On the first day of the sacred Ten Days of Dawn, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution met with thousands of people from all walks of life. He called the 12th of Bahman (February 1) “an exceptional, historical day.”
Referring to the overthrow of the Pahlavi regime, he said that the Pahlavi system was changed from a “one-man, authoritarian, anti-religious, and (foreign) dependent” system to one that is “based on the people, rooted in religion, and standing up to the bullying of arrogant powers.”
He said, "The people extinguished the flames of the recent American-Zionist sedition, just as they have done with all previous conspiracies, and in the future, with divine guidance, the nation will overcome any challenge and bring matters to a conclusion in the same way." He added that, similarly, in the future, with God’s guidance, the nation will decisively handle any incident.
Ayatollah Khamenei also identified the main reason behind the 47-year-long conflict between Iran and America as what he described as Washington’s attempt to “swallow Iran,” and the steadfast resistance of the Iranian people against that ambition. Referring to recent remarks by American officials, he added, "They have previously tried to intimidate the Iranian people by saying that all options are on the table, but they should know that if they start a war this time, it will be a regional war."
At the beginning of his speech, the Leader of the Revolution pointed to what he described as the unified and unprecedented welcome given to Imam Khomeini on the 12th Bahman, 1357 (February 1, 1979). He said, "Despite all the threats, the Imam entered Tehran with courage and power. The massive and astonishing reception by the people became a driving force for the formation of a new system, and he declared the abolition of the monarchy on that very day."
The Leader of the Revolution listed two key characteristics of the system born from the struggles of the Imam and the people. They are substituting one-man, authoritarian rule with a system where the people are in charge, and replacing the Pahlavi-era push toward irreligion with an Islamic path. He added, "If all officials had performed their duties, the government would have become truly religious, but we have still made progress in the Islamic and religious process."
He described another characteristic of the Islamic Republic system as “returning the country to its real owners, the nation”, and the severing of America's influence in Iran. He said, “From the beginning, this feature has angered and flustered the United States and made it hostile toward the Iranian people and the system from that very day.”
Explaining what he meant by a people-based government, he pointed to the fostering of a spirit of self-reliance that builds national self-confidence. He said, "The wise Imam made the nation aware of its great capabilities and values, transforming the mentality of 'we cannot' into the crucial belief of 'we can.'"
The Leader said that the policies, inferiority complex, and dependency during the Qajar and Pahlavi eras resulted in the reduction of a "great nation with a brilliant civilisational and cultural history" to a "humiliated and backward" people. He stated, "In those times, we had fallen behind in science and technology, politics, lifestyle, international credibility, regional equivalents, and all other areas. But Imam Khomeini breathed the spirit of self-confidence into the nation and completely reversed the course by 180 degrees."
Ayatollah Imam Khamenei recounted the country’s progress in different fields. He added, “Who would have believed that the Iranian nation would one day reach a point where Americans would copy the weapons it made? All of this was the result of the self-confidence, hope, and ambition that Ruhollah Khomeini, as an embodiment of hope and self-belief, created in the nation and used to set people in motion.”
Referring to what he called the insinuations of the “truly wicked foreign and domestic devils,” who claim that Iranian youth have no hope and no future, he said, “Iranian youth has both hope and determination, and will build the future too in spite of you.”
The Leader of the Revolution said that the 22nd Bahman, the anniversary of the victory of the Revolution, and the 12th Farvardin, the day the Islamic Republic was established by the people’s vote (April 1), as well as the country’s entire progress, are results of that blessed day of the 12th Bahman 1357 (1979). He added that, by God’s grace, the blessings of that great day will continue.
In another part of his speech, he spoke about what he called the American and Zionist nature of the “sedition of the 18th and the 19th Dey (December),” he said the rioters consisted of ringleaders and foot soldiers. He added, “Many of the ringleaders have been arrested; they have confessed that they were paid for their actions and had received training on how to attack centres, gather people, and mobilise youth. However, some of the rioters were emotional young people, with whom we have far less of an issue.”
He said remarks by the U.S. President were a clear sign that the recent unrest was American and Zionist in nature. He said the President was explicitly telling the rioters, whom he called “the people of Iran,” “Go forward; I’m coming too!” He added, “In their view, these few thousand rioters were 'the people of Iran,' but the millions who gathered across the country on the 22nd Dey were not”.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the Islamic Republic’s new way of thinking. Its path and its clash with the interests of global bullies are the reasons for their continued hostility. He added, “For this reason, similar events may occur in the future. Just as this recent sedition was not the first in Tehran, it will not be the last.”
He added, “These hostilities will continue until the Iranian nation, through stability, perseverance, and complete mastery over affairs, causes the enemy to despair, and we will reach this point as well.”
