Members of the central council and scientific committees of the Conference on the Centennial of Constitutionalism in Iran and the Conference on a Century of Legislation in Iran met the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei on Saturday, April 29.
Speaking at the meeting, the Leader emphasized the need to study the realities about the constitutional movement in Iran, including the facts about the role and demands of the Ulema in the constitutional movement, and discover the reasons for the deviation of the constitutional movement from its genuine path and British success in this regard.
"Serious attention should be paid to the issue of constitutionalism, and a careful study should be made of the constitutional movement in Iran, so that a documented, comprehensive, clear and exact history of constitutionalism in Iran may be presented," Ayatollah Khamenei stated.
As regards the role of the Ulema in the constitutional movement, the Leader described their role as undeniable and incomparable and as much more significant than the role played by other groups and factions.
"The most prominent feature of the Ulema's approach to the constitutional movement was their opposition to alien domination and their anti-dictatorial attitude. This feature should receive due attention in studying constitutionalism in Iran," the Leader pointed out.
Further in his statements, Ayatollah Khamenei noted that the Ulema sought to administer justice through the constitutional movement, and that their objective was far beyond the mere adherence to a moral principle.
"The justice pursued by the Ulema through constitutionalism was justice in government, and they aimed to establish a legal system charged with dispensing justice in conformity with Islamic laws, a legal system enjoying the authority and power to supervise the entire hierarchical system of government in a careful manner," Ayatollah Khamenei told the audience.
He emphasized the fact that the Iranian people, who benefited from the guidance of the Ulema, also aspired for the enforcement of Islamic laws and precepts in their society.
"In the course of some 14 years of the constitutional movement in this country, British colonialists exploited certain Western-oriented intellectuals and government officials, and they gradually subverted the religious and national aspects of constitutionalism and gave rise to chaos and disorder in Iran. Thus, they prepared the ground for a dictatorial regime and the ascension to power of Reza Khan in this country," Ayatollah Khamenei noted.
As regards the main reason for British success in deflecting the constitutional movement in Iran from its genuine path, the Leader stated that British colonialists managed to divest some figures in the constitutional movement of their revolutionary zeal and incentives to seek and administer justice.
"Unfortunately, some figures in the constitutional movement were deceived by the words of Western-oriented intellectuals and the regime's agents, and thus they were ensnared in the trap of negligence and indifference. Consequently, a schism emerged in the constitutional movement, and the British took control of the situation by taking advantage of this schism," the Leader observed.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei stated that the most significant quality of the founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini in leading the Islamic movement and revolution in Iran was that he did not get trapped by the kind of negligence and mistakes that hampered the constitutional movement.
"Right from the outset, the late Imam Khomeini moved on a direct path to the target of the Islamic Revolution. Therefore, the main objective of the Islamic Revolution should always be kept in mind in its totality," Ayatollah Khamenei added.
Before the Leader's statements, Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly Gholamali Haddad-Adel referred to the relationship between the Iranian Parliament and the constitutional movement and the effects of the constitutional movement on the post-movement developments.
Haddad-Adel further presented a report on the measures taken by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, especially those taken by the scientific committees of the Conference on the Centennial of Constitutionalism in Iran and the Conference on a Century of Legislation in Iran.
Some members of the scientific committees of the two conferences also expressed their views on constitutionalism in Iran and its role in the contemporary Iranian history and also on the historiography of constitutionalism.