Acknowledging the unstable and extremely fluid state of affairs in Iran, Khamenei noted that "new conspiracies and mischief are possible at any moment," adding that "if the riots in the streets were not contained, if those who were setting things on fire, robbing stores, looting banks and destroying things were not contained by the powerful claws of the Islamic regime, you can imagine what would have been happening here for the rest of the year."
Khamenei said: "They (the enemies) were waiting for a spark inside the country. They were thinking now that the economic conditions are not good, the people are dissatisfied with the regime, the people have lost hope in the government, they would be able to make a spark and blow up the powder keg in Iran."
The mullahs' leader stressed the fact that all the ruling mullahs acted in complicity with one another to suppress the uprising: "There is no disagreement among the authorities in this country. That Tuesday evening when it was deemed necessary that the country's top officials come to meet with me, the heads of the three branches of power, the head of the Expediency Council, the Ministers of Intelligence and Interior, all were there and I saw that they were all saying one thing, all wanted one thing, all had the same objective."
It was after that meeting that Khatami appeared on the state television and vowed to do whatever it took to suppress the student protests and popular uprising.
The clerical leader referred to repeated pledges of allegiance that Khatami has been making in recent days with regard to Khamenei and said: "Let everyone know that the positions of the top authorities in the country and especially those of the honorable President in the recent events enjoyed my one-hundred-percent backing and endorsement." He added: "When I have a complaint about the actions of a part of the government, I tell the President and I am confident that he follows it up." Khatami emphasized in a speech yesterday that freedom only exists in the context of the regime's constitution and the constitution only has meaning in the context of velayat-e faqih.
Stressing that "the real enemy is outside the borders," Khamenei warned the feuding factions within the regime: "Don't turn rivalry into enmity, hostility and vendetta against each other. Look at the enemy standing there, waiting for an opportunity. Look how the enemy is counting on the factions' infighting."
Khamenei made an implicit acknowledgment of the widespread opposition to the mullahs' rule by university students: "The enemy is counting on the students in its calculations... It wants to play with the students in a practical way."
Khamenei referred to the extensive support offered to the Iranian Resistance and the student protests by members of what he called "different European and non-European parliaments and also some neighboring countries" and described it as the work of "Zionist agents." He paved the way for execution of the huge number of detainees in the wake of the nationwide protests and showed his anger at the international outcry over the bloody suppression of pro-democracy demonstrators in Iran: "Those who are always bragging about human rights are in fact supporting thugs who smash windows, rob banks, set on fire cars belonging to the people or government agencies, and block the roads."
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
July 30, 1999
Back Home