On the first day of the blessed Ten Days of Fajr, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with thousands of people from different walks of life, described 12 Bahman as an exceptional and history-making day. Referring to the transformation of the Pahlavi regime — a “personal, despotic, anti-religious and dependent” rule — into a government that is “popular, founded on religion, and standing firm against the bullying of the arrogant powers,” he said: the people reduced the recent American-Zionist sedition to ashes, just as they have done with all previous conspiracies, and in the future too, with God’s guidance, the nation will decisively deal with any challenge it faces.
Ayatollah Khamenei also identified America’s attempt to swallow Iran, and the steadfast resistance of the noble Iranian nation against this greed, as the main reason for the forty-seven-year confrontation between Iran and the United States. Referring to recent statements by American officials, he added: they have previously tried to frighten the Iranian nation by saying that “all options are on the table,” and they should know that if they start a war this time, it will be a “regional war.”
At the beginning of his remarks, recalling the unprecedented and unified welcome given by the people to Imam Khomeini on 12 Bahman 1357 (1 February 1979), he said: amid all the threats, the Imam entered Tehran with courage and authority, turned the massive and extraordinary public استقبال into the foundation for forming a new political system, and on that very day announced the overthrow of the monarchy.
The Leader of the Revolution described the transformation from a personal and despotic rule into a system in which the people are the real decision-makers, and the shift from the Pahlavi regime’s anti-religious process to an Islamic one, as two defining characteristics of the system born of the struggles of the Imam and the nation. He added: had all officials fulfilled their duties, the system would have become truly religious, but overall we have made progress along an Islamic and religious path.
Ayatollah Khamenei described returning the country to its rightful owners — the people — and cutting off the hand and influence of the United States from Iran as another defining feature of the Islamic Republic, and said: this feature angered and unsettled America and from that very day pushed it into hostility towards the nation and the system.
In explaining the people-centred nature of the government, he pointed to the creation of a spirit of self-belief within the nation and said: the wise Imam made the nation aware of its great capabilities and values and transformed the debilitating mindset of “we cannot” into the profoundly important belief of “we can.”
The Leader of the Revolution described the result of the Qajar and Pahlavi eras’ policies of self-abasement and dependence as the reduction of a “great nation with a brilliant civilisational and cultural record” into a “humiliated and backward” people. He said: in that period, we had fallen behind in science and technology, politics, lifestyle, international standing, regional equations, and all other fields. Imam Khomeini, however, breathed the spirit of self-confidence into the nation and changed the course by 180 degrees.
Recalling the country’s advances in various fields, he added: who could have believed that the Iranian nation would one day reach a point where Americans would copy weapons made by Iran? All of this is the result of the self-confidence, hope, and ambition that Imam Khomeini — as a symbol of hope and self-belief — instilled in the nation and mobilised the people towards effort and action.
Referring to the truly malicious temptations of both foreign and domestic devils who claim that “the Iranian youth has no hope or future,” he said: the Iranian youth has both hope and determination and will build the future too — much to your chagrin.
The Leader of the Revolution described the 22 Bahman anniversary of the victory of the Revolution, the 12 Farvardin establishment of the Islamic Republic through the people’s vote, and all of the country’s progress as outcomes of the blessed day of 12 Bahman 1357, adding that the blessings of that great day continue by God’s grace.
In another part of his speech, emphasising the American and Zionist nature of the “sedition of 18 and 19 Dey,” he said the rioters consisted of “ringleaders” and “foot soldiers.” He added: many of the ringleaders — who have been arrested — admitted that they had been paid for their actions and trained in how to attack centres and how to gather and mobilise young people. Others among the rioters, however, were emotional youths, with whom we do not have serious issues.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution described the remarks of the US President as a clear sign of the American and Zionist nature of the recent sedition and said: he openly told those rioters he called “the people of Iran,” “go forward, I’m coming too.” In their view, those few thousand rioters were the people of Iran, but the millions who gathered across the country on 22 Dey were not considered the people.
Ayatollah Khamenei described the new thinking and path of the Islamic Republic, and its friction with the interests of global bullies, as the reason for the persistence of their hostility, adding: therefore, just as the recent sedition was not the first sedition in Tehran, it will not be the last, and similar incidents may occur again in the future.
He added that these hostilities will continue until the Iranian nation, through stability, perseverance, and full command of its affairs, brings the enemy to despair — and we will reach that point.
Referring to similar incidents and crimes in Tehran, such as those of 30 Khordad 1360, when the منافقین attacked Basij members with box-cutters, he said: in all these events, the hand of foreigners — specifically America and the Zionist regime — is clearly visible.
