Merits of Resistance Underscored 

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the successful defense put up by the nation during the imposed war in the 1980s proved that safeguarding the country can be achieved only through resistance.
Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a Wednesday meeting with war veterans, who defended the country during the ex-Iraqi regime’s war on Iran, on the occasion of Sacred Defense Week.
“The Sacred Defense proved this fact that protecting the country and [boosting] deterrence can be achieved through resistance, not surrender,” he said, according to his website.
He said resistance lifted the morale and self-confidence of the people and taught the enemy to reconsider its calculations and take account of the Iranian nation’s power and resistance.
“The military invasion against the country after the revolution was not unexpected. It is true that [former Iraqi dictator] Saddam launched the attack, but behind Saddam was global arrogance,” the Leader stated.
“The Sacred Defense is an exciting, eventful and fruitful juncture. The era of Sacred Defense is one of the events that have an effect on our yesterday, today and tomorrow,” he said. “Therefore, the veterans [of the war] should be given attention and respect.”
Iraq waged a war against Iran more than one and a half years after the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which toppled the US-backed Pahlavi regime.
According to the Leader, the Iranian nation had a new message for the world during the era of the Islamic Revolution and the imperialist countries did not want anyone to hear that message.
“They wanted to smother the voice of the Iranian nation in the throat,” he said. “They wanted to show that if anyone rises against the US, they will be suppressed.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said the enemies were angry because of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which was not in line with the policies of western and eastern powers.
He recalled that all countries in that era were either pro-West or pro-East and no independent nation existed at the time.
“It was not at all tolerable for a country outside of this [bipolar] system to come and speak its mind. It was unbearable for them that a nation is not afraid of America,” he said.
The Leader also noted that the revolution brought about events in the world that “perhaps we were not aware of all of its dimensions at that time, but they knew what had happened.”