Statements in Meeting with Families of the Seventh of Tir Martyrs and Some Families of Martyrs from Tehran Province

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, Abu al-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his pure and chosen progeny, especially the Awaited One of God among the inhabitants of the earth.

Welcome, dear brothers and sisters, you have perfumed this Hussainiyah and our place of work and effort with the fragrance of the martyrs' memory.

One of the blessings of the Islamic Revolution is the reproduction of fundamental Islamic teachings in this era. Many of these great teachings we had in books and in our minds, but the Islamic Revolution embodied these teachings and gave them tangible realization. One of the very important aspects of these teachings is the system of knowledge related to martyrdom, which is explicitly mentioned in the noble verse that was recited: "And do not think of those who have been killed in the way of God as dead; rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision. They are rejoicing in what God has given them of His bounty and they are glad for those who have not yet joined them from behind them; there is no fear upon them, nor do they grieve." This is a profound understanding, one of the great Islamic teachings; it is the motivating and revitalizing role of martyrdom in the Muslim social system. The martyrs give glad tidings to those who have not joined them—like you and me—that in this path, there is neither fear nor sorrow; all that exists is joy, happiness, vitality, spirit, and hope; this is the lesson. This lesson has been repeated throughout the history of the Islamic Republic; our martyrs entered this field with motivation and enthusiasm, they strove, and their sincere efforts were rewarded by God, leading to martyrdom, which is undoubtedly a great blessing and a significant reward that God bestowed upon these sincere, pure-hearted servants. The martyrs entered this field with enthusiasm, met God with divine satisfaction, and in the afterlife, they experienced neither sorrow nor fear; they reflect this to society, they overflow this to the people who have not joined them. As we have observed over these many years: wherever martyrdom occurred, behind it was the pride of the martyr's family, the sense of dignity among the martyr's survivors, spiritual excitement, and a heightened morale among the people, along with numerous social impacts; among the most prominent of these was the incident of the Seventh of Tir.

The Seventh of Tir was not a small incident; it annihilated prominent and effective managers present in the system—72 individuals—at once, on the surface. Among them was a personality like Martyr Beheshti; Martyr Beheshti was one of the rare figures of the time, one of those whose like is rarely found in successive generations. To take away such a person, a significant number of efficient ministers, members of parliament, and political and revolutionary activists from the people, what is the natural and usual effect of this incident? The defeat of the nation, the defeat of the revolution, this should be the case; however, the exact opposite occurred. The exact opposite of this incident, the opposite of what the enemy expected from this incident, came to pass. The nation united; the path of the revolution was placed on a true course, on the correct path; the enemies of the nation were exposed and disgraced.

Some of those who were direct perpetrators of this great crime had for many years among the people, among the youth, introduced themselves through propaganda as supporters of freedom, supporters of values; they were exposed; it became clear that they were a bunch of terrorists devoid of any intellectual, ideological, or revolutionary basis; these were the same individuals who, after a short time following this incident, sought refuge with Saddam Hussein; they worked against the people of Iraq, they also endeavored against the people of Iran, they appeared in the battlefields, they fought against their own nation; what greater exposure is there than this? These were the perpetrators. There were some behind-the-scenes hands; they were also exposed. There were those who supported this movement and this crime; they too were exposed; both inside and outside the country; everyone understood what happened in this country and who faced and opposed the Iranian nation. There were also those who remained silent, silence accompanied by consent—"I heard this and I was pleased with it"—they too were exposed.

Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) determined the authentic course of the revolution by appropriately and suitably utilizing this incident; he placed that path before the Iranian nation, and the path of the revolution—which was initially being diverted and was being attempted to be attached to the East and West—was determined, saving the revolution; this was the blessing of this incident. Yes, we paid a price, we lost prominent figures, there is no doubt, but we must see what the impact of this is. The Muslim nation, throughout its 1400-year history, is still indebted to the blood of the martyrs of Karbala; is there a greater cost than that of Hussein ibn Ali? Is there a life more precious than that of the companions of Hussein? They paid this price, this cost was incurred, but Islam remained, the Quran remained, the authentic stream of faith remained in society; the same situation exists in the case of the Seventh of Tir, in the case of our other martyrs.

