The Following is the full text of the speech made on April 30, 2008 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution to a large group of the people of Shiraz.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all sentient beings, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-al-Qassem Al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his immaculate and infallible household, especially the one remaining with Allah on earth.
I am grateful to Allah the Exalted who gave me the opportunity- belatedly- to meet you dear people of Shiraz. My dear brothers and friends in Shiraz and Fars province have been continually complaining about the delay.
I would like to tell you that I was no less enthusiastic than you were to meet you dear people and your beautiful, blessed, and honorable city. This is a city for scholars. It is the city for science, talents, and wisdom, and a place where historical and international figures were born. Shiraz and Fars province enjoy a high status among other cities and provinces across the country.
As is my custom, I usually point out some of the prominent characteristics - historical and other characteristics - of the places that I travel to and the people I meet. The reason is that I want the local people, especially the youth - no matter in which part of this vast and honorable country they live - to have a clear understanding of their historical background. However, this explanation appears to be unnecessary for the city of Shiraz and Fars province. That is because the luminaries of this city and province are so numerous and your city is so famous throughout the world that it is not necessary for anybody to say anything in order to introduce Shiraz and its past. But I would like to mention a couple of points for a particular reason.
Throughout the past centuries, Shiraz has proven to have vast human potentialities in almost all scientific areas. Moreover, the city of Shiraz and Fars province have a prominent and bright record regarding social and religious issues and whatever is related to the fate of nations in general - that is to say, national resolve. The more one thinks about your history, the more one realizes the extent of the wisdom of the people of this area.
rom a religious point of view - which I am going to emphasize more - the shrines of Ahmad Ibn Musa and his esteemed brothers and other descendants of the Prophet's (s.w.a.) household are another important sign. That fact that the esteemed descendants of prophets addressed the people of Fars and chose their province as their sanctuary is very significant. This is especially true about the prominent character of Ahmad Ibn Musa who is considered to be one of the most prominent descendants of the Prophet's (s.w.a.) household. He has been described as a generous, glorious, and modest person and his father - that is, Musa Ibn Ja'far - considered this honorable man as superior to his other children and relatives and treated him with special kindness. Shiraz attracted the attention of this esteemed descendant of the Prophet's (s.w.a.) household as well as other descendants. They came to this region, and they were supported by the local people. Until this day, the blessings of this esteemed man keep benefiting the entire Fars province and an important portion of this country.
Regarding literature and art, Saadi and Hafiz are like two glittering pearls on the body of the Persian language and literature. This is not something that requires further introduction. In other areas of knowledge, there have been great figures in this province, each being unparalleled in their own time in philosophy, Islamic jurisprudence, literature, grammar, art, exegesis, philology, astronomy, physics, and medicine. It would not be appropriate to mention the names of all the figures who were among the most prominent people in their time and who managed to reach the peaks of perfection. Introducing all these figures requires another meeting, and that is enough for now. There are very important and valuable pages in history regarding social issues and the tendency of you dear people towards religious courage and taking action.
The activists among the ulama living in this province who were offered to the theological history of this country are scarcely found in other parts of Iran. These activists were supported by the people.
Later on after the Revolution and in the present era - both during and after the Sacred Defense - you dear people, youth, scholars, and faithful men and women managed to achieve a prominent position and demonstrate the identity of the people of Fars province and Shiraz in action without pretension.
Today, this province is famous in various areas for scientific and technological endeavors as well as in-depth research and scientific innovation. There have been some scientists in your city and province who are considered as prominent international figures in science. This province is a pioneer in medicine, electronics, industries, petrochemistry, science, and engineering. Shiraz University has been a pioneer in establishing various fields of study. The presence of you people and youth in various arenas has been outstanding. Your armed units - both the army units and the armed units of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps serving in this province - played a leading role during the Sacred Defense era.
Therefore, throughout history this province and this city have proved to have a praiseworthy potentiality in religious matters, depth of religious faith, scientific endeavors, anti-autocracy movements, defending the great achievements of the Iranian nation, and many other arenas. This fact has to be considered by government officials, and they have to know that this place is a great source of human talents. This fact must also be considered by the people themselves - especially the youth and young teachers - and they have to know that each and every one of them can serve as a spring and help quench the thirst of this land and the whole country.
I would tell you that the faith of the people of Fars province, and Shiraz in particular, is not just a claim. I am giving you these facts after carefully studying and considering all aspects of the issue. There were efforts to confront such faith due to the great historical background of this city, due to the presence of great scholars and clerics in the history of the city, and due to the movement that was led by these scholars and clerics. But the people of Shiraz and the youth of this city made great contributions during the Islamic and clerical movements of 1961 and 1962. Across the country, cities such as Qom, Tehran, Shiraz, Tabriz, and Mashhad played an important role during those movements. And Shiraz was among the most important cities in this regard. It was due to this fact that some of their scholars were arrested and transferred to Tehran.
