AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): In a meeting with a number of veterans from the Sacred Defense, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution explained some of the dimensions of the Sacred Defense’s greatness. This meeting took place in the Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah on September 20, 2023, on the eve of the Sacred Defense Week.
During the meeting, Imam Khamenei outlined that preserving the territorial integrity, revealing the great ability and capacity of the Iranian nation, expanding the cognitive boundaries and growing and strengthening the concept and culture of Resistance in Iran and across the world is the result of the collective defense of Iranians against the world’s bullies and the evil Saddam Hussein.
The Leader underlined that, "The flourishing of talents and the emergence of the power and initiative of the country's youth during the Sacred Defense showed that the youth are always capable of solving all of the country's problems."
To elucidate the magnificence of the Sacred Defense, Imam Khamenei discussed four fundamental aspects of it. What was being defended during the war? Who was the defense confronting? Who were the defenders? And what were the results and the achievements gained from this defense?
Imam Khamenei noted that the suppression and destruction of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic and the separation of parts of the country were part of the enemies’ main goals during the Imposed War.
"The Great Islamic Revolution was a unique phenomenon because until then no other revolution in the world had resulted in a religious and democratic government. Global aggressive powers wanted to destroy this new voice – that is, the Islamic Republic and religious democracy. They have pursued the same goal up until now." he said.
Imam Khamenei explained that the Imposed War was different to normal wars where the goal is often to separate parts of a certain country.
"The purpose of launching the Imposed War was to destroy the existence of a country, the identity of a nation and the attainment of its sacrifices."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution considered it necessary to pay attention to the nature of those who invaded Iran in order to understand the greatness of the Sacred Defense.
"The world’s well-known powers back then formed a united front and supported Saddam's attack on the Iranian nation," he said.
In describing the support that the Arrogant Powers and other countries provided to Saddam Hussein, Imam Khamenei referred to the reports that consider the Americans to be Saddam's main incentive in attacking Iran.
"The French gave Saddam the most advanced air equipment. The Germans equipped him to produce catastrophic chemical weapons. The Eastern Bloc led by the former Soviet Union provided Saddam with all the ground and air facilities that he requested. And the Arabs in the region gave him countless amounts of money," he said.
The Leader also recalled how the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation fought alone in the battle against "the Arrogant Front, Saddam Hussein, and the region’s reactionary Arab countries."
"The nation stood on the platform of victory and demonstrated its greatness and glory during this battle of inequality," he said.
Imam Khamenei explained that one of these differences was Imam Khomeini’s command over the Sacred Defense complex, with the divine personality, knowledge, thought, maturity and spiritual purity that he possessed.
"The influence of the words arising from the Imam's spirituality had a tremendous impact on the fronts at different times, including the rescue of Paveh and the breaking of the siege of Abadan."
Elsewhere in his speech, Imam Khamenei considered the preservation of territorial integrity and the fact that not even one part of Iran was separated, as some of the Sacred Defense’s achievements.
"Revealing the great capabilities of the [Iranian] nation is one of the most important outcomes of the Sacred Defense. All the enemies conspired against it for eight years, but they failed to accomplish anything."
Safeguarding Iran was one of the other outcomes of the eight-year-long Imposed War, which the Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed to.
"The country has been protected from possible attacks to a large extent due to the earnest defense of the people," he said.
In this regard, he noted: "We have seen them saying, on numerous occasions that the military option is on the table. However, it has not budged from the table because they learned to recognize what the Iranian nation was like during the [Imposed] War. They knew that they might be the initiator of a movement, but our nation will be the one who determines its end."
The expansion of Iran's non-geographic borders, including its intellectual and cognitive borders, was another achievement that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution addressed.
"As a result of this very important achievement, the global concept of Resistance has been formed and established in Palestine, Syria, Iraq and other regions. The Iranian nation’s activities have served as an example for other nations in various areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America," he added.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated that the emergence and consolidation of the idea of self-confidence is a miracle of the Sacred Defense.
"For various reasons, the world’s aggressive powers have had an eye on our important region, and they still do. That is why the spiritual presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the rise of the practice of the Resistance, have angered the US and some others. This is because the resistance of the nations has prevented their exploitation."
Ayatollah Khamenei described the growth and fortification of the idea of the Resistance inside Iran as one of the by-products of the Sacred Defense.
"In these 30-odd years after the war, we have experienced various kinds of attacks and seditions which all failed because the Iranian nation institutionalized the practice of resistance within itself."
Elsewhere in his remarks, Imam Khamenei considered the Armed Forces as one of the definite honors of every society. "One of the enemy’s goals is to damage the value, honor and dignity of the Armed Forces," he said.
Prior to the Leader’s speech, a number of researchers and active partakers in different fields of the Sacred Defense expressed some points about the necessity of benefiting from the model of the Sacred Defense in solving the country's problems. General Bahman Kargar, the head of the Foundation for the Preservation of Sacred Defense Works and Values, also presented a report on the activities and programs of this foundation.
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