The second speech to be delivered by Imam Khomeini (pbuh) on Monday, October 16, 1978 (Mehr 24, 1357 AHS), was given at a time when the French newspaper Liberation had published a report, which told of “Strict security measures around Imam’s home.” Envoys had already been sent on a previous occasion from the Elysee Palace to formally inform Imam of the French government’s reluctance to allow him to stay in Paris. On this second occasion however, having been informed by other envoys from the French Presidential Palace that he was not to become involved in any political activities, Imam replied that he could not remain silent and that if necessary he would travel from airport to airport in order to convey the rightfulness of the Iranian nation’s uprising to the world.^{( 74)} Imam’s devoted followers came from all over Iran as well as from other countries to see their leader in France. The French government, which, like other governments in the West, was seen as being a staunch ally and supporter of the Shah’s regime, was now in a quandary. On October 6, 1978 (Mehr 16, 1357 AHS), a telegram sent by almost a hundred religious leaders in Iran, requested Valery Giscard d’Estaing, the French President, not to stand in the way of Imam’s activities; and on the whole world opinion wanted Imam to be free to continue with his campaign.

Despite these requests, the French government forbade Imam to give interviews, to publish statements, to hold congregational prayer meetings in the mosques in Paris and to participate in social gatherings. On one occasion, Imam was prevented by the French government from participating in a special ceremony in Central Paris to which he had been invited by the Confederation of Iranian Students’ Islamic Associations in Europe^{( 75)} But nevertheless he relentlessly continued to fulfill his obligation to God and the Iranian nation, and succeeded in getting his message concerning issues relating to the movement across to the people In Iran and to the world as a whole via the speeches and statements he made daily to his close associates.

In Iran, nationwide strikes were being held and many government offices and organisations had either fully or partially closed down. In effect, the Iranian government did not have a leg to stand on, differences and discord now even having arisen between Cabinet members. General Qarabaghi, the Minister of Interior in Sharif Imami’s Cabinet, avowedly writes in his book Confessions of a General: “Even though martial law had been declared in the country, demonstrations grew daily. According to incoming reports, now that demonstrations in the provinces had become more broad-based, certain government appointees and even some governors-general had also begun to join in with the demonstrators . . . Meanwhile, further reports explained how due to the non-implementation of the law and of martial law regulations in Tehran, the majority of government employees in the capital were also participating in demonstrations and one by one even top ministerial figures were joining in with them!” Ardeshir Zahedi, the son of Fazlullah Zahedi (a person who played a crucial role in the coup d’etat of August 19, 1953 (Murdad 28, 1332 AHS) and Iran’s ambassador to the US, came to Iran at this point, and reports suggest that having held official talks with the Shah he then in fact paid a visit to Mr. Sayyid Kazim Shari’ atmadari. On October 1 5, 1978 (Mehr 23, I 357 AHS), Kayhan international (the English publication) carried the news of Zahedi’s visit to Iran and of his fourteen-hour-long negotiations with the Shah. In addition, the paper also printed pictures of Dr. Amini, General Zahedi and General Jam - three people whose names were being circulated as prospective candidates for the premiership. The caption which appeared beneath Dr. Amini’s picture read:

“The Morning Candidate;” that which appeared beneath General Zahedi’s picture read: “The Afternoon Candidate;” and that beneath General Jam’s picture read: “The Evening Candidate”! This report therefore spoke for itself in that it indicated the utter state of confusion into which the White House and the Shah’s regime had fallen.

It is important to note that Imam Khomeini had left no doors open for the monarchical system in Iran to be rescued, although this was in fact something which America and the West in general would have dearly wished for; and on this count it is clear that the circumstances which prevailed at this time were incomparable to those which had prevailed on August 19, 1953 (Murdad 28, 1332 AHS).

The present speech, which was the second to be delivered to the public by Imam on October 16, 1978 (Mehr 24, 1 357 AHS), marks the fortieth day following the death of those martyred on September 8, 1978 (Shahrivar 17, 1 357 AHS: Black Friday). In this speech, Imam examines fifty years of repressive rule by the Pahlavis. He clearly expresses his opposition to the basic principle of monarchical rule by saying: “Monarchy is synonymous with oppression, brutality and dictatorship,” and he discards those policies, which had been forwarded by the nationalists and by those who were prepared to compromise their position.

In pointing to the American sanctioning of crimes committed by the Shah’s regime, Imam argues that the call for human rights by the American President and Western governments is but a trick to deceive the nations.