Emphasising that during the recent sedition and past incidents, the police, Basij, IRGC, and other bodies fully carried out their responsibilities, he added: but what extinguished the fire of sedition and reduced the flames to ashes — as in 1388 — was the people entering the field. And if any challenge arises in the future, God Almighty will again mobilise these people to confront it, and the people will bring matters to a close.
Explaining the characteristics of the recent American-backed sedition, Ayatollah Khamenei said the first feature was that the rioters hid behind the protests of bazaar merchants. He said: like criminals who use women and children as human shields in attacks on cities, the seditionists hid behind the bazaaris — who had logical and legitimate demands and had come into the streets — in order not to be identified.
He added that the perceptive bazaar merchants, upon witnessing the rioters’ actions such as attacking police stations instead of engaging in peaceful demonstrations, separated themselves from them and left the seditionists isolated.
He described the second feature of the recent sedition as its quasi-coup nature, saying: as some around the world also pointed out, this sedition resembled a coup. Although it was suppressed, the destruction of sensitive and effective centres involved in running the country — through attacks on police stations, IRGC centres, some government offices and banks, and attacks on spiritual symbols such as mosques and the Qur’an — demonstrates this reality.
Ayatollah Khamenei described the design of the sedition abroad and the guidance of its domestic ringleaders using various means, including satellite intelligence, as another feature of the Dey disturbances, noting that according to received information, an influential American element in government told an Iranian counterpart that the CIA and Mossad had deployed all their capabilities in this matter.
He described the obligation imposed on trained ringleaders to manufacture deaths as another feature of the unrest, adding: according to this plan, they attacked military and security centres with advanced personal weapons so that reactions by officers would result in fatalities. To increase the death toll, they even showed no mercy to their own foot soldiers, who had been drawn in through propaganda, and targeted them as well.
Expressing regret over the ringleaders’ success in increasing the number of fatalities, he said: one’s heart aches for these heedless and unaware young people.
Referring to the enemy’s effort to exaggerate the number of deaths tenfold, he said: they wanted the toll to be even higher; nevertheless, even this level of casualties is deeply regrettable.
He described the enemy’s main goal as undermining the country’s security, adding: when there is no security, nothing exists — not bread, not production, not business, not education or research, and not science or progress. Therefore, those who preserved the country’s security are owed a debt of life by all people.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution emphasised that they sought to set the people against the system, but the people, through their millions-strong presence on 22 Dey, struck a blow to the mouths of ill-wishers and revealed the true reality of the Iranian nation.
Stressing that officials must truly appreciate these people, he added that this sedition occurred — whether coincidentally or deliberately — at a time when the government and officials were designing an economic package and plan to better advance the country’s situation.
The final characteristic of the recent sedition highlighted by the Leader was its ISIS-like violence. Referring to the current US President’s admission during his first election campaign regarding the US government’s role in creating ISIS, he said: in the recent sedition too, the Americans created an ISIS whose actions resembled those of ISIS. ISIS used violence to eliminate people by accusing them of irreligiosity; these groups also eliminated people with the same violence, but because of religiosity. With shocking cruelty and brutality, they burned people alive and beheaded others.
In the concluding part of his remarks on the cause of the decades-long hostility between the US and Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei said: the issue can be summarised in two words — America wants to swallow Iran, but the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic stand in the way. In truth, the “crime” of the Iranian nation is that it told America: you are wrong to even think you can swallow my country.
He cited Iran’s many attractions — oil, gas, rich mines, and its strategic and geographical position — as the reason for the greed of an aggressive and expansionist power like America, noting that they seek to seize Iran and restore their dominance over its resources, oil, politics, security, and international relations as in the Pahlavi era. This is the real reason for their hostility; the rest of their talk, such as human rights, is nonsense.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed that the Iranian nation has firmly stood — and will continue to stand — chest forward against America’s ambitions and will render them hopeless in their malice and harassment.
Referring to American threats about war and the use of particular aircraft, he said: these claims are not new; in the past too they repeatedly threatened that all options were on the table. Now this individual constantly makes such claims, saying we have brought an aircraft carrier.
Ayatollah Khamenei added: the Iranian nation should not be frightened by such things; it is not influenced by this rhetoric. We are not the initiators and do not seek to oppress anyone or attack any country, but the Iranian nation will deliver a firm punch to anyone who harbours greed and seeks to attack or harass it.
He concluded by emphasising that Americans should know that if they start a war this time, it will be a regional war.
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