In this meeting, the Leader of the Revolution, indicated the need to keep alive the historical events that have a deep meaning behind them and which convey important messages to the next generations. He referred to the January 9th uprising as being such an event.
He stated that the January 9th uprising shows the depth of the people's religious beliefs and said, "If it was not for the Imam, nothing like this would have happened. No other person or movement could have created such a situation in a city."
Recalling most of the important social and revolutionary occurrences that have been carried out by the people over the last 150 years, the Leader of the Revolution stated that the source of these events were the religious authorities, those who struggled for their beliefs and religious scholars who were aware of political issues. He cited events such as the Persian Tobacco Protest led by Mirza Shirazi, the Goharshad Mosque Rebellion led by Haj Agha Mohsen Qomi and the events of June 1963 that were led by Imam Khomeini as examples.
Imam Khamenei considered these events to be the reason for the obvious enmity of the Arrogant Powers with religious and political scholars, as well as their opposition to a political religion and political jurisprudence. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution emphasized the role of people's religious zeal in the afore-mentioned important issues. He stated that this zeal is based on insight, and that insight is a branch of rationality and is based on a strong religiosity. He mentioned Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi as being two examples who were both highly rational and religious.
In explaining the events of January 9th, the Leader of the Revolution referred to Carter's speech about Iran during the Pahlavi dynasty and his miscalculation in naming Iran a “stable island.” He stated that the uprising of the people of Qom disrupted the miscalculations of the Pahlavi regime and the United States. He added,
“Such miscalculations by the United States are still going on. An example of this is the martyrdom of Martyr Soleimani. They assumed that by killing this martyr, this great movement would be extinguished. But we witnessed this great movement that took place this year on the second anniversary of his martyrdom. It was indeed in the hands of divine power that this great movement and expression of devotion was created. The enemy's system of calculation is based on ignorance."
Imam Khamenei stated that the path leading to the real triumph of the Islamic revolutionary movement is based on understanding responsibilities and the steps to be taken in the future, determining prospects and moving strongly toward them. The Leader of the Revolution also emphasized the need to preserve religious zeal and he considered this to be factor that can help to protect the country in different situations. He said, “It is religious zeal that turns threats into opportunities. An example of this is the 8-year [Sacred] Defense in which the religious zeal of the youth, fathers, mothers, sisters and wives led the youth go to the front and be victorious in this international war in which they [the enemies] all collaborated together to defeat the Imam and the movement.”
The Supreme Leader of the Revolution continued, “At this time in history, it is the martyrdom of Martyr Soleimani that is a truly historic and strange tragedy. No one thought, not even the friends, that this event would turn into such a momentous event and that God, the Almighty, would bestow such greatness on it. God revealed the true identity of the people to everyone. The Iranian nation showed its identity and unity as they were carrying the coffin of Martyr Soleimani."
In explaining the enemy's plan to make the people indifferent with respect to the principles and foundations of the Revolution, Imam Khamenei added, “The Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution were formed in order to bring about the rule of the religion of God. People gave their lives and sacrificed their blood to make this happen. This is one of the principles of the Revolution, and [the enemies] seek to weaken this."
The Leader of the Revolution continued, “It is another thing to negotiate, talk and interact with the enemy, but we have not and will not give in to the enemy's coercion and words. They want to undermine this and they want to downplay these salient principles. This is part of the extensive, diverse soft war of the enemy that they are pursuing.”
His Excellency stated that wherever there has been success in the last 43 years, it has come about by relying on the people with a revolutionary spirit. He considers political, scientific and social progress to be dependent on faithful, revolutionary people. Furthermore, he regards corruption, aristocracy and a non-revolutionary outlook to be the causes of failures.
The Supreme Leader of the Revolution went on to talk about the enemies' method of sowing discord among nations, “We should not let these things happen or increase in the country. Well, Shi’ah and Sunni people have lived together in the country for centuries. They have lived [together] for years and had no problems. We sometimes had ethnic differences. We had conflicts between different ethnic groups, different ethnicities. [But,] we did not have conflicts and differences between the Shi’ah and the Sunnis.”
In confirmation of this point, His Excellency added, “The government of the Islamic Republic is an Islamic state and its flag is the flag of Shi’ism. However, in Islamic countries where Sunni people are living, people sometimes show strong interest in the Islamic Republic and express their interest, zeal, cooperation and support. In many countries from East Asia to West Africa, there are those who treat the Islamic Republic like this and they are not even Shi’ah. So in the Islamic world today, the Islamic Republic is a manifestation of an Islamic nation.” Imam Khamenei also stated that the people’s movements in different countries on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Martyr Soleimani are evidence of this fact.
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