Imam Khomeini saved Iran from the quagmire of dependence, backwardness and corruption
Our revolutionary Imam (r.a.) pulled the country out of various quagmires, he pulled the country out of various morasses with the help of the Islamic Revolution... from the morasses of dependence, backwardness, political and moral corruption, and global humiliation. We were suffering in these muddles: we had become dependent, humiliated, and backward; we were held behind. They held us back in scientific fiends, in economic pursuits, technological advancements, on an international presence, overall, in everything... Our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) changed the direction [within Iran], thus bringing about a profound transformation: he changed the path of the Iranian people; he changed the trajectory we were on, and he moved us towards lofty goals. These goals—which guided us with the help of the Imam of the Revolution (r.a.) and that guided the Iranian society towards the revolution—were extremely important. The sum of all these goals is the authority of God's religion. The authority of God's religion calls for social justice in the real sense of the word: it calls for uprooting poverty, ignorance, and oppression; it calls for preparing a collection of Islamic values; it calls for uprooting social detriments; it calls for providing physical, moral, and spiritual health--and scientific progress for the country; it calls for offering national dignity, national and Iranian identity, and international power; it calls upon man to activate the capacities that God has given this land.--All these terms are included in the authority of God's religion. It was Imam (r.a.) who moved us towards this path. This is the exact opposite of the path towards which we were being dragged during the time of taghut [the Pahlavi era].