Statements on the 25th Anniversary of the Passing of Imam Khomeini at His Sacred Shrine

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Thanks be to God, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his pure family, especially the Awaited One on earth. Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith, and do not let any malice remain in our hearts toward those who have believed. Our Lord, indeed You are Kind and Merciful. Our Lord, indeed You have given Pharaoh and his entourage adornments and wealth... Our Lord, let them lead astray from Your path. Our Lord, obliterate their wealth and harden their hearts so they do not believe until they see the painful punishment.

God, the Wise, says in His Book: "Have you not seen how God presents an example of a good word? It is like a good tree whose root is firmly established and its branches are in the sky. It yields its fruit at all times by permission of its Lord."

I will present my remarks on this memorable and important day to you, dear brothers and sisters, in three sections: In the first section, there is an important reality about the Islamic Republic that is significant for us today. In the second section, I will briefly describe the enduring school of thought of our great Imam; although much has been said and heard about the thoughts of Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), this brief description is necessary at this juncture; a brief image of what the great Imam created as a unique phenomenon in the contemporary world. The third section will address two significant challenges facing the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic system; paying attention to these two challenges is crucial for our correct movement and path.

In the first section, the reality I refer to is that 25 years have passed since the passing of the great Imam, yet the enthusiasm and eagerness to hear about him and learn from him have not diminished; this is not limited to our country, but exists in the Islamic world and beyond. Not only in our country—where the third generation of the revolution is flourishing—but also in the Islamic world, the youth of the communication and internet age, who can easily connect with issues far from their environment, seek to learn more about the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic and about the architect of this great edifice. The phenomenon of religious democracy, the theory of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, are issues that are significant and attractive for the intellectual environments of the Islamic world.

Our enemies have made extensive efforts since the early days, and as we have progressed, these efforts have intensified; they have used hundreds, if not thousands, of television, radio, and internet stations to insult the Islamic Republic and its great founder and its supporters. This fact has helped us, as it has aroused the curiosity of listeners and audiences worldwide; they want to know the reason behind this enmity, this stone-throwing, and this slander, and what the nature of the truth that is the target of this enmity is. Therefore, our enemies have mentioned our name with the intent of hostility and have spoken about our Imam and our system, but "Indeed, they plot a plot, and I plot a plot." This is what God Almighty says; they initiated this extensive movement with this intent, but ultimately it has created an opportunity for us, as the curiosity of the listeners of these media outlets around the world has been stimulated. In Islamic countries and in our region, the Islamic Awakening—which has anti-global arrogance sentiments prevailing over all other phenomena—is itself a sign of that curiosity and response-seeking. This continues unabated. The Western and American intelligence agencies may report to their superiors that they have managed to suppress the Islamic Awakening in our region. If they think this way, it will be yet another strategic error and misanalysis by our enemies. The Islamic Awakening may be suppressed for a time in parts of the Islamic world, but it will undoubtedly not be eradicated; it will expand; and this understanding, this perception, this realization among the countries and the young Muslim generation in this region is not something that can be easily eliminated; of course, they will try, and their efforts may seem successful in some areas for a short time, but ultimately they will be fruitless.

This curiosity among today's youth, especially in the Islamic world, about the phenomenon of religious democracy stems from the fact that the Islamic Republic is a phenomenon that has passed 35 years since its inception, and throughout these 35 years, it has faced the harsh and hostile reactions of the dominant powers of the world: they have shown military reactions, propaganda reactions, and hostile economic reactions—sanctions began from the very first day of the revolution and have intensified day by day until today—and political reactions; this powerful Western front has been doing everything in its power against the Islamic Republic for 35 years; it has made military efforts, supported military aggressors against the country, backed enemies at every point against the Islamic Republic, employed extensive propaganda against it, and has implemented unprecedented sanctions and economic blockades at the highest possible level. However, in response, the Islamic Republic has neither been destroyed nor has it become conservative, nor has it paid tribute to the West; rather, the country has progressed day by day. This is what constitutes the essence of this curiosity. When the first-rate military, political, and economic powers of the world unite against a country, against a government, and for 35 years strive to do everything in their power, yet that government not only does not perish but becomes stronger day by day, does not pay tribute to them, and does not heed them. In various fields, the Islamic Republic has demonstrated its power and its capability for survival. Today, when one looks at the Islamic Republic, one sees that the second and third generations of the revolution in this country have several million students, thousands of proficient religious scholars, thousands of researchers and academics, tens of thousands of university and seminary professors, thousands of scientific and intellectual elites, some of whom are internationally renowned, thousands of political, cultural, and economic activists and elites; this is the reality of our society today. The Islamic Republic, in the field of science and technology, despite all these sanctions, sends satellites into space, sends living beings into space and brings them back, produces nuclear energy, ranks among the top ten countries in many emerging sciences, and the pace of scientific advancement in the Islamic Republic is reported by responsible centers worldwide to be thirteen times the world average. It exports scientific and technical services to various countries, manages a 75 million population country despite unprecedented sanctions, leads in regional policies, stands alone against the oppressive regime supported by the world's bullies, does not compromise with the oppressor, and defends the oppressed; any aware person becomes curious about what this entity is, what this phenomenon is with all this enmity and all these inherent capabilities and signs of life and survival; this is the essence of this curiosity. This is now in the context of scientific and technological issues and similar matters.

