My dear sisters and brothers,
The impressive demonstrations of 18th of Tir 1379 (July 8th, 2000) was a historical event and a turning point in the valiant struggles of the Iranian people. As the forbearers of this quest for freedom, our students have achieved, once again, a momentous victory in the process of commemorating last year’s uprising.
Although the coercive elements of the clerical regime viciously attacked the peaceful demonstrators, wounding and arresting an undisclosed number of them, the people decisively backed the students and participated in great numbers, thus shaking the foundations of this despotic theocracy.
This savage crack down on the people and the students does not by any account diminish the historical importance of these demonstrations. It has indeed given an irreversible momentum to our national struggle, growing in strength everyday.
Shouting in unison, the people have warned their antagonists in various segments of the regime, that their tolerance has reached its limits, and that they can no longer be deceived by the empty promises of reform and the half-baked attempts of the ruling demagogues.
Even though the demonstrators courageously displayed a tremendous amount of self-restraint in the face of the malicious provocations and the brutal engagement tactics of plain-clothed thugs and hirelings of the regime, one ought not conclude that inevitable future confrontations will have the same one-sided outcome.
The rising levels of discontent and detestation brought forth by this un-Iranian regime have culminated to such magnitudes that the walls of its existence are destined to collapse, and will be washed away by a deluge of nationalistic fervor.
Those within the ruling clique of this clerical regime who are concerned about their personal fate, and that of the country, should wake up and realize that the era of carelessness and demagoguery is reaching its end. As usual, they will attempt to trivialize our people’s struggles for freedom by attributing them to the machination of various foreign powers as part of an international conspiracy; but pity on them should they perceive their own petty lies as reality, and turn a blind eye to this volcanic eruption.
The fists raised up in the air, this July 8th, were none other than that of the oppressed and deprived people of Iran; and if on that day there were thousands, tomorrow, there will be millions!
The freedom-loving people of Iran have actively joined the national crusade, and the decisive phase of this struggle has undoubtedly begun.
May God protect Iran
Reza Pahlavi
