A group of war veterans and commanders of the Sacred Defense era met the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei on Saturday, October 21.
At the meeting, which was held in a cordial and warm atmosphere, some of the war veterans who had spent from four to eight years on the battlefield narrated their memories of the days of blood and epic.
Speaking at the meeting, the Leader stated that the Sacred Defense era was entirely coupled with honor and glory for the Iranian nation from the beginning to the end.
"The Iranian people showed during their eight-year Sacred Defense that they are by no means in favor of aggression and encroachment. They also showed that when the time comes for them to defend their national identity and sacred and noble ideals, their wholehearted resistance will set an example to all other nations," the Leader told the audience.
Ayatollah Khamenei further stated that in the eight-year Sacred Defense era all the major Western and Eastern powers extended all-out political, military and economic support to the Iraqi regime. "The Iraqi military aggression against Iran was in fact the war waged by the major global powers against the Islamic Republic," he added.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader of the Islamic Republic referred to the fact that the Sacred Defense of the Iranian nation ended in a glorious manner.
"The utter victory of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the end of the eight-year Sacred Defense is an indisputable fact, since the Iraqi Ba'thist regime, which was supported by the major global powers and which had attacked Iran with the intention of toppling the Islamic system and dismembering this country, was at the end of the war driven out of this country after it had suffered heavy loss of life and casualties. Besides, the Iranian nation had also attained great and unimaginable capabilities by the end of the war," the Leader observed.
Further in his statements, Ayatollah Khamenei hinted at the literary and artistic activities that have been aimed at shedding light on the various glorious aspects of the Sacred Defense. He noted that the measures that have already been taken are not enough compared with what is expected to be done in this regard.
"Wartime is always one of the significant and decisive stages in the history of nations, and it conveys useful lessons to the next generations. Therefore, through artistic and literary measures various aspects of the Sacred Defense should be elucidated, and the war veterans' memoirs of the Sacred Defense should also be collected and recorded in an appropriate manner," the Leader remarked.
At the end of the meeting, the war veterans and commanders of the Sacred Defense era said their evening and night prayers, which were led by Ayatollah Khamenei. Then, the participants in the meeting broke their fast in the presence of the Leader of the Islamic Republic.