In the realm of political and social issues, the high manifestation of democracy in this country, which has been 35 years since our revolution, and during these 35 years, we have had 32 elections; 32 nationwide elections have taken place in this country; is this a joke? It is a unique example; the elections of the Islamic Republic have had high participations—higher than the global average and sometimes much higher; participation rates of 70%, 72%; our elections are of this nature—this is a manifestation of democracy. Another unique example is the two phenomena that we, the people, have become accustomed to, but for a global observer, they are extraordinarily attractive and important, namely the 22nd of Bahman (11th of February) rallies and the Quds Day rallies in the month of Ramadan. The people have continuously celebrated the anniversary of the revolution every year for these 35 years with a massive, enthusiastic, and glorious rally in the cold days at the end of Bahman. We have become accustomed to it, and the importance and grandeur of the subject do not appear to us, but a global observer sees these and finds them very striking; these are the factors that stimulate that curiosity and present a new path to the minds of those interested and those who are inclined to question and inquire. This is the important reality of our time, which is the attention and curiosity of the general public in the Islamic world by the youth, intellectuals, and those who understand the issues, towards this phenomenon that has been realized in the Islamic Republic of Iran, by divine grace and confirmation, and has grown day by day. This is the first point.

This reality is the product of the hands of the great architect. We have spoken a lot about the Imam; some may have thought that we speak with exaggeration and embellishment; but no, what we have said about our great Imam is neither exaggeration nor embellishment; it is part of the reality; more than what we have described and been able to present, our dear and great Imam had substance and meaning. What is available to the Iranian nation and is in the view and thought of nations around the world is the product of that capable hand. In order to walk the right path, we must know the architect's plan. If in a conventional building, the plan is not available, the original plan is not known, even the most skilled builders may make mistakes; the original plan must be known so that if there is any skill in construction and revival, it can be applied based on that original plan. His plan was not one that merely emanated from the mind of a human; it was certainly divinely inspired; the Imam himself knew this and acknowledged it; he himself said that what has happened is by the hand of divine power, and he understood it correctly, and his insightful and discerning eye saw it correctly. We must be careful; we must recognize that plan so that we can continue on the path. If we do not know the plan, we will deviate; when we deviate, the further we go, the more we stray from the original path and the straight path; when we stray from the straight path, we move away from the goals and do not reach the goals; in order to reach the goal, we must not lose the way; in order not to lose the way, we must have the original and fundamental plan before our eyes, we must recognize it and know it. The Imam's plan, the Imam's main work, was the establishment of a civil-political order based on Islamic rationality; the necessary precondition for this work was the uprooting of the monarchy—which was both corrupt, dependent, and dictatorial; these three characteristics existed in the monarchy: it was corrupt, with various moral and financial corruptions; it was dependent on powers, sometimes dependent on England, sometimes dependent on America, willing to forget its own interests and the country in favor of foreign interests; and it was dictatorial, oppressive, the will of the people, the desires of the people were not considered in the monarchy; each of these is a long chapter, a book—was to be uprooted; the effort was focused on this, and the regime was uprooted. In our country, the issue is not that the monarchy goes, and another monarchy or quasi-monarchy replaces it; the issue is that the characteristics that the monarchy had must be eradicated, and the great Imam uprooted them; the words of the Imam, the guidance of the Imam, the behavior of the Imam are all directed towards this.

In the establishment of that civil and political order, there are two fundamental points that are interconnected; in a sense, they are two sides of a single reality: one is to entrust the affairs of the country to the people through democracy and through elections, and the second is that this movement—which itself originated from Islam and everything that arises from the democratic movement and entrusting affairs to the people—must be within the framework of Islamic law. These are two parts, or from one perspective, two dimensions of a single reality.

Let no one think that our great Imam took elections from Western culture and mixed it with Islamic thought and Islamic law; no, if elections and democracy and reliance on the votes of the people were not part of the religion and were not derived from Islamic law, the Imam would have had no compulsion; that straightforward and decisive man would have expressed the matter. This is part of the religion; therefore, Islamic law is the framework; in all legislations, executions, appointments, and public behaviors that are subject to this political and civil order, Islamic law must be observed. And the circulation of affairs in this system is through democracy; that is, the people elect the members of parliament, elect the president, elect the ministers indirectly, elect the experts, and elect the leadership indirectly; the affairs are in the hands of the people; this is the main foundation of the great Imam's movement. This great edifice that this great man established is based on these two foundations. Commitment to Islamic law is the spirit and essence of the Islamic system; this must be kept in mind. If Islamic law is fully implemented in society, it guarantees both public and civil freedoms—the freedom of individuals, individual freedom—and the freedom of the nation, which is called independence—independence means freedom in the dimensions of a nation, which is not dependent on anyone or anything; a free nation means a nation that is not under the influence and control of its opponents or enemies or foreigners—guarantees justice in society, and guarantees spirituality; these are the four main elements: freedom, independence, justice, spirituality. If Islamic law governs society, these fundamental phenomena in the Islamic social order will manifest themselves. Therefore, our great Imam relied on Islamic law, which is the spirit of the Islamic Republic; he also relied on religious democracy, which is a means and tool derived from the law.

No power or dominance in the Imam's school that has resulted from usurpation and the exercise of force is acceptable. In the Islamic system, coercion and dominance have no meaning; power has meaning, authority has meaning, but authority that arises from the choice of the people and the election of the people; that authority which arises from force and dominance and weapons has no meaning in Islam and in Islamic law and in the Imam's school; that power which came from the choice of the people is respected; against it, no one should stand up; against it, no one should use coercion and dominance, for if someone does such a thing, his action is called sedition; this is the new version that our great Imam presented to the world and added this important chapter to the political literature of the world. In this new version, one of the main elements—as we have pointed out—is to assist the oppressed and confront the oppressor; one must assist the oppressed, and in our time, the most evident example of oppression is the Palestinian nation, which you saw the great Imam emphasized, insisted upon, supported, and bequeathed that this issue should not be forgotten by the Iranian nation and the officials of the country; assisting the oppressed and standing against the oppressor, rejecting the encroachments of the oppressor, denying the apparent might and grandeur of the oppressor, and breaking this grandeur; this is also one of the components of this system and this new version that our great Imam presented. This is a summary and a brief description of the political order and foundational principles that our great Imam brought to the country after the collapse of the monarchy, which was decisively accepted by the people and realized; and this version did not remain like many political statements in books; it came into reality, was realized, and manifested itself; the Iranian nation also endeavored, showed loyalty, sacrificed, preserved it, maintained it, and strengthened it day by day until today.

Well, the Imam succeeded; the Imam achieved complete success in the work he wanted to accomplish, but will this great work continue? Will the empty sections of this table—naturally, there are empty sections in these social and historical tables—be filled? This depends on how much effort you and I make; how much awareness we show; how much we adhere to that clear line and move along that clear line. Yes, it is entirely possible; with this nation that we are witnessing, with this experience and this successful movement and continuous progress that this nation has shown in these 35 years—and after the Imam's passing in these 25 years—yes, the continuation of this path is possible; the empty houses will be filled, great works will be accomplished, and this nation, with God's permission and divine support, will reach the peaks.

However, this path, like all important paths leading to great goals, has challenges and obstacles; we must recognize these obstacles in order to be able to overcome them. If we do not recognize the obstacle, passing through it will either be difficult or even impossible. I am presenting these to you, the esteemed attendees of this grand and glorious assembly, and indeed to the Iranian nation who will hear these words, but our youth, our wise ones, our intellectual elites must sit down and think about each of these headings and sections; not just engage in theoretical discussions of pseudo-intellectualism, but practical discussions, operational discussions, discussions that pertain to reality. What we are presenting are headings for intellectual work that, God willing, will be pursued by our youth—who are much better than us, much more prepared.

I will mention two challenges: one external challenge and one internal challenge. Our external challenge is the interference of global arrogance; let us speak frankly, it is the interference of America; they are throwing stones. It is true that perhaps in the analyses of some of their political thinkers, there is this notion that it is futile, that one cannot confront this great movement; however, they are throwing stones. We must know their plan; this is the leaked plan of America; this is America's grand plan that has been revealed today through discussions, reports, statements, and behaviors: America divides the countries of the world, the movements of the world, the people of the world into three categories: one category is the obedient ones, the obedient countries, the obedient political and social movements, or obedient individuals; one group is these; another group is countries that are not obedient but must be tolerated; some countries, some personalities, some movements are seen by America as those that must be tolerated, defined with common interests, and temporarily accommodated; the third category is the disobedient countries, those that do not submit to America, do not pay tribute to America, and do not prioritize America's interests over their own; this is the category of disobedient countries. According to the Americans, all the countries of the world, all the political, social, and civil movements of the world, and all the prominent and distinguished individuals of the world fall into these three categories: either they are subservient and obedient, or they are independent and must be tolerated, or they are disobedient and show courage and audacity, and must be dealt with differently.