Pointing to past events similar to the recent sedition in Tehran, such as the 30th Khordad 1360 (June 30th, 1981) atrocity when the Munafiqeen (“the Hypocrites,” i.e. the MKO or Mujahideen Khalq Organisation) attacked Basij members with box cutters. He said, “In all these incidents, the hand of foreign powers, especially the U.S. and the Zionist regime, can be clearly seen.”
The Leader emphasised that in the recent sedition and past events, law enforcement, the Basij, the IRGC, and other institutions fully carried out their responsibilities. He added, “But what extinguished the fire of sedition and reduced the flames to ashes just as in 1388 (2009), was the people entering the scene. And in the future, if any incident occurs, God will send this nation to confront it, and the people will bring it to an end.”
Outlining what he called the characteristics of the recent American sedition, Ayatollah Khamenei said its first feature was that rioters hid behind the protests of bazaar merchants. He said, “The seditionists hid behind the bazaar merchants who had taken to the streets with a logical and rightful grievance. They were like criminals who use women and children as human shields when attacking cities so as not to be identified.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution added, “Of course, when the astute bazaar merchants saw the action of the rioters doing things like attacking police stations instead of marching peacefully in the streets, they distanced themselves from them and left the seditionists isolated.”
He said the second feature of the recent sedition was its quasi-coup character, and added, “This sedition, just as some observers abroad have also pointed out, was like a coup. It was suppressed, but the destruction of sensitive and influential centres involved in running the country, their attacks on police stations, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps centres, some government centres and banks, and attacks on spiritual symbols such as mosques and the Qur'an, shows this reality.”
He said another feature of the Dey sedition was that it was planned and designed outside the country, and they guided its domestic ringleaders using different tools, including satellite intelligence. He said, “Based on received information, an influential American figure within their government told an Iranian counterpart that the CIA and Mossad had deployed all their resources in this operation. (I cannot independently confirm this claim from the text alone.)
He said another feature was that there were trained ringleaders tasked with creating fatalities. “According to this plan, they attacked military outposts and police stations with advanced personal weapons, aiming to provoke a reaction that would result in deaths. In fact, to increase the death toll, they even showed no mercy to their own foot soldiers, youths they had lured into the streets through propaganda, and targeted them as well.” “The enemy,” he said “tried to portray the number of deaths as ten times higher. Still, even with the current number of casualties, it is profoundly grievous.”
He identified the enemy’s main goal as disrupting national security. He added, “When there is no security, nothing exists, no bread, no production, no business, no study or research, and no knowledge or progress. Therefore, those who preserved the country’s security have given the people the right to live.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution emphasised, “They sought to turn the people against the system, but the people slapped the ill-wishers in the face with their massive turnout on the 22nd of Dey, and showed the true reality of the Iranian nation.”
Emphasising that officials must truly appreciate these people, he said, “Of course, this sedition occurred, whether randomly or calculatedly, at a time when the government and officials were designing economic packages and plans for the country to better improve the situation.”
The final feature of the recent sedition he cited was its ISIS-like violence. He referred to what he described as an admission by the current U.S. President during his first-election campaign about the U.S. role in creating ISIS. He said, “In the recent sedition, too, the Americans introduced an ISIS-like element whose actions resemble those of ISIS itself. ISIS would brutally eliminate people on accusations of irreligion; these people, with the same violence, would eliminate individuals because of religiosity, and with strange cruelty and ruthlessness. They burned people alive and beheaded others. (These are serious allegations; I cannot verify them from the text alone.)
In the final part of his remarks, he returned to the cause of the four-plus decades of hostility between the United States and Iran. He said, “The issue can be summed up in a few words: America wants to swallow Iran, but the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic stand in the way. In reality, the ‘crime’ of the Iranian nation is that it has told America: you’re dead wrong to think you can swallow my country.”
He said that Iran’s many enticements, such as its oil, gas, rich mineral resources, and its strategic geographic position, have fuelled the greed of an aggressive, expansionist power like the United States. He noted, “They seek to seize Iran and restore their dominance over its resources, its oil, politics, security, and international connections as it was during the Pahlavi period. This is the primary reason for their hostility; the rest of their talk, such as it is, about human rights, is empty rhetoric.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution declared, “The Iranian nation has stood firm against America’s ambitions; it stands firm now, and will continue to stand firm. It will drive them to despair of their mischief and harassment.”
Referring to American threats about war and the use of certain aircraft, he said, “These are not new. In the past, they also repeatedly threatened that all options were on the table. Now this man keeps making claims like this too, saying, for example, that they’re coming with a carrier.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei added, “The Iranian nation should not be frightened by these things. The Iranian nation is not influenced by such talk. We are not initiating attacks, and we do not want to do injustice to anyone or attack any country. But the Iranian nation will deliver a strong blow to anyone who is covetous of and wants to attack or cause harm to our country.”
Then he said, “And the Americans should also know this: if they start a war this time, it will be a war that goes regional.”