Martyr Imam Khamenei’s selected statements regarding the Islamic Revolution

Revolution means an all-out transformation among a group of people - either among a nation or beyond a nation: in a generation or in a civilization. This is the meaning of "revolution". Sometimes, coup d'états are referred to as revolutions in the world, but "revolution" has a deeper meaning and this is what happened in our country. What happened in our country was a revolution in the real sense of the word. It is still a revolution and it will continue to be one in the future. (Sept. 16, 2015) Our great Islamic Revolution was the result of rationality. It was not the case that the people took to the streets without any calculations and succeeded in overthrowing that powerful regime.  Everything was the result of rational calculations and intellectual work. For many years, a discourse that was driven by truth, justice and freedom had developed among the people and this finally resulted in deploying popular forces and bringing them into the great arena of jihad, which gave rise to a victory against the enemy. (Aug. 30, 2005) The people of Iran managed to overthrow it with the power of faith, jihad and self-sacrifice. Our people managed to overthrow that regime despite all the international support that it was receiving. And they managed to replace that regime with something that arrogant powers cannot stand looking at – which is the Islamic Republic. (May 27, 2017) A revolution is a movement. It is the same everywhere in the world. It is a movement, not an isolated incident. In many places, however, this movement is stopped in the middle of the way. When you observe different and great revolutions you see that they stopped progressing in the middle of the way. In such revolutions a certain group of people win a victory and other people are forgotten. Therefore, people gradually leave the scene and the movement comes to an early end. The French Revolution, which occurred in the late eighteenth century, was completely destroyed in the early nineteenth century. They first sparked an uprising against the dictatorial regime and they overthrew the regime, but another autocratic ruler named Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power only after 15 years. The people were prisoners of this ruler for years. Then, they gradually managed to solve part of this problem. Revolutions do not completely succeed. They are left unfinished because there is no strong faith and there is no firm rope. (Feb. 17, 2008) Fighting against arrogance in the Islamic Revolution and among our people is a rational and reasonable movement that enjoys a scholarly source of support. And it is also a wise movement contrary to what some people want to pretend. Such people pretend that this is a merely slogan-based and emotional movement that is not reliant on reason and rationality. On the contrary, the movement of the people of Iran is one that is reliant on rationality. Let us forget – for now - about what religion, Quranic ayahs and divine revelations have said in this regard. Let us forget about “And those who are with him are strong against unbelievers, but compassionate amongst each other” [The Holy Quran, 48: 29] and “Fight the leaders of unbelief” [The Holy Quran, 9: 12] for now because some people do not believe in or trust such things. So, we rely on the experience of the people of Iran. (Nov. 3, 2015) The day this Revolution started and this movement was triggered; it was not like a movement started by political parties in order to gain power. It was a movement started by the oppressed in order to practice divine teachings, establish an Islamic society, and administer justice in society. (Feb. 8, 2010) In the history of our country there has been no event like the victory of the Islamic Revolution and the subsequent events in which the people played a direct role. In the Islamic Revolution the people stepped into the arena. All people from various social backgrounds - residents of cities and villages, men and women, young and old people, educated and uneducated people - stepped into the arena together. Although they did not use coercion and they did not have - or did not use - guns, they managed to overpower a regime which was armed to its teeth and was being supported by the arrogant powers. They managed to help the Revolution achieve victory. However, the essential point about our Revolution is that the people continued to play a role after the victory of the Revolution. And this was because of the wisdom of our magnanimous Imam and the insight of that wise, spiritual and divine man. (Oct. 12, 2011) The Islamic Revolution is a reality that originated from a divine law. As long as the Revolution relies on the faith and passion of the people, the global powers will not be able to deal a blow even if they join forces. (Jan. 19, 2010) This strong structure [the Islamic Republic] is divine in nature and has been built by a divine man. And its permanence depends on the determination and faith of this great nation. You will see that this strong structure will stay. By Allah's favor, this government will become stronger on a daily basis. And you will see that those who oppose this structure and this reality will vanish. By Allah's grace, these people will be annihilated in front of your eyes. (Dec. 13, 2009)