This movement was started by the evil Pahlavi court in the early 30s (solar Hijri) and continued for more than 20 years up to the victory of the Islamic Revolution. They tried their utmost to present Shiraz to the world as having a totally westernized identity. In the latter part of that decade - probably around the years 39 and 40 (solar Hijri) - I myself was witness to instances and manifestations of the corruption that was intentionally spread on Zand street and many other centers those days. They purposefully tried to encourage the youth to involve themselves in immoral activities and neglect of the religious duties. This trend continued up to the fifties when there was the feast in Shiraz and the things that probably all of you know about. Maybe, some of the youth have not heard about the feast. This was one of the movements.
Another movement that promoted anti-religion beliefs in this city more than most other cities was the heresy by the Tudeh party that had its roots in this region, and they had numerous activities here. When they realized that the ground was prepared for the influence of the clergy and religion in this city, especially during the years in which the late Sayyid Nureddin - the brave, charismatic, active clergyman who was aware of the requirements of time - had stepped in, probably they even tried to encourage the Tudeh party to challenge this clergyman.
The organized movement by the Pahlavi court on the one hand and the widespread movement by the then Marxists - that is the movement started by the Tudeh Party - on the other hand acted like the two blades of a pair of scissors against this the people and the youth and their faith. But these people and these youth were the ones who gave rise to one of the most prominent events in this city in 1962 and 1963 - during the rise of the Islamic and clerical movement. I mean Qom, Tehran, Shiraz, Tabriz, and Mashhad were pioneers across the country, and Shiraz was one of the pioneers. As a result, a number of prominent ulama of Shiraz were arrested and taken to Tehran.
Despite all their efforts to put the people off religion, they did not get the favorable response from the people. Acting and resisting the way they did, the people nullified their investment. Later on in the last years of the reign of the evil Pahlavi regime - namely during the years 1977 and 1978 - the people of Shiraz and Fars province were also considered as a model for many cities across the country.
You should not think of what I said simply as a preface to my speech here. What I said were not words of welcome, nor did I intend to make any compliments. I wanted to come to a conclusion. Now I would like to discuss a point regarding the general issues related to the Revolution, which is also related to the things that I talked about.
Throughout the history of our country, we find only one model of seizing power. Let me clarify the issue to some extent. In our country, seizing power has always been done through military power and what we called coup d'état. This has always been accompanied by the confrontation of powers. And people have never been involved in the process. Different dynasties seized power in this country without the people having a role. Take the case of your own city - Shiraz. First there was the Zand dynasty, and later the Qajar dynasty gained power. They seized power from the Zand dynasty. The war was between two armies who were seeking power - two military powers in fact. People played no role in this regard. During the history of our country - before and after Islam and up to the present - seizing power has always been done in that way. There exists only one exception which I will later talk about. Besides this exception, seizing power has always been accompanied by military invasion and without the people being involved in the process. This was because people lacked the necessary motivation to get involved.
Both when power was passed on from one dynasty to the next and when there was some power struggle within a dynasty, people had no role at all. To give a local example from Shiraz, I would say that during the Qajar dynasty and for some time after the death of Fath Ali Shah, one of the sons of Fath Ali Shah called Hossein Ali Mirza ruled this city. Hosssein Ali Mirza wanted the throne. But Mohammad Shah - who was Fath Ali Shah's grandson - had been enthroned in Tehran. A war took place. There was a war between the two parties outside the gates of Shiraz. Of course, the people were downtrodden in the course of this war. The people suffered losses, and their farms, possessions, property, and lives were threatened. But they did not at all get involved in the war. That is a recurrent theme in the history of this country.
Of course, I have to say that there was one exception - the historical validity of which is under question and which is mixed up with myths. This exception is the allegedly popular uprising of Kaveh the Blacksmith who managed to overthrow Zahhak. If the story is true, it is the only exception in the history of this land. Of course, there is no mention of Fereydun, Zahhak, and Kaveh the Blacksmith in the history of this land written by Europeans from the Pahlavi era onwards. They have recorded the events in another way, which is a separate issue, and I do not want to discuss it now.
As the greatest revolution in the history of our country, the Islamic Revolution put an end to all monopolies and turned them into a democratic rule. This was indeed the greatest change in our history. This was achieved by the power of the people. There was no confrontation of powers. People entered the arena, and were led by the clergy as the pioneers of the movement. It was the people who could, by the great power bestowed on them by God, seize power from the hands of autocrats and tyrants. They returned people to power, and established a democratic rule. As far as I know, this is the only event in the history of this land which happened in such a manner.
