Declaration Number 14 of Mir Hossein Mousavi

The Shah’s regime blamed itself for why they had not thought of such an easy solution to stop the movement sooner. It was one movement with a sole leader; when he was banished there was no sign of the passion for change anymore. Was he really alone at the time? Of course not! It is impossible for a sole individual to make effective change inside a society; however, his followers at the time were not the same as the ones who helped him in the years to come. In the years when he said:” Our true leaders are those 13 year-old students who...”

The second event on 13th Abaan is related to those 13 year-old leaders: students who went to the court yard of the Tehran University to demonstrate their protest to the Shah’s regime. These students were subjected to one of the most brutal slaughters of that time. Shah’s experience from the events of the 60s (banishment of the Imam) led the Shah to believe that those kind of brutal actions would lead the government to its aim. They believed that if they used the same force and violence they would achieve the same incredible success. They were wrong. The time was not the same... people were not the same...their souls had been changed. The government was not faced with Imam Khomeini alone... this time the Imam’s followers were those who might not listen to the Imam’s speeches as much as their parents and who might not know him as much as their parents but who shared the same passion and enthusiasm as the Imam himself. They were not like their fathers...They didn’t need any strong encouragements over and over again.

About the third event on 13th Abaan many things have been said. The fact is that in this event Imam Khomeini followed the lead of the students! The students called themselves “followers of Imam Khomeini” but, in fact, Imam himself followed them. No doubt that none of the leaders of the revolution have initiated that event. Even the students themselves thought that this incident would finish within days but Imam insisted to continue and called it “a revolution even bigger than the Islamic revolution!” Only a leader who had tasted the bitterness of 13 years silence would know that a society full of moving passionless bodies would end in darkness. Only such a leader would understand that people are the true leaders. He knew that passing through one turn of history would not be a guarantee for the success of a nation. People should find such wisdom that they can lead themselves at any time and under any circumstances.  Our people, today, are leaders. This was the dream of the Imam: the dream which has come true. He beckoned us towards something which keeps our souls alive. Now it comes another 13th of Abaan: the greenest day of the year! Can one imagine that just because one of the companions of the people has been stopped (by the government) the great movement of the people will be stopped? If such happens then we will be infected by the very same thing that the enemies of the people wish for us. If such a thing won’t happen it indicates that we have not been distanced from our roots. That is why we should use our wisdom and would approach any unreasonable action with great hesitation.

We should not leave Islam in the hands of superstitious believers and we should not leave the revolution in the hands of those who do not deserve to control it. We should not forget the fruit of over one hundred years struggle of the Iranian people for freedom. We should not replace this great outcome with vague ideas. Being strangers with these historical achievements would not benefit us. If some foreign governments are encouraging such actions, perhaps they will have some interest in this. These governments are ready to negotiate over our green movement and would bargain it for their own interest without any hesitation. They may rule that the same level of freedom of the many Middle Eastern countries would be sufficient for Iranians. If this happens, they cannot be blamed for such. We should be blamed for a failure to understand our own interest.

These days, people ask each other about what we must do to reach to the victory. All of our minds are full of questions and prayers. God has promised us that whatever we ask, he will give us some of it (Quran says: God gives you whatever you asked for.) As soon as some demands have been born in a society, no one can stop it. Governments can only affect the duration of this process they cannot affect the process itself. Can we affect it as well? Of course! People can achieve to success to the extent of their wisdom. In the past months we have benefitted more from our wisdom rather than our passion and our sweat.

Our green path is the path of wisdom. That is a fortune since it indicates that we are standing for our purpose till the very end. If we were infected with unreasonable actions and causes there is no doubt that we would achieve nothing and would be defeated half way to our goal. If you need an example to believe this, just look at the foreign policy of the current administration. As soon as they started to deviate our international relationships with their propagandistic purposes one could anticipate that they would soon bargain the long term interests of Iran for nothing. 16 years ago, providing nuclear fuel for our research reactor in Tehran was not important at all. Now they declare that they are ready to give up the fruits of years efforts of Iranian scientists in this sector to foreigners in order to receive nuclear fuel for the Tehran reactor, of course if foreigners be kind enough to give us some in the future. Is it really a victory?! It is an obvious fraud to call such a thing as “the glorious victory”!

The current administration has not solved the problems of the current world; nor has it stood for Iranian rights as promised. They gave up all of those rights so easily that they showed that they are not only exaggerating in their words but also when it comes to submission! Even if with the efforts of wise politicians we save ourselves from the surrendering our national achievements in the nuclear program, we will not have been saved from the consequences of the unreasonable actions of this administration since their deeds have created the need for a unanimous international sanction against our nation.

We can learn from this situation that we, ourselves should not be unreasonable. Sooner or later, and with the help of God even very soon, those who oppose the nation will have to leave office. will we have to take receipt of a ruined country on that day? We have to be concerned for our country’s interests since this country has no one but its true owners: the people of Iran. We should build our tomorrow from today. We should be well prepared for tomorrow. Each of our people should believe in their own leadership not only in their roles as leaders but also their responsibility as leaders.

Our emphasis on the Constitution is for building such tomorrow. This is the heritage of generations and we should value that. If any of our goals remain unachieved we will reach them through our lives because the facade is not what it matters in the society. The empty shell of the system can apprehend our child and treat them like criminals while, in the people’s eyes, they can be regarded as heroes. The facade of a government can convict them in the showing trials while in the people’s eyes they can be freed from any sentences. Which of these two are more powerful? The empty shell of government can treat the families of those who objected to it with humiliation, while in the people’s eyes, although they deserve sympathy for this injustice, they can be regarded as glorious victorious families. Which of these two are more important for these families? Since up to now I have only talked about the people’s opinions I have not talked about other abilities of the Iranian people! The government can deprive many students from their dorms because they were brave enough to object to injustice and at the same time our social networks can provide shelter for these students and help them to live. Which of these two is more effective? There is, in fact, no competition here! One of these two “exists” while the other is just superficial! It is our lives which give meaning to any order in the society. In the past few months we did not break any order, we just changed the meaning of our lives and that’s why the society has changed itself along with its own order. We do not need to break any order because we are the ones who give meaning to any order or law or provision. We will continue like this. Today, while many provisions of the constitution are disregarded without any hesitation by the system, there is no difference between a good or bad law! What is the use of the best possible political order in the country when our way of lives won’t approve it and won’t stand for its implication?! On the other hand, if a given political order is wrong or out of date, we should first amend its real meaning through our lives and correct it with the way that we live. Of course there are many nations who find this task too difficult to do and prefer to leave the power in the hands of those who have the power. Those people are not the leaders of their own society but our people are the true leaders of their society. That’s why our nation is ready to do this.

13th Abaan is another appointment for us. It is here to remind us, once again, that the people are the leaders. I congratulate this great day to the people of Iran and I wish God give freedom and patience to those heroes of 13th Abaan who are now in prison and I also wish the same for the rest of the members of the Green movement who have been imprisoned.

Mir Hossein Mousavi