Message on the Occasion of Honoring Martyrs in Sacred Defense Week

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

On the anniversary of Sacred Defense Week, nothing is more fitting than to honor the memory and name of the esteemed martyrs and those who sacrificed for the cause of God; those who fulfilled their covenant with God and with our dear Imam, Imam Khomeini (may his soul be sanctified), and brought their existence to the field, sincerely defending the sanctity of Islam and the Islamic system, and at the cost of sacrificing their lives, they distanced the danger of the enemy from the revolution and our dear homeland. These are the immortals of our history and the stars of Islam. Everything fades and becomes ineffective with the passage of time, yet these, like all martyrs of the path of God, become more prominent and radiant in the eyes of the people of heart and in the text of our history day by day. God's mercy upon them, and the greetings and prayers of God's righteous servants be upon their graves.

The dear disabled veterans who sacrificed their health, and the free and proud captives who gave years of their freedom, and the families of all these who endured various hardships in the path of God, all stand in the forefront of this valuable position, behind our exalted martyrs.

These great sacrifices, alongside the continuous presence of our nation's combatants in the various revolutionary battlefronts, have been able to elevate Islam, shorten the hands of foreigners from the homeland, and make Iran renowned and honorable. These struggles have opened the path for the Iranian nation towards the lofty goals of Islam and opened a window to spirituality in a world dark and captive to materialism and lust, granting it dignity and character.

Guarding the blood of the martyrs and respecting the decade-long efforts of our great nation lies in ensuring that our movement on the path of Islam becomes faster and more accurate day by day, and that our society, our people, and all our institutions, in actions and behavior, become closer to Islam. Honoring the martyrs means that this nation never bows to the domination of the arrogant powers and does not succumb to the temptations of the enemies of Islam's greatness. Following this path will grant our nation and all Muslims the dignity and success of this world and the salvation and exaltation of the hereafter, and will cut off the hands of various devils.

I ask Almighty God for the exaltation of the ranks of the dear martyrs and the joy of their pure souls, as well as the elevation of the pure spirit of the Imam of the martyrs and the free (may his soul be sanctified), and also for the healing of the disabled veterans and the swift return of the captives and the missing, and I hope that the entire Iranian nation will be under the attention of His Holiness, the Master of the Age (may my soul be sacrificed for him) and included in the accepted prayers of His Holiness. Peace be upon him and his pure ancestors.

Seyyed Ali Khamenei

04/07/1370