In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All praise is due to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master, Muhammad, and his pure, immaculate, chosen Progeny, particularly the Remnant of God on earth.
You are very welcome here. I would like to welcome each one of our dear brothers and sisters, especially the honorable, respected families of the martyrs. One of the best things taking place that has become customary in different cities and provinces is commemorating the martyrs by holding commemoration ceremonies and gatherings. This is a necessary task that you have undertaken. This task, which you have thankfully been doing for two or three years now, is necessary, but it seems to me that it took too long to start this. That is, in Lorestan, with all the qualities and values that are truly abundant in there, it was expected that commemoration ceremonies for the martyrs would have been held much sooner than this.
Well, this is something valuable now too. May you succeed in what you are doing. From what I observed outside, the things that have been done — from publishing books to other various activities — [these activities] are good and valuable. The statements of the honorable Friday Prayer leader and the IRGC commander indicate that attention is being paid to the essence of the issue and the goals of these activities. God willing, you will be successful and assisted (by God).
I just want to say one thing about the people of Lorestan and Lors, and that is that they have outstanding characteristics. As far as I have socialized and had close communication with some of the prominent people and various tribes of the Lors, there are two of their characteristics that stand out from the rest. The first is their courage and bravery. The Lors are courageous and brave wherever they are — in battlefields, in expressing their beliefs, and in various social sectors. They are brave and courageous people.
The second characteristic that I find to be prominent as well is their companionship, honesty, and loyalty. This characteristic is truly prominent among the Lors. In my personal interactions that I have experienced myself in addition to the things that I have heard, I have sensed these two characteristics in addition to many others qualities. The late Sayyid Hasan Taheri Khorramabadi, Martyr Sayyid Fakhroddin Rahimi, the late Dr. Sayyid Jafar Shahidi, and Martyr Boroujerdi are some of the people whose personalities, behaviors, way of thinking, and lifestyles I have seen from up close, and they are indeed outstanding.
Or there was the late Mr. Haj Ruhollah Kamalvand, whose personality I had briefly observed from up close, and also have heard more things about him. I remember in 1963, when Imam Khomeini was being kept under house arrest for a long time in Tehran and some of the revolutionary fervor and the movement had subsided in Qom, the late Mr. Haj Ruhollah Kamalvand came to Qom. A few others and I went to him to ask him to start a move. That is how high the potential of this man was. He was highly respected by the scholars and religious authorities.
Of course, these people have qualities far greater than what I have said. These two qualities are more prominent. This courageous spirit that I mentioned caused the Lors to be under severe pressure, such as being murdered, sent into exile, being imprisoned, and various other types of pressure during the suffocating era of the first Pahlavi regime. They were truly terrified of the courage and bravery of the Lors, so they acted in advance and brought pressure on them.
So, this quality is what they were best known for among the people of other cities. For example, in Mashhad we had no contact with Lorestan, but we heard about Lorestan’s renowned bravery from the young fighters who were around us. They would relate and tell us things. There was a Lor song children used to sing in Mashhad, “Mother, mother, it’s time for war.” This showed that they [the Lors] had the spirit of struggle, especially in that period of suppression during the confrontations that took place from 1963 onward.
However, I would like to add one point here. It is necessary to maintain a true image of the different groups of people who make up the Iranian nation, including the Lors. The history of the Lor people, over the past century, has two parts. One part, the part of suffocating political order, is related to the Pahlavi era, when the Lors were indeed oppressed. The other part is related to the time of the Islamic Republic, when this group of people emerged and flourished in various fields.
Both of these parts should be remembered. In order for the youth to know their own history and in order to saturate the nation’s historic knowledge, these two parts should be preserved and compared to each other. In one part, there was oppression, and in the other part, there is creating epics. In one part, there was a suffocating political order that prevented the nation’s talents in various fields from emerging, and this political order suffocated people by putting them under pressure. The other part was when opportunities opened up and people could show themselves. That is when outstanding personalities emerged, such as the ones that I mentioned previously.
For example, the late Dr. Shahidi was the same person before the Islamic Revolution, but this person shined during the time of the Islamic Republic. That is, during the period before the Islamic Republic, the same person who had studied in those times and had advanced to become an outstanding person, had not yet emerged to show himself. The Islamic Republic provided these people with opportunities to shine.
History should be reviewed and paid attention to. We should not let any of these two historical periods be forgotten. These two periods must be placed before us and compared. During the period of the Islamic Republic, the Lor region — both inside Lorestan and outside Lorestan where the Lor tribes are present — truly shined. Now, the reports the gentlemen presented here were true and accurate. All those martyrs, all the martyred students and teachers, the martyred women, the martyred clerics, the martyred scholars, and all those who were present, or the military organizations — including both the Army and the IRGC — were truly outstanding and their presence was very good in different areas. Praise God, this has continued up until today.
I hope, God willing, your efforts will yield good results. The point that the Friday prayer leader mentioned is important. The purpose of these commemoration ceremonies is to create movements. This point should be considered carefully. Intellectual and practical movements need to be created, and the valuable heritage of the previous generation and the selfless youth of the past should be transferred to the youth of today. The country is heading toward the mountaintop. There is much to do. Much effort must be made, and there are also many risks that must be faced. This path must be pursued with strength and determination. If we want this to happen, we must make use of the historical past of this part and other parts of the country. Everyone should use and pass on the valuable heritage of the past to the present generation.
I would like to say a few words about the situation in Gaza. Because today, the issue of Palestine and the events that are taking place in Gaza are the Islamic world’s most important issues. All of these events will shape the future. On the one hand, the matter of Gaza is about oppression, and on the other hand, it is a matter of power. Yes, the people of Gaza are truly oppressed and this brutal, bloodthirsty enemy — the usurping, terrorist regime — knows no limits when it comes to committing crimes. It martyrs a thousand people in a single bombardment. That’s how it is. It knows no limits. This is how the oppression of people becomes evident.
But there are two important points alongside this oppression. One is the patience of these people and the people’s trust in God. These people have truly been patient. Some of the scenes [of what’s happening in Palestine] have been shown in the world’s mass media and also in our country. His [a Palestinian’s] child is martyred; he praises God. His child is martyred; he says it’s for Palestine. A wounded teenager praises God and recites verses from the Quran. These people’s patience is very important. The enemy wanted to push these people to raise their arms in surrender. But they didn’t raise their arms. They didn’t surrender. This is a very important point. This patience and their trust in God are the things that will come to their aid. This is what will make them victorious, and ultimately, they will be the victors.
In addition to this, another important point is that the blow that has been inflicted in this event, in the attack by the Palestinian fighters on the usurping regime, was a decisive blow. Never before had such a blow been inflicted on the [Zionist] regime. And as I mentioned from the start, it is irreparable. As time passes, it becomes even more apparent that it is irreparable.
Why do you think the president of the US and the heads of oppressive, evil countries — the UK, France, and Germany — are continuously making their way there? It is because they see that it [the Zionist regime] is falling apart. They see that it is being destroyed. They realize this, so they keep going there to prevent its destruction. If the usurping regime was not in danger of falling apart and being destroyed, these evil powers in the world would not feel a need to continuously go there to express their solidarity [with the Zionist regime]. This shows that they have suffered a very strong, decisive blow. And well, this battered, wounded, crippled regime, which they are struggling to keep on its feet using weapons, so-called bombs, etc., this regime has not been able to overpower the [Palestinian] fighters. And it won’t be able to overpower the fighters. Thus, it takes its revenge on defenseless, oppressed civilians and drops bombs on them. The [Palestinian] fighters are still prepared. They have been prepared to take action and have maintained their spirit, motivation, and ability to act during this period. And, God willing, they will continue to do the same after this.
I believe that anyone who talks about Gaza should talk about the patience of the people, the power of the people, and the power of the fighters, otherwise they will be doing them an injustice. Truly the patience they have shown is very important.
Another main point is that in this matter, the US is definitely an accomplice of the criminals. In other words, in this crime, the US’s hand is drenched and stained up to its elbow with the blood of the oppressed, the children, the sick, women, and others. Actually, it is the US that is somehow managing the crime that is being committed in Gaza. The US is the one that is managing this.
The scope of this crime was so extensive that it has shook the conscience of the people of the world. You are seeing people in US cities, in European cities, in capital cities, and also in Islamic countries taking to the streets and openly expressing their opposition. This is even though pro-Palestinian protests have been banned in European countries that claim to have freedom of speech. This is also one of their disgraces. It is permissible to march for anything, yet it is forbidden to march in support of the oppressed! But people have ignored this [ban]. You saw the footage on TV where people came and participated [in the protests].
People around the world are infuriated, and we all know that this feeling of anger that has arisen in people, this guilty conscience that has arisen in these countries, will create a reaction that no one can stop. No matter how hard they try, they will not be able to stop this reaction.
What I would like to emphasize is that Muslim governments should not give up in this matter. They shouldn’t imagine that just because the US or some other Western countries do some stupid, wrong action and label those who defend their homes and their country as terrorists that they should repeat the same thing. When a person defends his/her homeland against the enemy, does that make him/her a terrorist? The fake, oppressive government that has usurped their homes is the terrorist. Muslim governments should be careful and political spokespersons should be careful not to repeat their words. They should know that in this matter and in the future, Palestine will definitely be victorious.
The future world belongs to Palestine. It does not belong to the usurping Zionist regime. The future belongs to them [the Palestinians]. What they [the Zionists] are doing — the oppression, the crimes, and the tragedies they are creating — are all in vain. They will not be able to do anything, God willing, by the will of Almighty God. I hope, God willing, that the Almighty God will bless the Islamic world and the Islamic nation with all that is good in this world, and may God subdue, vanquish, and humiliate the enemies of the Islamic nation.
May God’s greetings, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
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