East and West Backed Saddam Hussein
The East and the West were supporting Iraq. Almost all of Europe helped Iraq. During the war, we used to guess these things based on what the signs indicated. But in the last one or two years, we found definite proof of it. Everyone acknowledged this, and one by one the evidence came out. It was obvious from day one that the US, NATO, and the Soviet Union were all helping [Iraq]. The Eastern Bloc, the same Eastern European countries that are suffering these calamities today, provided the utmost service to the Iraqi regime during the war. There was also the reaction in the region. Therefore, the war was not caused by the Iraqi regime alone – the Iraqi regime was one factor. The war was caused by the Arrogant Powers and their followers. This is an obvious matter today and doesn’t require much discussion.
Imam Khamenei
Sept. 27, 1991
The reasons they imposed a war on the Islamic Republic of Iran
Why did they start this war? This is also clear. They started the war to destroy the Islamic system or to force it to surrender. This made no difference to them. They wanted to bring about the downfall of the Islamic Republic with the troubles due to the occupation and war. Or if this didn’t bring its downfall - like most of the countries that have suffered from such calamities and eventually ended up turning to one of the world powers – maybe the nation of Iran and the great Imam [Khomeini] would end up surrendering to their enemies too. Maybe they too would reach out to them [for help] and say, “Alright, we give up. Don’t let Iraq trounce on us like this anymore.” That was undoubtedly their goal, but this wish was also in vain.
Imam Khamenei
Sept. 27, 1991
Failure of the enemy to implement the smallest of its goals in the war
Eight years of the war had passed, but which one of its goals had the enemy been able to implement? They spent billions of dollars. This was no joke. They had brought weapons from all the big arsenals in the world to the borders where they were fighting us. All those top intellectuals, political minds, and strategists from Russia, the US, the UK, and the like sat together in meetings. But which one of their goals were implemented? The whole world is a witness, and the Iranian nation is the best witness to testify that even the smallest of the enemy’s goals was not implemented. It wasn’t able to overthrow the Islamic government nor was it able to weaken it. Rather, the Islamic government became even stronger in the world with the amazing, divine management during the time of the war. The way it was spiritually organized, and from a spiritual point of view the formation of that great, unparalleled force. It appeared even stronger in the eyes of the people of the world. They weren’t able to change our borders by even the size of a needle. They weren’t able to weaken our sovereignty. Rather, we were able to further consolidate our sovereignty over the areas that they wanted to weaken. They weren’t able to dissuade us from our principles either.
Imam Khamenei
Sept. 16, 1993
The ugliest point in the international arena and examples of it
Amongst the undesirable, ugly points in the international arena, there’s one point that I believe is the most horrendous. Today, I want to focus on that point so that the opinion of the Iranian nation may become clear to all those watching. The point that I want to talk about is that we have no expectation from the aggressors and assailants in the world that they will be good and not oppress others. However, we do expect the world’s international assemblies to act fairly and independently! The United Nations is called the United Nations. This means an organization that belongs to the nations. This world organization is not owned by governments, let alone the world’s governments who are aggressors. Unfortunately, the reality is something else today and this is the point that is extremely ugly. We’ve already seen the things the Security Council has done, and it is the main decision-making body in the United Nations and the heart of this organization. We’ve realized how in sensitive times, this organization rests in the hands of the superpowers and works for them instead of the nations. An example of this was what happened during the Imposed War. When the Imposed War began, Iraq invaded our borders, and it entered several provinces in our country, we filed a complaint with the United Nations as is usual. According to UN regulations, the Security Council should have issued a resolution condemning Iraq as the aggressor within the first few hours. But they didn’t do this. They failed to show any sort of reaction for several days. It was only when the Iraqi army had taken advantage of the chaotic situation at that time and had entered the soil of our beloved country, occupying several thousand kilometers, that the Security Council raised its head to make a statement. They supposedly issued a resolution! What was the resolution? Was it, “The aggressor should leave Iranian territories”? Definitely not! They issued a resolution stating, “Iran and Iraq should declare a ceasefire”! What did that mean? It meant that the Iraqi army had entered Iran’s territory and now that it was time for the Iranian nation to defend itself, their hands should be held back, no one should defend themselves, and the aggressors shouldn’t be thrown out! This was the Security Council’s resolution! Do you know how many years they said the same thing without condemning the transgrssor?! Of course, our soldiers took back most of the lands themselves in a short period of time – within about a year and a half.
Imam Khamenei
March 13, 1994
/129