Elsewhere in his address, Imam discusses the conditions prevalent in Iran, the Plundering of oil throughout the Shah’s reign, and the nation’s mass uprising. He then talks of America’s plans having been foiled - plans such as government reshuffles - and he confirms the people’s imminent victory. The speech Concludes with Imam reminding those Iranians resident abroad of their duty to propagate both the rightfulness of the nation’s uprising and the alms of the Islamic Revolution⁽⁷⁶⁾

However, I am living somewhere that my visitors have to remain standing; they are standing^{( 77)} . . . and there is not sufficient space for them to be received hospitably. I apologise for this. My visitors must feel at home here. May you all prove to be assets to your community wherever you may be? Indeed, our society will need certain people to help run the country, it will need them to fill positions in government and administration and in areas of even more importance.

Iran is still in a state of turmoil. America does not have what it takes to keep the country under control; and as for the Shah, he also is unable to bring calm to the country. None of these powers or forces can calm the

People down Even if they decided to allow a military figure to rule the fi country or agreed to a coup d‘etat whereby some ruthless military officer Came to power, they still would not be able to calm the situation in Iran. A nation cannot be silenced at bayonet-point and told that it must remain repressed for evermore. Such a situation can only last for so long; it cannot continue indefinitely. And now it looks as though this state of repression, which has reigned, in Iran for the past fifty years has now reached the end of its term, because the Iranian nation of today is no longer the nation it was twenty years ago. Now, the nation of Iran is one which is awake and one in which all social classes have risen up in opposition both to this dynasty’s sovereign rule and to the idea of monarchism.

The basic principles of monarchy are something, which made no sense from the very start. They have never made sense, since monarchy is synonymous with oppression, brutality and dictatorship; and that goes for all countries both large and small. No matter which past monarchy one may consider . . . one sees that it has mainly entailed these elements of tyranny and dictatorship. This is not something, which is exclusive to Iran and to Iranian kings, for others, such as the emperors, and tsars of Russia have in fact been worse than the kings of Iran. Even though many foreign countries have now become republican states, these factors still prevail but they appear in another guise.

Do not be mistaken in thinking that some country or other is now governed on the basis of justice, for this is not the case. Take America for example, this is one of those large countries, which is now governed as a republic. It is a country which has signed the Declaration of Human Rights and which loudly advocates these rights, speaking up for people’s freedom and so on; and yet it is a country where true freedom and justice do not prevail. The situation is one whereby the President there does not in fact exert a great deal of force within his own country, but instead he governs as a dictator in other countries such as ours. America and the like have installed their agents in countries like our own - countries which are under their domination - and they continue to offer these agents their support, endorsing their acts of murder and condoning those criminal and treacherous acts which these agents have committed for the sake of their masters.

Not one of these existing forms of government, he it republican, monarchical, constitutional or dictatorial, can be said to he a form of government which is just, a government which really improves people’s lives, which truly governs for the sake of the people and not for the superpowers or for themselves. No indeed, no such government presently exists. But the government sought by us has these characteristic features -that is, the government sought by us is an Islamic government. If one day, God willing, we are able to administer an Islamic government in these countries or in our own country of Iran, then everyone would see just what form a government should in fact take. They would see what the essential qualifications are for someone to become a ruler - qualifications which have carefully been specified in Islam. Should a ruler not fulfill these requirements then he will inevitably fall from power. There is no need for him to relinquish power or for him to be ousted from his position, for he will automatically fall from power eventually anyway. Nevertheless, the nation still has a duty to try its best to get rid of him. So much for the prerequisite qualities of a ruler; but when one considers a nation, there are other issues involved . . . issues, which concern human rights for example.

These countries, which boast about things such as human rights, are in fact guilty of violating the rights of mankind more than anything else. All of these deadly weapons, which have been the cause of warfare world­wide, have in fact been made by these very countries - countries which have signed the Declaration of Human Rights - countries such as France for example. Yes, the latter indeed signed this Declaration, hut just look at what it did in Algeria;^{( 78)} and even now, given the chance, it continues to engage in such acts. The same goes for America and the Soviet Union too. They are all busy plundering the people; devouring that which belongs to the people. They do so under different rubrics however, rubrics which serve to deceive the people. Hence, people are convinced, for example, that the government of the Soviet Union is now one which truly serves the people; that it is “communist” in the true sense of the word; and that it serves the popular masses. On closer inspection however, one sees that this is not in fact the case, and that this “communist” state is even more brutal and oppressive than other countries; that people are treated with more contempt there than they are elsewhere.^{( 79)} One of its leaders^{( 80)} once said that the amount of work done by the people in his country ought to be measured against the amount of food they consumed, and that should someone’s output be found to be less than their consumption, then that person ought to be thrown into the sea! Yes, this is the kind of conviction held by these so-called “lovers of mankind.