Among the effects of this incident was the spiritual vitality and joy of the people. Among the effects of this incident was the demonstration of the power and strength and penetration of the revolution in the depths of society; the enemies calculated their affairs; they saw that this incident, which would have disintegrated any system in any country, resulted in the further consolidation of the Iranian nation; they realized that they could not deal harshly with this revolution, it would not yield results; they felt this.

Among the important effects of this incident over time until today is the exposure of the arrogant powers claiming human rights. Those who committed this crime and other terrorist crimes in this country are freely operating in European countries and America; they meet with officials and leaders of those countries, they hold human rights speeches for them! What greater exposure is there? This showed how far the claimants of human rights, the claimants of opposition to terrorism, are in hypocrisy, duplicity, and lying; today, everyone sees this before their eyes.

We have seventeen thousand martyrs of terrorism in the country; seventeen thousand martyrs of terrorism! Is this number small? Is this a joking matter? Those who carried out these terrorist acts are now freely operating in Western countries. Who were these terrorist acts against? The assassination of merchants, the assassination of farmers, the assassination of scholars, the assassination of university professors, the assassination of devout believers, the assassination of children, the assassination of women; seventeen thousand martyrs of terrorism are recorded in the history of the Islamic Revolution. Well, this has two sides: one side is the exposure of those figures who today claim to oppose terrorism, and this is a mirror reflecting their false claims and shows how much they are liars, how duplicitous they are, how vile they are, how lowly they are to support these monstrous terrorists while claiming to be against terrorism and opposed to it; this is one side of the issue. The other side is that a nation that has given seventeen thousand martyrs of terrorism—besides the martyrs it lost in the Sacred Defense—stands firm in service to the revolution, in the path of the revolution, in facing the enemies of the revolution. The greatness of this revolution, the greatness of this nation has manifested through these martyrdoms. This "and they are glad for those who have not yet joined them from behind them; there is no fear upon them, nor do they grieve" is a glad tidings; it is a glad tidings that they give to the Iranian nation; it is a glad tidings that they give to the Muslims. These are the teachings we had in books, we had in minds; these dear martyrs of ours—these are your children, your spouses, your fathers—in external reality, they specified these, embodied them, showed them to us, and showed them to future generations.

Today, the martyrs are also strengthening the spirit of the Iranian nation. Just a few days ago, 270 martyrs entered Tehran, and you saw what an event occurred; what fervor, what excitement! The opposite of discouragement, the opposite of despair, the opposite of stagnation; movement, readiness, enthusiasm, love, idealism; this is the work of the martyrs.

We have truly underperformed regarding our martyrs. This incident of the martyrs of the Seventh of Tir has an extraordinary capacity for being introduced; both the introduction of those figures who were targeted by this crime; and the introduction of the Iranian nation, how it maintains itself in such a shocking incident, preserves itself, and not only does it not retreat from the field but gains a heightened spirit; and the introduction of the enemies, what vile beings they are and what wicked policies lie behind these events, the criminal hands of these individuals are introduced. This capacity exists in the case of the Seventh of Tir and other incidents—though primarily in the case of the Seventh of Tir. We have underperformed; we have not introduced these. Much work could have been done and must be done; the responsible institutions and all of us are guilty of underperformance. It seems that this work should also be entrusted to the cultural, faithful, revolutionary, grassroots wing; these young people you see around the country doing spontaneous work—doing cultural work, doing artistic work, reviving truths, bringing talents to light, utilizing latent talents—this work should also be done by them. With the language of art, with the language of image, using new tools, they should be able to introduce this incident, these personalities; introduce someone like Martyr Beheshti to the world, introduce someone like Martyr Rajai, introduce Martyr Bahonar. Each of these personalities who were martyred in the case of the Seventh of Tir or other incidents deserves a very magnificent portrayal that can be created from them.

The books related to the lives of the martyrs that I sometimes read are truly instructive; I learn lessons, I gain spirit from reading these books; they show what personalities they were, what spirits they had, what greatness they possessed, what service they rendered with their self-sacrifice; they took their lives in their hands and entered the field. Did the martyrs of the Seventh of Tir not know that such an incident awaited them? It was evident; on that day, anyone moving in this field was like someone moving in a minefield; there were various incidents from all sides, yet they courageously entered this field and moved forward. The blessings of the martyrs are numerous; that is, truly, with these expressions, the rights of the martyrs cannot be fulfilled; it is truly impossible to repay what they did, the service they rendered.

The families of the martyrs are the same. In this session today, we have families present who have given three martyrs, three martyrs or more; enduring the loss of one's beloved and the pieces of one's heart, this is easy to say. There are families who had only two sons and sacrificed both of them in the way of God in the field of the Sacred Defense; there are women present here who have given both their husbands and their children in the way of God. This is easy to say! We read in the history of the early Islam that in the Battle of Uhud, a woman had carried three martyr bodies on a camel and was bringing them from the battlefield of Uhud to Medina; we were astonished at how such a thing could be possible! It truly seemed like a legend; now we are witnessing these legendary and seemingly mythical realities before our eyes. With high spirits, with good spirits, spirits that can also uplift those with low spirits, give them joy, stabilize and strengthen their resolve. And today, our country needs this resolute determination.

Let everyone know this: today the country needs to recognize the enemy. We must recognize the enemy; the global enemies who beautify themselves through various media and propaganda items and present themselves before our eyes, we must recognize America. In these few days, observe: tomorrow is the Seventh of Tir, the incident of the party has occurred; on the 6th of Tir in the year 66, the chemical bombing of Sardasht occurred; yes, Saddam did that, but who was behind Saddam? It was the Americans, the Westerners, the same people who provided him with chemical bombs, gave him the green light, and remained silent in the face of this great crime and this strange massacre; on the 11th of Tir—just a few days later—is the assassination of Martyr Sadoughi, which is also the work of these criminals; on the 12th of Tir—just a few days after this—is the incident of the downing of the Airbus over the Persian Gulf. From the Seventh of Tir to the Twelfth of Tir, see how many assassinations, massacres, and killings occurred? How many women, children, scholars, politicians were targeted by the agents of America? If the planners of these events were not the security services of America and the West, at least they were helpers; at least they were encouragers. We must recognize these enemies. In the words of some friends, it would be good to declare the week from the Seventh to the Twelfth of Tir as the week of "American Human Rights." Truly, American human rights in these few days in our country is something clear and evident, and there are many such instances. Therefore, we need to recognize the enemy. Those who today try to present this monster—American policies and the policies of some of America's followers—as a legitimate face, they are committing treason; they are committing crimes. Those who conceal this clear truth, who cover this malicious enmity under justifications, they are betraying this nation. Our country and our nation need to understand the enemy, to comprehend the depth of enmity.

And they need to prepare themselves for confrontation. This confrontation is not always a hard confrontation, it is not always a military confrontation; more difficult than that is the confrontation in the field of soft warfare, in the field of culture, in the field of politics, in the field of social life. The dear nation of Iran today needs the message of the martyrs; it needs this message. Our nation needs this hopeful message, this exposing message, this message filled with spiritual joy and morale that the martyrs give us. And the nation is indebted to the martyrs and indebted to you, the families of the martyrs; we are all indebted. Those who conceal this, those who are unwilling to have the names of the martyrs mentioned with greatness, and wherever the name of a martyr is mentioned or the names of the martyrs are mentioned and a tribute is paid to the martyrs, as if they are being wounded, these are strangers to the interests of this nation; they are foreigners; now their identification papers may be Iranian, but in reality, they are foreigners; they are not of one heart and one soul with the Iranian nation.

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