The American policy towards the first category is full support; of course, this support is not free; they support them and exploit them; in fact, they use their capabilities and resources for their own interests, to secure their own interests; they ride on them, they take all kinds of services from them, as we mentioned, they exploit them, and they do not care. Of course, if any behavior from them occurs that is ugly in global norms, they do not condemn that behavior, they defend it, they justify it; for example, there are oppressive countries that are governed by extremely reactionary and dictatorial regimes, they are good with the Americans, they pay tribute to the Americans, and they are obedient; when the Americans want to describe them, they do not call them dictatorial countries, they say these are patriarchal countries! They hide their dictatorship, they say these are not dictators, they are patriarchal. What does patriarchal mean in a political system? What does it mean? A country where there is no parliament, no elections, no power to speak, no freedom of expression, and any deviation from the wishes of the ruler is suppressed with severity and violence; is this a patriarchal country?

Saddam Hussein, at one point in his life, was among these obedient and subservient ones; during that time, he received all the necessary support from them, they placed themselves at his service, provided him with chemical weapons, and gave him the military movement plans that were discovered by satellites; because he was at their service, against the rebellious Islamic Republic, which is among the third group. There are these categories.

The second category, as we said, consists of countries that the American policy and plan is to tolerate; what does tolerance mean? It means that they define common interests with them, place them alongside themselves, but when they find an opportunity, they stab them in the back and tear their hearts out; they do not consider their interests. For example, the situation of European countries today is like this. America tolerates them, not in the sense that it respects their interests; no, where it can, it kicks them; it even spies on the first person of its allied country through internet espionage, it spies through mobile phones, it spies on their private lives, and has no shame; and when it is discovered, it says, yes, sorry, this happened, there was no other choice, it was done! They are not even willing to make a proper apology. My understanding of political issues is that the Europeans are in a major strategic error by placing themselves at the service of America. They respect American interests, but America does not respect their interests and will not do so; it will continue like this until the end. This is the second category.

The third category consists of countries that do not submit to America; the American policy towards these is that every possible means must be used against these disobedient countries; they recognize no limits. If you see a country that is disobedient to America and America does not attack it militarily or impose sanctions, know that there is a problem there; in simple terms, there is an obstacle in the way; if they could do it, they would do it. The only crime of this disobedient country is that it does not submit to America, does not pay tribute, and does not prioritize its interests over its own; this is what makes it a disobedient country. The Americans will stop at nothing to bring this country to its knees; they will do everything possible; if they do not do something, it is because they cannot.

Well, what are the actions that the Americans take? Today, military attack is not a priority for the Americans; they have realized that in the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, where they launched military invasions, they suffered losses; they have understood that military aggression poses risks not only for the attacked country but sometimes equally or even more for the attacking country; they have understood this correctly. Therefore, it can be said that they have turned away from military attacks and military actions; they have other ways. One of the ways is to entrust the advancement of their goals in the targeted country—which is the target of their enmity—to internal elements of that country. The issue is not only about the Islamic Republic of Iran; they do this everywhere in the world, and we have seen examples of it. Either through coups; they strengthen individuals who instigate coups in the country and remove the government and political apparatus that does not submit to them through coups; this is one of the ways. Another way is to draw part of the people into the streets, which is what these color revolutions that have emerged in various parts of this region in recent years are about. A government comes to power; after all, any government that comes to power may, if it comes with sixty percent of the people's votes, have forty percent who did not vote for it; the Americans go after that forty percent, select elements and leaders among them, and with bribery, money, and threats, they compel them to bring that forty percent or part of that forty percent into the streets. These color revolutions, this orange revolution, and revolutions in various countries that have been seen in recent years, the Americans were behind these actions. We do not want to make any judgments about the events that are currently taking place in a region of Europe, but when one looks, one sees that an American senator, an American official can play a role in the protests of a minority against a country, what role they can play by being present there? They have participated. One of their actions is to bring a group of people into the streets and civil disobedience to overthrow the government that is not acceptable to them and does not pay tribute to them. One of their actions is to activate terrorist groups and unleash terrorist groups; they did this in Iraq, they did this in Afghanistan, they did this in some Arab countries in the region, and they did this in our own country; they unleashed terrorist groups, targeted specific individuals [for assassination]. In our country, they killed scientists, nuclear energy specialists, and martyred them; before that, they also killed other individuals, political elites, cultural elites, scientific figures, and religious figures; and these grew under the auspices of America, some of them were accepted and embraced by the Americans because of the services they provided to America. Today, the Mojahedin are in the embrace of America; they participate in various sessions, in the committees of the American Congress; these same Mojahedin, those who killed ordinary people here, killed great figures, killed scholars, killed scientists, killed politicians, and caused explosions, are now there with them. One of their methods is also to create divisions at the top of the governments; one of the things they do is to create differences and rifts in the leadership of those governments that are not aligned with them, to create dual leadership; in many cases, they do not succeed, but unfortunately, in some cases, they do succeed; this is one of the methods. One of the methods is to divert the hearts and minds of the people from their belief and faith foundations through their propaganda; and various other methods of this kind. And the United States regime has done all these things against our dear Iran and our Islamic Iran, and by God's grace, it has failed in all these endeavors. Military coups, support for seditionists, drawing people into the streets, opposing elections, creating divisions, they have either done these or attempted to do them, and thanks be to God, they have remained unsuccessful in all of them. Why? Because the nation was awake, because the nation was faithful, and this is where I turn to the second challenge, which is the internal challenge.

Dear brothers and sisters! The internal challenge for our nation is that we lose sight of and forget the spirit and direction of the movement of our great Imam and lose it; this is the greatest danger. We may make mistakes in recognizing our enemy; we may make mistakes in recognizing our friend; we may confuse the enemy and friend, not understand who the enemy is; who the friend is; or we may make mistakes in recognizing the main and secondary enemies, this is also a danger. Dear brothers, dear sisters, the entire Iranian nation must pay attention that sometimes one may be hostile to you, but if you pay attention, their hostility is not the main enmity, it is a derivative of another factor, from another person; identify the main enemy; otherwise, if one confronts a secondary enemy, both their forces will be depleted, and the outcome will not be favorable.

Today, some groups in various parts of the Islamic world, under the names of Takfiri, Wahhabi, and Salafi groups, are working against Iran, against Shiism, against the Shia; they are doing bad things, they are committing ugly acts; but these are not the main enemies; everyone should know this. They act with enmity, they act foolishly, but the main enemy is the one who incites them, the one who provides them with money, the one who, when their motivation weakens, motivates them through various means; the main enemy is the one who sows the seeds of division and discord between that ignorant and foolish group and the oppressed nation of Iran; these are the hidden hands of the security and intelligence services. Therefore, we have repeatedly said that we do not consider these foolish groups that oppose the Islamic Republic in the name of Salafism, in the name of Takfir, in the name of Islam, to be the main enemies; we consider you to be deceived; we have told them: "If you stretch your hand towards me to kill me, I will not stretch my hand towards you to kill you; indeed, I fear God, the Lord of the worlds." If you err, if you make a mistake, if you commit yourself to kill your Muslim brother, we do not consider you, the ignorant and foolish person, to be someone we should kill; of course, we defend ourselves; anyone who attacks us will face our strong fist, this is natural; but we believe that these are not the main enemies; they are deceived. The main enemy is that enemy behind the scenes, that not-so-hidden hand that emerges from the sleeves of the security services and grabs the Muslims and pits them against each other.

These are our internal challenges: being preoccupied with conflicts within the country; superficial and secondary conflicts diverting us, putting us against each other, creating contradictions, distracting us from the main issues and the main lines; this is one of the manifestations of that main challenge that was mentioned. Losing the unity of the nation is one of our challenges. Falling into lethargy and lack of spirit, falling into inactivity, falling into despair and hopelessness, thinking that we cannot do it, thinking that we have not been able to do it until now; no, as the Imam said, we can, we must have determination; national determination and jihadist management can resolve all these knots. These are all our internal challenges that we must confront. As we mentioned, our dear youth, our elites, our scholars must sit down and examine these issues; these are headings. The blessed name of our great Imam and the memory of that great man and the plan of that great architect can assist us in all these chapters and give us hope and vitality and spirit; just as it has been until today, and by divine grace, it will continue to be so in the future.

O Lord! Bestow Your blessings upon this dear nation. O Lord! Assist our dear youth in building the ideal Islamic system. O Lord! Protect us from deviations and aberrations. O Lord! Strengthen the hand of the Iranian nation against its enemies; grant them victory over their enemies; make the heart of the holy Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for him) kind towards us; make the prayers of that great one encompass us; unite the pure soul of the Imam and the dear martyrs with the Prophet.

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