Statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with a group of warriors, veterans, and commanders of the Sacred Defense era

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

This is a very sweet, impactful, and significant session. Each word of these memories is among the most captivating parts of our history and the tumultuous journey of this great nation. We have benefited greatly; we have enjoyed immensely. We sincerely thank all the dear ones who shared their memories, as well as those who prepared and managed today’s ceremony and session, and all of you dear ones who are the commemorators of the most glorious days of this country’s recent history and are present here.

Separate the two topics; each of them requires extensive discussion. One topic is related to the issue of the Sacred Defense; this Sacred Defense and the eight-year period is not like ordinary wars and other wars in the world; rather, it has its own characteristics.

This is one of the two topics that should be discussed; not here and through me, but it should be examined and contemplated in the overall atmosphere of society. The other is a subsidiary topic related to this one, which is also very important, and that is the memories of the war, the history of the war, and the literature of the war and the art that will be devoted to this literature in various branches and fields. Each of these two topics is important.

Regarding the essence of the war: Firstly, this war was a defensive war. A defensive war differs fundamentally in meaning and content from an offensive war; one difference is that an offensive war indicates a nature of aggression; however, a defensive war does not. Secondly, a defensive war is a place for the emergence of the zeal, loyalty, and deep commitment of individuals to the ideals they adhere to; whether these ideals are the homeland or something greater; that is, religion and belief and Islam. In an offensive war, this is not the case. Suppose America attacks Iraq; an American soldier cannot claim that he is doing this out of love for his homeland; what does Iraq have to do with his homeland?! He is serving other objectives. However, if an Iraqi stands up against this attack and military incursion in his own country, the meaning of this resistance is the defense of the homeland, the defense of national identity, and the defense of the values to which he is committed. A defensive war and an offensive war have these two differences.

Our war was a defensive war. The Iranian nation did not show that it was inclined to aggression and assault; and the Iranian nation demonstrated that when it comes to defending national identity and ideals dearer than national identity, its resistance is a lesson for others; it is not ordinary resistance; it is a resistance that can serve as a model and example for other nations; as it has been; both the Palestinians told us that they learned from us; and the Lebanese repeatedly told us over the years that they learned from us; and nations that were non-Muslims and became Muslims or were Muslims and became followers of the school of Ahl al-Bayt have repeatedly stated from various places that they understood your sincerity from your war, your defense, and your resistance. Truly, the era of the Sacred Defense was such an era, and the Sacred Defense carried such a meaning. Now, this is part of the perspective on the Sacred Defense and its themes.

Another part is what incident occurred during the Sacred Defense? Sometimes a war occurs between two countries - whether neighboring or non-neighboring - this is one type; sometimes there is an unwritten and unannounced alliance, and sometimes announced by all the international powers - the powers present in the world - against a point, a focal point, and a center; these two are different. This war is different from that war. Our war was of the second type; that is, all the centers of international power - military, political, financial, security, etc. - unanimously and in concert descended upon Iran; a war of factions in the true sense of the word; that is, all the factions of world power and groups and power structures descended upon Iran. Why? This has a political analysis; for whatever reason. That is, the Soviet Union and America, despite all their differences, coordinated in this matter. The trenches and pentagons that the gentlemen referred to were Soviet tactics that had been transferred to the Iraqis. You who have been involved in the war know these things and are aware. Western and Eastern aircraft, Western and Eastern missiles, Western and Eastern artillery, advanced Western and Eastern tanks, and various Western and Eastern munitions were used by the Ba'athist regime of Iraq against us; that is, everyone helped them.

After the war ended - I think it was at the end of 67 - during a trip I made - at that time I was the President - and officials to former Yugoslavia - which fell apart and was one of the important support centers for Iraq - after a long and detailed negotiation, they refused to sell even a tank to us! While whenever the Iraqis were short on the front, immediately various types of Eastern and Western tanks would come for them; when one of their tanks was hit, they would not delay, they would bring a crane and throw it into the marsh or river and remove it from the area; it did not matter to them. Now our boys, with great effort, would capture these spoils of war, patch them up, and use them. That is, all the military capabilities - various types of munitions and tools - tactics, spatial intelligence, and all kinds of support - money, political support, etc. - were at the disposal of one side of the war - which was the Ba'athist regime - and all were concentrated there; one side was the Islamic Republic alone - truly alone. This is another aspect of the war.

Another aspect in this topic of the war itself is the issue of the end of the war; which, with these pointless disputes, created meaningless and contentless doubts in some prepared and susceptible minds. Who can doubt that the Islamic Republic was absolutely victorious in the eight-year defense?! This is not at all questionable. With the details we mentioned, a regime equipped with military force and highly prepared, intending to overthrow the regime of a country and disintegrate it, enters that country, occupies part of it militarily, and the whole world helps it; it continues to exert pressure for eight years and in the end is forced to leave this country empty-handed; while the number of its killed, wounded, and prisoners exceeds that of the country being attacked; the country being attacked has gained numerous capabilities during the war; however, it has fallen out of favor with its supporting powers and has not retained an inch of this country’s land; well, in this matter, who is victorious? Who is defeated? Is there room for doubt?! Is there room for suspicion?! This end of the war is one of the important issues and aspects of the war that is a source of pride.

In the topic of memories and the history of the war, I want to emphasize. All the volume of work we have done is very little compared to what should be done. Although now, both the IRGC, the army, the artistic field, various popular sectors, the General Staff, and that part of the history of the war are busy working, nonetheless, the products of all these, both in terms of quantity, are much less than what it should be, and in terms of quality - although some of their qualities are truly good - but overall, the quality that should reflect the beauties, subtleties, kindnesses, highlights, and brilliance of this extraordinary era is not there, and there is still much room for discussion; a lot. Look! When it is said that, for example, we have written six hundred or a thousand titles of books about the Sacred Defense, some think that this is a lot; no, this is very little. War is one of the critical periods of history for all nations; whether they are defeated in that war or victorious; examining this incident for those nations is full of lessons. Not just to take pride; taking pride is one part of the matter; having abundant information, various awareness, showing the situations that existed and the situations that may exist in the future are other parts of the matter. In the world, a lot of work is done on wars that occur; I do not know how much you friends or those who are engaged in these matters are aware of how much work has been done on various wars in different countries. I will just mention this one figure: these internal wars of America - which are known as the wars of separation that began around eighteen sixty and lasted four years; and ended in eighteen sixty-four or sixty-five; I do not remember exactly - were wars between the North and South and wars between different states in one country and occurred almost eighty or ninety years after the establishment of the United States of America, two parts of this country fought each other. An American writer - who apparently is contemporary with us - says: more than one hundred thousand titles of books have been written about these wars! For four years of war, which is also a dishonorable war - a war of two parts of a nation against each other has no honor - more than one hundred thousand titles of books have been written. This is what this American writer - who is also a reputable writer - says. Of course, some of these American propagandists say that this civil war was a war for the abolition of slavery; which is also a lie, it is not like that. Of course, at that time Abraham Lincoln was there and slavery was abolished; but this war is not for that. Anyone who reads the history of these wars understands correctly. About the dishonorable civil war full of defeat and heavy losses - ultimately the North triumphed over the South, which was separatist, and re-established the government of the United States; in fact, America was defeated; although one part triumphed over the other; what is reported is that about six hundred, seven hundred thousand people were killed in these few years; that is, several times the total of our martyrs in the imposed war and the Sacred Defense! - for four years, they have written that many books. The Sacred Defense is a war of complete honor; from the day the Saddam regime attacked Tehran and hit the airport, and until the day Imam accepted the resolution and after that when Saddam attacked again and our fighting and resisting people poured into the entire desert of this region and the Basij youth from all over the country showed an extraordinary display and forced Iraq to retreat in this second instance, the entirety of this period is a period of honor.

It is appropriate that artistic work be done, recorded, and specialized work be carried out. There are now centers and friends doing good professional and specialized work. At the same time, two tasks: both professional and specialized work and informed and scholarly management of collecting memories, and alongside that, utilizing the general public who have various memories of the war and not limiting it to a specific channel that does not cause restriction.

O Lord! In these moments of iftar and in these last days of the blessed month of Ramadan, in this gathering of the striving and fighting in the way of God - who are present here - we ask You to unite the pure souls of the martyrs of the Sacred Defense and the martyrs of the Revolution and all the martyrs of our dear nation with the souls of the noble Prophet of Islam and the martyrs of Karbala. O Lord! Convey our greetings and salutations to those martyrs and the Imam of the martyrs (may God’s peace be upon him). O Lord! Do not let our death be except in martyrdom in Your way. O Lord! By Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, make us emerge from the difficult and great tests of our country and nation with honor and dignity; convey our greetings to the blessed presence of the Awaited Imam (may our souls be sacrificed for him).

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.