The Leader of the Islamic Revolution met thousands of Basij members across the country on the morning of 29th November 2023. He said that Imam Khomeini's (RA) reasons for creating the Basij were to provide “Iran’s maximum resistance against threats and dangers". He outlined the characteristics of Basiji culture and thinking and gave important practical recommendations. He said that the Imam's prediction and good news about the formation of centres of global resistance have become true. The inextinguishable Al-Aqsa Flood has facilitated the formation of a new political geography in the West Asian region. That this new political geography is characterised, firstly, by de-Americanization, secondly, by the rise of the dichotomy of "resistance or surrender" replacing counterfeit dichotomies and thirdly, by accelerating the resolution of the Palestinian issue. These are the most important features of this new political geography.
Ayatollah Imam Khamenei’s speech was simultaneously broadcast to Basij resistance sites across the country. At the beginning of his speech, he called the Basij a precious souvenir of Imam Khomeini and cited the Imam's pride in his being part of the Basij as a sign of their great dignity.
Recognising the Imam's foresight in identifying the country's urgent need for a massive popular mobilised force as the logic behind the formation of the Basij, the Leader said, “The logic of maximising the resources of the country to resist all current and future dangers and threats is robust and continuous, and the existence of the Basij for the overall material and spiritual defence of the national identity, and the security of Iran and its national interests" is absolutely necessary.”
The Leader of the Revolution considered the performance of the Basij in the last 44 years to be a sign of the accuracy of the Imam's intentions in creating this people’s institution. He said, “The decisive and victorious performance of the Basij in the Sacred Defence was a clear example of the Imam's foresight.”
In explaining the place of the Basij in the Imam's political thought, he referred to two sentences from the departed Imam, saying, “The Basij was, in the eyes of the Imam, the Sincere Army of God and a School of Love.”
The Leader of the Revolution indicated that the Imam's use of the term “army” was an indication of the combative aspect of the Basij and said, “Combat means the combination of physical and material strength, spiritual strength, strength in will, strength in courage, and strength in intellect, which means military strategy and ingenuity.”
In explaining the Imam’s phrase, “the Sincere Army of God”, Ayatollah Imam Khamenei said that this phrase meant the mobilised Basij fight sincerely for God. In battle, it manifests dedication and relentlessness.
He said that Imam Khomeini's use of the term "School of Love" for the Basij indicates the fact that the Basij, "with love for God, spirituality and the people," moves on the path of truth and teaches true love.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed out that the performance of the Basij manifested these concepts and said, “The Basij did a great job in successfully defending the holy shrine with brilliant leaders such as Commander Soleimani, Sayad Shirazi, Hemmat, Babaei, Shiroudi, Hamedani and hundreds of other generals, and in defending other shrines and fighting on the battlefield.”
Referring to the visible presence of the Basij motivated by love, service expend their efforts in construction, health, natural disasters, science, and research. He named Shahid Fakhrizadeh and the late Kazemi Ashtiyani, founder of the Ruyan Research Institute, as two prominent Basijis in the field of science that expanded the boundaries of science in the country.
Elaborating on the concept of the Basij in the broad sense, Ayatollah Imam Khamenei said, “The Basij is more than an organisation; it is a culture and a way of thinking, and every person who has this culture and way of thinking, even if he is not in the Basij organisation, is a Basiji and thus many people are Basiji without them being members of the Basij organisation.”
The Leader of the Revolution then explained the essential characteristics of Basiji culture. Some of the qualities he used to describe Basiji culture are that they are people persons, they keep their commitments and have a sense of responsibility, they are not apathetic to the current and future affairs of the country, they comprehend the meaning of the Revolution, they are revolutionary, they do not foment disorder and are law-abiding, and they respect the customs of the society.
Continuing on the topic, Ayatollah Imam Khamenei also added, “The Basiji may, of course, object to something, a person or a fact, but he does not express this objection by breaking norms so as not to find a common goal with the enemy.”
Among the unique characteristics of Basiji culture mentioned by the Leader of the Revolution were that they should avoid doing things without substance to show off and be seen, they should help the weak, confront the oppressor, avoid arrogance and pride, avoid behaving as if the Revolution, the country and the nation owe them something, they should restrict themselves to doing their duty, avoid using organisational resources and capabilities for personal gain, and being trustworthy in their relationships with others.
Making an important point, he said, “As we have witnessed when they have helped people in natural disasters, Basiji culture is to serve all the people regardless of religion, ethnicity and political orientation. In that respect, Imam Khomeini was the epitome of Basiji cultural characteristics. He said, “The Imam always considered himself as one who was indebted to the people and saw himself as below them. He did not spend a single moment securing his interests.”
Ayatollah Khamenei also talked about the transnational and cross-border aspect of the Basij as another prominent characteristic they have. He said, “The great Imam's message about the formation of centres of global resistance has come true in the region today. These centres of resistance are changing the region's fate, an example of which is the Al-Aqsa Flood.”
Referring to the failed American plan to change the political and geographic map of West Asia, he pointed out, “A few years ago, in the case of Lebanon, they said that they were looking for the formation of a "new Middle East" based on their own illegitimate needs and interests, but of course, they failed.”
Citing examples of America's failure in creating a new map of the region, he said, “America sought to destroy Hezbollah, but after the 33-day war, Hezbollah became more than ten times stronger than before.”
Ayatollah Khamenei called America's failure to swallow up Iraq by establishing an American government ruled by an American general or civilian, and even with an Iraqi leadership affiliated to the United States in the post-occupation period, became another manifestation of their failure to form this new Middle East. He added, “Today, in that very Iraq which they had sought to swallow up, centres of resistance are responding to the case of Palestine.”
Another example the Leader of the Revolution gave was the failure of the Americans to dominate Syria through its proxies, such as ISIS and Al-Nusra. He said, “Another of their plans for the new Middle East was to end the Palestinian issue in favour of the usurper regime in such a way that nothing called Palestine would remain. However, the treacherous plan the two governments had previously hatched was not realised, and the current capacity of Palestine, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the other resistance organisations have incomparably progressed compared to the situation 20 years ago.”
In summary, he said, "Of course, the political geography of the region is changing, not for the benefit of America, but for the benefit of the resistance front.”
Ayatollah Imam Khamenei outlined the characteristics of the new and emerging map of West Asia: "The first characteristic of the new West Asia is de-Americanization, which means the negation of America's dominance over the region. This, of course, does not mean cutting off these countries' political relations with the United States, but rather the loss of American power and political domination. And as we can see, some countries are 100% taking a different path from America today.”
He also said that one action taken by the United States in recent years to dominate the region was to strengthen the Zionist regime and encourage other countries to establish relations with it. He added, “A clear and obvious sign of the de-Americanization of the region is the profoundly historical incident of the Al-Aqsa Flood, which, although it was against the Zionist regime, was also a move towards de-Americanization. This is because the table of American policies in the region has been overturned, and with the continuation of this move, American policies in the region will disintegrate.”
The Leader of the Revolution pointed out, “The disruption of imposed fictitious dichotomies on the region: of Arab vs non-Arab, or Shia vs Sunni is another characteristic of the new West Asia, and the fairy tale of a “Shiite Crescent” loses its colour. A clear example of this is the case of Palestine because during the Al-Aqsa Flood and before that, both Arab and non-Arab Shiites gave the most help to the Palestinians.”
Ayatollah Khamenei added, “In contrast to those imposed dichotomies, a new dichotomy of "resistance vs surrender" has come to dominate the region, and today the resistance movement has come to mean not submitting to American coercion, extravagance and interference in the region.”
He saw the solution to the Palestinian issue to be another feature of the new and developing West Asia and added: "The Palestinian issue is moving towards a solution, and that is, the establishment of Palestinian sovereignty in all Palestinian lands with the help of God."
Referring to the plan proposed by the Islamic Republic for a referendum of all Palestinians for Palestine as internationally acceptable, reasonable and civilised, the Leader of the Revolution said, “Apart from the occupiers, all Palestinians, whether residents of Palestine or those residing in neighbouring countries, refugee camps and other areas, should be able to vote for the administration of Palestine. Of course, some say that the Zionist regime will not accept this plan; in that case, it must be imposed on it. And if this plan is followed, which, God willing, it will be, and if the cores of the resistance are seriously willing and determined, this goal will be achieved.”
Pointing to the false opinion of some people in the world about this proposal by the Islamic Republic of Iran that this meant throwing Jews and Zionists into the sea to solve the Palestinian issue, he said, “The opinion of the Islamic Republic is not to throw anyone into the sea, but it is that a government should be formed according to the votes of the Palestinian people and that government should decide about them.”
Hazrat Ayatollah Khamenei said that the essential and unique incident of the Al-Aqsa Flood has brought these goals closer and facilitated the way. He said, “The Zionist regime, whose nerves were shattered by this Flood, started bombing hospitals, schools and civilian populations and killing children to extinguish it.” He cited the failure of the Zionist regime to achieve its goals in this war, saying, “This failure cannot be resolved by anger and brutality; such actions have caused more dishonour to the Zionist regime and America, and they even bring dishonour to Western culture and civilisation.”
Condemning the position of one of the Western leaders who justified the crimes of the Zionist regime with the excuse of "self-defence", he said, “Western culture and civilisation is that which calls the martyrdom of 5,000 Palestinian children and the use of phosphorus bombs “self-defence”, and this has discredited it.”
The Leader of the Revolution called the atrocities of the past 50 days a summary of 75 years of Zionist crimes in Palestine and added, "Killing and displacing people, including women and children, and building settlements by destroying Palestinian homes and farms, have among the crimes the occupiers have been committing for the past 75 years. All these atrocities were also carried out intensely in 50 days.”
Ayatollah Imam Khamenei added, “The Al-Aqsa Flood cannot be extinguished and, God willing, this state of affairs will not continue.”
The final part of Ayatollah Khamenei's speech was devoted to giving practical recommendations to the Basij organisation and all Basij members.
Among the recommendations he made were to enhance insight, take the initiative in important issues, not play in enemy territory, abide in hope for the future by striving for the country’s real progress even when under the most severe sanctions and pressures, avoid pride, and show gratitude, all of these are the blessings of being in the Basij. He saw it as a precious trust of God. Always trusting in God, attracting forces that can plan, forces to carry out operations and giving more importance to planning, thinking and designing.
The Leader of the Revolution also stressed that the Basij should avoid false dichotomies. He said, “Some statements in cyberspace pigeon holding people under labels such as a supporter of this or that" is something to complain about; those who accept the religion, principles, the Revolution and the authority of the jurist (Wilayat al-Faqih), are your brothers, regardless of their differences in taste, and there should be no divisions between you.”
At the beginning of this meeting, Commander Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij e Mustazafin organisation, reported on the organisation's latest activities in the cultural, social, security, and scientific fields. He enumerated the three main approaches of the Basij forces, which are the "Jihad of Explanation", the "Jihad of Service", and the "Jihad of Hope". He emphasised the readiness of this force to face any threat against the country and to fight against the crimes of the Zionist regime.