Leader Urges Iranian People to Maintain Religious Zeal

“Maintain this religious zeal. The factor of saving the country in different trying times is the religious zeal of the Iranian nation. It is the religious zeal that turns threats into opportunities,” Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said in a speech on the anniversary of the popular uprising in the holy city of Qom against the former US-backed Pahlavi regime in 1978. 

“An example of this was the eight-year imposed war and defense, in which the religious zeal of the youth, fathers, mothers, sisters and wives led the youth to go to the front and win this international war, in which they all worked together to defeat the Imam and the movement. The source was this religious zeal,” the Leader said, according to Press TV.

Ayatollah Khamenei was referring to the war of the 1980s by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who invaded Iran with the support of the US and other countries in a bid to stamp out Iran’s nascent revolution led by the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini.

“At the present time, no one thought that – and even our friends did not think that - the martyrdom of Martyr Soleimani which was really a historical and unusual event this incident would assume this much magnificence and that God Almighty would give it glory and exhibit the real identity of the Iranian people and their unity under the coffin of Martyr Soleimani to everyone,” the Leader said.

Several millions of people turned out in Iranian and Iraqi cities for the funeral of the highly charismatic commander to pay tribute to him and his companions assassinated in the terrorist act and vent their anger at the US when his cortege moved to his final resting place in January 2020.

Ayatollah Khamenei further said, “The martyrdom of a great figure like Martyr Soleimani was a threat from the enemy’s point of view, but the zeal of the Muslim nation of Iran turned this threat into an opportunity that everyone saw.”  

“The wrong calculations of the United States are still going on, and the example of this is the martyrdom of Martyr Soleimani,” the Leader said.

“They thought that by eliminating this martyr, the great movement of the Iranian nation would be extinguished, but we saw the enormous movement that took place this year on the second anniversary of his martyrdom.

“Who was behind it? It was the work and hand of divine power that created this huge movement and expression of devotion.

“The computing system of the enemies is certainly lax and impaired, and they cannot have a correct assessment of the Islamic Republic and thus, they make wrong decisions and fail, and they will fail again from now on,” the Leader added.

The January 9, 1978 uprising in Qom is seen as a very important historical juncture because it acted a precursor to more mass demonstrations in other cities across Iran, shaking the foundations of the despotic Pahlavi regime before finally toppling it in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The uprising was a reaction to the publication of an article titled “Iran and the Red and Black Colonialism” on the Persian-language Ettela’at daily, which had brazenly desecrated Imam Khomeini — the Islamic Revolution’s late leader and founder of the Islamic Republic.

Many analysts have referred to January 9 uprising as the Islamic Revolution’s starting point.

One of the enemy’s agenda, Ayatollah Khamenei said, is to desensitize the Iranian people to the principles of the Islamic Revolution.

“The people are sensitive to the fundamental issues of the revolution, and if someone attacks these principles, the people will take a stand,” he said.

“The enemies also want to gradually reduce this sensitivity in the people. This is done through the extensive propaganda being carried out these days in cyberspace and other foreign mass media,” Ayatollah Khamenei added.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution were formed for the rule of God.

“In order for the rule of society to be adjusted for religious form and geometry and move forward, the people gave their lives and sacrificed their blood to make this happen; this is one of the principles of the revolution and the enemies want to weaken it,” the Leader said.