Mr. Massoud Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said: "The Khamenei's explicit remarks were his most stinging statement against any reformist tendency in the past 18 months. His remarks once again vindicate the Iranian Resistance's position that the mullahs' regime, based on velayat-e faqih (clerical supremacy), lacks any capacity for reform. Once again, all those individuals, groups and governments who had pinned their hopes on the clerical regime's transformation have been left out in the limbo!
Mr. Rajavi said: With the Assembly of Experts elections only a month away, Khamenei has been compelled to abandon efforts to publicize the election as an exercise in democracy through rigging and grossly exaggerated voter turnout figures. Khamenei emphasized that he did not care at about "all the newspapers and organizations in the world." He said that in "running the country" he would continue to take no heed of the laws and resolutions of "international organizations." Clearly, he meant that suppression, stoning to death, massive corruption, executions and absolute dictatorship would continue unabatedly.
The NCR President added: Despite Khamenei's efforts, the Assembly of Experts election, regardless of the results, will further undermine the regime in its entirety. If the rival faction could find its way into the Assembly, Khamenei's position as the vali-e faqih will be further undermined. If he were to succeed in preventing them from being elected, the regime's internal schism would inevitably grow deeper. This is an inevitable result of the fact that the mullahs' terrorist, religious dictatorship is no on its last legs, he said.
Khamenei said in his speech: "Freedom has its limits. It is limited by what Islam has demarcated." He equated freedom with "conspiracy" and said: "This freedom is rejected." Khamenei charged "the Guidance Ministry, the judiciary and the security agencies" to confront "those who insult the revolution" and "those who are undermining people's faith." Khamenei added: "I issue this ultimatum to the authorities... I will wait to see what they will do."
In a warlike atmosphere and amid Guards commanders' chanting of slogans against the Mojahedin and Iraq, the mullahs' supreme leader lambasted those within the regime "who are angered when they are reminded of the war and war zones." Khamenei added: "The brilliant memory of the days of sacred defense [the Iran-Iraq war] must remain stronger than ever... Efforts must be made to keep and highlight these memories in everyone's mind permanently."
In the same meeting, Guards Corps Commandant General Rahim Safavi said: "The Guards' five forces stand ready to safeguard the integrity of the state and the revolution, defend the borders and neutralize the conspiracies of the enemy."
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
September 16, 1998
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