In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All praise is due to God, Lord of the Worlds, and may peace and greetings be upon our Master and our Prophet, Abul-Qasim al-Mustafa Muhammad, and upon his untainted, pure, chosen Progeny, particularly the Remnant of God on earth.
We ask and pray to Almighty God for the preservation and long life of these outstanding, exceptional spirits whom we are seeing in this gathering. I offer my greetings to all the esteemed attendees, particularly to the honorable families of the martyrs and to the respected officials. The honorable president, due to his people-oriented nature, is also present in this gathering.
Before I begin, I believe it is necessary to pay tribute to the memory of our martyred, deceased Friday Prayer Leader [of Tabriz], the late Mr. Ale-Hashem. He spoke with great eloquence and depth in this very gathering last year. May God elevate his rank. Blessed are the servants whose lives end in such a manner with God's will. I would also like to honor the memory of the young, revolutionary, beloved governor of Azerbaijan, who was also among those martyred in that tragedy, along with the other dear martyrs who were taken from the Iranian nation in the bitter tragedy [on May 19, 2024].
What took place on February 18, 1978 was a significant event. Today, I would like to say a few words regarding the people who created that event, because the honors of Azerbaijan are numerous and diverse in many respects. I have repeatedly spoken about these matters with you, the wonderful people of Azerbaijan. Today when a young person from Tabriz observes and comprehends the situation in the region, they recognize both our enemies and allies, and they stand fearlessly in the face of the roars from one side and the howls from the other side. They don’t feel they must be passive. [Rather,] they feel powerful.
A young Azerbaijani, a young person from Tabriz, stands like a mountain today in the face of events that unsettle even the most experienced politicians. This young person should know this spirit is a legacy that is coming from which people and what event it is related to. If our youth —who didn’t experience the Revolution and remember nothing of the events that took place on February 18th [1978] except for a name and an event — don’t know about the history of the group and the people who brought about this great event — including who they were, what they did, and with what spirit they entered the field — the enemy's fabricated, false narratives will be what prevails in their minds. This is the point I would like to briefly address and emphasize today.
Azerbaijan and Tabriz have actually been Iran's stronghold against foreign invasions and aggression throughout various periods. In some cases, due to the incompetence shown by those in central regions and in the country’s capital, officials in the Tsarist or Ottoman governments were able to dominate parts of Azerbaijan and even Tabriz itself. However, it was the people of Tabriz who with their resistance and patience were able to confront the enemy, forcing them to flee. The Tsarist agents insisted that Sattar Khan raise a white flag atop his house so that he would be safe from the attacks of the Russian forces who were there. Sattar Khan replied, "I am under the banner — or, as he called it, the baydaq [standard] — of Abul-Fazl al-Abbas. I won’t go under anyone else's banner."
Throughout various periods, attempts were made by people — who cannot exactly be considered to have been foreign agents but who nonetheless had gone astray and held positions within the government of the Taghut [Pahlavi] regime — to impose a non-Islamic identity on Azerbaijan. These efforts emphasized ethnic characteristics and were based on an anti-religious, secular perspective, so to speak.
What happened in response to this movement is a lesson for discerning eyes. During the same period when these efforts were being undertaken, Tabriz gave brilliant gems such as Allamah Tabatabai, Allamah Amini, and prominent literary and artistic figures such as Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar, and others like them to Iranian society, elevating Iran’s name, title, and prestige. It is the same in various institutions.
One of the outstanding characteristics of Azerbaijan that led to events such as the important event on February 18th was the Islamic faith and religious zeal of its people. The people of Tabriz and all those who were present in Tabriz that day from other cities in the province participated in that movement and created this event. The significance of the event does not merely lie in the fact that the Taghut [Pahlavi] regime was compelled to bring tanks into the streets to confront the people. The significance lies in the fact that this movement was able to become a model for all of Iran, and the people of Iran echoed this movement in various other cities. This led to the great revolutionary movement of 1979. This is what made this event so great.
A notable trait of the people of Tabriz and Azerbaijan is their pioneering spirit in various matters. In different events, we have seen and observed Azerbaijan taking the lead. We know that in various issues — including scientific, cultural, political, and defense-related matters — they were pioneers. They were the ones who initiated movements. This is a characteristic of these people, and today's youth need to be aware of this. This legacy of resistance, this sense of strength, and the feeling of being able and not being passive in the face of events — characteristics that our Azerbaijani and Tabrizi youth possess today — have been passed down from that period of time.
One of the characteristics of Azerbaijan and Tabriz is that they create role models. This very event was a model. The figures who played a role in Azerbaijan and Tabriz are each a model in their own right. They are outstanding examples that will remain etched in the history of Iran and its people. Thiqat al-Islam and Sheikh Muhammad Khiabani, both religious scholars, sacrificed their lives in opposition to foreign interference. Figures like Sattar Khan and Baqer Khan were pioneers in the Constitutional Movement and became role models for the heroes of the great Constitutional Movement in Iran and the Constitutional Revolution.
During the Sacred Defense, the prominent youth of Azerbaijan — one example of whom are the Bakeri martyrs — became exemplary figures. In Azerbaijan, we have numerous instances of excellence in literature, culture, and science. At one point in time, the number of distinguished scholars that the Tabriz seminary was able to offer to society was far greater than anywhere else in the country, with the exception of Isfahan. The two cities of Tabriz and Isfahan are exemplary and distinguished among all the seminaries and major cities in the country in terms of their output of remarkable, prominent religious scholars. This is the trait of the very people who created this event and these occurrences.
Therefore, today’s youth in Azerbaijan, both the men and the women in Tabriz today, should consider the qualities of "faith and religious zeal," the characteristic of "pioneering," and "role modeling" as their enduring moral and social legacy. They should use these to contribute to the country’s advancement, and I will explain what it is that we need today.
My dear brothers and sisters! Thanks to the efforts of our youth, our scientists, and our skilled technologists, we have no worries or problems today in terms of our defense in hard warfare or in terms of the enemy's hard threats against us. Praise God, we know, our friends know, and our enemies know today that Islamic Iran is at an extremely high level in terms of its ability to counter hard threats. The people feel safe in this regard. Therefore, our issue today is not the enemy's threat of hard warfare.
But there is another important threat that we must be prepared for and that is the threat related to soft warfare. Today, our enemies admit that they have come to the conclusion that if they want to defeat the Iranian nation, if they want to push the Islamic Republic back from its powerful positions, the way to do this is to create problems within the country and within the nation. They aim to create soft warfare threats and problems for the people.
What are soft warfare threats? Soft warfare threats are attempts to manipulate the public's thoughts. They’re attempts to create divisions. They’re attempts to instill doubt about the principles of the Islamic Revolution. These are software warfare threats. Soft warfare threats are attempts to create uncertainty about being steadfast against the enemy. That’s what they’re doing. [But] by God's grace, they haven’t succeeded until today. To this day, the enemy's deceptions have failed to undermine the spirit of our people or deter our youth from their commitment and progress.
An example of this was the tremendous rally on the 22nd of Bahman. Where else in the world does something like this exist? After more than 40 years since the victory of the Revolution, the anniversary of the Revolution is celebrated by the general public — not by the Armed Forces or the country’s officials — by the masses, the people, who honor it in this manner and with such a vast turnout. And for 46 years, despite all the problems that exist — people have problems, they have expectations, they have legitimate expectations — these matters haven’t prevented them from defending their Revolution. What does this mean? It shows that up until this day, the enemy's soft warfare threats haven’t been effective in this country and against its people.
My point is that you mustn’t let the enemy’s schemes, which still continue, have an effect in the future either. The people behind media outlets, speakers, writers, artists, scholars, and those who have responsibilities in the official sectors of education, the media, and art, along with our youth who are active in the social media must direct their efforts toward seeing where the enemy is focusing and interfering. They must identify how it intends to infiltrate people’s minds and the public opinion. They should close off those avenues, stand against the enemy, produce content, and generate new ideas and thoughts. This intellectual work today is more important than hard warfare defense.
In hard warfare defense, if a shortcoming arises, it can be compensated for and overcome with soft warfare adjustments. This has been done on multiple occasions. However, if there is a problem in soft warfare defense, hardware tools will not resolve the issue. We need to pay attention to this issue.
Our youth should familiarize themselves with the concepts of the Revolution, with the words of Imam Khomeini, and with what has been said over the years about the Revolution and its features. Our Revolution was, in the true sense of the word, a battle of light against darkness. It was a battle of truth against falsehood. The Revolution sought to elevate Iran and its people. It sought a magnificent future for Iran and sought to showcase the identity of the Iranian nation. It is the same today. Praise God, we have succeeded so far, and we have been able to move forward on this path. Yes, we have not yet fully achieved the goals that the Revolution has outlined for us.
We are currently lagging behind in the field of justice, we are behind in terms of the existing social gaps, and we are also behind in various fundamental issues. We need to work harder and make progress. However, the [Islamic] Revolution has been able to maintain itself as an independent identity, as a vast, inspirational foundation for regional nations, and even for some nations outside the region. The anger of the world's Arrogant Powers, colonialists, and the evil elements who commit crimes while putting good names on what they do is due to the fact that the Islamic Republic has been able to continue, been able to stand firmly, and been able to show its powerful fist to them.
Some people like to insinuate in their flawed analyses that the Iranian nation is the one that’s creating its own enemies. That’s not the case. The hostility directed toward the Iranian nation, particularly from the tyrannical policymaking entities in the US that are constantly working against the Iranian nation, isn’t a reaction to the people saying, "Down with the USA." [Rather], it is due to the fact that Iran has been able to liberate itself from the yoke of being dominated by the colonialists’ power thanks to the efforts and sacrifices of its people. This is the reason. They are angry at the Iranian nation because it refuses to comply with their demands. They’re used to imposing their will. You hear [them demand], "Give us this place and that place. Name this location or that location after us." These are their words, but their actions are far more severe and abhorrent. Their actions are much worse. Plundering the wealth of nations and dominating over their decisions is one of the huge crimes committed by the Arrogant Powers, at the head of which are the United States and the complex network of Zionism. They cannot tolerate the sight of a nation like the Iranian nation standing on its own feet; protesting against their oppression, interference, and aggression; establishing a system; preserving it for over 40 years; and growing stronger every day. They cannot stand the sight of this.
My audience today is primarily you, the young people of Azerbaijan and the youth of Tabriz. However, this message is addressed to all the youth across the country: It is your duty today to maintain this spirit, strengthen this movement, and advance toward the goals set by the Revolution. We have hope in the youth, and, God willing, this great popular movement will make progress in all areas.
May God protect you and may He bestow His blessings upon you, our dear people, the people of Tabriz and Azerbaijan.
May God’s greetings, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
Comment