defend the people who believe in it and live according to its teachings.

It is true that the enmity of the world's powers with us is because of our Islamic beliefs; "And they resented them only because they believed in God, the Almighty, the Praiseworthy," but the strong fortress and great bastion in which we can place ourselves and defend our dignity, personality, and identity and provide for ourselves a pure life is this very Islam. Our goal and path are clear and we lack nothing to traverse this path. If faith, movement, and action are necessary to reach the goal, the Almighty God has illuminated our hearts with the light of His faith and has given the Iranian nation the success to endure hardships in their movement and action and not fear obstacles.

The region in which we live today, whether our enemies like it or not, is one of the most sensitive regions in the world. Any nation living here enjoys this privilege. The Almighty God has given us this privilege and has also provided us with abundant natural resources. We must preserve the two important factors of deep faith and decisive action, which have so far advanced us and brought us closer to our goals.

Thanks be to God, unity and cohesion prevail over our nation; efforts must be made to preserve and strengthen this precious gem. Those who have an eloquent and influential tongue among the people and can affect the minds, hearts, and souls of the people have a heavier duty to strengthen faith, encourage action, and maintain unity and public connection of the nation.

I have repeatedly told our dear people, whose hearts are full of hope and faith, that I have no doubt or concern about the future. Our nation, by the grace of the Lord, will be able to create the pure Islamic life that combines the world and the hereafter, matter and meaning, science and worship, and welfare. If we can establish such a society and system, that day we will have created a real defeat for the global enemies of Islam.

May God grant all of you success and goodness, keep us steadfast on His path, and make us appreciative of the guidance and instructions that our dear Imam — that descendant of the prophets and the rest of the divine saints — has left among us, and grant us the success to move towards those goals.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings