The following is the full text of the speech delivered on January 26, 2010 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with the people of Mazandaran. The meeting was held on the occasion of the sixth of Bahman.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I would like to welcome all you dear brothers and sisters who took the trouble to travel a long distance and who enlightened this Hussayniyyah with your warm breath and your enthusiastic and committed hearts. Welcome you dear brothers and sisters, particularly you great families of martyrs, honorable ulama and diligent officials. You revived this great memory - that is to say, the 6th of Bahman which is one of the outstanding epics of the people of Iran and whose honor belongs to the people of Amol - in the minds of the people.
I have the same belief as you do. We should not allow these glorious memories and these unique and determining events in the history of the Revolution to fade in the minds of the people. Our young generation should be familiar with these memories in a perfect way so that they can analyze them and so that they can turn them into a lantern for their adventurous future path and into their lofty goal.
Of course, the glories of Mazandaran and - let me say on the occasion of this event, particularly the people of Amol - are not few in number. The face of Amol is really an enlightened face whether in the arena of jihad in the way of God or in the arena of knowledge, fiqahat, understanding and mysticism. Thankfully today, outstanding personalities of Amol are among the glories of Islamic seminaries and among the precious resources of our clergy. Both Amol and the large province of Mazandaran were among the most glorious areas of the country during the great test of the eight-year imposed war.
Even at that time, I was familiar with the troops, basijis and self-sacrificing youth of Mazandaran. I knew them both intimately and from afar. I knew about their jihadi activities. These things will not be erased from the memory of the Revolution. You are witnessing a solid, glorious and lofty structure. Who piled up bricks in order to build this structure? Who managed to act on this glorious blueprint and build this structure? Can we ignore the role of those events and those personalities whose work, jihad, self-sacrifice and sense of responsibility helped to put up, shape and glorify this building piece by piece? One of the mistakes that has sometimes been made is ignoring these great creators of roles.
Amol was known as the city of thousand trenches. Is this a minor name? Is this a minor description? The issue of the sixth of Bahman was so significant that our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) mentioned it in his historical testament in order to commemorate it and prevent it from being forgotten. Why did he try to prevent it from being forgotten? It is because historical events are instructive lessons.
The events that happen to a people often recur in different eras. Now, 28 years have passed from that time, but the path of the Islamic Republic has not changed and the enemies of the Islamic Republic have not changed either. Therefore, what happened in Mazandaran can be an instructive lesson for today and for the future. It can remain a lesson as long as the people of Iran are - by Allah's favor - attached to these principles and this Revolution. Therefore, such events should not be forgotten.
Well, I would like to say a few more things about the virtues of the sixth of Bahman of Amol. What does thousand trenches mean? Apparently, the people built trenches - thousands or more or less - inside the city in the face of malevolent and usurping groups. But I have another interpretation for this name. These trenches did not refer to the ones that were built in the streets. Rather, these trenches were the trenches of hearts and there were not thousand trenches. Rather, there were thousands of trenches. The number of the trenches against the invasion of the enemy equaled the number of believers and motivated and dignified individuals.
If a people who are moving towards a goal do not know what dangers exist on their path, who has lain in ambush for them and what they should do in the face of him, if they compromise their principles and if they become indifferent, they will receive a blow. The problems of all the peoples who moved towards a great goal, but who received a blow in the middle of the way and who were crushed in such a way that they could not rise up for centuries resulted from this. They did not know what lay in wait for them and they did not prepare themselves for that. The lessons of history help us to understand and know our path. They help us to know different ambushes and those who have lain in ambush for us.
The Islamic Revolution became victorious with such greatness. The people came and resisted against the weapons of the agents of the oppressive regime with their defenseless and unprotected bodies. They helped the Revolution to achieve victory. Afterwards, the same people voted for and chose the Islamic Revolution. Well, what does a fair-minded and noble individual do in the face of this request of the people? Some people came to the middle of the arena and claimed to support the people. These people introduced themselves as democrats and supporters of the people. But they began to confront the same people who established the Islamic Republic at a very high price.
Among these people, there were hypocrites, professed atheists, supporters of the west and religious pretenders. All these people formed a front and a movement against the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran. They claimed to support the people, but they confronted them. They claimed to support democracy and the votes of the people, but they confronted the same votes. They claimed to support intellectualism and open-mindedness, but they accepted the imposed principles of western thinkers - which were mixed with ill will and malevolence - in a biased way and they stood against the people of Iran.
First, they began to criticize and speak against the Islamic Republic and Imam (r.a.) and his principles. Then, they gradually adopted an outspoken outlook and entered the arena of war. They turned their ideological and political conflict into an armed conflict or uproar and they began to create certain problems. These things happened in our country and they did not happen long ago. These events are related to the first decade of the Revolution.
At that time, the country was faced with many problems. Some of these problems were related to the past and some were imposed. Instead of thinking about the problems of the country, instead of helping officials to solve these problems, instead of offering guidance when they could and instead of accepting responsibilities, they began to confront, oppose and slander the Islamic Republic. Then, they began to confront the people wherever they could. At that time, the country was at war in border areas, but they showed indifference towards it. Inside the streets of Tehran, they set out to confront the Islamic Republic at any crossroads and any street they could.
Well, the Islamic Republic does not have an identity which is different from the identity, faith and determination of the people. The same is true of today. We officials are nobodies. It is Allah the Exalted who supports this system through the people and their hearts. "He it is Who has strengthened you with His aid and with the company of the believers" [The Holy Quran, 8: 62].
Allah the Exalted says to His prophet that God helped him with the help of believers. Today, the Islamic Republic has the same means. At that time, it had the same means as well. We have no other means. The means is the faith of the people which is more efficient than any other means and weapon. At that time too, the Islamic Republic had the same means. The people entered the arena and wiped out fitnas.
Of course, wiping out fitnas does not mean that they are over and done with. Well, the enemy is awake. He produces another game, another plot and another event. But if the people are awake, then it does not matter because even if they hatch hundred plots, the people stand up against them and continue their movement. The great movement of the people of Iran will not stop. They both move forward and confront hostilities, enmities and obstacles. This is the condition that has existed in these 30 years.
The opponents of the Islamic Republic have made certain mistakes. As long as these mistakes are made, they themselves will receive a blow although the people may be harmed with the plots that they hatch. One of these mistakes is that the opponents of the Islamic Republic have often considered themselves to be superior to the people. The second mistake is that they pinned their hopes on the enemies of the people of Iran. These are two great mistakes.
When the opponents consider themselves to be superior to the people, this will make them reject the people whenever they launch a legal movement, whenever they want or reject something and whenever they make a choice and adopt a certain measure. This sense of superiority makes these opponents say, "Such movements are launched by the masses. This is populism and we do not accept it". Believing to be superior to the people shows itself in such cases. If someone claims that they are a populist, this is not the standard. They have to show it in practice. This was the first mistake.
The second mistake is that they pin their hopes on the enemies of the people whose enmity is clear and definite. Who has been the enemy of our people during the past 30 years? Primarily, America and Zionism. Do we know other enemies for the Islamic Republic whose enmity is worse than these two? From the first day, the government of America, the Zionist regime and Zionists throughout the world stood against the Islamic Republic. Today, they are really the most hostile enemies for the Islamic Republic.
When I take a look, I see that western governments sometimes make meaningless and absurd statement, but it is the Zionists who are the instigators. The instigator is the dominant class that dominates the system, government and elections of America. It is these people who direct the scene. So, these are the most hostile enemies of the people of Iran.
Well, if someone who stands against the people pins their hopes on such enemies, then this is the second mistake that they make. The second mistake is becoming attached to the enemy. From the first day, the Americans hatched certain plots against the Islamic Republic. It goes without saying that these plots were ineffective. If these plots had not been ineffective, no trace of the Islamic Republic would have remained by now.
As you can see, the Islamic Republic is tens of times stronger than the first day. So, these plots were ineffective. Today too, they plan new schemes and hatch new plots, but they do not learn their lesson. I wonder why they do not think of the past and say to themselves, "Well, we hatched so many plots, we spent so much money against the Islamic Republic, we met with so many agents, we built many mercenaries inside Iran and we deployed many forces against the Islamic Republic outside Iran, but there was no result".
They continue to allocate a budget of 45 million dollars in order to defeat the Islamic Republic. They allocate certain budget for destroying and overthrowing the Iranian Revolution through the Internet. Notice how desperate this enemy is. Well, how many tens of 45 million dollars have you spent until now? You have adopted many diplomatic measures to defeat the Islamic Republic. You have imposed economic sanctions, you have hatched different kinds of plots and you dispatched and built many spies. What result did you achieve that you want to use the same methods in order to separate the people of Iran from the Revolution? The enemy does not understand this.
This is the divine tradition. This is drawing a veil over the eyes and the ears of the enemy who is ignorant about Allah the Exalted. This is why he does not understand truths. This means baffling the enemy: "In the end they will have only regrets and sighs" [The Holy Quran, 8: 36]. They spend money and then they regret it because it is useless.
I do not know how hard they worked to create uproar in Tehran with a certain excuse. God knows how long they were trying to hatch this plot. Well, what happened? Did anything happen except that the people became more vigilant than what they were? If someone used to think that it is not necessary anymore to enter the arena and defend the Islamic Republic, after these events, everyone felt that they should always be ready to defend the Islamic Republic.
Sometimes, the games that the enemy plays is for the sake of blackmailing the Islamic Republic. In the Beginning of the Revolution, they did the same thing. Some of the games that they played were for the sake of making the Islamic Republic share power with them without deserving it. They did such things in order to make the people want this and to have a source of support among the people.
Sometimes, our international enemies create such uproars in order to make the Islamic Republic give in to blackmail like many of the governments that go to their "greater masters" to give them political bribe as soon as they are faced with a danger. But the Islamic Republic was not blackmailed. Everyone should know this. We will not be blackmailed by anyone for the sake of the people of Iran and for the sake of ourselves.
We have a legitimate claim and we have stuck to it. We have not made any sin. We want to be a people whom global powers cannot dominate. We want to be in charge of our own affairs. We want to be a dynamic and forward-looking people. We want to be a people who prove Islam in action, not just in words. We want to observe divine obligations. We want our society to be a Muslim and Islamic society. We do not want to accept the fabrications and ideas of materialistic thinkers and western politicians in our lives as fixed guidelines. We want to accept God's commands. Is this a crime?
We have understood that if we want to lead the life of a Muslim, we should become strong so that we can defend ourselves and our goals and our beliefs in the face of the enemy. We should be strong so that we can defend our rights and the rights of our country and our people as a nation. We are after this. Are these a crime for a people? Therefore, our claim is a legitimate one and we have stuck to this legitimate claim.
We also believe that when truth confronts and fights against evil, evil will definitely be defeated if the advocates of truth stick to it. This is the case because we have experienced it. We have experienced this during the past 30 years. We stood firm and we managed to move forward. Whenever you see that there is a retreat and a frustration, this was because we showed weakness in our resistance. Whenever we showed resistance, we managed to move forward and this will be the case from now on too.
What is necessary for us is that the people including officials and ordinary individuals - particularly youth and those people whose statements are influential - do not lose their sense of responsibility to be present on the scene. No one should say that they have no responsibility and obligation. Everyone is responsible.
Being responsible does not mean that we should carry weapons and take to the streets. Rather, it means that we should have a sense of responsibility wherever we work. We should have a sense of responsibility to defend the Revolution and the Islamic Republic. This means defending Islam and the rights of the people. It means defending the dignity of the country. So, this is the first condition: all of us should have this sense of responsibility and I see that we have this sense of responsibility. The people of the country have proven and proving this.
A clear example of this was the 9th of Dey which was pointed out in this meeting. There are other examples as well. The 22nd of Bahman is close. The ten-day Fajr ceremonies are close as well. The people have shown their presence, their preparedness, their dynamism and their enthusiasm and they will continue to show these things in the future.
The officials of the country in particular should focus all their efforts on solving problems with wisdom and acumen, with continuous and diligent work, with enthusiasm and with reliance on God and His assistance. By problems, I do not only mean political and security problems. These are only part of problems. Officials are also responsible for developing the country, its economy and scientific affairs and the different social issues which exist in it.
The officials of the three branches of government and all other officials of the country should consider it their responsibility to work for our people. They should work, work and work. They should show acumen, acumen and acumen. They should not be negligent even for one single moment. We enjoy a good forward movement. They should not allow this movement to be stopped and slowed down because we are moving forward. We should continue moving forward, but we should do it at a faster rate and in a more comprehensive way and we should cover blind spots.
And the responsibility of the people is trusting and joining officials. Trusting and joining officials does not mean that we should not warn and criticize them whenever it is necessary to. This is not what I mean, but we should stand together. One of the goals of the enemy is to make the people lose their trust in the officials of the country. This is the method of the enemy. Therefore, the general responsibility of everyone - ranging from high-ranking officials to people with less important positions - is to show their presence in the arena of the Revolution and defending the country in the face of the camp of the enemy.
Fortunately today, this camp is much more backward and it is faced with many more problems compared to 30 years ago. They have many problems in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. And recently, they have created many problems for themselves in Yemen. They have many problems with the peoples in our region and they have many problems with their own people and the Europeans.
The responsibility of everyone in the face of the camp of the enemy is a sense of presence and a sense of responsibility for this presence. The responsibility of officials is working hard and appreciating the value of time for the sake of rendering services to the people. Their responsibility is to appreciate the value of every second and every hour for working, for removing obstacles and for solving problems. And the general responsibility of the people towards officials is to trust, join, support and help them.
If someone has a helpful opinion, they should offer it. If someone has a complaint, there is nothing wrong with it, but these complaints should not be in the form of confrontation. Rather, they should take the form of assistance, like two people who are sitting in a trench. It is possible that one of them says complainingly, "Why have you stretched your legs? Why did you fall asleep?" But they do not confront each other.
My dear ones, you should know that according to experience, the divine hand of power and will is the supporter of you people. You should know that by Allah's favor, you will benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). You should know that with His favor and grace, Allah the Exalted will help our people reach their lofty goals and meet their great wishes. And you should know that He will humiliate and destroy the enemy in your presence.
Dear God, behave towards our great people on the basis of their faith, their intentions and their pure hearts.
Associate our dear martyrs, the martyrs of the event of Amol and the martyrs of Mazandaran province with Your saints.
Dear God, associate our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) and the souls of our martyrs with the Imams (a.s.).
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings