The following is the full text of the speech delivered on July 6, 2004 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with Basijis of Hamedan province.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem Muhammad and upon his immaculate and pure household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.
It is a very enlightened meeting which is imbued with purity and sincerity. This meeting has been formed by basiji youth and the boys and girls who have voluntarily brought their invaluable gift - their youth - to the arena so that they can use it for God, for Islam, for the progress of the country and for the dignity of the people of Iran. It has also been formed by those youth who are the unknown soldiers of the Revolution and Imam - which is an appropriate name for them. These youth are the brothers and sisters who are active in the intelligence system of the country. If one witnesses a wave of purity and sincerity in such a gathering, it is not an astonishing thing.
You my dear ones should know that this great and miraculous feat - that is to say, the uprising of an independent and Islamic government in a very sensitive region in the world - could not be achieved except with the help of this purity and sincerity. This task really seemed an impossible one. Take a look at the conditions of Arab countries, our neighboring countries and Islamic countries in general and see how they create uproar if an effort is made in these countries which is a bit different from the interests of global powers. Notice how they prevent any movement that is to the advantage of national dignity in these countries. Look around and see the condition of Iraq - I do not want to name other countries. When we see these phenomena, we understand how all of a sudden a country like Iran - which is at the heart of this sensitive region with its worldly and other worldly resources - turned into a peak of resistance and dignity, one that pursues Islam and confronts the bullying, selfish desires and greed of America.
This happened while our country was considered as America's base of power in the region. This region was always a lost paradise for colonialists. Whenever they conquered any regional country, they considered it as a great boon. So, this is a miracle which could not be imagined at all, but it happened. Social miracles are not like the miracle of turning a stick into a viper - what Musa did. The latter has nothing to do with one's willpower, but social miracles are directly related to individuals' willpower: "Surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition" [The Holy Quran, 13: 11].
Whenever a people make a decision, show willpower and take action in line with their goal, then social miracles will happen. Of course, one's legitimacy and rightfulness is not enough in social developments. On many occasions, the waves of evil crash right and move forward. It is rightfulness as well as action, willpower, resistance and steadfastness that can perform a miracle. This steadfastness, resistance, decision and self-sacrifice on the scene of our society and country was witnessed thanks to the purity, broadmindedness and insight which are visible today in the religious and basiji youth of our country. We can witness one instance of this here. However, what is even greater than that great and unbelievable event is that the Islamic Republic managed to survive and grow despite all the turbulent and hostile waves that had surrounded it.
Today, the Islamic Republic's story is not the same story that existed 20 years ago. In those days, the enemies' greed to destroy the Revolution did not look impossible from the viewpoint of the existing political logic in the world, but today it looks impossible. Why? It is because the sapling of the Revolution has rooted, its trunk has grown and it has produced branches and leaves. For this reason, today our enemies are angrier at this great phenomenon which is developing on a regular basis. Who would have thought that the Islamic Republic would be able to make astonishing achievements in the area of weapons while it did not have and could not produce any RPGs in the year 1359 when the war was imposed on it? In the present time, the name of Shahab-3 missile is being repeated in all news agencies in the world. In the area of different sciences, the Islamic Republic has made such progress that its scientists and outstanding personalities - who are attached to the Islamic Republic - come first in most global competitions. In the area of technology, it has reached a position where it can develop nuclear technology and engage in nuclear enrichment without receiving any help and guidance from others - unlike its peers who do so.
These achievements shake the bodies of transgressing powers. After 25 years, when they look at the scene of society and see religious, enthusiastic and sincere youth like you and Islamic faith, purity, sincerity, youthful enthusiasm and the inclination to move forward in you, each of these things penetrates their eyes and hearts like a bullet. What can they do in the face of this great phenomenon? They threaten to launch a military attack, but it is of no use. They threaten to lay an economic siege, but it is of no use either. They have actually carried out this economic threat, but to no avail. In the present time, they are trying to draw the active youth of the country towards matters which create obstacles, but they face reactions from these youth.
We should be vigilant about matters which create obstacles. Both organizations and youth themselves should be vigilant. I should say that I do not at all look at the issue of addiction, indifference, idleness and certain political moves as an ordinary and natural phenomenon. I witness the evil and seditious hands and minds of the enemies behind all these phenomena. Therefore, we should fight against them. Can the enemy be expected not to show enmity? The enemy's hands and fingertips exist behind the issue of drawing youth towards debauchery and sexual decadence. They are working on this. The issue is a political and security one. It is not an ordinary social issue.
You youth should always remember that political hands and brains are behind the issue of promoting addiction and dragging youth towards decadence, lust, sexual indulgence and the like. Think tanks in the world plan for such things. This is not a mere speculation, rather we have gained information in this regard. Of course, we should fight against them and make efforts in this direction. They create uproar as well. Many years ago - when smugglers were hanged - foreign media used to say that we were hanging freedom fighters. In their opinion, opium smugglers are really freedom fighters because they want the use of opium and heroin to be free in the country. If moral corruption and decadence are combated in society in a correct and intelligent manner, they create uproar and this is obvious. However, their uproar does not change the reality and our responsibility. Officials should know what they are doing. With its propaganda tools, the enemy has no problems with changing facts if it deems it necessary. It has no problems with convincing simple-minded individuals with the instrument of art and different other instruments. They are doing this in the world.
Last night, in a meeting with our seminarian friends, I said that today the propaganda apparatuses that are dependent on the Zionists, on America and actually on looting capitalists in the world - they mostly own media in the world - are deceiving humanity. They pretend that they are advocates of democracy while they are lying. They pretend that they are advocates of human rights, while they are lying a hundred percent. They are telling downright lies.
The only thing that international companies, trusts and cartels do not think and care about in any way is human rights and the rights of peoples. Does an oil company that confiscates and sells Iraq's oil think how such and such a poor family in Basra, Nasiriyah, Amarah, Kirkuk, Mosul and Baghdad live and that this oil belongs to them? There is no logic behind the accounts and records of that company other than earning a profit for oneself, for the company and for their large pockets. This is while they speak about human rights. They use propaganda about all the issues of the country, but their propaganda is of no value. Today, in the shade of divine assistance, our people have managed to uproot dictatorship in the country.
The Islamic Revolution institutionalized two issues in the country: one is freedom and another is independence. A society - our great Iranian society - that had suffered from dictatorship and tyranny for 2,500 years is free today thanks to the Revolution. We had really gotten used to tyranny. Today, if God forbid someone thinks about behaving in a dictatorial manner towards the people, the people will not tolerate it. Now, notice how frequently they promote the idea that there is dictatorship in the Islamic Republic.
It was also the Islamic Republic that institutionalized independence in Iran. Our people will no longer tolerate dependence on great powers at any price [audience chants "Death to America"]. Yes, that is certainly true: by Allah's favor, "Death to America". What I want to say to you dear youth and to all basijis and committed youth of the country is that the achievements that we have made until today are very valuable. The establishment of freedom and independence in the country is indescribable in terms of the significance and value of the worldly and otherworldly achievements that have been made in the shade of the Islamic Revolution during the past 25 years.
We should build an exemplary country and show that Islam can feed the worldly and otherworldly needs of human beings by enforcing its laws. We should achieve justice in the reality of our society, carry its flag and show it to the world. These are our responsibilities which have not been carried out yet. Of course, the task is very difficult. We should engage in construction twice as much as we have already done. Of course, the goals that I spoke about cannot be achieved with construction only. We should work hard: "A right is very vast in description but very narrow in equitability of action" [Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon 216]. We can easily describe, in words, our goal, our purpose and our demands. When you take a look at Mount Alvand from the foot of the mountain, you may think that reaching the peak is easy. Now, you must starting moving amid the turns and twists of the mountain so that you realize that each and every step requires great energy, power and determination. If we aspire to reach the high peaks of human values - everything that I said is related to this and today, no country in the world has achieved it - we should work.
We should see the distant horizons and we should preserve our determination. Our knees should not tremble in the middle of the way, we should not feel any tiredness and we should not allow our willpower to be weakened. We should move forward. This is not impossible, rather it is completely possible. Yesterday, I said in my speech that this is completely possible because Allah the Exalted has given a tool to people with which they can carry out all difficult tasks. This tool is wisdom and determination.
Thanks to divine assistance, we people of Iran have an extra tool that is very efficient. This tool is the youthfulness of our people. I have always said that this is a very great blessing. If you take a look at this meeting, you will see that most of the participants are young. Your Hamedan is also younger than other provinces in the country. This youthful energy has been bestowed on us by God. He has also given us something else which is the experience to move forward and to succeed. We are not like other countries that say, "If we do this, will we succeed or not? Perhaps, we will fail. It is quite possible that we will fail in doing it." This is not the case with us. We have experience. We have moved forward and taken action and we have seen that it is possible provided that we show determination. Therefore, we have this experience as well.
I advise you youth to read and to familiarize yourselves with the 20-year strategic plan which has been prepared as a national and historical document for the country. This plan has been prepared according to the opinions of economic, political and social experts and it can be implemented. We can implement it. If it is implemented, an important portion of our demands - the ones that I spoke about - will be met. However, it requires diligence and hard work.
Two things should be taken into consideration: one is thinking about hard work and diligence and avoiding tiredness. We should preserve in ourselves this inclination towards hard work. In particular, you youth should not at all allow the inclination to do hard work to be weakened in you. Another is identifying the area in which you should work. If you are students or office employees, if you are in the military and if you have a business of your own, you should find the area where you should engage in work. Jihad is not only participation in the arena of war. When you chant the slogan of "We are not like the citizens of Kufa" - I believe in this a hundred percent - it does not mean that if a war breaks out, we should carry a gun and fight. This is only one of the tasks that we should do. Fortunately, we do not have a war to fight in and by Allah's favor, we will not have any in the future either. But our constant duty is to produce knowledge, to engage in construction, to render services to the people and to make efforts on the path of preserving public morality, guiding and building others and - most importantly - preserving our moral health.
My dear ones, you should take care of yourselves in a very serious way: "Fear Allah". They have said that Friday prayer leaders should invite people to piety and abstinence in every Friday prayer. What is the purpose of doing so? The purpose is to help people look before they walk because the path of life - the path between paradise and hell - is a slippery one. Therefore, you should be careful and tread with caution lest you do not slip. This is preserving piety and it is the basis of all tasks. You should take these two issues into consideration and know that our country will achieve these goals.
The nature of evil is that it prances around: "Evil prances around" [speaking in Arabic]. In the present time, America is prancing around. Sometimes, they show it off to us , saying that they are present in both our western and eastern gates - in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are right, but is this power or weakness for America? We believe that this is a sign of their weakness and that it will increase pressures on them.
Today, America has faced certain problems in Iraq and it is thinking about how it can eliminate them. America entered Iraq at will, but it cannot do planning and make decisions at will. Today, America's plans in Iraq are mostly passive. They are things that they have to do. During the time when the Americans had just begun their attack or were about to launch their attack, I said in a Friday prayer sermon, "You have the freedom to enter Iraq, but you will not have this freedom to get out". America has paid crippling costs until today and more will follow in the future. If they stay in Iraq, it will cost them dearly and if they get out, it will cost them dearly as well.
The Americans' presence in Iraq is a weak point for them, not a strong point. Beside the money that America has spent - it is estimated that it has spent about 200 billion dollars until today - it has suffered a loss as well. They have spent a huge amount of money on sending their troops and providing equipment. Besides, they have suffered heavy human casualties. According to their own statistics or according to our estimation, the ratio of American casualties in Iraq is a little more than the ratio of their casualties in the Vietnam War. In the Vietnam War, the ratio of American casualties to those of the Vietnamese was 1 to 20. But in Iraq, the Americans themselves say that 1,000 American soldiers have been killed compared to the 17,000 soldiers that the Iraqis have lost. That is to say, the ratio is 1 to 17. Of course, our estimations and the news that we receive tell us that the Americans have lost more than a thousand soldiers. They have failed to swallow Iraq. They put it in their mouths, but it got stuck in their throats. Whatever they do is to their disadvantage.
Today, America is faced with a contradiction in Iraq. One the one hand, they need to provide security in Iraq because if they want to achieve their goals in that country, this is no possible without security. If an oil pipe is exploded every day and if the American forces are targeted somewhere on a daily basis, they will not be able to do anything. On the other hand, the presence of the American forces in Iraq is an element that leads to insecurity and uprisings. It brings about a chaotic situation and it makes the people of Iraq spark uprisings against them. If they want to ensure the security of the government that has held office in Iraq, they need to raise a strong army. For this reason, America needs the government of Iraq to have a strong army. On the other hand, the Americans are afraid of the existence of such an army in Iraq because they know that the existence of a strong army in an Islamic and Arab government is potentially a threat for Israel. This is a contradiction.
Another contradiction is that they claim that they have come to establish democracy, but they cannot do so because it is not in line with their interests and if an election is held in Iraq, the people who win the most votes are those who mount the most opposition to the Americans. Does democracy mean this? This is another contradiction in which they have gotten stuck and they have no way out of it.
Today, the government of Iraq is one that the people did not vote for, but it can adopt a method with which it can attract the attention of the people. This is what we want to say to the current administration of Iraq. We have no motivation to confront and fight against the administration that is in office in Iraq for the time being. We believe that this government - which is not based on the people - can attract the people's attention and win their love.
Of course, there are certain conditions for this. The first condition is that it should distance itself from the Americans as much as it can. The second condition is that it should hold elections at their scheduled time and in a free environment so that the people can elect their ruler, representatives and heads of government for the first time in the history of Iraq. This is unprecedented in the history of Iraq. This is the first time in the millennium-long history of Iraq that the people want to do so. The more efforts they make to accelerate elections or hold them at their scheduled time, the better it will be for their reputation before the Iraqi nation. The third condition is that they should confront the occupation of their country in a serious way. There is no reason behind the presence of the occupiers in Iraq as there was no reason behind their invasion. The occupiers were lying when they said that their purpose of entering Iraq was to combat weapons of mass destruction. Their lie was revealed throughout the world and everyone realized that they have come to Iraq for the sake of oil and to show off their power and secure a base in the region.
The more hours the occupiers stay in Iraq, the more the people of Iraq hate them because it is an illegitimate course of action. In the present time, the people of Iraq hate America and England more than they did last year because of the way the occupiers have behaved. The people witnessed up close what "occupier" means. For example, we can refer to Abu Ghraib prison, those reckless massacres, the bombardment of cities through airplanes and the massacre of innocent people in wedding ceremonies. Another example is that they arrested a number of people who were driving. They lined them up along the road and executed them by a firing squad just because they could not find those who attacked a group of English soldiers. The people of Iraq see and understand these crimes. Their hatred of the Americans, the English and the occupiers in general is increasing on a daily basis. Therefore, the current administration of Iraq can really win the people's heart and attract their attention to some extent - of course, by observing these conditions.
As for the trial of notorious and wretched Saddam Hussein, many things have been said in this regard. Everyone in the world is analyzing his trial as you have heard, but the point that I would like to raise is that the most important case against Saddam Hussein is his waging an eight-year imposed war against Iran. This is not our claim and we have nothing to do with the court of law that is in charge of his trial. It is the people of Iraq who should acknowledge this because it was Saddam Hussein who imposed this war on us and on them, as they were not inclined towards war. For eight years, he kept forcing the Iraqi people's youth out of their home and sent them to the front lines and then, he sent them back horizontally. Sometimes, he gave their bodies to their families and sometimes, he did not. This war was imposed on the people of Iraq and Saddam used up the many resources of the people of Iraq. Although this war made us suffer a great deal of loss at the hands of Saddam Hussein, the people of Iraq did not suffer less loss. Rather, they suffered more because we did not just watch the spectacle and so that he could do whatever he liked. In response, we delivered harder blows to defend ourselves, but the people of Iraq were ruined and they, in fact, destroyed all their resources with their own hands.
These disasters were created by Saddam Hussein. Today, the people of Iraq should grab Saddam by his collar and say, "Why did you impose that eight-year war on your people? Why did you pit us against our neighboring country, Iran, while there was no problem whatsoever between us? We were two ever-friendly, ever-brotherly and ever-close peoples." For many many years, our people have been going to Najaf and Karbala to visit holy places and they have been coming to Mashhad and Qom for the same purpose. We have always had a friendly and kind relationship between ourselves. It has hardly been seen that two peoples had such a friendly relationship as the people of Iraq and us.
Saddam Hussein should be condemned because of this cardinal and unforgivable sin. The punishment for this crime is not hanging, rather it is a 100, 1,000 hangings. Of course, if they want to condemn Saddam because of this crime, many others will be condemned in that court as well. Saddam will not be the only person who will be sentenced. The American regime will be among the guiltiest faces in that court of law because it was the Americans who helped Saddam. It was they who showed him the green light for using chemical weapons. The current ugly U.S. Secretary of Defense - who sometimes appears and speaks against the people of Iran with his ugly face - went to Baghdad and shook Saddam's hand after the event of Halabja. In fact, he gave him the green light, signaling that they have nothing to do with what Saddam does. They suggested that he could do whatever he wanted.
During the time of the Reagan administration - the current U.S. President's father was Reagan's vice president at the time - they gave many satellite pictures to the Iraqis which showed where the Iranian forces were located and moved. Of course, when our brave-hearted youth - you basijis - and several thousand soldiers passed through Arvand, this long river, and created a disastrous situation for Saddam, the eyes of those satellites had turned blind. They failed to spot and to be of any use. Many times, the task was carried out like this. Our current sardars in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps - Mr. Safavi and other brothers - sat down and formulated many plans.
What miracles can religious and courageous youth work! Did it look possible in reality to transfer several thousand forces from distant paths to the edge of Arvand River in a way that the enemy does not notice it and later on to send them back without the enemy' knowledge? Such feats were accomplished by those youth. Of course, the beard of some of them has turned white now, but in those days, they were youth like you. You can accomplish such feats again in the shade of faith.
America has faced certain contradictions and problems in Iraq. Of course, they have faced problems in the whole world. They have led the whole world to instability and insecurity. However, they are harmed by it more than everyone else. The world belongs to you, the future belongs to you, dear Iran belongs to you, it is you who build and develop the future. You should develop science. You youth should develop technology. It is you who should undertake the responsibility of defense in various areas including defense in political, in moral and religious, and in military - if need be - areas.
Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), preserve these youth for Islam and for Muslims. Increase the light and purity of their hearts. Shower Your mercy and grace on them.
Dear God, by the blessedness of Muhammad (s.w.a.) and his household (a.s.), help our dear martyrs, the veteran pioneers of this path and - before everyone else - the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) to benefit from Your blessings, mercy, assistance and kindness.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings