Statements in Meeting with a Large Group of Students on the Occasion of Youth Day

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

The memories of the era of the movement and revolution are often meaningful and directive events that show us and future generations the direction and path of the movement and revolution. The reason why you observe that some memories of the era of the movement and revolution are more enduring in minds and more vivid and attractive in eyes is that they are more eloquent and expressive in presenting the general line of the victorious Islamic movement and revolution. The memory related to the thirteenth of Aban is one of these memories.

I would like us to pay some attention to the depth of Islamic and Quranic thought in this regard and align the slogan with its intellectual foundation, and with attention to the depth of this foundation, appreciate the slogan more and carefully monitor the direction of movement in the revolution; because one of the things that everyone, especially you young people, must pay attention to is the orientation of the revolution and its straight line. This must be preserved and carefully monitored, for if this vigilance exists, no danger will threaten us and the revolution.

On the thirteenth of Aban, as you all know, there are three memories, all of which are related to America. Two memories are related to the blow America dealt us, and one memory is related to the slap our nation dealt America.

The memory of the exile of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified) is the first memory related to that day; because the issue of capitulation—meaning the judicial sovereignty of the American government—was being established under the shadow of its puppet government in Iran. The very meaning and necessity of global arrogance are such things, and the characteristic of the arrogant powers is to impose such sovereignty.

Imam (may his soul be sanctified) took a firm stance against this incident. His statements were broadcast throughout the country, and the apparatus dependent on America felt threatened and, with the same wrong judgment that the companions of the devils usually have, first thought that pressure on the individual would reduce resistance; unaware that pressure on the believers increases their steadfastness. Secondly, they thought that the individual should be removed; unaware that the movement was divine. They exiled the Imam, and that exile continued until the return of that great man on the twelfth of Bahman.

The second memory is the memory of the martyr students who emerged in the continuation of the same movement that about fifteen years earlier, the tyrants thought would end with the exile of the Imam; but contrary to their wishes, it grew stronger day by day and encompassed the horizons of society, bringing men and women, old and young, and adolescents to the scene. Our students took to the streets, and the American mercenaries—whose crimes of the Shah and his apparatus we certainly attribute to them—martyred these dear ones. This was the second blow that the Americans dealt us, the Iranian nation, on this day.

The third incident is again the natural result of this very movement. The first movement is so strange that they can abduct its leader from inside the house and exile him. After about fifteen years, the first movement becomes so voluminous and qualitative that it draws young students to the streets, and immediately after that, we witness the victory of the movement and revolution and the establishment of a system based on Islam.

From here on, it is the turn of the initial attack by the soldiers and beaten children of this very revolution, which is a natural matter, and the mistake was made by those who considered the attack of the revolution on America and the hatred of the children of the revolution towards it as something strange! This was the most natural incident that had to occur in our country. The reaction of the revolutionaries towards the Americans, who were the guarantors of all the atrocities of the last two or three decades before the revolution, is that when the revolutionary nation could and gained power, it would show its hatred towards the arrogant powers, oppressors, bullies, and aggressors in any way it could.

The third incident occurred on this very day. Here the matter was reversed. That is, our youth and Muslim students following the line of the Imam—the very name they chose for themselves, which was eloquent and clarified the direction—attacked the American embassy, and that strange historical incident occurred. The issue was not about the embassy and its members and such matters; the issue was that the great empire of wealth, power, and deceit, with its vastness in the contemporary world, which humiliates all nations and their leaders in confrontation with its arrogant power and considers the governments arising from nations as nothing and whenever it wills, removes them or attacks them, should be humiliated in one place and shown to the world that the power of the oppressors is not absolute and the will of the arrogant powers is not the dominant force over the nature of the world.

They wanted this false belief to be established in the minds of the people; whereas this belief has no reality. The Americans were humiliated in that incident, and the dust of its bitterness has not yet been wiped from the faces of the arrogant leaders of America and will not be wiped in the future either. Each of these three incidents is meaningful and completely clear.

Here I would like to raise two points:

The first is that from the early days of the revolution's victory, it became a habit for some who were separated from the main scenes of the revolution and did not understand the true spirit of the revolution to repeat and say and write that if we had not confronted America from the beginning of the revolution, all these dangers and troubles from America would not have arisen for our revolution and nation over these years!! It is possible that behind these speakers, there are the hands of American and Western propagandists, I do not concern myself with this aspect and this dimension of the issue. The very statement is a wrong and naive one—of course, if it is not malicious.

The issue is not whether the Iranian nation had the right to confront America or not? And if it had the right or did not have the right, was it wise and prudent to confront America or not? The issue is not this at all; rather, the issue is that a revolution with the intellectual essence of Islam cannot consider itself apart from the confrontation of America and the likes of it. Global arrogance has not sat on the pharaonic throne of its empire of wealth and power just to watch and remain indifferent and observe that among the nations, thoughts and ideas are growing whose foundation is to overthrow the arrogant throne.

It is clear that it will not remain indifferent. It is clear that with its intelligence apparatus and special ideologues, it fully recognizes where and which thought and which nation and which person is considered a threat to it and tries with all its might to remove this threat from itself and in this regard, even assassinate personalities and before the movement of nations bears fruit, place them under savage pressures.

Do you think that where global arrogance feels threatened, it will be calm, noble, and indifferent towards a revolution that, despite its will, has grown and succeeded and formed a government and nation and raised a slogan in the world and all its pillars are a threat to the throne of arrogance, and will sit quietly in a corner?!

Global arrogance has girded itself with all its might to confront the revolution and the Islamic Republic system. If the Islamic Revolution—even hypothetically—did not confront America, so much pressure and deceit and trickery would have been carried out by global arrogance and America against this revolution and system to either divert it or completely destroy it. This is America's and global arrogance's method in confronting the Islamic Revolution, and the Islamic Revolution, with its Islamic essence, nature, and identity, necessitates such hostility and enmity from global arrogance.

The second point that young people must pay attention to is why we oppose a certain government or regime? Is it correct for someone to imagine that our stance against the world's arrogant powers is a seasonal or expedient or tactical stance, or not?! Of course, this is a wrong perception. The meaning and concept of arrogance is a Quranic concept and is not something that has arisen in our revolutionary culture without reason and without cause. The concept of arrogance necessitates confrontation with arrogance by Muslims and believers and the Islamic system and revolution; not in an expedient and seasonal and tactical manner; but in a permanent manner, this confrontation exists. The essence of the revolution is this, and as long as the revolution exists, such a thing will also exist.

The very concept of arrogance in the Quran is that an element or person or group or faction considers itself above the truth and does not submit to the truth and considers itself and its power as the criterion of truth! The first arrogant in the history that the Quran depicts for us is Iblis: "He refused and was arrogant." He is the first arrogant.

It is impossible to assume that a Muslim or believer or monotheist, even for a day or a moment, would desist from enmity with Iblis and Satan. The very line of Islam is the anti-Iblis and anti-Satan line. Throughout the call of the prophets, the arrogant were those who did not accept the divine call and monotheism and opposed it and spoke with force: "The chiefs who were arrogant among his people said, 'We will surely drive you out, O Shu'ayb.'" When the prophet speaks the truth and invites people to the truth, the arrogant say: If you speak too much, we will expel you!

This oppressive tone is in opposition to the caller to the truth. This is a clear meaning and image of arrogance, which in today's world is the same system of domination and in the political environment of the world is the same spirit of superpower and anything that tends towards superpower. Powers that are not yet superpowers but consider themselves semi-superpowers(!), they too behave in this manner.

Today, unfortunately, the environment of human life is filled with the interventions and actions of arrogant groups throughout the world. Of course, at their head is America. The fact that a government on the other side of the world gives itself the right to secure its interests despite the interests of the nations of the region, this is the same spirit of arrogance and nothing else. The fact that a government gives itself the right to say openly and publicly and without any shame that if a government opposes it, I will overthrow it, this is the spirit of arrogance; the same thing that today is exhibited by America towards many of the governments of Latin America and some other parts of the world. Arrogance, because it has no answer and its interests are in danger and its benefit is better secured by the fall of that government, takes this stance.

If you look at the political scene of the world today, you will see many such things. The fact that powers come and quarantine a country and expel a nation from its home and forcibly establish another government there and place them there, this is the same arrogant movement. In the incident of Palestine, the oppressive powers of the world joined hands and completely displaced a nation from its home. This is a very big and strange thing. Today, the world has become accustomed to this practice of expelling a nation from within its country and then forcibly bringing people from various parts of the world and placing them there and creating a false and artificial nation and placing a government at its head to secure the interests of the great powers in that sensitive Arab region!! This is the same arrogance.

The fact that today you see the Americans speaking with complete composure about the massacre of thousands of people and consider the bombing in Hiroshima and the massacre of thousands of people as normal and say: That action was expedient and we deemed such an action necessary!!, this is the same spirit of arrogance. If they shoot down an airplane with its passengers and are protested against, they say: It was an incident that ended, don't talk about it!!

Naturally, for them, murder and crime are ordinary matters; but where their own interests are at stake or if, for instance, one of their citizens has made a mistake somewhere in the world and a few people, out of pressure and distress, do something to him, at this time, they fill the world with uproar; because they consider a right for themselves in life and existence that they do not consider for any of the human beings. This is the same spirit of arrogance that exists in the current system of domination in the world.

We have announced to the world that the Islamic Revolution opposes the system of domination. The system of domination means that governments and powers dictate and nations and groups and countries and governments accept that dictation. The parties are the parties of the system of domination, and we have rejected and reject the system of domination and rise to fight against it. We consider both the dominator and the dominated guilty in the system of domination. Arrogance is the same system of domination.

Today, when you look at the entire Western system, you see signs of this characteristic of arrogance and domination. Of course, in the world, no government more brazenly and shamelessly than the American regime reveals domination and arrogance; but this characteristic is not exclusive to America. In the entire Western systems and those who follow them—such as reactionary and dependent governments and systems that consider themselves powerful—domination characteristics show themselves; even if the world does not accept them as superpowers.

Observe this very uproar related to the hijab in Europe. Despite the slogans of freedom they give, they do not tolerate even a small inclination and a limited manifestation of thought different from and against themselves. This is the same spirit of arrogance, the same "We will surely drive you out, O Shu'ayb" that because you speak against our opinion, we do not tolerate you at all.

The pressure exerted on the Lebanese nation to impose a sectarian system and impose a minority over the majority is contrary to all claims of democracy; but we see that such imposition is made by those who claim democracy in the world!! This is one of the signs of domination in the world and is among the characteristics of arrogance.

The fact that you see throughout the world, propaganda against militant and Muslim and sincere groups is mostly propaganda in favor of arrogance, and they introduce self-sacrificing people who have given up their lives to save themselves from bad living conditions as terrorists, all of these are from the same characteristics of arrogance.

One of the people about whom the word arrogance and arrogant is used in the Quran is Pharaoh. He used to say such things about Moses. Therefore, the issue of arrogance is a Quranic issue. We oppose all these manifestations that were stated. The struggle of the Iranian nation is not a slogan-driven, emotional, seasonal, and tactical struggle; rather, it is a Quranic and deep struggle with a doctrinal root.

We confront all manifestations of arrogance in the world. We confront America more than other governments and arrogant powers of the world; because it is more arrogant than all; because it uses arrogance more ignorantly and arrogantly than all towards the nations that confront it—and more than all towards our nation. The analysis of the struggle of the Iranian people is like this. Of course, analysts who are mostly affiliated with directed political circles do not honestly analyze Iran's issues; rather, they analyze the issues maliciously. They say: There are two factions in Iran. One faction says this way and the other faction says that way! Or, for example, they say: They prepare the arrangements and preliminaries to come to terms with such and such a person! These are the analyses of our enemies. These are analyses alien to reality.

In Iran, anyone who believes in the Islamic Revolution and Islam and the Islamic foundations of this revolution inevitably believes in the perpetual struggle with the flag bearers of the world's arrogant powers—who today are headed by America. Of course, the propaganda horn is in the hands of our enemies. They also know the propaganda methods very well. They have spent a lot of money learning propaganda and can very well accuse a nation of violence and savagery and lack of manners and adventurism; just because it insisted on its human right and confronted the aggressors and violators of human rights; as they have done these things towards our nation in these years; but we who are sitting here should not be influenced by that propaganda.

Why should someone inside the revolutionary country and Islamic Iran imagine that the cry and uproar against America is a violent and adventurous act?! This is their propaganda. The adventurer is that thief who enters the sanctuary of your home; not you who expel him from the house or complain against him or shout at him or narrate your oppression here and there.

The violent one is the one for whom the lives of hundreds and thousands of revolutionary people from any country—including our country and nation—have no value; not us who shout against the method of violence and savagery of the enemies and such powers and not those poor ones who in Lebanon and the like, under the pressure of American forces and their political and military mercenaries, resort to suicidal acts to show their existence and presence and hatred. Yes, global propaganda portrays this movement as violence and adventurism and being out of manners and the like; but they do not see their own behavior!!

You students and pupils and young people are the main pillars of the revolution for the future generation and the next era. Today, you also have a great impact on the revolution; because you are young. Today, you are active elements in the political and military and construction front and wherever you can be present; but tomorrow you are the pillars of the revolution. Today, you are influential elements; but tomorrow you are the columns of the revolution. Make sure you know the revolution with its roots and intellectual and logical foundations correctly.

Today, eleven years after those bloody days, the young generation of the Iranian nation has no right to forget those dark days before that. In the great movement of the Iranian nation, the young generation must be at the forefront. For the young generation—especially the student young generation—indifference and composure are not permissible. That young person who does not think about the fate of the country and does not see the events and hostilities that are organized against his country in the world and does not boil and rage against them, that young person is not worthy of calling himself a young citizen of a revolutionary nation. The spirit of youth is that pulsating spirit that in hardships, came to the aid of the country and nation and saved them.

The young generation of today is lucky in that it was not in a period like the dark period of suffocation and repression of Reza Khan and Mohammad Reza Shah. The hardships that the youth of that era endured should never be forgotten by today's youth. Of course, this sacrifice was not exclusive to our nation; the youth and adolescents of other nations also made sacrifices during the occupation of their country or during the repression imposed on their nation.

Today, you young people have a duty to penetrate and infiltrate the revolution with all your being to the depths of your soul and understand the concept of the revolution and its intellectual foundations from the bottom of your heart and store it within yourself for when this nation needs it and fights on two fronts. The first front is the one that threatens the revolution economically or militarily or politically, and you must use that reserve to defend your revolution and country—in whatever way the time and situation require. The second front is the front of construction. The best builders are revolutionary builders. The best creators of the prosperous world of the garden of the revolution are those who have emerged from the revolution and the revolution has penetrated their souls. You young people must be ready for these two fronts at all times.

As someone who knows the currents and is aware of global currents and the enemy's behind-the-scenes plots and has been dealing with them since the beginning of the revolution, I say, dear young people! The enemy invests heavily in you; be vigilant. It drags some into indifference and makes some discouraged and hopeless. Despair is the greatest plague of youth. Young people should know that unfortunately, despair finds its way into the spirit of youth sooner; just as hope is like this. Protect yourself against the despair that the enemy wants to instill and inject into the youth.

The youth, who is the embodiment of purity and sincerity and purity, the enemy wants to drag him into corruption and impurity and impurity—in its various forms. It also diverts some with the injection of wrong political thoughts from the right path. At the beginning of the revolution, some young people appeared in this country and took up arms and fought against a revolutionary government that the East and West were fighting against! The enemy had injected wrong political thoughts into the minds of these poor ones and children. In this very University of Tehran, in the years 58 and 59, students built barricades and took up arms and shot at the revolutionary government and nation. This action, with which scale is understandable and believable?! The student who should stand against the enemies of the revolution and become the shield of this revolution, himself became a calamity to this revolution! This is not at all believable; but it happened.

Of course, the revolution is a roaring wave that does not tolerate anything that wants to confront it. The revolution carried them and greater than them with itself. Some were able to align themselves with the current of the revolution and finally somehow accompany themselves with the revolution and save themselves; but others drowned and perished in this turbulent ocean, and certainly, spiritual destruction is more dangerous than physical destruction.

Today, any thought that makes the youth feel that he is separate from the officials and leaders of the revolution and the managers of the country, this thought and idea is of the same type of wrong political thoughts injected. Today, the nation and the government must stand back to back and hand in hand and alongside each other with all their might to break and eliminate all the spells of arrogance and domination. This is a very important and sensitive scene. The thought that will guide you and must guide you is Islamic thought. You must give great importance to Islamic thoughts and Islamic work in universities.

I hope that Almighty God grants you success and supports you. I thank all of you brothers and sisters, especially the families of the dear martyr students following the line of the Imam. Certainly, this is the reward for their struggles and sincerity and purity. May God grant all of you success and help all of us in strengthening the Islamic system and spreading Islamic thought throughout the world.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings