Referring to the necessity of dealing with attempts made to portray a wrong image of Imam Khomeini, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Reviewing the documented principles of the Imam’s school of thought is the only way to tackle attempts [aimed at] distorting the personality of that great [leader]; principles like proving the pure Islam and negation of the American Islam, trust in the authenticity of the divine promise and distrust of the arrogant [powers], trust in people’s will and power and opposition to governmental centralizations, serious support for the poor and opposition to aristocracy, seriously supporting the world’s oppressed and explicit opposition to international bullying [powers], independence and rejection of submission to hegemony, and emphasis on the national unity.”
   
At the beginning of his speech on the 26th anniversary of passing away of Imam Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the birthday of Imam Mahdi (AS) on the 15th day of the lunar month of Sha’ban, saying that the expected coming of an End-of-Time Savior is a principle agreed upon by all Abrahamic religions.

“All Islamic denominations recognize this savior as a descendent of the last Prophet under the name of Mahdi. For their part, the Shias have solid evidence to prove that the Hazrat Vali-e Asr [Guardian of Time (Imam Mahdi)] is the son of the 11th [Shia] Imam and is blessed with specific characteristics,” he added.

Ayatollah Khamenei said inspiring hope is the main feature of belief in the reappearance of Imam Mahdi, adding, “The luminescent flame of this deep-seated and life-saving belief has inspired Shiism with hope in future and motivated it in all periods of darkness and oppression.”  

The Supreme Leader went on to elucidate the significance of the main topic of his speech, that is, “distortion of the personality of Imam [Khomeini],” saying, “Despite certain efforts to confine him to his time, the great Imam is manifestation of the great and history-making movement of the Iranian nation and naturally distorting his character would inflict heavy damage on the persistence of this drive. Therefore, we should be totally vigilant on this issue.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said the “intellectual, political and social” thoughts of Imam Khomeini set the “roadmap” for the Iranian nation to achieve such lofty objectives as justice, progress and authority, emphasizing that “without an accurate and non-distorted knowledge of the Imam, persistence of this roadmap would not be possible.”

Referring to the prominent jurisprudential, mystic and philosophical aspects of the late Imam’s personality, the Supreme Leader said Imam Khomeini’s character was realization of Quranic verses describing genuine combatants of the God’s path, who have accomplished their mission of jihad.

Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The high-profile Imam of the Iranian nation overthrew the rotten and wrong regime of hereditary monarchy through a unique development in the history of this land and the Muslim world, and established the first Islamic government since the advent of Islam and wholeheartedly accomplished the mission of Jihad in the path of God.”

He said “internal jihad and profound spirituality” are complementary to political, social and intellectual jihad embarked on by the late imam, adding, "The mindset which set the stage for these great developments was based on an ideology relying on monotheism."

The Supreme Leader said a second specification of the Imam Khomeini school of thought was its being up-to-date, adding, “By relying on his cohesive intellectual mindset, the Imam offered solutions to problems that the Iranian society and human societies were suffering from, and the nations realized the value of these solutions and that is why the Imam’s school was expanding among nations.”

He said liveliness, dynamism and practicality were among other features of Imam Khomeini school of thought, adding, “The Imam was not like some intellectual theorists and ideologues who utter attractive words within their circles, which are not effective in practice."

The Supreme Leader said creating motivation, dynamism and hope among the Iranian nation are auspicious outcomes of following the Imam and his school of thought, adding, “The great Iranian nation is still largely distant from realizing its objectives, but the important point is that the nation and its youths continue this illuminated path with hearts filled with motivation and determination and hope.”

He added that correct continuation of this enthusiasm-inspiring path depends on correct and precise knowledge of the Imam and the principles of his school of thought. “Distorting the Imam would be [tantamount to] distorting his path and making efforts to divert the Iranian nation off the right path. In case the Imam’s path is lost or forgotten or, God forbid, intentionally ignored, the Iranian nation will be slapped in the face.”
 
Stressing that the global arrogance and bullying powers continue to rivet their covetous eye on Iran as a great, rich and important country in the region, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Deceitful powerful [governments] in the world will not abandon their insatiable greed unless the Iranian nation becomes so advanced and powerful to dash their hopes.”

Noting that the path for the progress and strength of the Iranian nation depends on moving within the framework of the principles and fundamentals of the Imam’s school of thought, the Leader said, “Having these issues in mind, the threat of distorting the venerable Imam becomes important and should serve as a serious warning for officials, ideologues of the revolution, old disciples of the Imam, followers of the Imam, and all the youths and pundits and academics and seminarians.
   
The Supreme Leader said the issue of distortion of the personality of the late Imam dates back to the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, adding, “Since the beginning of the revolution and during the late Imam’s lifetime, the enemy was making efforts to introduce him in global propaganda as a puritanical and harsh and inflexible and unmerciful revolutionary.”
 
