In a meeting with a huge gathering of people on the 28th anniversary of the passing of the honorable and everlasting Imam of the nation, Khomeini the great, this evening (Sunday), the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei stressed, “Having a ‘revolutionary spirit, mind and action’ was the major lesson of the late outstanding Imam and the Iranian nation will continue the path of the fulfillment of the objectives of the revolution in the true sense of reasonability, namely revolutionarism, under the aegis of the still-appealing objectives and aspirations of the Imam and vigilance against the Great Satan.”
At the outset of his speech, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution commemorated the anniversary of the painful departure of the great Imam and pointed to some of the issues and truths that have been mentioned over the past years about the Imam and Revolution, saying, “There are some untold facts about the Imam that should be gradually imparted to the mindset of the society, but the issues that have been mentioned over the past years must also be repeated and reviewed so that the path and principles of the Imam are protected against the threat of distortion and certain people would not find the opportunity to distort (the ideology of) the Imam.”
The Leader stated that the main audience of his remarks today is the youth and reiterated, “Since the youth have not witnessed the era of the great epic feats, the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the Sacred Defense and the era of the great moves against separatists, the youth are the main audience of my explanations today regarding the Imam. Furthermore, the minds of the youthful generation are exposed to assaults by distortionists more than others.”
Addressing the youth, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said, “The victory of the Islamic Revolution, which was the realization of the divine will by Imam Khomeini and with the help of the people, was not a mere political displacement and the ousting of one group from power and the rise of another, rather the Islamic Revolution was a deep and great transformation in the country’s politics and the content of Iranian society.”
Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the deep transformation that took place in the country’s politics, adding, “The Islamic Revolution transformed a closed-minded and inherited dictatorship that was dependent on foreigners and followed their orders into a proud, people-based and independent government with identity that relies on the people.”
Regarding the deep transformation that the Islamic Revolution created within the fabric of the society, he said, “Despite such a cultural background, greatness as well as prominent scientists and magnificent human understanding, the Iranian society had turned into a faceless society that obeyed the West, but the Islamic Revolution transformed the Iranian society into one with identity, independence, originality and new words to say.”
Stressing that the great Imam created such a massive transformation through the Islamic Revolution, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution added, “In his remarks, Imam Khomeini would outline the maximalist objectives of the Islamic Revolution and even some mature political activists declared unlikely their materialization, but the Imam succeeded in fulfilling all of these maximalist objectives.”
Pointing to the fact that the objectives of the Constitutional Movement and the nationalization of the oil industry are considered minimalist ones in comparison with those of the Imam, Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated, “These movements failed to fully achieve their minimalist objectives, but in addition to fulfilling the maximalist objectives of the Islamic Revolution, the Imam succeeded to protect this Revolution and make it enduring.”
Raising the question, “How did the Imam succeed in leading to victory this major movement and maintain its maximalist objectives?” the Leader said, “The key to the success of Imam Khomeini and the great art of that Imam was that he could bring people from all walks of life on to the scene and keep them there.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed, “In any country where people from all walks of life enter the scene, stand and resist, their objectives would be realized.”
Ayatollah Khamenei subsequently raised the question, “How did the Imam acquire the ability to bring the people, particularly the youth, onto the scene and keep them in the arena?”
In response to the question, he pointed to the characteristic appeal and attractions of the Imam’s slogans, principles and doctrines, saying, “In terms of character, Imam Khomeini was ‘very robust,’ ‘with the power of resistance in difficulties,’ ‘explicit and sincere,’ and ‘with faith and trust in God in deeds and words,’ and these characteristic attractions led to the youth to choose ‘the Imam and his path, the movement and the Revolution’.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution later pointed to the attractions of Imam’s principles, adding, “One of the principles that the great Imam offered was ‘the true Islam of Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him);’ an Islam that is neither slave to ossification nor slave to eclecticism.”
Ayatollah Khamenei enumerated ‘independence, freedom, social justice and economic justice’ as some of the other attractive principles of the Imam, reiterating, “One of the other principles of the Imam was emergence from the cobweb of US domination which was attractive to the Iranian youth.”
He reiterated, “Emergence from the cobweb of US domination is also attractive today for the youth of the countries such as Saudi Arabia whose governments have been serving US interests for long years.”
Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed to “democracy,” “people’s right to choose and govern,” and “creation of self-belief in the nation,” as some of the other principles of the Imam, saying, “The appeal of Imam Khomeini’s character and principles is the main reason for the youth joining the Islamic movement and Revolution which ultimately led to the victory of the Revolution and the occurrence of a political earthquake in the world.”
He pointed to the formation of the dichotomy of “the supporters and enemies of the Islamic Revolution” in the world, adding, “After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, major powers, particularly the US and former Soviet Union as well as power currents such as the Zionists and major companies, turned into the enemies of the Islamic Revolution because they sensed danger, but on the other side, many Muslim nations and even some non-Muslim nations, became interested in and supporters of the Revolution and this movement continues to date.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed to the befuddlement of the powers at the outset of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, reiterating, “After a while when they recollected themselves, they resumed their enmity and have hatched various plots over the past 38 years, but have been defeated by the Iranian nation and this would also be the case henceforth.”
In this part of his speech, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the conditions in the [Persian calendar decade of] “1360s” (1980s), which was the first decade of the victory of the Islamic Revolution and the decade of the highly blessed life of the Imam, saying, “The 60s was an oppressed decade and at the same time very important and decisive in the history of the Islamic Revolution that have unfortunately remained unexplored and have recently been attacked from some tribunes and their owners.”
He described the 1360s (1980s), as the decade of major tests and most violent terrorist acts in the country, adding, “In the 60s, terrorists supported by powers martyred thousands of officials and people from all walks of life, from regular tradesmen to political and youth activist to senior personalities.”
Ayatollah Khamenei described the 1360s (1980s), as the decade of the Iraqi imposed war and the decade of the toughest sanctions, reiterating, “Of course, the 60s is the decade of major honors and the decade of combating separatism and the Iranian nation, particularly the youth, succeeded in prevailing over all the plots and hostilities with tough resistance.”
He urged intellectuals to deliberate on the realities and truths of the 1360s (1980s), saying, “We must beware that the positions of the martyr and the executioner should not be exchanged in the 60s, because the Iranian nation was subjected to oppression in the 60s and because terrorists, traitors and their supporters carried out acts of oppression and malice against the Imam and Iranian nation. The nation adopted a defensive stance and ultimately emerged triumphant.”
Continuing, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the passing of the Imam and the post-departure era, saying, “After the Imam, some hoped to be able to change the path of the Imam, but by the grace of God, they failed.”
Pointing out that after the revered Imam some people outside the country and their agents at home hoped to reverse the path of the Imam and awaited the ageing and failing of the Revolution, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution added, “They wanted to play out the pre-Revolution scenarios again but did not succeed because the principles and doctrines of Imam Khomeini were still appealing, refreshing and fascinating for the Iranian nation.”
He reiterated, “Although the Imam is no longer with us physically, his name is still unraveling and ‘his path, spirit and memory’ are alive and his un-ageing principles and slogans are still very appealing and remain the guide of the country and nation and this resplendent reality is the sign of ‘the mobilizing power of the Islamic Revolution’.”
Referring to the existing shortfall in the realization of some of the slogans of the late great Imam such as social justice or some of the fundamental and key slogans of the Imam, the Leader of the Revolution said, “With greater effort, we will follow the objectives and aspirations of the heavenly departed Imam.
Ayatollah Khamenei described the mobilizing might of the Revolution as a great blessing and pointed to the country’s true need for this great power today and tomorrow, adding, “There is no propeller with the greatness and might of the Revolution and the highly-attractive slogans of the Imam and the political officials and activists must not for any reason neglect this decisive might.”
The Leader pointed to the continuation of the sophisticated plots of the enemies, reiterating, “By the grace of God, the Revolution and the highly-appealing aspirations of the Imam are still capable of drawing the youth and the resolute and determined people to the field, mobilize them and push them forward and this is the most important reason showing the failure of enemies’ plots.”
The Leader of the Revolution cited an example of the height of the enemies’ impudence, saying, “The president of the US performs a sword-dance with the chieftain of a tribal, backward and sheer decadent establishment while rudely finding fault with the Iranian nation’s free elections and forty million votes.”
He pointed to the flattery of the US president for the murderers of the innocent and helpless Yemeni people, adding, “With utmost shamelessness, our enemies speak of human rights while standing next to those behind the massacre of the Yemeni people and impose sanctions against the dignified Iranian nation in the name of human rights. How much more insolent can they get?”
Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated, “Against these impudent enemies, Iran is in serious need of the mobilizing power of the Revolution and all the Revolution’s officials and sympathizers must appreciate the values and aspirations in the true sense of the word and not consign to oblivion the principles and values for the sake of short-term goals and fleeting and mundane political developments.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution cited progress in the fields of science, economy and culture as requiring self-confidence and courage emanating from the Revolution, adding, “Today, if an experience similar to that of the 60s (1980s) takes place, millions of determined and valiant youth will certainly and undoubtedly enter the scene with utmost strength and self-esteem to protect and sustain the country.”
Criticizing those who declare “sensibility” as opposed to revolutionary slogans, Ayatollah Khamenei added, “True sensibility is in ‘revolutionarism’ and it is the revolutionary vision that can reveal the realities and truths.”
Citing an example of this important issue, the Leader recalled, “Thirty and something years ago, under the auspices of his revolutionary and, in fact, rational vision, the honorable Imam described the US as “the Great Satan” and “unreliable” and now after three decades, the heads of some European countries admit to such a reality and dub the US unreliable. This shows the sensibility emanating from the Imam’s revolutionarism.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution added, “Of course, the Iranian nation has in all past experiences realized that the Americans are truly unreliable.”
Stating another true denotation of sensibility, Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated, “Sensibility means the recognition of originalities, reliance upon the people and internal forces and trust in God, not approaching the Great Satan again after having been liberated from the clutches of the US domination.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution cited “possessing a revolutionary spirit, mind and practice” as the biggest lesson of the Imam, adding, “This illuminating and bliss-endowing lesson must never be forgotten.”
Criticizing those who view the Imam as a “cultural legacy,” he said, “The Imam of the Iranian nation is not a cultural legacy but is the leader and living and present Imam who still guides this nation with his remarks, thoughts and aspirations.”
Criticizing those who in the name of “sensibility” say “challenging powers” will incur expenses, Ayatollah Khamenei added, “Yes. There is an expense to ‘challenging,’ but compromise also comes with exorbitant costs.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution described the Saudi move to spend hundreds of billions of dollars of their nation’s money to fulfill the desires and objectives of the US as the price for compromising with the Great Satan, adding, “If one enters a challenge with self-confidence and ‘revolutionary reason and sensibility,’ the price would be much less than the price for compromise.”
Addressing the nation, the Leader added, “God willing, I will speak more about this issue in the future, but anyhow, the reality is that plotting and aggressive powers are not content with anything and as we have seen in the interactions of the previous years, any retreat before the enemies spurs them to make new demands and there is no end to this process of ‘retreat and new demands’.”
After explaining the exact and inherent relation between sensibility and revolutionarism, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution added, “Revolutionarism means that the objective of the officials of the country not be satisfying powers, refraining from passivity in the face of bullies, not surrendering to them, not being deceived by them and through distancing oneself from poor morale against the Great Satan, concentrating one’s efforts and objectives on the utilization of internal elements and forces, the resolution of problems and making people satisfied.”
Concluding this segment of his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei once again highlighted the need of the country to the “Spirit, principles and doctrines of the Revolution and Imam,” adding, “Do not dismiss ‘revolutionarism as ‘extremism,’ because revolutionarism is the genuine need of the country and society.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution dedicated the next part of his speech to some points about internal issues.
Pointing to the presidential election and the widespread participation of the people, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “I wholeheartedly thank each and every one of those who attended the scene and cast more than 41 million votes in the ballot boxes.”
He described the massive turnout of the people in the election as a sign of ‘public trust in the establishment’ and a cause for the growth of the country’s credibility, adding, “The seventy something percent majority of the people said ‘Yes’ to the Islamic Republic establishment through participation in the elections and approved it and this vote was in fact a vote for the Islamic establishment.”
Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated, “Unfortunately, some individuals through misjudgment or other motives, deny this reality and say the votes of the people have nothing to do with the approval of the Islamic establishment, whereas, even if the people who may hold grievances against the establishment at heart by voting in the framework of the establishment show that they endorse this framework, have faith in it and believe it to be efficient.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution added, “Fortunately, the Guardian Council confirmed the validity of the elections; of course, it was announced that some irregularities had taken place in the elections and we also received the report of these cases.”
Pointing out that the irregularities had had no impact on the result of the election, he said, “Irregularities in elections are not becoming of the Islamic Republic establishment and the officials must follow up on these issues with seriousness and identify the offenders so that such irregularities would not take place in the elections ahead of the Iranian nation in future, because if we close our eyes on irregularities and ignore and condone them, they would be repeated.”
Expressing gratitude to the officials in charge of holding and monitoring the elections, Ayatollah Khamenei criticized some misconduct in the elections campaigns and reiterated, “In the campaigns and debates, some remarks were made and misconducts occurred and accusations were leveled against various institutions of the country which were not good actions.”
He added, “Bygones are bygones and what took place in the elections must be viewed with tolerance and those actions must not be repeated and must not be continued.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution recommended patience to the entire nation, adding, “The group whose favored candidate won the votes and the group who did not should both show magnanimity and forbearance and refrain from ungracious and unmannerly behavior.”
Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated, “Fortunately, this year those who did not succeed in the elections showed refinement as opposed to the [what happened in the Persian calendar year of] 1388 (2009) when some people brought about those issues for the country.”
“Attachment of importance to production and job creation” was the issue that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution urged upon the administration in continuation of his speech, adding, “According to the Constitution, the president has widespread facilities at his disposal and must actualize these capacities using the provisions and there should be no hesitation in implementing the pledges made to the people.”
He reiterated, “In the 12th administration, diligent, active and capable authorities must be picked because inefficiency in the economic and non-economic sectors will put down to the inefficiency of the establishment, whereas this is unfair, because the establishment is efficient.”
Stressing that the country must be fortified against US sanctions, Ayatollah Khamenei added, “The Americans impudently play a new tune every day for the Iranian nation and the officials must consolidate the country against them from every political and economic standpoint.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution reiterated, “On global issues, a single and strong voice must be heard from the country’s officials.”
Continuing, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to some regional issues, saying, “Unfortunately, in the auspicious month of Ramadan, our fasting brethren is some countries like Yemen, Syria, Bahrain and Libya are facing grave difficulties.”
Pointing to the round-the-clock bombardment and pressure by the Saudi government against the Yemeni nation, he said, “The Saudi government must know that if it continues this criminal approach for another ten or twenty years, it will not defeat the innocent and helpless people of Yemen and it will only worsen its crime and sin and will make the divine vengeance tougher on itself.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution described as illogical the presence of the Saudi government in Bahrain, reiterating, “The issues of Bahrain concern the people of Bahrain and the people of Bahrain must talk to their government themselves to reach a conclusion.”
The Leader described as wrong from a rational perspective and inefficient in practice, the presence and meddling of a foreign government and the admission of military forces with the aim of overcoming the will of the Bahraini nation, saying, “Such measures will lead to the disgrace of the Saudi government and even if they bring the US onboard with a multi-hundred-billion-dollar bribe, they will still fail to succeed.”
Ayatollah Khamenei described the presence of foreign powers in Syria against the will of the government and nation of that country as a wrongful measure and stressed, “The issues of Syria must be resolved through negotiations.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed to the role of the enemy in starting proxy wars in the Muslim world and pitting the people against each other, saying, “The solution to these issues is negotiations and dialog and weapons must not be injected from outside the countries and others must not interfere in the affairs of the nations.”
Pointing out that Daesh is being driven out of its breeding place in Iraq and Syria, he added, “Terrorists now seek to travel toward other countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and even the Philippines and some European countries and these flames that the Westerners started with their own hands have now engulfed themselves.”
In conclusion of his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated, “By divine grace, the Iranian nation has succeeded in moving forward with rationality, sensibility, resolution and firm determination in all of these issue and also, henceforth, with divine permission and guidance all of the country’s political developments will lead to the realization of the nation’s aspirations and triumph.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution reiterated, “Through the grace of God and the experience of the past 38 years, this nations’ future would be much better than its present.”