In a weekly meeting with a number of the honorable families of martyrs, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the Iranian nation owes its honor, security and progress to the sacrifices and devotion of martyrs, and pointed to the recent developments and efforts by the enemy to harm the Islamic establishment, saying, “What inhibits the enemy and keeps it from exerting animosity is the existence of a spirit of valiancy, sacrifice and faith within the nation.” 

Pointing to the fact that the enemy has always been biding its time to infiltrate and deal a blow to the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Khamenei added, “In the developments of the past few days, through the various tools at their disposal such as money, weapons, politics and security apparatuses, the enemies of Iran forged an alliance to create problems for the Islamic establishment.”   

He added, “I have things to say about these issues and I will speak to our beloved people in due time.”

The Leader said the spirit of courage and sacrifice plays a key role in preventing the enemies from exerting their hostility and described martyrs as the perfect example of such a spirit and endeavor and added, “The Iranian nation is, forever, indebted to the beloved martyrs who gave up their families and homes and stood up to an evil enemy who was supported by the West and East and the reactionaries of the region.”

Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the deplorable situation in some countries in the West Asia and North Africa regions and said, “If the Ba’athist enemy had managed to invade the country during the [Iraqi] imposed war, they would not have shown any mercy toward anything, and Iran would be in a condition much worse than that of Libya and Syria today.”

He paid homage to the families of the martyrs, adding, “The value of the endeavor by the fathers and mothers of martyrs and their bravery and sacrifice is no less than [that of] their martyred youth and the country is greatly beholden to them.”