Speaking on IRNA TV’s special program, designated as “Iran's Mr. Martyr” on Monday, Hossein Jaberi Ansari said examining the legacy of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution is, in a sense, examining the legacy of the Islamic Republic itself as Ayatollah Khamenei played a foundational and pivotal role in the shaping the country.
He elaborated further, saying the Islamic Republic was established and sustained during the leadership of Imam Khomeini, and subsequently evolved—and, more precisely, saw its experience continued—throughout the nearly four-decade leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei, making the speculation wrong that the Islamic Republic would collapse with the demise of its architect.
Reflecting on the events in the 1990s, he noted that the Imam's death caused a shock briefly but the next Leader proved that the Islamic Republic did not hinge on a single personality, rather it was a structure and an institution with defined foundations.
The CEO of IRNA said the Zionist-American warmongering over the past one year and assassinating Ayatollah Khamenei was potentially with their misconception and illusion that the Islamic Republic’s system rests upon a single individual, but experience proved otherwise as the enemies failed to achieve their goals with assassinations and targeted eliminations.
The former diplomat, referring to unified covenant between the Iranian government and the nation, said balancing independence and freedom was a fundamental choice for the Islamic Republic as stipulated by Article 9 of the Constitution hat no individual or official has the right to violate the legal and legitimate freedoms of the nation in the name of the independence and territorial integrity.
Jaberi Ansari stated that the Islamic Republic was founded on the bedrock of the great nation, the history and civilization of Iran, but with the distinguished leadership of Imam Khomeini as the founder and nearly four decades of its continuation under Ayatollah Khamenei well preserved independence, and national power, one can be proud of.
He further praised Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei for successfully establishing and continuing a system, where the choice of the people took center stage, different from the monarchical system where the common masses had no role to play. The Islamic Revolution changed a structure based on inheritance and centralized individual rule into a republican system based on the choice of people, he reminded.
Pointing to the position of parties in the Constitution, Jaberi Ansari said the party system must be strengthened for the evolution of the governance structure. Hundreds of political parties have been formed in Iran after the revolution, but they could not evolve and the electoral system remained individual-based.
In another part of this interview, the IRNA chief elaborated on the role and position of Islam and Iran in the thought of the martyred Leader, saying the two are intertwined in all dimensions of the identity of the Iranian state.
Jaberi Ansari noted that one of the greatest legacies of the Islamic Republic—and particularly under Martyr Ayatollah Khamenei—lies in the relationship between Islam and Iran, as well as between two other concepts often framed as a dichotomy "Ummah" (the global Islamic community) and the "Nation".
Jaberi Ansari added that the Palestinian cause—as the central issue for the Islamic Ummah—stands at the very heart of the Revolution, the Islamic Republic, and its leadership, remaining a priority right up until the martyrdom of Ayatollah Khamenei.
Let Us Not Fuel Artificial Dichotomies; The Iranian Nation Faces Great Missions
Emphasizing the need to show deference, humility, and reverence toward the great Iranian nation, the IRNA CEO said this is the same nation that enabled the Islamic Revolution and endured the most arduous conditions, crises, challenges, wars, foreign attacks, and internal upheavals.
While honoring the memory and principles of Imam Khomeini, and Ayatollah Khamenei, Jaberi Ansari said the bond between the government and the people, and the massive turnout of the Iranian public to mourn the loss of their Leader, constitute a tremendous asset for the country that must be preserved, setting aside all agendas, personal interests, and egos.
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