David E. Sanger

had against Iran.

And he went back 47 years.

Among the regime's very first acts was to back a violent takeover of the U.S.

embassy in Tehran.

to the taking of the American hostages in the embassy for 444 days, to the bombing of an American barracks in Beirut, and on to accusing Iran of knowing about, if not participating in, the attack on the USS Cole in the late 1990s.

Finally, to the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand.

But then he turned in a different direction.

When we are finished, take over your government.

It will be yours to take.

This will be probably your only chance for generations.

And for the first time, he basically urged the Iranian people to use this opportunity to rise up against their government.

Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach.

This is the moment for action.

Do not let it pass.

And that was pretty remarkable because we had been wondering, what was the plan to get from attacking the leadership compounds to actually changing the regime?

That's exactly right.

And we've really never seen anything like that before.

May God bless the United States of America.

May God bless you all.

Thank you.