On Sunday, Iranians as well as many people worldwide marked the 34th demise anniversary of late Imam Khomeini in style by holding ceremonies and once again they showed what the late Imam has laid its foundation has not lost its steam and it moves ahead strongly by attracting souls and minds of people in any part of the world.

It is safe to say that without Imam Khomeini, it would have been a different story today. The ideological tremors triggered by this charismatic leader of the Islamic Revolution during his lifetime went beyond the borders of Iran and the Persian Gulf region.

At that time when Imam Khomeini talked about the Islamic ruling and government many people mostly enemies and Westerners laughed at Imam’s remarks but now everyone is seeing this point that what Imam Khomeini said has come true and now the Islamic Republic of Iran has turned into a mighty country and a source of hope for the oppressed and also freedom-seeking people in Iran and the world.

Of course, his demise did not lead to the failure and defeat of the Islamic Revolution because someone like Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei took the helm of the ship of the Islamic Revolution and steered the ship safely out of all turbulences and waves and now nobody dares to threaten Iran and use language of force or bully against it.

On Sunday and addressing the multitude of people at the impressive ceremony to mark the 34th anniversary of the passing of Imam Khomeini, the architect of the Islamic Revolution, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei touched on many significant and pressing issues.

From the inspiring leadership demonstrated by the late Imam during his life in confronting the local dictatorship and foreign imperialism, to the evil role many Western countries and their media empires played during recent riots, to the importance of staying strong and vigilant against diabolic plots by Iran’s enemies, Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech on Sunday was one for the ages.

Stressing that the only “hardware” Imam Khomeini possessed while leading the widely popular movement aimed at Islamic revival was “paper and cassette tapes” — used to raise public awareness — the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said the key to Imam’s successful movement was the “software” of pure conviction to and trust in God and the divine pledges.

Tens of thousands had gathered in the majestic mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic to pay tribute to him and to reaffirm their pledge to the revolution and principles he held dear.

Ayatollah Khamenei underlined that such unflinching faith and trust in God must remain “alive” in the nation, insisting that the preservation and protection of Iran’s independence depends on it.

He called on Iranian officials and people to reinforce their faith and trust in God, noting that such values must be complemented with action and hard work, rather than passivism.

The Leader also urged people to display a “can do” attitude and self-confidence in all fields of work in line with the teachings of the late Imam, who believed in action and positivity.

Ayatollah Khamenei further pointed to what he described as three most significant and unique things made possible by Imam Khomeini – toppling a US-installed brutal dictatorship and replacing it with an independent, people-centered system of governance in Iran, bringing an end to a period of passivism across the Muslim world and fostering Islamic awakening and lastly, reviving the sense of spiritualism.

Ayatollah Khamenei was referring to the wave of Islamic resurgence in many Muslim countries, as well as the emergence of resistance groups that challenged the occupation of Palestine by Zionist forces.

In Latin America, the rise of the so-called “liberation theology” as a faith-based movement to combat massive suppression of freedoms by US-backed dictators in the region also owes to Imam Khomeini and the revolutionary movement he spearheaded, according to experts.

“Imam Khomeini is alive,” the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said in his address, prompting vociferous ‘Long Live Revolution’ chants from the crowd. “He has a word with us. He is speaking to us.”

Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized that “there’s a long road ahead of us and improving the state of affairs of the Iranian nation will depend on following up” on the prescription proposed by the visionary Imam.

He noted, however, that such endeavors have opponents and enemies across the globe who are bent on carrying out all sorts of activities to block further changes to the existing world order.

The Leader stressed that among the strategies employed by the enemy is to spread pessimism and hopelessness among the Iranian youth by highlighting problems and undermining the nation’s progress.

He then reiterated the need to rely on faith and trust in God to overcome existing hardships that commonly arise everywhere and can be dealt with and eventually overcome.

So we see the trace and influence of the Islamic Revolution in any part of the world because of the late Imam Khomeini and his successor Ayatollah Khamenei who turned the Islamic Revolution into one of the most influential and respectable revolutions in the world.

Now it is our task and duty to safeguard the Islamic Revolution against its ill-wishers and in February 2024 we can once again celebrate the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution which is sweet for all freedom-loving people in the world and also painful for the enemies of the revolution, and Iranians and oppressed people in the world will never forget what the late Imam Khomeini has done for the humanity and the nations, and we believe late Imam Khomeini was a great man with a great job done in the history.

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The Leader’s speech will be broadcast live on at 11:00 a.m. local time (0630 GMT) through his website (khamenei.ir), and Instagram and Twitter account as well as Iran’s national TV.

The annual ceremony to honor the founder of the Islamic Republic, which is normally held with the speech of Ayatollah Khamenei in Ayatollah Khomeini’s mausoleum in southern Tehran, has been canceled due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Ayatollah Khomeini, better known as Imam Khomeini, passed away on June 3, 1989 at the age of 87.