“The venerable Imam showed a firm and unflinching personality against arrogant powers, but at the same time, he was a manifestation of affection and kindness, and compassion and infatuation before God and human beings, particularly the poor,” he said.

Referring to distortion of the personality of the late Imam, the Supreme Leader said, “During the late Imam’s lifetime, some used to attribute whatever they liked to the Imam while their words had nothing to do with his personality.”

“After the demise of the Imam, the same trend continued to the extent that some have described the Imam as a liberal-minded man with no constraints in his political, intellectual and cultural behaviors, while this attitude is totally wrong and unrealistic,” said the Supreme Leader.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the only way to get correct and precise knowledge about the personality of the late Imam is to review the principles and fundaments of his school of thought, adding, “If the personality of the Imam is not known through this method, some may introduce the Imam based on their own intellectual tastes.”

Stressing that the popularity of the Imam is lasting among people and that the enemy has failed to undermine this popularity, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “To that effect, the issue of distortion of the influential personality of the Imam in people’s minds is a big threat which can be staved off by reexamining the intellectual principles and fundaments of the Imam.”

The Supreme Leader said the intellectual principles and fundaments of the late Imam stem from his remarks during 15 years of the Islamic movement and 10 years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, adding, “If these principles are placed together, the image of the real personality of Imam Khomeini will take shape.”

Before elucidating seven items of the intellectual principles and fundaments of Imam Khomeini, Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted several points about the Imam as follows: These principles have been repeatedly mentioned in the Imam’s remarks and are among the Imam’s keywords.

These principles should not be handpicked and expressed selectively.

The Imam’s principles are not limited to these seven points and experts can extract other principles from the Imam’s school of thought within the defined framework.

Ayatollah Khamenei then highlighted the seven principles of the late Imam’s school of thought, saying, “Substantiation of the pure Mohammedan Islam and negation of the American-style Islam” is one of these principles and the Imam always put pure Islam against American-style Islam.

In elucidating the nature of the American-style Islam, the Supreme Leader touched on its two branches, i.e. secular Islam and petrified Islam, saying, “The Imam always drew a parallel between those who favored separation of the society and social behaviors of humans from the religion, and those who had a view of religion, which was backward and rigid and incomprehensible for new thinkers.”

Noting that both branches of the American-style Islam have always been supported by bullying powers and the US, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Also today, the deviant current of Daesh (ISIL) and al-Qaeda as well as outwardly Islamic currents, which are [in fact] unfamiliar with Islamic jurisprudence and Sharia, are backed by the US and Israel.” 

“In the Imam’s view, pure Islam is based on the Book and tradition, which is achieved through an illuminated viewpoint and in accordance with conditions of time and place, recognition of the potential needs of Islamic societies and human beings, and by taking into consideration the methods used by enemies and through scientific methods established in seminaries,” he said.

“In the Imam’s school of thought, the Islam [promoted] by courtier clerics and Daesh-style Islam, on the one hand, and an Islam indifferent to the crimes [committed] by the Zionist regime and the US and [an Islam] relying on big powers, on the other hand, both reach the same point, and both are rejected,” he said.

“He who claims to be following the Imam should distance himself from [both] rigid-minded and secular Islam,” Ayatollah Khamenei added.

The Supreme Leader said “reliance on divine assistance and trust in the authenticity of the divine promise versus distrust of global arrogant and bullying powers” is the second principle in Imam’s school of thought, adding, “The venerable Imam always believed in divine promise and its authenticity and, on the contrary, he placed absolutely no trust in the promises of global arrogant powers.”

“This outstanding feature of the late Imam had caused him to express his views clearly, firmly and frankly,” said Ayatollah Khamenei.

Referring to the late Imam’s responses to letters from some arrogant heads of state, he said that the responses had been written with full frankness and firmness while being full of politeness and respect. The Leader added, “The Imam injected trust in God like blood in the vessels of the Iranian nation and the nation turned to trust in God and believe in divine help.”

Touching on the late Imam’s absolute distrust of arrogant powers and his full ignorance of their promises, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Today, we are totally feeling this issue and we have realized why the pledges of arrogant powers could not be relied upon because they say something in private meetings, which they contradict in public meetings and in practice.”

The Supreme Leader noted that “trust in God and mistrust of arrogant [powers]” was among the unwavering principles of the Imam’s intellectual fundaments, saying, “Of course, it did not mean severing ties with the world because relations existed at a normal and respectful level, but there was no trust in arrogant powers and their followers.”

“Belief in people’s will and power, and opposition to governmental centralizations” was the third principle highlighted by Ayatollah Khamenei as another fundamental principle of the late Imam Khomeini’s school of thought.

Emphasizing that the venerable Imam really believed in people’s power and vote in different economic, military, reconstruction, publicity and above all electoral issues, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “During the 10-year of the Imam’s life after the revolution, eight years of which coincided with the imposed war [with Iraq (1980-1988)], around 10 elections were held without being postponed even for a single day and they were all held on time because the Imam respected the vote, thoughts and views of people in the proper sense of the word.”

The Supreme Leader said, “Even in some cases, people’s vote and view differed from that of the Imam, but the Imam respected people’s vote.”

Referring to the late Imam’s remarks in which he introduced himself as the servant of the people and the people as source of blessing, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “These descriptions indicate the prominent status of people and their views and votes and presence in the Imam’s mind. Of course, people also responded appropriately to this view and turned out wholeheartedly wherever the Imam pointed a finger at.”

Concluding this part of his speech, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “There was a mutual relationship between the Imam and people. The Imam loved people and the people loved the Imam.”

The Supreme Leader went on to highlight one of the principles of the late Imam’s school of thought, saying, “As far as domestic issues [were concerned], the Imam was a serious supporter of the poor and the oppressed and he forcefully and bitterly rejected economic inequality and aristocracy.”

Noting that the late Imam was a supporter of social justice in the proper sense of the word, Ayatollah Khamenei said this point was repeatedly mentioned in the Imam’s remarks and was one of the major lines of the late Imam. “The Imam underscored the necessity of the eradication of poverty and [the necessity of] combating impoverishment, on the one hand, and warned officials against getting used to aristocracy and luxury life, on the other,” the Leader said.

Referring to the late Imam’s insistence on the officials’ trust of the poor, the Supreme Leader said, “The venerable Imam always said the poor and slum dwellers turn out [every time they are called on] without showing any dissatisfaction with problems and hardships, while privileged classes complain more about the problems.”

Regarding the fifth principle of the late Imam’s intellectual fundaments, the Supreme Leader said, “Regarding foreign relations, the Imam was openly in the camp opposed to international bullying and arrogant [powers] and he did not hesitate in supporting the oppressed.”

Stressing the point that the late Imam showed no sign of being willing to reconcile with the arrogant powers, Ayatollah Khamenei said the “Great Satan” allusion to the United States was a stunning invention by the late imam. “The ideological and scientific interpretation of the “Great Satan” attribution is very extended because when someone is called as the Satan, the behavior and treatment and sentiments toward him should fall within framework of his “satanic nature,” the Leader added.

He said, “Until the last days of his life, the Imam held the same feeling vis-à-vis America and while using the “Great Satan” attribute, be believed it from the bottom of his heart.”

“On the other hand, since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, some did not pay attention to America’s role in feeding the remnants of the oppressive [Pahlavi] regime which had been overthrown by the Iranian nation, and therefore they favored the presence of the Americans in the country and even with the continuation of the activities of some American institutions,” said Ayatollah Khamenei.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said this issue was the major sticking point between the late Imam and the post-revolutionary interim government, adding, “They [officials of the interim government] did not notice that America would [once more] deal a blow to the nation should it was given a new chance, but the Imam was well aware of this issue and adopted position accordingly and the Imam’s view with regard to the takeover of the Den of Espionage (the US Embassy in Tehran) was within the same framework.”

Ayatollah Khamenei referred to some events in the region in recent years and the backfiring of trust that some groups put in the United States, saying, “The Imam always took stance against the US and its political and security apparatus within the framework of this intellectual principle, and at the same time, he sincerely and firmly supported oppressed nations, particularly the Palestinian people.”

Stressing that the current developments in the region and the world can be analyzed within the framework of this logic that was promoted by the late Imam, the Supreme Leader said, “Today, as much as we oppose the savage and cruel behaviors of the Daesh in Iraq and Syria, we oppose the American Federal Police’s brutal behavior in this country, and we consider both these behaviors alike.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said, “As much as we are opposed to the cruel blockade of the oppressed people of Gaza, we are opposed to the bombardment of defenseless people of Yemen, [and] to the same degree that we oppose crackdown on people of Bahrain, we oppose America’s unmanned aircraft’s strikes against people of Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

Reiterating that Iran supports the oppressed and opposes the oppressor within the framework of the late Imam’s clear logic, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “This is why the issue of Palestine is still a major issue for the Islamic Republic of Iran and will never be removed from the [Islamic] establishment’s agenda.”

The Supreme Leader added, “The issue of Palestine is the field of an obligated and necessary Islamic struggle and no development will be able to separate us from the issue of Palestine.” 
Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Some in Palestine may not fulfill their duty, but what we endorse is the Palestinian people and combatants.”

“Emphasis on independence and negation of submission to hegemony” was the sixth principle of the late Imam’s school of thought, which Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted in his speech.

Defining independence as “freedom on a national scale,” Ayatollah Khamenei drew attention to unacceptable contradiction that certain individuals claim to be advocating individual liberties, but speak against the independence of the country and the liberties of a nation. He added, “Unfortunately, some are fabricating theories in order to negate independence and describe independence as ‘isolation’ or an issue of low significance, which is a very important and dangerous error.” 

He referred to the late Imam’s firm belief in independence and his dismissal of hegemony, saying that most activities of enemies like threats and sanctions are designed to damage this principle. The Leader added, “The enemy is targeting the independence of the country and everyone should know the enemy’s objectives and be vigilant.”

The principle of “national unity and confronting the divisive conspiracies of the enemy” was the last principle in the late Imam Khomeini’s school of thought, which was highlighted by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution.

He said religious and ethnic division was among the major policies of enemies, adding, “From the very beginning of the victory of the revolution, our venerable Imam showed a unique reliance on national unity and unity among all people in the face of this conspiracy.”

Pointing to the persistence of the policy of division, the Supreme Leader said sowing division in the Muslim world is a major policy of the US and arrogant powers. He added, “In the face of this conspiracy, the Islamic Republic’s view is an ‘Ummah-building’ one and is in compliance with the realization of Islamic Ummah and based on this, Iran has maintained relations with the Shia brethren of Hezbollah and the Sunni brethren in Palestine alike.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said the talk about “Shia Crescent” by the United States’ second-hand stooges as well as the US tolerance or assistance for terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria, like Daesh [ISIS], are evidence to the arrogant powers’ policy of sowing discord, adding, “Everyone, either Sunni or Shia, should watch out not to play into the hands of the enemy.”

He said, “Both the US-backed Sunnism and the Shiism exported to the world from London are Devil’s brothers and are agents of arrogant [powers] and the West.”

The Supreme Leader said from this viewpoint, the choice of ‘empathy and rapport’ as the motto for the current Iranian year, and emphasis on that motto were aimed at foiling enemy’s divisive policies. He added, “The enemy is threatening the very existence of Islam and all ethnic groups and denominations [of Islam] should close ranks and join hands in order to block the enemy’s infiltration into the vast Muslim world.”

Summing up this part of his speech, Ayatollah Khamenei said these fundamental principles form the basis of Imam Khomeini’s views. He added, “The Imam’s principles are not limited to these items and experts can conduct research on this issue. However, nobody should attribute whatever he desires to the Imam, but their remarks should be based on principles which exist in sources related to Imam and that in a persistent and repeated manner.”

In the final part of his speech, the Supreme Leader highlighted an important fact, saying, “Everyone must know that the enemy’s objective is the return of its unconditional domination on this country, and its frowns, smiles, promises and threats are all aimed at achieving this objective.”

He said the basis of enmity to Islam is opposition [of Islam] to the restoration of this hegemony, adding, “The enemy is opposed to Islam because Islam resists this conspiracy. They are also opposed to the Iranian nation because the nation is standing as firm as a mountain against them.”

Ayatollah Khamenei then referred to remarks by a veteran American politician that Takfiri terrorist groups are not important for the West and that Iran, which is seeking to establish a great Islamic civilization, should be considered as enemy. The Leader added, “This policy shows the significance and necessity of Ummah-building in the Muslim world, and everybody must know that the enemy is doing its utmost to block the Islamic movement and the progress and prosperity of the Iranian nation.”

He said, “Among the [Iranian] nation, the enemy shows more opposition to anyone who is more steadfast. They are more opposed to faithful and religious elements and revolutionary organizations and institutions because they know that these elements are strong and fortified obstacles to infiltration by the enemy.”

Prior to the Supreme Leader’s speech, Hojjatoleslam Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the late Imam Khomeini, welcomed pilgrims to Imam Khomeini’s shrine. Referring to the ongoing developments in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain, he said reactionaries have driven the region into chaos, adding, “The Islamic society is suffering from very bitter events, which are caused by those who are filled with anger and grudge against Islam.”

Hassan Khomeini, who is in charge of Imam Khomeini’s shrine, said, “A violent group is targeting the entire Islamic civilization under the guise of Prophet [Muhammad (PBUH)] and Islam, is on killing spree, and has depicted a very bad image of Islam through support of foreigners and Zionists.”
 
Hassan Khomeini reiterated that Iran is the land of the late Imam Khomeini and that the entire world has tested the Iranian nation, saying, “If anyone takes a nasty look at the country, the nation – under the aegis of the commander-in-chief [of Armed Forces] – will not allow any infringement on the country and will defend the territorial integrity and independence of the country.”