The Iranian month of Bahman is a reminder of the glorious epic of a nation which ushered in a new era of Islamic government under the leadership of a unique personality who firmly trusted in God and believed in people’s capacities and potentials to shape a civilization based on the teachings of Islam.

The 12th of Bahman or February 1 (which happens to be January 31 due to the leap year) reminds a great incident in the history of the struggles of the Iranian Muslim people.

On Bahman 12, corresponding with February 1, 1979, the Iranian nation accorded the greatest and most historical welcome to a man who lived in exile for more than 14 years. The million-strong gathering from Mehrabad airport to Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery indicated the matchless love of the leader who bestowed dignity and honor to the people. The ardent people were waiting the arrival of the Imam with bouquets of flowers in their hands. Tehran witnessed the greatest welcome in history.

The splendid and triumphant arrival of Imam Khomeini in the Islamic land and the multi-million strong welcome by Iranian people clearly showed the Imam's spiritual influence in the hearts of the Iranian people.

Although in every revolution, leadership has a basic and determining role, the scale of this role differs in various stages of the revolution. Reviewing Imam Khomeini's role in the Islamic Revolution properly shows his peerless leadership. The Imam took the first steps for founding the Islamic revolution while teaching in the seminaries and delivering speeches on the role of Islam in managing the society.

Imam Khomeini's attractive viewpoints which were released in the form of tapes or written statements in the mosques and Hosseinias created a deep link between the leader and people. Such activities yielded fruit some 15 years later; so the Iranian people started nation-wide demonstrations against the dictatorial and corrupt Pahlavi regime by holding Imam Khomeini's pictures and placards containing words and statements of the Imam.

Leadership always plays the main role in organizing and planning the course of any move to achieve the desired goals and ideals. The sensitive role of the leader of the Islamic revolution of Iran in overthrowing the corrupt Pahlavi regime and replacing it with a new social system based on religious popular rule through revitalizing Islamic teachings is admitted by many experts and analysts of the events of Iran during the past decades.

Therefore, analyzing the personality of Imam Khomeini as the leader of the Islamic Revolution one can say that the Imam was a prudent and brave leader. He was fully aware of his time and the international issues. He guided the greatest revolution in the contemporary era by using modern and innovative methods. He changed the course of history to the benefit of the oppressed and downtrodden people of the earth.

The director of the German Oriental Institute Udo Steinbach describes Imam Khomeini’s character as saying, “Imam Khomeini is the most political spiritual leader of the world with an attractive and charismatic personality; and all the ideals of the Islamic Republic of Iran stem from his thoughts.” The great Iranian thinker martyr Morteza Motaharri in his book titled "About the Islamic Revolution", regarding the religious political personality of Imam Khomeini says, “I found 3 points in Imam Khomeini which increased my faith in him. First, faith in the goal; that is, if the entire world gathers together they cannot force him to give up his goal. Secondly is the faith in people. Third and the most important of all is faith in God and trusting Him. Based on this, Imam Khomeini (God’s mercy upon his soul) as the theorist of the Islamic movement and founder of the Islamic Republic system led the revolution both inside Iran and in the world.

In the past century, reformers like Seyyed Jamaleddin Assadabadi, Seyyed Qotb, and Hassan Al-Banna etc. tried to awaken Muslims from the deep sleep of ignorance. But what cannot be denied is the key role of leadership of Imam Khomeini in awakening the Islamic Ummah. In other words, Imam Khomeini (God’s mercy upon his soul) is the vanguard of the great Islamic movement in the world. The professor of international relations Hamid Moulana says, “In the west of the recent centuries and in the Islamic world, no figure has emerged like Imam Khomeini whose movement, thoughts, performance and guidelines have affected the world. The Imam was afraid of no power and with his simplicity, piety and ethics changed the meaning of power in the world and nullified the superficial glory and material aspects of power. The Imam's legitimacy and popularity was also international.”

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei as the firm follower of Imam Khomeini has always spoken of the power and glory of the Imam and describes his management as follows, “He was the full exemplar of a Muslim and an Islamic leader. The Imam granted dignity to Islam and hoisted the banner of the holy Quran in the world. In the era that all powerful political hands were trying to isolate religion, spirituality and moral values, Imam Khomeini (God’s mercy upon his soul) created a system based on religion, spirituality and moral values and founded an Islamic government and policy. Imam Khomeini administered and safeguarded the Islamic Republic for 10 years and brought it to a certain point. His 10 year leadership is an unforgettable memory and a precious reservoir for our people and our managers.”

Now that we celebrate the 34th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, we realize that the Islamic revolution was a historical and inevitable necessity which was manifested as the symbol of truth-seeking in the modern era.

At the time when humanity had submerged in materialism and had forgotten God and the Hereafter, a brave and God-seeking nation under the leadership of a great far-sighted man rose to help the religion of God to enlighten the world with truth. The Islamic revolution of Iran proved the efficiency of religion and offered modern man a tangible and practical experience of administrating human life on the basis of justice and spirituality.

Professor Ismail Kilbos says, “Now religion has been revived, the spiritual beauties have been taken into consideration in every day life and the world has tended towards the power of religion and spiritual attractions to beautify its social relations. All these have started with Imam Khomeini's call and his religious revolution.”

We commemorate the Ten Days of Dawn of the Islamic revolution and the 34years of independence, dignity, honor, and freedom. May God bestow peace and mercy upon Imam Khomeini and we appreciate the self-sacrifice of the men and women who paved the ground for freedom, dignity and independence. We congratulate you on the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic revolution.