I have been influenced by several personalities. One of those who greatly influenced me, when I was young, was Nawab-Safavi.
April 27, 1998
I was about 15 or 16 when Nawab-Safavi came to Mashhad. I found the late Nawab-Safavi a great person and was completely fascinated by him. All my peers were also interested in him; because he was extremely enthusiastic, pure, and truthful; he was also brave, frank and articulate. I can say that I first became interested in fighting for our cause and what we call a political fight at that time. Of course, I knew some facts before that. My teenage years coincided with the era of Mossadegh. I remembered that in 1951 when Mossadegh had just come to power, the Late Ayatollah Kashani cooperated with him.
Thus, I was completely familiar with political matters; however, I became interested in political fighting, in its truest sense, after meeting Nawab-Safavi. Shortly after he left Mashhad, Nawab-Safavi was martyred. His martyrdom aroused strong feelings among the youth who had met or known him. Indeed, our fighting background dates back to this time: since 1955 and 1956.
February 3, 1998
That was the time when the first inspiring sparks of the Islamic Revolution were ignited in me by Nawab-Safavi, and I have no doubt that the first fire ignited in our hearts was because of Nawab-Safavi.
He began insulting the Shah and the British organizations. His position was expressed as: "Islam must be revived; Islam must rule over the country, and those who are at the top of the government are lying. They are not Muslims."
Ayatollah Khamenei
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