All this talk of human rights etc. is nothing other than, their use of different rubrics to deceive us. It is nothing but a game. They want to fool the people in the East with these different ideologies of theirs. And indeed, we in turn have been taken in by this trick. Similarly, we have become so infatuated with the West, so “xenomanic”^{( 81)} as someone once put it, that we Do not even bother to ask ourselves exactly what is so special about this “West” that everyone raves about; they have even robbed us of the ability to give this matter thought. They do not even allow us to consider what those in the West are actually doing to mankind, or what they have already done to it. Yes, they have achieved progress, but this has been a deadly progress, a progress which is leading to man’s annihilation Therefore, that which we seek is a just system of rule, a just regime and a just ruling body; one which can be trusted by the people and which will serve the society; one which will not embezzle public funds and which will not swindle the State treasury. And indeed, should such a government be established in Iran for example - a country possessing massive reserves, only one of which is oil - and should the present thieving be stopped, and an end be put to the present squandering and treachery, then it may be possible for our country to be run on its oil alone. Furthermore, there would be no need to extract oil on the same present-day scale; a reasonable amount could be extracted, a reasonable amount could be sold, and a reasonable amount could be consumed. Yes, Iran possesses various reserves, but they are devouring them, they are plundering them. And eventually revenues will dwindle away for they are using whatever there is now for themselves.

However, be that as it may, the fact remains that Iran is now a country that is up in arms. I am concerned about what might happen, and 1 only hope that today, which is the fortieth day following the events of Black Friday, does not witness further killings thereby necessitating the holding of another fortieth-day memorial ceremony. God willing this will ~lot he the case.^{( 82)} Now in Iran they are . . . ruling by the bayonet. The country is being governed at the point of a bayonet, but the people are not ‘yielding to this iron-fisted rule. That is, they have risen up in revolt out of utter despair at these injustices that have been committed against them. ‘They have now decided to risk their lives and have entered the battlefield, small children and old men alike. Now they are all crying out: “Death to this Shah,” and “Death to this monarchy!”

This uprising, ‘which is a popular, mass uprising, and which constitutes a referendum on the illegitimacy of monarchical rule, is something which cannot be silenced by use of the bayonet. It is a matter, which requires a remedy. These different regimes, these various Prime Ministers who come and go one after another, cannot provide this remedy; and nor can any military figure. It is the Shah alone who can provide the remedy - that being for him to get up and leave. If he leaves Iran, the country will rest content; it will be governed in a better way. However, the Americans believe their interests to lie in his hands, and since he is the best servant they have, they give him their backing. The fact that America has so far not been able to . . . if it were not to support him (the Shah) the nation would get rid of him much sooner.

In any event, those of us who are here have a duty to fulfill and that includes all of you gentlemen, regardless of where you reside. Our consciences, our religious law and reason all dictate that we help those Iranians whose blood is being spilled; those who are sacrificing the lives of their children. We are to help by disseminating information. Wherever you may be, each one of you can communicate with a certain number of people there and can explain to them about what has happened in Iran. Make it clear just what the people of Iran actually want. The Iranian people do not want their country to be in a state of unrest and turmoil; they want peace and tranquility. But there is no chance of this whilst this dynasty remains. Therefore, the people want this dynasty, which has betrayed them to exist no more. This is what you must explain in order to enlighten the people. If possible, you can then get what you have to say printed in these magazines and newspapers that are published here (abroad). This is the sort of assistance you can give over here.

As for the helpless people in Iran, they are under extreme pressure. Every day conflict arises somewhere or other; killings take place; an explosive situation breaks out; and it is they who are on the receiving end. You are not on the receiving end in that sense, but nevertheless you are still to bear their suffering firmly in mind so that you may do your utmost for the people of your nation. The latter have risen up for your sakes and you in return must do your part by propagating the Iranian nation’s cause for their sakes. Do whatever is in your power to help. May God preserve you and may you be successful.