In a meeting with thousands of high school and university students on the morning of 1 November 2023, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution spoke about the roots of America's longstanding hostility to the Iranian nation. He said the disaster created by the Zionists and Americans in Gaza has been unprecedented in history.
Citing the humiliating blows that the patience and resolution of the people of Gaza have inflicted on the reputation of the artificial usurper regime and its arrogant supporters, he said, “If there was no comprehensive U.S. aid, the Zionist regime would have been crippled in a matter of days. The world of Islam should also mobilise against this regime by cutting off economic cooperation with it and with a loud voice call for an immediate end to the bombing and atrocities in Gaza; these are the most important responsibilities in this confrontation between the war-front of truth and that of falsehood.”
Referring to the Zionists' reliance on American aid, His Excellency Ayatollah Khamenei added, "If it wasn't for American support and backing it with arms, the corrupt, artificial and mendacious Zionist regime would have been finished in the first week, so the calamity imposed today by the Zionists on Gaza has been aided and indeed caused by the Americans."
The Leader of the Revolution said that the killing of 4,000 children in three weeks was a crime that was unprecedented in history and called for the Islamic Ummah to be vigilant about the events in Gaza, which is the confrontation between "truth and falsehood" and between "faith and arrogance." He said, "The power of arrogance comes with bombs, military force, catastrophes and atrocities, but the power of faith will overcome all of these with God's permission."
In explaining the achievements of the steadfastness and resilience of the people of Gaza, he said: "Our hearts are broken because of the sufferings of the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza, but when we take a deeper look at what is happening, it becomes clear that the victors on this battlefield are the people of Gaza and Palestine who have been able to do great things."
Ayatollah Khamenei indicated that the deceptive veil of human rights has been uncovered from the face of the West, and their resulting disgrace is because of the forbearance, resistance and steadfastness of the people of Gaza. He added that the people of Gaza moved human conscience with their forbearance. One can see that today, even in the streets of the United States and Western countries, there are masses of people chanting slogans against Israel and, in many instances, against the United States.
The Leader of the Revolution pointed out that when some Western sources say that Iran is the one behind organising support for Palestine in Britain, such ridiculous statements show how hopelessly shameless they are, and sarcastically remarked that, of course, these gatherings must be the work of the Mobilised Forces of London and the Mobilised Forces of Paris!
The Leader pointed out that the slander that the liars of the world committed by calling Palestinian fighters terrorists is a sign of the real shamelessness of Western politicians and their media. He asked, “Is a person a terrorist if he defends his home and country? Were the French who fought the Germans in World War II in Paris terrorists? How can these fighters be the pride of France, but the youths of Islamic Jihad and Hamas be labelled as terrorists?”
Ayatollah Khamenei characterised the great lesson of the Al-Aqsa Storm as the victory of a small group who, with little equipment and resources, overcame an enemy with only faith and determination. He said, " Within a few hours, this group, armed with faith, was able to vaporise and send to the air the product of the enemy's criminal efforts."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution added that with their actions and courage, and today with patience, Palestinians have also humiliated the usurping regime and arrogant governments supporting it.
Referring to the increased expectations from the Islamic world to stand up against the atrocities of the occupying regime, he said, "If Islamic governments do not help Palestine today, they will strengthen the enemy of Palestine, which is, in fact, the enemy of Islam and humanity, and tomorrow this very danger will end up threatening them."
Focusing on the mobilisation of the Islamic world as a necessity, Ayatollah Khamenei saw it as essential that Islamic governments insist upon an immediate end to the atrocities and bombings in Gaza. He urged those governments to block oil exports and earnings from the Zionist regime, that they should economically boycott it, and that they should, without hesitation, equivocation or ambiguity, loudly condemn the atrocities and suffering inflicted by the usurping regime at all international gatherings.
The Leader of the Revolution reiterated that a decisive blow had been inflicted upon the Zionist regime, which is acknowledged by the agents of the regime itself. He remarked, “The occupying regime has ended up being so helpless, confused and disorganised that it resorts to lying to its people. For example, they express concern about Israeli prisoners, which is a lie because these very prisoners could be killed by their bombing.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said that the Islamic world should be aware of the fact that what stands against Islam and the oppressed nation of Palestine is not only the Zionist regime but also the United States, France and Britain and that Muslims should not forget this fact in matters of proportionality, transactions and analysis.
Citing the Qur’anic verse that said, “Be patient. God's promise is true, and do not let those who lack certainty dishearten you (30:60)”, and added, “Victory is not very far away from Palestine and its people.”
