In this gathering, which was held with the Leader being present in person for the first time after two years, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed out some of the yet unrecognized aspects of Imam Khomeini’s personality. He said, “Despite the many statements and writings about that wise guide, there are many unsaid things about his greatness, powerful character and leadership. The young generation of the country, which does not yet correctly know Imam, must learn the instructive lessons of Imam’s school of thought in order to play its national, revolutionary role, take the second step of the Revolution and manage the country efficiently so that it will move toward the bright future of the country more confidently.”

In describing the Islamic Revolution as being the greatest revolution in the history of revolutions and comparing it with the Great French Revolution and the Soviet Revolution, Imam Khamenei stated, “In those revolutions, spirituality was neglected, both revolutions deviated from their course after a short time, the people who were the major factor in their victory were put aside, and in reality they returned to their previous situation. But the Islamic Revolution has moved forward even after its victory thanks to the continuous elections, constant reliance on the people and the attention paid simultaneously to both the material and spiritual aspects of people’s lives. These are some of the reasons behind the superiority of the Islamic Revolution over all other revolutions in history. It also shows the greatness of Imam Khomeini’s leadership.”

He emphasized that the people were a definite factor bringing about the victory of the Revolution. He said, “The powerful hand, steely personality, confident heart and brave tongue that was able to bring the great ocean of people into the arena, stir them to action, keep them in the arena without despairing and show them the correct direction to move in was the hand of our magnanimous, great Imam Khomeini.”

He stressed that Imam Khomeini was truly distinguished in terms of his personality traits and said, “Purity and piety, spirituality and mystic sentiments, courage, wisdom and rationality, acumen, hope in the future, sincerity, punctuality and discipline, reliance on God and confidence in His promises, and having a fighting spirit were some of the distinctive characteristics of our late Imam.”

Highlighting some of the outstanding characteristics of Imam’s school of thought, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said, “The infrastructure for Imam’s school, whether during the revolutionary activities or after the victory of the Revolution, was based on rising up for the cause of God. And this was based on Qur’anic principles.”

Imam Khamenei stated that the purpose of starting an uprising for the cause of God in all stages is to establish the truth, to administer justice and to promote spirituality. He added, “Imam was a real fighter and was continuously present in the field of rising up for the cause of God. Imam’s movement during the revolutionary activities had some prominent points, including: fearlessness, honesty with the people, trusting in the people, appreciation for their efforts and breathing hope into their hearts.”

Highlighting outstanding points regarding Imam’s actions in establishing the Islamic Republic, His Eminence stated, “The most important concern that Imam had and his main plan during that time was to separate the Islamic Republic from western culture and traditions. Accordingly, Imam stressed that the Islamic Republic was not indebted to western ideas of a republic and democracy, and that it was formed on the basis of Islam instead.”

Referring to Imam Khomeini’s efforts to bring harmony between an apparently conflicting dualism, he stressed, “In the new model and political system presented by Imam, there is both spirituality and people’s rights, the execution of divine rules and consideration for certain public exigencies, insistence on the administration of economic justice and attending to the poor, insistence on the production of wealth, the rejection of oppression and accepting oppression, the improvement of science and the economy, the improvement of the defensive mechanism of the country, national unity and solidarity, cherishing diversity and diverse political viewpoints, and an emphasis on the piety and purity of officials and their competence and skill.”

Posing an important question, he asked, “To what extent was Imam’s school and model realized during his time and afterwards?”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution answered this question by saying, “Based on my knowledge of the realities of the country, my response is that the Islamic Republic has accomplished great feats in all areas such as democracy, scientific achievements, diplomatic and economic affairs, and public services. Denying these achievements is an injustice. Of course, we have had our share of failures too. In other words, we have had both achievements and weaknesses and failures.”

Imam Khamenei emphasized, “Of course, the role of the far-reaching camp of the enemies from the time of the victory of the Revolution and up until today should not be ignored. It was not the Islamic Republic that gave birth to this enmity. Rather, because the Islamic Republic is opposed to oppression, arrogance, decadence and in favor of spirituality by nature, oppressors, the Arrogant Powers, the evildoers and those opposed to spirituality naturally show hostility toward it.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution explained that one of the main reasons behind enmities toward the Islamic Republic was Imam’s determined separation from the west. He said, “Support for Palestine, handing over the Israeli regime’s embassy to the Palestinian nation and also criticizing the hypocrisy and crimes of European countries and the US are important examples of Imam’s separation of the Islamic civilization, philosophy and system from western civilization and thinking.”

He stated that Imam’s great distinction was the way he familiarized the people with the concept of resistance and injected a spirit of endurance into the Iranian nation, “Thanks to Imam, the Iranian nation has become a completely resistant, strong nation today. Resistance has become an outstanding term in the political literature of the world.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed out two of the enemies’ plots against the Iranian nation, “In the first plot, the enemies have pinned their hopes on popular protests to damage the country. They are trying all kinds of tricks to turn the people against the Islamic Republic, including: psychological work on the people, activities in the internet, spending money and employing mercenaries.”

Imam Khamenei stated that the second plot involves promoting a wrong notion about the imminent decline of the Islamic Republic, “Ill-intentioned people used to say in the beginning of the Revolution that the Revolution would fall in the space of six months. Later, when their calculation proved to be wrong, they promised that it would fall in the next six months. But today more than eighty of these six-month periods have passed in the life of the Revolution, and that thin sapling has turned into a sturdy, strong tree. Their current calculations are wrong just like they were in the past.”

He stressed, “In the Islamic Republic, the people are a very important factor, and the enemies will not be able to turn the nation against the Islamic Republic.”

Analyzing the reason behind the enemies’ continuous mistakes in their calculations, he pointed to the role of some treacherous Iranian counsellors in making these wrong calculations. Furthermore, he stated, “These treacherous counsellors betray not only their own country but also the Americans because they lead them to failure with their wrong counsel.”

The people moving away from religion, clerics and the Islamic Republic was another example of the wrong calculations that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to, “In addition to the Americans, who make these statements under the influence of their unaware, treacherous counsellors, there are some naïve people inside the country who express similar viewpoints in the media inside the country.”

Stressing that today the people are more oriented toward religion and the Revolution than at the beginning of the Revolution, Imam Khamenei cited remarkable examples of the people’s honoring resistance and the clerics. He said, “The millions of people who participated in the burial ceremony of Martyr Soleimani, whose body had been torn apart, in order to respect that revolutionary man who fought for God and resisted, and the burial ceremonies for the demise of outstanding clerics such as Ayatollah Safi-Golpayegani and Ayatollah Behjat are not comparable with the memorial ceremonies held for political and artistic personalities. This shows the people’s belief in clerics, religion, struggle for the cause of God and resistance.”

Imam Khamenei stated that the enthusiastic presence of the youth in the centers for Itikaf, large spiritual gatherings, and the glorious rallies for the 22nd of Bahman and Quds Day are other signs of the nation’s loyalty to the path of our magnanimous Imam. He added, “Another example of the people’s religious zeal is the people’s – the elderly, the youth and children throughout the country - expression of love for the Imam of the Time. A manifestation of this is the song that is being sung these days.”

At the end of his statements, he offered seven important pieces of advice to activists in revolutionary, social, political and economic areas.

His first piece of advice was addressed to the intelligent, wise youth of the country, “Do not let the enemy and anti-revolutionary forces erase the identity of your Revolution and distort the truths about it.”

As his second piece of advice, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated that the people should prevent Imam’s memory from being forgotten or distorted in society. In his third piece of advice, he insisted on preventing reactionaries from increasing their influence. He emphasized, “A reactionary attitude means a return to western politics and the western lifestyle. We should not let the country regress toward a reactionary attitude as a result of the influence of the western lifestyle that had dominated the country during the corrupt Pahlavi rule.”

As his fourth piece of advice, Imam Khamenei highlighted the importance of revealing the enemy’s lies and his psychological warfare, saying: “Some time ago, the Greek government stole some of our country’s oil due to an order from the Americans. But when the self-sacrificing, valiant soldiers of the Islamic Republic confiscated the enemy’s ship carrying oil, they accused Iran of theft through their extensive propaganda machines. But it was them who had stolen our oil. Taking back something that had been stolen is not an act of theft.”

Advising everyone to benefit from the asset of the people’s faith for producing good deeds, he allocated his sixth advice to saying we must avoid injecting a sense of having come to a dead end inside the country. He explained, “In the internet, some people only inject a sense of having come to a dead end inside the country. This is done either out of ignorance or because of money. Of course, during the time of Imam too, some people wrote in the newspapers that the country had reached a dead end. But Imam stated that it was they who had reached a dead end, not the Islamic Republic.”

In his last piece of advice, he called on everyone to appreciate the value of revolutionary officials and said, “As well as criticizing the executive officials, Imam would also explicitly thank them in certain cases. Therefore, now that the enemy is trying to damage the reputation of revolutionary officials, the heavy responsibility of appreciating these officials should be carried out.”

Referring to examples of valuable services rendered by officials in recent days, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated, “One of the Minister’s presence in Abadan for several days and the President’s and the Vice President’s meeting with those hurt by this tragedy to console them are valuable examples that deserve our appreciation. Of course, the agents behind the harm inflicted in the case of Abadan and other events must be punished as well.”

At the end of his statements, Imam Khamenei referred to the noise during Hujjat al-Islam Sayyid Hassan Khomeini’s speech and said, “I heard that during Hajj Sayyid Hassan Khomeini’s speech, some people made noise. Everyone must know that I am opposed to such things and such behavior.”

At the beginning of this ceremony, Hujjat al-Islam Sayyid Hassan Khomeini described Imam Khomeini as being a promoter of the independence and dignity of the Iranian nation. He said, “Imam was the embodiment of truth, a pure soul and a manifestation and symbol of brilliant Islamic, popular ideals.”