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(These speeches
are extracts from The Story of the Revolution produced by the BBC Persian
Service.)
Chapter One: 1st
speech.
"I must tell you that Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,
that evil traitor, has gone. He fled and plundered everything. He destroyed
our country and filled our cemeteries. He ruined our country's economy.
Even the projects he carried out in the name of progress, pushed the country
towards decadence. He suppressed our culture, annihilated people and destroyed
all our manpower resources. We are saying this man, his government, his
Majlis are all illegal. If they were to continue to stay in power, we
would treat them as criminals and would try them as criminals. I shall
appoint my own government. I shall slap this government in the mouth.
I shall determine the government with the backing of this nation, because
this nation accepts me."
Chapter Two: 1st
speech.
"This government represents a regime, whose
leader and his father were illegally in power. This government is therefore
illegal. The deputies appointed to work in the Majlis are there illegally.
The Majlis itself and the Senate are illegal. How can anyone appointed
by the Shah be legal? We are telling all of them that they are illegal
and they should go. We hereby announce that this government, which has
presented itself as a legal government is in fact illegal. Even the members
of this government before accepting to be ministers, were considering
the whole establishment to be illegal. What has happened now, that they
are claiming to be legitimate? This gentleman, Dr Bakhtiar, does not accept
himself, and his friends do not accept him either. The nation does not
accept him and the army does not accept him. Only America is backing him
and has ordered the army to support him. Britain has backed him too and
had said that he must be supported. If one were to search among the nation,
one would not find a single person among all strata of the nation, who
accepts this man, but he is saying that one country cannot have two governments.
Well of course, it is clear that this country does not have two governments
and in any case, the illegal government should go. You are illegal. The
government of our choice relies on the nation's backing and enjoys the
backing of God. If you claim that your government is legal, you must necessarily
be denying God and the will of the nation. Someone must put this man in
his place."
Chapter Three:
1st speech.
"We want our army to be independent. You army
commanders, you generals and major generals, do you not wish to be independent?
What is our reward for saying that we would like our army to be independent?
Is it right to punish us by killing our young men in the street just because
we wish you to be your own master rather than taking orders from foreign
powers? At this point I would like to thank those units of the army, which
have joined the ranks of the nation. We praise the NCOs, the air force,
and officers of the air force, who are already with us and call upon the
rest of you to join. Abandon your foreign masters and do not fear that
if you abandon them , we will come and hang you. Such rumours are spread
by your enemies. Can you not see your other comrades, the officers, the
NCOs and the pilots, who have joined us? We love them, we respect them
and we want to keep our strong army intact. We want to have a powerful
country. We want to preserve the structure of the army, but for the service
of the nation."
Chapter Four:
1st speech.
(Read by Ayatollah Moussavi Ardabili.)
"Now that the armed forces have stepped back,
have declared their neutrality in the face of political affairs and have
expressed support for the nation, the dear and courageous nation is expected
to maintain law and order when the troops return to barracks. You should
stop saboteurs, who may try to create catastrophe and instruct them of
their religious and humanitarian obligations. Do not allow anyone to attack
foreign embassies. If, God forbid, the army were to enter the arena again,
you must defend yourselves with all your might. I hereby inform senior
army officers that if they were to stop the army's aggression, and instruct
them to join the nation and its legal Islamic government, we would regard
the army as part of the nation and vice versa. [Signed Ruhollah al-Mousavi
al-Khomeini]."
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