In another part of his speech, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out three occasions on November 4 (13th Aban) pivotal to the history of the Revolution, saying: "The Americans assaulted the nation of Iran on two occasions; on November 4, 1964, when after Imam Khomeini’s strong vocal opposition to the disgraceful Resolution 7 of the Capitulation Treaty, namely of "American immunity from prosecution for any crime in Iran", they sent him into exile and on November 4, 1978, when the puppet regime of the United States massacred a number of students in front of the University of Tehran.”
He mentioned that the third occasion was the students' capture of the American embassy. With this action, the nation of Iranian gave a blow to the United States, exposing the hidden secrets and documents from the embassy and embarrassing the United States in front of the world.
The Leader remarked that the young generation should not rely on emotionalism but try to understand and analyse these various issues. He added, "The Sacred Defence, the different issues discussed and presented in the ’60s, the divergences that took place in the ’70s and the various events that took place in the ’80s and ’90s should be correctly analysed and evaluated."
Ayatollah Khamenei also said in this regard that the investigation and analysis of essential documents covering vital issues are what caused America's hatred towards the Iranian people.
He said: "The Americans and those who repeat what they say out of naiveté or for other motives say that the hostility and conspiracies of the United States against Iran began after the capture of its embassy. This claim is completely false because historical facts show that their hostility towards the Iranian people began 26 years before the capture of the embassy. It started from the brutal coup of August 19, 1944, against the national government of Dr. Mossadeq."
Referring to the documents seized from the US Embassy, the Leader of the Revolution said, "These documents show that from the first days of the victory of the Revolution, ten months before its capture, the US embassy had been the centre of conspiracies, espionage, where they planned coups and civil wars and where they managed counterrevolutionary media; therefore, therefore there must be another reason for America's hostility toward the Iranian nation."
In order to find the roots of these hostilities in the documents, he cited the influence of the British during the Qajar period, saying, "The British wanted to apply the same colonising model they used in India; firstly, to dominate the economic centres and resources of Iran and then take over the arenas of politics and sovereignty."
The Leader of the Revolution cited the Tobacco Concession, which gave the British-owned Imperial Tobacco Company a monopoly on the production, sale, and export of tobacco in Iran and other such one-sided concessions secured from the Iranian government (known as Wuthūq al Dawlah)" as two examples of British attempts to dominate Iran's economic resources. He said, “These two attempts were unsuccessful because of the vigilance of the ‘ulama and their support among the people. However, with the seizure of power by a cruel, arrogant, illiterate, uneducated, thuggish and unbelieving Cossack named Reza Khan, the British took political control of Iran. By crushing the ulema and intimidating the nation, Reza Khan realised their goals, and through him, a number of Westernized intellectuals or dependents also shared in his crimes by oiling his evil regime.”
The Leader of the Revolution said that during the Second World War, the British took steps to have Reza Khan's son replace his father. With the decline of British power in the mid-20s, America gradually replaced Britain. He said, "In the beginning, the Americans initially showed a gentle face by avoiding colonial claims, but when they saw the Mossadegh government exerting itself to fight against the dependency of Iran, they removed their mask of kindness, and with the coup of August 19 practically took power over the country and made Iran completely dependent on them.”
Ayatollah Khamenei talked about the ominous results of US dominance in Iran; they included giving the Zionist regime a foothold in the country, the establishment of the dreaded SAVAK, the deployment of tens of thousands of advisers to dominate every aspect of military affairs paid for by the Iranian people, the planned spread of corruption to depoliticise the young generation, the scientific backwardness of Iran and the horrendous class discrimination.
He said, “Even in those days at the height of the Revolution, The Americans even stood up when the revolution was at its height and dispatched "General Heizer" to plan a coup and massacre of the people, but the determination of the imam and the resistance of the nation thwarted this plot, and the American general failed to carry out his massacre and was forced to go back to where he came from. Today, Americans still have the same plan and are still fulfilling the same goals and operations in Gaza.”
In summarising this part of his speech, the Leader clarified that ‘Death to America’ is not a slogan but a policy that has emerged from America's endless conspiracies and enmity with the Iranian people over the past seven decades.
At the beginning of the meeting, three high school and university students, Ms Mobina Shokrlab, representing the National High School Students Assembly; Mr Ebad Ezzat Amin, a Palestinian student in Iran, and Borhan Dalirifar, representing university students’ organisations, spoke about issues facing the country and the events in Gaza.