Imam Khamenei

What does exporting the Islamic revolution mean in Ayatollah Khamenei's view?

It is not our goal to export the Revolution to this or that country in the conventional political sense of the word "export". The Revolution is not something that can be exported through political means or advanced through military and security operations. This is wrong. We closed this path since the very beginning. The aim of the Islamic Republic is to reproduce lofty Islamic teachings: so that Muslims feel as if they have an Islamic identity; so that they become familiar with Islamic teachings which can save humanity; so that they know what Allah the Exalted means when He says that He sent a Messenger to remove "from them their burden and the shackles which were upon them." [The Holy Quran, 7: 157] Due to lack of vigilance, the Islamic Ummah had long forgotten this truth. The Islamic Ummah can be free, progressive, knowledgeable, glorious and powerful. These qualities are achievable thanks to Islamic teachings. For 200 years, the arrogant powers and colonial organizations tried to force Muslims to erase such concepts from their minds. They tried to make Muslims lose sight of their own identity, so that they could oppressively rule and transgress the politics, economy and indigenous cultures of Muslim societies. The Revolution helped the Islamic Ummah remember these [uplifting] ideals.

Oct. 25, 2010

They thought we would engage in a military expedition to export the revolution--via military, security or intelligence expedition--like them; it's they who export armies to fulfill their purposes. They thought wrong, without realizing that we wouldn't need intelligent services or a militant army, because the word of the Iranian nation and the scheme our nation has been suggesting for governing nations and societies: it [Iran's methodology] deeply appeals to other Muslim nations. Muslim nations naturally become interested in our nation--as they are and as their numbers continue to grow.

Nov. 8, 2006

The United States and Britain are accusing the Islamic Republic of "inciting the Iraqi people." They are wrong, as the Islamic Republic incites no one. In fact, the zealous Iraqi people and their passionate youth, who see the tanks and armored vehicles of the aggressors on their streets every day and whose homes are often broken into by U.S. and British soldiers, do not need any outside incitement! Nowhere, in the world, do brave and zealous men and women tolerate the presence of alien forces and occupiers on their homeland, and Iraq is no exception. What makes these Muslim nations resist occupation is the Islamic awakening among them. Indeed, the presence of U.S. and British forces, in any Islamic country, would provoke the same reaction that it has caused in Iraq presently. A wave of Islamic revivalism and awakening has swept through the Islamic world, and Muslim nations are expressing a strong desire to return to Islam and practice this lofty religion. This awakening has stemmed from the great Islamic revolution of the Iranian people under the leadership of our late magnanimous Imam [Khomeini]. This is the reason for the hostility of arrogant powers towards our own nation, our Islamic revolution, and the system and Imam Khomeini. The enemies told us not to export our Islamic revolution! And we said that revolution could not be exported, since it is not a commodity! However, our Islamic revolution, like the scent of spring flowers that is carried by a breeze, reached every corner of the Islamic world and brought about revival of Islam in various Muslim nations.

April 30, 2003