Hawzah News Agency – The last bountiful result of the Karbala event was our magnificent revolution. If Karbala had not taken place, and if we had not followed it as a model, this revolution wouldn’t have triumphed. In 1978, our great Imam (Khomeini) referred to the month of Muharram as ‘The month in which blood wins over swords’; he, thus, gave us this lesson and approach regarding Muharram. The same is true for our war (The eight-year war of Holy Defense). 
Religious missionaries, clerics, religious advocates, religious singers and eulogists should not forget: in our time, a complete example of the events of Ashura is represented by Basiji people--Basiji youth and children. Do not forget that some of them were martyred, and some are among us. 
Those who were not martyred, it was not because they escaped from martyrdom. They welcomed martyrdom, but martyrdom did not come to them. We should remember that the events of Ashura and Muharram are linked to our martyrs and the survival of Basiji--who are, thanks be to God, very much so, among the youth and elderly of our society today. This month of promoting values is ahead of you and me. Be aware, and take advantage of the maximum benefits of this month, setting us on the path of religion, for the sake of God. 

Our Sacred Defense Era, the adventurous eight-year era of war in our country, was the story of the resistance of the people of Iran and our youth against the malevolent and hostile acts of kufr and global arrogance. Although the Ba'athist regime and Saddam - he was a person who was malevolent and anti-human enough - were apparently the only force against us, they were not alone. What caused this war to continue for eight years were the agents of global arrogance who acted behind the scenes, who encouraged Saddam and who provided him with military supplies.

When our enemies were forced to retreat from our areas in Khuzestan - you have seen only part of these areas - a European government gave certain military equipment to the Ba'athists so that they could continue their malevolent and evil acts by sea. It gave them a certain missile. Arrogant powers did not allow the operations which were carried out in these areas to seal the fate of the war. This was because they were encouraging the Ba'athist regime.

The hand of global arrogance - the hand of European governments and the government of America - was behind the malevolent and hostile Ba'athist regime. They used to encourage it to continue the war. They did not want to let the Islamic Republic achieve victory in this great event and they used to say this openly...

These consecutive operations - which were carried out by our dear soldiers and our self-sacrificing youth in the form of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Basij, popular and tribal forces and even in the form of the police and the gendarmerie - could have ended the war. During these operations, our youth made great sacrifices in the arena of war.

But the camp of the enemies of the Islamic Republic - European governments and the government of America - did not allow this to happen. They used to encourage our enemy by giving him new supplies and they used to make him hopeful about achieving victory in this war. This was why the war continued for eight years.

Eight years of war is not a joke. The great and well-known wars which broke out during times close to our own, lasted only four, five, six years. But this war lasted for eight wars. Besides, it was very broad in scope. It stretched from the north to the south - from the northwestern region of the country to furthermost south.

Their goal was to do something to make the Islamic Republic feel that it cannot confront these enemies. They wanted to do something to introduce the Islamic Republic as a weak and incompetent system. But Allah the Exalted showed His strong hand. He crushed the mouth of the enemies of the Islamic Republic and the enemies of the hoisted flag of Islam with the steel fists of divine tradition. He brought them to their knees and showed that the Islamic Republic can defend itself against all materialistic powers in the world because it is reliant on the people's faith and feelings. He showed that the Islamic Republic can make the other side express its desperation. They acknowledged that they were desperate and they accepted that they could not show resistance against the determined fists of the followers of Islam and the believers in divine promises. As a result of this, their propaganda efforts were foiled.

They used to try to make us people of Iran and believers in divine signs believe that we cannot stand up against materialistic powers in the world. They wanted to make us believe this. I will tell you dear brothers and people of Iran that a people are defeated when they believe that they cannot do anything. This is the first defeat of any people.

During the time of the imposed war, they wanted to arouse this feeling in the hearts of the Iranians, but the opposite happened. The imposed war - Iran's Sacred Defense Era - showed that a people can take all the difficult paths, stand up against and defeat the enemy and make him retreat in the shade of unity, faith in God, trust in Allah the Exalted and belief in the truth of divine promises. The imposed war showed this to all of us.

Imam Khamenei