He devoted his life to standing up to the Pahlavi dynasty, and eventually paved the way for its downfall in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In the pre-revolution era, Ayatollah Khomeini spent more than 15 years in exile for his opposition to the last monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah, mostly for his association with superpowers.

He was not allowed to return to Iran during Pahlavi’s reign and only came back home on February 1, 1979 after the Shah gave in to popular demonstrations and left the country. The Pahlavi monarchy collapsed 10 days later on February 11.

The Leader’s speech on Wednesday precedes the anniversary of demonstrations of June 5, 1963, which is remembered in Iran as a prelude to the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

Ayatollah Khomeini was arrested in 1963 after he made a keynote speech in the holy city of Qom, where he lambasted the “capitulation law” that granted immunity to Americans on Iranian soil.

Later that year, people took to the streets to protest his arrest. Taken by surprise by the mass demonstrations, the Pahlavi regime’s forces launched a bloody crackdown to quell the protests.

Press TV contributed to this story.

The post Leader to address nation on Ayatollah Khomeini’s passing anniversary appeared first on Iran News Daily.

It is source of pride and honor that Khorramshahr, the city exuberant with red blood and sacrifice, was liberated on May 24, 1982. The city was liberated during the Beit-ul Moqaddas Operation which began on April 30, 1982 after ups and downs which are common in the wars. The operation liberated Hoveyzeh and Khorramshahr in a 23-day war and pushed away the enemy forces to keep cities of Ahwaz and Soosangerd away from the range of Iraq Army’s artillery fire.

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During this battle, 9,000 divisions and 19 brigades of Iraq Army were involved and Iranian forces killed and wounded over 16,000 Iraqi troops and took 19,000 hostages. Iraq President Saddam Hussein after defeats in Hoveyzeh and Khorramshhr executed some of his army’s commanders who had been several times decorated with order of merit and loyalty in the past. This victory boosted the morale of Iran’s resistance so that both Army and IRGC forces claimed the victory and the founder of the Islamic revolution and ummah Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (R) cautioned them by saying “God liberated Khorramshahr.”

And Iran with liberation of Khorramshahr changed its position in the world, and consequently views towards the country were totally changed. The rhetoric of the world mass media fully changed and May 24, 1982 once again showed the world Iranians as a “united nation”. The word which never sounded pleasant for those who used to create separation, pan-Arabism or other “pans” as they used to show Iran as a multi-ethnic country with different mentality and races in order to divide the country by resorting to Iranian nationalism and pan-Iranism.

But Iranian people through the time and during thousands of proud events like liberation of Khorramshahr have shown that in the nick of time they rush to defend and support their sovereignty and country with a national consolidation and sacrifice.

So every year since May 24, 1982,as this year is 38^th anniversary, the day is marked in order that we should not forget that many people have sacrificed their lives, and bloods have been poured for safeguarding the sovereignty of this hero-nurturing land as they have become eternal assets for the nation.

When we talk about sovereignty, it does not mean only political and military dominance over the land but it covers all values and honors of all provinces, cities and waters. Iranians living in the West Asia may have different dialogues but all are Iranians and they are proud of being Iranian because Iran is the cradle and host of Imam Mahdi (A) and they are proud of it. We still do not forget that from October 26, 1980 till May 24, 1982, and almost for 18 months Khorramshahr was under occupation of Iraqi Baath Army forces. On October 26, 1980 and when Iraqi forces entered the city, they arrogantly wrote on the walls of the city that they had come to stay but their words did not last more than two years and they suffered heavy casualties and were pushed back out of the city with humiliation and their forces were forced to escape or they were killed or taken hostages.

Some of Iraqi troops after being taken as hostages begged Iranians by saying they wanted to have Imam Khomeini’s protection. Of course their beg discredited what they had written earlier on the walls. Undoubtedly, Saddam Hussein did not know Iranians well. Iranians love foreigners till they do not think of any aggression and harm, as they have never left any aggression unanswered and for this reason their land and sovereignty has remained intact to date. The Greek, Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs and Mongols all had invaded Iran but when they wanted to leave, they were not as before because they burned in Iranian culture furnace. They either became Iranian or suffered humiliating defeats and returned to their countries like Saddam Hussein and Baath Party forces exactly did on May 24, 1982 as the wretched commander of Qadisiyyah and his troops, after 575 days of battle during the Beit-ul Moqaddas operation, were expelled out of Khorramshahr with humiliation. Of course they had earlier suffered another defeats in Dehlaviyeh, Bostan and Soosangerd. This victory is congratulated to Iran’s armed forces, both Army and IRGC, and the nation whose sweetness will be as sweet as honey for ever in the history.

 By: Hamid Reza Naghashian

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