This event deserves consideration from various aspects. I should say that today, after the passage of almost 30 years, since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, we should still have an all-encompassing and comprehensive outlook on this event. The minor details and the ups and downs are not very informative. We must highlight and revive the adoption of a comprehensive perspective - which has of course been done by a great number of our people and prominent compatriots as well as some foreigners - in public opinion.
In all events that take place throughout the world, there are a number of elements that have to be considered together and not separately. The first element is the primary causes of the event in question. Motives, goals, historical factors as well as geographical and geopolitical factors all affect our knowledge of the event. The second element is considering the role of those who started the event. In our country, the first element consisted of the people's faith and freedom-seeking campaigns, the repercussions of which were manifested in various incidents in our history - such as Mirza-e Shirazi's hukm against the use of tobacco and the nationalization of the oil industry. The clergy and our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) made the best of these factors and started the revolutionary movement. This is the background I was talking about.
The second element was the people, who entered the unparalleled Islamic Revolution into the annals of history. Unfortunately, we see that some quasi-intellectual perspectives deny the importance of the role of the people and their participation. Such perspectives are misguided. When the people develop a general tendency and when some consider this tendency as against their interests, they label it as 'populist', a movement started by the laymen. This is the wrong reaction. It was the will of the public and their faith-based participation that started the Revolution and led it to its final victory. Relying on its faith, sentiments, and national pride, and by taking pride in its historical background and cultural heritage, the Iranian nation managed to create this great movement.
The goal of the Iranian nation - which was attested to in different languages whenever I asked this question of people from different countries - was to gain freedom and independence by relying on Islam. The slogan "independence, freedom, Islamic Republic" - which was a common slogan during the Revolution - was shouted by our people from the bottom of their hearts, and it was exactly what the people wanted. People could see that the country, great as it was, did not have rulers who could independently make their own decisions, who were the followers of outsiders and arrogant powers and who were under their yoke and weak against the outsiders and dependant on them. But these rulers were tough and oppressive towards their own people. They treated their own people cruelly and harshly and did not let them make free choices. Throughout the Constitutionalist movement up to the Islamic Revolution, the people never went to the ballot boxes enthusiastically and voluntarily to elect a particular candidate. Electing was meaningless because the government was hereditary, the government officials were installed by foreign powers, and the Majlis that had been formed as a result of the constitutionalist movement was also installed by others and the MPs were not elected by the people. The people fell victim to the decisions that were made by this irresponsible system. The people decided to gain independence, freedom, national grandeur, and material prosperity and well-being in this world as well as spiritual honor in the hereafter. That was the ambition the people cherished, and they stepped in to realize it. That was the second factor.
The third element is the factors that act against the event or the movement, which bring about some consequences. This was true of our Revolution as well. In the beginning there was a hindrance. It means that the Iranian nation had to gain freedom and independence by exerting efforts and also that it had to bear the consequences and pay the price. Anybody who wants to achieve something without making any efforts or paying the price for it will never be successful. No one will ever realize his or her ambitions by avoiding risks or by sitting around and waiting idly for the right opportunity to arise. This is true of nations as well. Only nations that courageously steps into the arena and pays the price will achieve grandeur.
The eight-year imposed war was the price that the Iranian nation paid. That was the price for seeking independence, freedom, and grandeur. The Iranian nation paid this price without turning a hair. Our nation endured 8 years of war because it knew that it was the price for gaining national independence, power, and glory. The victims of the indiscriminate assassinations of the 60s [solar Hijri] were another price that our nation paid. Economic sanctions which have been imposed on us since the beginning of the Revolution are yet another price that our nation has been paying. Right now as I speak to you, the arrogant powers have been threatening us for two years with sanctions and economic blockades. They pretend as if they have never imposed an economic blockade on us before.
The capitalist and colonialist camp is using all its economic power and media networks to exert pressure on our nation in the hope that it will force the Iranian nation to retreat and to surrender. Not only do they want us to give up our nuclear rights - the nuclear energy is one of the rights of the Iranian nation - but also they want our nation to give up its right to grandeur, independence, free decisions, and scientific progress. The Iranian nation is now on the right path towards scientific and technological progress and is determined to make up for two centuries of backwardness under evil despotic governments. Our enemies are alarmed and do not want our nation - which is located in a strategic part of the world - to achieve these accomplishments.
They do not want the Iranian nation to be known as the standard-bearer of Islam. That is the reason why they exert pressure on us, but the Iranian nation is standing firm. They threaten us with economic sanctions. They have imposed various types of sanctions, but the Iranian nation has not suffered any losses. We used sanctions to make further progress. Once we were in need of weapons, but they refused to sell even the most primitive weapons to us. We took advantage of these sanctions, and the same people who imposed sanctions on us are now seriously worried that the Iranian nation is turning into a regional power. All this progress was caused by their sanctions. Those sanctions did not harm us. We managed to turn these sanctions into opportunities. The situation is the same today. We are not afraid of the sanctions imposed by the West. By Allah's favor, the Iranian nation will make very serious efforts in the face of all sanctions and economic blockades and will increase its progress by several times.
