Imam Khomeini Changed Iran, Muslim Ummah, World, Leader Says

Addressing a Sunday ceremony attended by tens of thousands of Iranians at Imam Khomeini’s Mausoleum in southern Tehran marking the 34th anniversary of the late leader’s passing, Ayatollah Khamenei praised Imam Khomeini as “one of the preeminent figures in our history and not just in our time.”

Such figures, maintained the Leader, “cannot be erased from the history's memory ... and cannot be removed or distorted.”

He hailed Imam Khomeini's preeminence in various fields, such as religious knowledge, jurisprudence, philosophy, theoretical mysticism, faith, and piety, noting that none of the prominent figures in Iran's history had all these features at the same time.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the late founder of the Islamic Republic brought about three “unprecedented” changes in Iran, the Islamic Ummah and the world.

He said Imam Khomeini transformed Iran from a monarchy that was subservient to powers into a democracy that was independent and proud, ignited the Islamic awakening movement among the Islamic Ummah and made the Palestinian cause the foremost issue of Islam.

He added that Imam Khomeini revived spirituality even in non-Muslim countries against the materialist trends.

Imam Khomeini died at 86 years old in 1989, nearly ten years after the Islamic Revolution triumphed and toppled the Pahlavi regime in Iran, which was supported by the US and led by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, also known as the Shah.

Imam Khomeini lived in exile for many years in Iraq, Turkey and France, where he guided a growing movement of people, who finally removed the Shah and created the Islamic Republic.

Imam Khomeini founded the Islamic Republic after a referendum in 1979 when more than 98 percent of Iranians who could vote said 'yes' to the Islamic Republic.

Elsewhere in his remarks on Sunday, Ayatollah Khamenei referred to the riots that broke out last September after the death of a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini.

The Leader said that the enemies have made several attempts against Iran but have failed in most of them, the latest being the riots last autumn.

He said that the riots were "devised in Western think tanks" and supported by "extensive financial, media, and weaponry" help of Western security bodies.

Ayatollah Khamenei further noted that those behind the riots “thought that the Islamic Republic was over and that they could recruit the Iranian nation; the ignorant were wrong again.”

Iran’s intelligence community has said several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have used their spy and propaganda apparatuses to provoke violent riots in the country.