Important statements of Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani regarding recent events in Iran

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad and his pure family

I would like to begin my speech by addressing two issues:

The first issue concerns the recent events that occurred in our country during these days. In this regard, several points are of great importance:

Firstly, there was a clear coordination, unity, and media harmony among the enemies. From the very beginning, everyone following global news and media could see unity in slogans, speech and practice among the enemies. Their aim was clearly fighting Islam, the religion of Allah. Their objective was not merely opposing our Islamic government and their goal was not just a regime change. Burning the Quran has no connection to the death of an individual in this country. They set fire to the Quran, insulted sacred values, and attacked not just hijab but all Islamic rulings. Their ultimate goal is to confront the fundamental principles of the religion.

The enemy, this malicious Jew whose hostility intensifies day by day, seeks to halt, eliminate, or weaken Islam. Whatever name is given to it, it does not matter; the point is that it lacks substance.

Truly, the enemy has come to the conclusion that religion in Iran has been influential in various dimensions over the past forty years. They observe the impact of religion in Iran and beyond. They have realized that they must take this factor away from the people.

Just yesterday, one of the members of the U.S. Congress said that they are pursuing two things in Iran, secularism and preventing Iran from having nuclear energy. The former is more important to them.

If our government were non-religious, they would not oppose it! So, their main problem is governance of religion in this country. In order to weaken religion among women, the first thing they want to do is opposing hijab and promoting corruption. They want to weaken the fundamentals of religion. This is what the enemy is after. We need to stay alert.

You observed that in recent incidents all political officials of European countries supported a particular group. This is while massacres happen worldwide every day, and many lives are lost, but no one pays attention. But as you could see, they all focused on this and united against Iran!

I don't remember such a media alliance since the beginning of the revolution until now; European and American political officials, celebrities, social media influencers and so on. It appears that some of celebrities who have many followers have been made famous to be used on such days. What made these groups show such unanimity? Unfortunately, some individuals in our country also supported them.

We need to see what the enemy aims to achieve. All religious scholars, students, and various segments of the people should pay attention to this. We must know that the enemy seeks to take religion away from the Iranian nation, to divide Iran, and to plunder Iran's resources. This is very clear.

If someone thinks that this is just an illusion and says that the US and its allies do not want to pose any threat to Iran, they should doubt their own intellect! This means to deny what is self-evident. Which religious scholar or Muslim can be indifferent to setting fire to the Quran and to the mosques? If such a thing is done by a Muslim, without any doubt, he would be considered an apostate.

Another point is that one of the goals of our government is to bring freedom for people. Among its important slogans is the right to criticize the government. Both Imam Khomeini (may Allah bless his soul) and the Supreme Leader repeatedly emphasized this. This is a crucial right which exists now, and no one has the authority to say that no one has the right to criticize the government.

People are having numerous problems, especially in economic and livelihood matters. They have the right to voice their concerns. If someone says to them, “You should not protest,” this is neither in accordance with religion, nor with law, nor with reason, and nor with conscience! You saw some figures saying, “Why does not the government listen to what the protestors are saying?” Does protest mean burning the Quran and opposing its rules? Does protest mean setting fire to flags and banners and places of mourning for Imam Hussain (as)? Does protest mean damaging public property? Does it means setting fire to ambulances while they are for rescuing the injured and accident victims? They destroyed more than 60 ambulances! They destroyed fire trucks, banks! Does protest mean causing insecurity and instability in this country?

Certainly, this is not what people want. People are unhappy with the inflation, and they have a right to be so. They have been seriously affected by inflation, and they expect the government to do something, to create some relief in their lives. Officials also acknowledge this and say that they are trying their best, but when an actor says, “Why don't you listen to the people?” we must ask that actor, “Do people want destruction? Do people want disturbance and making the country insecure? If the country becomes insecure, you yourself cannot express your art in this country! Do you think if a change happens, you can better express your art?” The answer is clearly negative.

This is not what people want! People want the embezzlements to be clarified? People want significant steps to be taken? Of course, some foundational actions may have been taken that need to be communicated to the people.

In any case, these two issues, the enemy's goal and what people want, must be distinguished from each other. All people including students, those in business, the clergy, and others, should know that today the enemy is more determined to achieve its goal and is trying to take religion away from all people, Iranians and non-Iranians. But the majority of our people are religious. Have you seen what they did on Arbaeen? Twenty million people walk that long path because of their love for Imam Hussein (peace be upon him). There are not many facilities but they do not complain.

The enemies and their agents set fire to the mourning processions and think they will achieve their goals! They will not! The enemy aims to eradicate these religious manifestations, the symbols of Hussaini rituals. They want the word of God and the Prophet to be overshadowed and replaced by the rhetoric of the United Nations and imperialism. We must not be oblivious to this enemy's objective. We have sacrificed so many martyrs to bring religion to this country and people are standing firm to protect their faith. Have the people taken their religion from this revolution? Religion was the driving force behind the revolution, and that is how this system was established. The revolution did not bring religion to the people.

It is foolish of the enemy not to recognize the Iranian people. They do not understand that religion has deep roots among the Iranian people, predating the revolution by more than a thousand years. Of course, the revolution has expanded and strengthened the influence of religion.

The enemy must know that the people will not give up their religion at any cost! They sacrificed their children for this religion. Those families that offered three or four martyrs, what did they sacrifice their children for? What they did was not for some individuals or for the government. It was for the sake of religion and for the sake of God! That ambition is even stronger today.

Here, I would like to say to our youth, be careful; the enemy wants to take advantage of you. Under the pretext of being the voice of the youth, they want to create schism between you and the government. I should say to our daughters and sisters, it is not a question of compulsion or non-compulsion of the hijab for the enemy; what they want to destroy is your faith, and your belief in God!

We all need to be cautious; officials should pay more attention and try to clarify the facts of events to the people as soon as possible. According to the orders of the Supreme Leader, officials should listen more to the heartfelt words of the people and serve them more.

Some may say that when making a law we should see if people accept it or not. This is correct in secular countries, but in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where laws are based on Sharia and religion, this statement is not correct. Our dear people, as Muslims, are committed to all the rules and laws of Islam. Of course, it is clear that a distinction must be made between God's decree and the implementation of God's law. It is possible that in the methods of execution of some laws, there may be mistakes, and we should not act in a way that alienates people from religion.

I hope that these events make the enmity of our enemies clearer to our people, and make them more steadfast and resilient in confronting their enemies. May this revolution remain safe from all dangers.

The second point is about an incident that happened yesterday in Kabul, Afghanistan. More than 30 Shia Muslims were martyred, and 50 were injured in an educational institution. The question is, why do these suicide attacks target Shia-populated areas in Afghanistan, and why do such incidents occur?

We express solidarity with the families of the martyrs and the wounded. The Taliban can easily prevent these incidents if they are willing to do so. If they want to remain in Afghanistan they should provide security for all. A young university student is a national asset. Why should he lose his life in such attacks?

The whole world must condemn these incidents. Without doubt, the US is behind what is happening if Afghanistan. May God resurrect these martyrs and the martyrs of our Islamic Revolution with Imam Hussain (peace be upon him).

Peace be upon you, and the mercy of God and His blessings.