Such a comprehensive perspective on the Revolution - that is to say, taking into account all motives and major causes of the Revolution and the formation of the Islamic Republic as well as the pivotal role of the people and their religious faith as the main cause of the Revolution and considering the costs - causes us to disregard trivial issues no matter where we are or what position we have. This perspective causes us to focus on the greatness of the Revolution and its general development, which has thankfully been continuing with full strength during the past 30 years. Although they have been making more and more plots against us, the Iranian nation has made increasing progress on a daily basis.
The enemies of the nation are constantly waiting for the opportunity to make the best of every small or big issue in order to undermine the determination of our nation. They even take advantage of natural disasters such as earthquakes and droughts or such issues as inflation that are rampant in the whole world. If you take a look at the commentaries broadcast by foreign radios, you will realize that economic issues form one of the pivots on which our enemies' propaganda revolves. They are doing these things in the vain hope that they will manage to undermine the determination of the Iranian nation.
The Iranian people are now familiar with their officials. It is a mistake to pretend that the current economic conditions and inflation are the result of laxity on the part of our officials in various sectors. The government officials are fully aware of what is happening in society. Today, the West has more economic problems than other regions in the world. According to their own reports, the US economic crisis - which started in the US and which is gradually spreading to Europe and other countries - has been unprecedented in the last 60 years.
The United Nations declared that a food crisis has engulfed the entire world. By Allah's grace, the Iranian nation suffers from fewer problems than do most of these conceited countries, and it must solve the existing problems through the efforts made by the people and the government officials. This requires efforts on the part of all those who live in this country.
Government officials, including those serving in the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches, all have responsibilities to fulfill. The people also have some responsibilities to fulfill. What I told you about the human capacities of your city and your province means that these human capacities must be useful for the future of this country and the Revolution and that the people must feel responsible towards utilizing these capacities. Wherever we live, we must feel responsible towards the destiny of the country and its future, and we must realize that we can play an effective role in this regard. University students, academics, teachers, students, farmers, those who are active in industries, and those who invest in different industrial and agricultural sectors must all feel responsible. Through a sense of responsibility on the part of all our people and through guidelines provided by our government departments - government departments, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and the judiciary branch - the Iranian nation will be able to overcome all the problems and obstacles that its enemies throughout the world want to create for it, and we will be able to form the exemplary community that Islam indented to create for Muslims.
I designated this year as the year of innovation. This innovation is not peculiar to a particular arena. In laboratories, research centers, classrooms, Islamic seminaries, universities, industrial workshops, clerical environments, agricultural regions, and other places, the innovations of creative people can help push any task a step forward and help the country go though an important phase.
I also warned the people and the government officials about the economic issues both in the beginning of this year and the beginning of last year. As I said then, the enemies have focused their attention on sensitive economic issues in order to create problems for the economy of this country. They intend to create as many problems as they can or at least use their propaganda means and pretend that there are problems when they cannot create problems. This is a policy that is vehemently pursued in various forms by our enemies in their propaganda today. Financial discipline, frugality, and avoidance of extravagance are the ways in which we can confront these problems. I would like to stress that our nation must know that extravagance is one of the most dangerous maladies that can afflict a nation. We are to some extent suffering from this extravagance. Let me refer to one of the instances which is related to water shortage - which has affected your province and several other provinces, and I hope that Allah the Exalted will send down His blessings in the form of rain for you. Being uneconomical with water is one of the instances of extravagance. This extravagance is not just limited to drinking water. We are also uneconomical with the water that is used for irrigation. It is the duty of the officials in charge of supplying water to pay special attention to this issue. Therefore, we must treat the issue of extravagance - regarding both water and other things - as important.
Fortunately, the Iranian nation paid a heavy price - and it did so willingly and bravely - and managed to pass through various phases, tread difficult paths, and achieve the position it has now. But there is still a long way to go. With its strong determination, with the efforts of its youth, and with the talents that are embodied in our manpower, our nation will, by Allah's favor, find practical solutions and manage to tread this path with prefect grandeur. In different meetings, I will talk about different aspects of these issues and discuss various points in this regard during my stay in this province.
I would like to express my gratitude to you dear, talented, kind, faithful, hospitable, and good-humored people. Thankfully, most of the good qualities of the Iranian people are to be found in you dear people of Shiraz and Fars province. I thank Allah the Exalted who has bestowed dynamism on you. I hope this dynamism will increase day by day. I pray to Allah the Exalted to bestow success on you.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings