Khomcyni Address to Nation LD0123O11 '1'ehran Dome st ic Sc1•v i ce in Pct'sian 181t2 GM'r 1 Apr 79 LD Addrer r to the nation by the Ayatollah Khome yni--live Text In the name ol' Ood the compassionate t he merciful the Almiehty God has promised with his graco ancl hi word u1di st IJ1ct to malce the wealc amonc the people tr umph over the ar1•or ant ancl word s inclistu1ct to malce them l eader ·ine ruJ nur 1ent o r tle hlr 1lght y God's promise is cl ose I hope that we will witness t he triu ph of t h- se deC med · eak over t he arrogant as they have done so far So far all t ha' ' he nation has i nd icated has been in the direction of obeying Islam ar d its commands 'lie hould r 1 rikr I s lar 1 known t c t he world a i t really is and so that attention is drawn to H What - u lfr 5 offer is sor ething precious but t hi should be made known r • hank all the Iranian people for t heir participation in t he r•eferP ndun and for having ca t theit' deci s ive vo te which should be reeazoded as nearly 100 percent in favor of an Isla ic republic he I ranian people had already given their favorable vote We did nu • see an nee1 for a referendum but it was decided t o hold a referendum in orJer to enrl ccr• in voiced exc' lses and r umblings flow t ho e who ere makine Pxcuses have re a lized ' hat the situation i s mt as t hey irnaeined and that t he not ion is with Inlam 11th he s pirituality of I s lam The nation wants lho teachtngs of the bless ed Koran to bo i nplcment ed in £ran Praise be to Ood that all section of the Irinian people t hroughou the country cast t heir vote with enthusiasm and eaecrnoss with love and dedicntion in favor or ar I lamio l'opublic and nothine else Only an Islamic republic c in fulfill ali t he obJeclives of t h' rantan na ' i on The commands of the Islamic republic uvorride all ol hors Wo cay tha l 1 ho c who rnako claims abo 1 1t dornocrac prac Use democracy in one for m in t he 'IIC sl nnrl ano l hor in 1 ho E ist In t he Ea t the people arc fncine o monumenta l dictalori hip lho name applier to t ho Wcut We say to those who oay they res pect hurnan ri1 h'-n nnu to hu1 in11 ri1' ht wganizotluns t ho l over n period of 50 ycars--whilo tho usu1•pi11g l' 1 hlavi rule and t h -i t of his on impo ed t homselve n upon t ho natit n and 1•obbed Lhe notion of ovorything it had t hrough l illings--our younc people lanr ui hed in Jail s many of out• yuung people's logs woro snwn off in Jnil I many of thorn wo1•0 till in Jail un t il recent ly r 1nny of thorn wore r ufferinc undot• to1•turo unt il rcoontly many of thorn lon t all t hoy po son cd to the exoou t i onor of tho forme1• shah tlwough t h ls pa1•iod we did 1w l soc the ouppo1•to1• l f hurnnn 1'1 7lts p1•otosting i c snw tho U S Prccldont on t h o cido of t h e rnisc1•nblo nhnh t ho fol'rnor oppressive slrnh We caw hi m supporting Lho former nhah suppo1•t i1 l an cxeout1ono1' who thNM all our po so cionn to t ho winds nut tho ndvocatos of humnn righto did noL sny anythinc to t ho t s Prc irlont However now t hat the excoul ionm•s of the previous recime havo fallen into tho h 1r ds of tho na t i m nnd now that t ho nation wants to revenge itself upon them we hcru• loud Cl'ies from those concel'ned about human Plchts I oa1u1ot 1•ega1•d t he m as anyt hinr othe1• t hnn puppo tn of t he oxeoutiono1•s puppetr of superpowe1•s They al'e not workine t'or hurnan Pi hts If human l'ights 01'canizations were i inoere in ola irnine t o defend hu1 an l'i hts t hen I would expect them to 01•1 t ioizo us fo1• having held the oxecu t i ono1•s in prison and for not having killed t hem t he very first day they rnro nl'rost od for hnv i nr held t hom in pl'ison--not the sort of prison that existed in the pnct but a pl'il on in which the inmates are not even insultocl They should have protested to us for havine put t he oxecutionors on trial i 11 a mnttcr of fact there i n no 1•eason why a Ol iminal should be tried in the first plncc Trying a criminal is somethine contrary to huma n rights Human rights dic t ate that we should havo killed the executloners 1•ight from the first day because t hey were orirninals and ii was c l eat' t