All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master and Prophet, Ab-il-Qassem Al-Mustafa Mohammad, and upon his immaculate and infallible household, especially what remains with Allah on earth.
Every year, June 4 provides an opportunity for the Iranian people to renew their allegiance and express their loyalty to the principles of the Islamic Revolution and ideals of Imam Khomeini.
Although our committed people always feel a strong bond with that prominent and unforgettable personality of our time, they use the demise anniversary of our late Imam, who was a great divine blessing, as an occasion for renewing their allegiance to the revolution that he led and the Islamic system that he established in this country.
I would like to begin by citing a verse from the holy Qur'an that our late magnanimous Imam embodied. In Chapter Sojda of the Holy Qur'an, describing faithful persevering individuals, Almighty Allah says:
"And We made some of them Imams to guide by Our command when they were patient, and they were certain of Our communications." (32:24)
The above verse underlines that those characterized by the two main features, namely patience and certainty, were entrusted by Almighty Allah with the task of guiding others. In other words, all prophets, leaders and those who managed to positively influence the course of history of mankind were characterized by these two features. Our magnanimous Imam, who brought about an Islamic revival and awakening in our nation and in the whole Islamic world as well, also exhibited these qualities.
Forty years ago on June 5, 1963, a large number of faithful Iranians were martyred in Tehran and Qom at the hands of the cruel agents of the former regime only because they adhered to Islam and opposed the foreign domination of their country and the exploitation of their natural resources by outside powers.
After the massacre of innocent people in Tehran and Qom and the sending into exile of Imam Khomeini, many thought that the Islamic movement in this country had been crushed. But they were wrong, since the Iranian people followed the path of the Islamic movement with patience and certainty.
Today you can see that the Islamic movement launched by Imam Khomeini that was ruthlessly suppressed some 40 years ago has now swept through the whole Islamic world.
Imam Khomeini led the Islamic movement from exile for 15 years. Thanks to the deep religious faith and great political awareness of our nation, the late Imam managed to bring about unity and solidarity among the Iranian people against the tyrannical rule of the former regime and against foreign domination of our country.
Whenever the people of a country enter the arena of struggle, they will surely achieve victory. Consequently, the Islamic movement of the Iranian people also culminated in victory and an Islamic system was established in this country despite all the obstacles and plots of the enemies.
Furthermore, the Islamic revival and awakening, the spirit of standing up to foreign domination and exploitation and the idea of freeing Muslim Ummah from the clutches of the arrogant powers have gone beyond our borders.
Today, all Muslim nations from the east to the west of the Islamic world, including those in the Middle East, northern Africa or eastern Asia, feel a deep hatred for the arrogant powers. These nations, especially their scholars, intellectuals and young people, are expressing a great desire for the enforcement of the Islamic law in their societies.
What did Imam Khomeini do that brought about all these developments in the Islamic world? Our magnanimous Imam put his trust in Islam and people. His trust in people also stemmed from his trust in Islam. It is Islam that emphasizes the rights of people and the significance of their votes and their presence on the scene. Imam Khomeini also relied on people in line with Islamic teachings and equated the grandeur and power of Islam with the grandeur and power of people.
Above all, Imam Khomeini revived the political and social aspects of Islam. When the old colonial powers entered the Islamic world, they made every effort to undermine the political and social aspects of Islam and silence its call for justice, freedom and independence with the intention of forcing Muslims into submission and exploiting their natural resources. However, our magnanimous Imam reversed the trend and revitalized the pure Islam.
He showed in practice that political Islam and moral and spiritual Islam are the same, contrary to the false notions that the enemies of Islam and those opposed to the awareness and awakening of Muslims have been trying to inculcate into Muslim nations.
The pure Islam revitalized by the late Imam is opposed to both the reactionary Islam mixed with superstition and the one influenced by alien schools of thought. It is the religion that protects its followers against the exploitation and domination practiced by expansionist and arrogant powers.
The enemies of Islam have also been propagating the wrong idea that democracy and religion are not compatible with each other. But the late Imam proved the falsity of this idea by establishing the Islamic Republic, which is a religious democracy.
Indeed, our Islamic system is a democratic government in its real sense. Ever since the establishment of the Islamic Republic some 24 years ago more than twenty general elections have been held in this country. Besides, the country's high-ranking officials, including the leader, the president and the parliamentarians, are elected through direct or indirect votes of the people.
Today, the enemies of Islam are doing their utmost to stifle the Islamic awakening of Muslim nations. In particular, they are targeting the Islamic Republic, since it is the main source and center of this Islamic revival. Thus, it is no wonder that they are leveling all kinds of baseless accusations and spreading negative propaganda against the Iranian nation and government.
For instance, the United States is accusing the Islamic Republic of supporting terrorism or harboring terrorists! This is a very outrageous lie. Iran neither supports terrorism nor harbors any terrorists.
However, the Islamic Republic holds the view that there are millions of people in the Islamic world who are filled with hatred for the American aggressors and occupiers because of the atrocities that they are presently committing in Iraq or have committed in Afghanistan. You cannot call these broad-minded people terrorists! You cannot call millions of people in Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, northern Africa, Pakistan and Afghanistan terrorists!
Are the oppressed Palestinian people, who are defending their homes in the face of frequent attacks by Israeli tanks and helicopters, terrorists?
The brave and devoted Lebanese youth resisted Israeli military aggression and by sacrificing their precious lives forced the Zionist enemy to retreat from Lebanon. If there were not valorous and faithful youth ready for self-sacrifice in Lebanon today, the Zionist regime would once again attack that country as it did in the past, advancing as far as that country's capital Beirut, and kept the southern part of that country under its occupation for years.
Thanks to the Islamic awakening that our magnanimous Imam infused into Muslim nations, the faithful youth of Lebanon rose against the Zionist aggressors and drove them out of their homeland. Now the question is, are the brave and devoted Lebanese youth terrorists? Terrorists are those who attack other nations and kill innocent people in their homes.
Today, the Islamic world is full of hatred for the United States for its occupation of Iraq. The U.S. officials refuse to allow the Iraqi people to decide their future and establish their favorite government. This is what the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein also used to do. Therefore, just as the regime of Saddam was dictatorial and oppressed its people, the United States is also trampling on the legitimate rights of the great Iraqi nation.
By installing an American ruler in Iraq, the U.S. government is insulting the Iraqi nation, which has a rich culture and numerous scholars and intellectuals. Through such behavior, the United States is forcing the Iraqi people into a serious confrontation with the American occupiers of their homeland.
What the United States has committed in Afghanistan and is presently doing in Iraq clearly shows the falsity of U.S. claims to advocate democracy and support human rights. It is evident that the U.S. officials have no respect for the rights and freedoms of other nations, and that they are only seeking to further the interests of large corporations and conglomerates that hold immense influence over the U.S. administration.
In their negative propaganda, the enemies of the Islamic Republic are also claiming that there is discord between our officials. I would like to assure the honorable Iranian people that the officials in charge of the three government branches are all united in confronting our enemies and in safeguarding our Islamic tenets and revolutionary principles. Therefore, the enemies' dream of seeing certain officials of the Islamic Republic opposing the ideals of Imam Khomeini and deviating from the revolutionary path of our Islamic system will never come true.
Glory be to Almighty Allah, Who has kept the name and memory of Imam Khomeini still alive in our country. We also give praise to the Almighty and are grateful that our government officials have great devotion to our magnanimous Imam and adhere to his ideals and objectives.
In conclusion, I once again call on the officials in charge of the three government branches to try to increase their services to the people, intensify their campaign against corruption and discrimination and do their utmost to eliminate poverty from society and narrow the gap between different strata.
I pray to Almighty Allah to bestow further success on our officials in performing their duties and in rendering more and better services to the people.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings