"As an Organization, the Dissidents were Able to Strike [the Revolution] a Severe Blow": Ayatollah Khomeini Blasts Organized Dissent
ABC Note: On June 28th, a terrorist bombing at the Islamic Republic Party’s headquarter decimated at least 73 members of the IRI leadership who were holding a meeting to discuss the next presidential election. This bombing happened a week after the first president of the IRI, Abolhassan Banisadr was dismissed by Ayatollah Khomeini and impeached by the Islamic Assembly (June 21st, 1981). The bombing was attributed by the government to MKO, though MKO never claimed responsibility for it. Some members of the right wing of the ruling elite however claimed that the bombing was the conspiracy of the pro-soviet leftist wing of the ruling elite, namely the Students of the Line of Imam. It is worth noting that the influential son of Ayatollah Khomeini, Ahamad, did not attend the meeting and that Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani left the meeting just before the explosion. Equally note worthy is the fact that immediately after the bombing, without delay, and as if it was already planned, the government launched an unprecedented campaign of terror, starting mass arrest and the execution of thousands of political prisoners. The bombing and the ensuing terror policy is not dissimilar to the Kirov assassination during the rule of Stalin in the Soviet Union. It is also worth noting that Ayatollah Beheshti one of the main victims of the bombing, the head of the Islamic Republic Party and the Speaker of the Islamic Assembly (Parliament), was a determined anti-soviet figure. As the investigation was focusing on high ranking members of the ruling elite, Ayatollah Khomeini decreed that it should end.
The President among the families of the martyrs on the 7th of Tir:
To fight the organized anti-revolutionary movement, we have to be organized…
On Friday night, invited by Hojjat al Islam Seyyed Ali Akbar Khamenei, President and Head of the Islamic Republic Party, The esteemed families of the martyrs of 7th of Tir [June 28th, 1981] participated in the festivities of iftar, organized at the presidential headquarters.
After the iftar festivities, when the payers of Maghreb and Asha were conducted, led by the Imam Jomeh of Tehran…, the President gave an extensive speech about the history and motive behind the Islamic Republic Party, the notion of unity, and the seamlessness [of the regime]. The body of that speech appears below, in its entirety:
“Why do some people still not know that in our revolutionary society, the existence of a party is a necessity, and that [the existence of such an organization] results only in positive benefits? Is there a country where these benefits are inconsequential, or a party does not work well, or does not try hard enough to meet its objectives and responsibilities? Such a possibility does exist, but where a party has been established along certain principles and on sound foundation, and where its goals, charter, and general policy are hundred per cent in line with the revolution’s ideals, and it is established only to serve the revolution, the outcomes and results associated with it cannot be anything but positive. Under such circumstances, it [a party] can cause no harm.
Pay attention to the organizations that were opposed to the Islamic Revolution and see how long after the revolution they were still active. The solitary dissidents and those who walked alone were unable to strike at or damage this revolution; but as an organization, the dissidents were able to strike it a severe blow. Well then, do you think it is possible to succeed in countering an organized anti-revolutionary movement, without an organization and formation of our own? The answer is obviously negative.
Should the brothers and sisters of the [Islamic Republic] Party know their duties and act on them…, and if [indeed] such considerations exist, then internal party conflicts, enmities, and confrontations must not exist [among them]. Those who value the Party must pay attention to the fact that it may experience greater harm from within [than from the outside].
If our brothers and sisters in the Party remain religious and vigilant, adhering to the original objectives of the revolution, and aiming only to carry out their duties without seeking to make a name for themselves or [augment] their fame, the Party will grow stronger, even if outside attacks against it grow.
In fact, before the success of the Revolution, the small groups that worked together [against the regime] had no coherent organization. [Consequently,] whoever was [politically] active, working and fighting for God, learned to live with privation. The more the regime increased its pressure on them the stronger they grew, and the better they were able to carry out their duties. Fortunately, the Islamic environment of our society encourages hard work and struggle. Our people are religious, they are Muslims, Hezbollah rules over this country, and our people walk in the path of Islam. This is the reality of things.
Despite so much political obstructionism, negative propaganda, etc., by our external enemies and their elements inside [the country], our people have maintained their unity and determination, as well as their will to serve God and Islam.
We believe in our unity and caring for each other. If some individuals should desire to cause discord inside the Islamic Republic Party by gathering other people around themselves, we will oppose them. Under no circumstance will we allow them [to accomplish their objectives], irrespective of who they may be.