hey were cri minal s It is the accused whose case should bo hcmrci whose clnirn should be inves t teated not t he criminal i s ' he executio ers or the previous regime are crir-J nals not accused They are aMng those who killed the people in the streets and destroyed our treasury by their treacher l ere those killed in the streets of our various c i ties r ot humans Did the not have rights 1 h did the advocates of hurian rights iail to support those killed l n the itreeh Why ie 1t tha1- hur ian r•igt ts supporters complain to us 'or killing the criminals All one need do with crir iinals is to establish their identity and once this has been established they should be killed straight way Once l asiri 1 s identit had been established he should have been killed right away levertheless he Has detaiMr foI' number of days and tried his confessions were recorded and onl then tas he killed Doesn 1t the bur tan rir hts organization believe that a CI'ininal should be killed in t e interest of hur ian riehts 1everthelcss te have put these people in trial and we are tr ing them But we believe that there is no need to try a crir linal and that he should be kill d I am scddened to see that we still have remnants of Westernization ar ong us and we are afraid lest something should be said in the Western press about us or some criticism 6hould be voiced egUnst us The Westerners are against Justice and fairness the are not in favor of hunan riehts They are defending the interests of the super powers in the nat 1e or hur 1an rights At al1y rate we won in the referendum pI'aise be to God and proved th t all the things published in the foreign press are wrong ' 'ho Iranian nation voted 100 percent in favor of an Isler lie republic prebe be to God l·'rorn now on 1 t is the duty o 1' the nation to ir iplerient the con tent o 1' thlB Isl a1 1ic republic In the Is lomic 1•cpu Jl1c everything tllat exists ir Iran tocloy must be cllatiged In the Isla nic z epublic universities must be changed the dependent universities must be converted into indcpendcrnt tniversities our education must be changed our colonialist culture 1 1' lst be converted into an independent culture 0 1r Judicia -y must be cha ncc d our i·fes torn Judie ia 'y r iust be chrnged into an Islamic Jud icia -y our economy 1 mst be changed our dependent econor i · must be cc nve1•tcd into an independent ecllnomy All the things that existed under the satanic r8gime and we1•e carried out n this weak and dependent counh•y at the behest of foreigners must be overt u•11ed w th the establishment or the Islamic republic The people must reform themselves Those who oppressed people weaker than themselves must cease subjecting their underlings to opp1•ession Uppet• classes sho ld not op'l ress the lower classes 'rlle poor and tlic need ' sho lld be given their due All this must be implemented in U1e I ih1r1l1 1·epul lk and t he 11ution is duty•bound 1n tile Islamic republic to support eovernr ients Yhich serv1 1 the nation Should there be e gove1•nr ent doing something w1•ong the nation should punch 1 t in the r o 1th If the nation feels there is a government organization trying to subject it to opp1•csston the nation should complain and the co 1rts should adjudicate It' the courts fail to do Justice the nation itself should do the Job 'l11ere is no inJustice in an Islamic republic Bullying does not exist in the Islamic republic The mighty cannot oppress the l eak 01• exploit the weak and the poot• Islamic principles must be ir iplemcnted in the cou11try 'l 'he weak should be protected The arrogant should be reduced to weakness and the weak should 1•epent I don't r ean this in this sense as heaI d but all should be brothers in this country in this world I tell ell the sections of society that in Islam there are no privileges recognized for one group as distinct r - r i another Sunni ot• Sl 1' a Arabs or Pet•sians tl'ks or non-'I'l lrks slar 1 recognizes social distinction only for the just for oiety nly thoce with piety enjoy socfal disti nct1on Those with the spirit of humanity enjoy s -J cial distincti on Soc i al distinction is not g ve -ned by wealth and material possessions All such privileges must be eliminated and everybody made equal Every f r 1 1r 1 s rii hts will be granted to then All ethnic groups are equal Reli gious r iii1oritics 1 rights will be observed and respected All other groups with differ·ent ideologies are all pa rt of the sarre nation adherents of the same religion I hope that the sedit i onists who go to various parts of the conntry and i ncite the peopl e to enea ge in fratricide will themsel ves come to their senses We are a ll brothers they shoul d not d such thi ngs in these r egions We are all brothers The Sunnis are our brother·s We should mt act as superior to others We all h ave equal rights And the l aw th t ls goinr to be apJJroved by the nation protects the rights of all strata words indistinct I congl'atul ate the n t i on on thi s Isl amic festival on the i r I s l amic republic J3ut we 1 1ust all observe the I l amic commands our bazaar· must be in Isl mic bazaar ·lords indistinct our govcnuncnl- ind al l future governments must be eove rned by Isl ami c principl es r ur minis trie s must be governe d by Isl amic principles Government offices must b run on the bas i s of Islamic principl e Words i ndistinct a satanic state should be conver t e d into a state believing in Go 11 s commands -le are not afraid of wh 'l t r 1ight be s a id about us in the West Words indistinct we should act on the basi o f Justice We shall in time make thc rn understand what democracy means The Wes tern style of democracy is cor1•upt and the Eastern styl e of democracy is equally corrupt 0nl y Isl 1mic democracy is correct Given the opportu nity we sh all prove to both East and -lest that what we have is not the democracy they have-- neithcr that i n wh i ch bi g capitalis ts re favo1•ed no1• that which supports supe rpowe1•s and in whi ch all the people nr•c subJcctcd to a monumental 1•epression Thc1•e is no rcp1•ession in Isl am there is fl'ccdom in rslam fo l all soctions fQ r mon m l women f ov bl ack and white '0 1· cvc1•ybody The peopl e should fear themse lves no c the gove l'nrnent They should fe u• themsel ves doing anythine w1·011l The rule of Justice JH'events wrongdoing punishes Wl'Ongdoing We sh ould fe ar ourse l ves so that we do n t do what is w1•ong An Islamic gove1•nment does not do Wl'ong The1•c is nv l onr ol' any SAVA or my of i ts tortm•es Nobody cnn bully om• police bully C1ur nativn No gove1•nment can bully the nat i on In an Islamic state the gove 1•runent ls iu t he servi ce of the n3tion I t should be the nation's servant even if the pl'ime mini ster acts unJustly he should be b1•outJ1t to task An d if his c1·1lne is proved in conrt he should be puni shed 'l11erc is no such thing i n Is l am as one l aw fo1• the p1•ime minister and nnothcl' for someone else Wo1•ds indistinct Islam honol's the ln unanity of a man words indis inct At any rate I call lpon the whole na ion to transfot'tn itself transform the atti tudes they hnvc under the satani c 1•cgimc into Islamic attitudes In I ran today we h ave many needy people many injured J e0ple many people who hav e l ost all their possessions in the course of recent events The wealthy should hel p them The government should bea1• in mind their plieht It should bt1ild homes fol' them it should p1•ovide them wi th a proper l ivinc it shoul d p1•ovide gove1•nment empl oyees with a prope1• living I told a ei•oup of i ndus trio lists who had come to see me a f ew dnys ago to go and try to put thines rieht yonr5elves to get toccthcr and invest capital jointly to buil d houses 1'01· the workers and to prov i de them with welfare I told them I f you don• t do that they mif'j1 t God f orbid rebel one day and if they do we will no longer be able to top them Uod Willing I pl'omisc the workers and othe1' employees and the weak c l asses that Iran will provide you with j obs Islam will provide you with prosper ty Islam will build youl' homes Islam is more cvncerned about the needy than - thers I wish success f c r all Musll ims on t his festiv e day the day of victory for our nation I hope Islamic nations -1111 unite anct cut vff the hands or satans from their c0untries