In recent days, more than forty million people participated in the farewell and funeral ceremonies for the martyred leader of the Revolution, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, in just five cities across Iran and Iraq: Tehran, Qom, Mashhad, Najaf, and Karbala. These ceremonies were marked by deep emotions and anti-American and anti-Zionist slogans.
At the same time, similar large-scale public gatherings were held in many other cities in Iran as well as in several other countries, including Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan, and India, although no official statistics have been released regarding the total number of participants. These events point to one fundamental reality: that the Islamic Revolution of Iran and its martyred leader have established a profound connection with the hearts of people around the world. This article seeks to explain the reasons behind this enduring public support by examining three interrelated themes: the historical foundations of the Islamic Revolution, the leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei, and the central role of science and technological advancement in preserving Iran’s independence and confronting with the hegemonic international order.
1. The circumstances of the occurrence of the Islamic Revolution of Iran
The Islamic Revolution of Iran took place at a time when the international system was divided between two competing power blocs: the Western bloc led by the United States and the Eastern bloc led by the Soviet Union.
For centuries, the front of truth had found little opportunity to emerge on the global stage. It was under these circumstances that the Islamic Revolution of Iran, following a massive popular uprising in response to the call of Imam Khomeini, triumphed. The Islamic Revolution represented an independent alternative to both blocs. Inspired by Imam Khomeini’s leadership and guided by the slogan “Neither East nor West, but the Islamic Republic,” the Revolution sought to establish a political order founded upon two essential pillars: Islam as the ideological and legal framework of the state and popular participation as the foundation for establishing, administering, and safeguarding the political system. In essence, the Revolution was realized on the basis of the Iranian people’s profound belief in the Islam of the Prophet Muhammad, Imam Ali, and Imam Husayn.
The first decade following the Revolution, under the leadership of Imam Khomeini, was devoted to laying the foundations of the new political order and introducing and consolidating the values of the Islamic system. The significance of this ten-year period lies in the fact that the Islamic Republic—understood as a system of governance based on the teachings of the Qur’an and the Ahl al-Bayt—was established at a time when no previous model or practical precedent for such a system existed within the prevailing international order. Consequently, the design and institutionalization of this novel model in the modern era stand among Imam Khomeini’s most significant and enduring achievements.
Throughout this entire decade, however, the country was confronted with numerous crises and challenges, including the eight-year War of Saddaam’s regime with Iran.
2. The leadership of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei
Following the death of Imam Khomeini, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei assumed the leadership of the Islamic Republic for the next thirty-seven years. During this period, the collapse of the Soviet Union transformed the international system into a predominantly unipolar order centered on the United States. This made the period particularly challenging for the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This era also coincided with significant technological advances in the West, during which the United States and its Western allies prominently promoted the concept of globalization. According to this perspective, globalization represented an American theoretical framework for consolidating its dominance over the world’s peoples and establishing a modern form of hierarchical international order. By taking advantage of modern technology, this project was presented with an attractive appearance intended to appeal to global public opinion. Beneath this appealing image—characterized by the age of communications, closer interaction among nations, and the removal of borders—lay a darker agenda designed to advance hegemonic objectives. These underlying characteristics included:
1. Undermining the cultural and national identities of peoples.
2. Weakening the religious and ideological foundations of societies.
3. Eliminating national boundaries against Western cultural invasion.
4. Undermining the institution of the family.
5. Ridiculing enduring moral values through the promotion of homosexuality, consumerism, and individual self-interest.
6. Weakening the relationship between nations and their governments while fostering dependence on the United States and Western culture.
7. Reducing population growth through the promotion of permissiveness, homosexuality, and Choosing pets over having children.
In contrast, under the leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei, the Islamic Revolution promoted values such as genuine freedom, morality, spirituality, justice, national independence, rationality, brotherhood, the centrality of the family, and the rejection of oppression and domination. These values are viewed as being rooted in human nature and are therefore regarded as timeless principles that remain meaningful and attractive to people across all over the world and all generations.
Alongside promoting and strengthening these values, the martyred leader placed particular emphasis on science, research, and technological development. In many of his public speeches and also, meetings with government officials, he consistently stressed the importance of scientific advancement and research. His frequent citation of Imam Ali’s well-known saying, “Knowledge is power” (al-‘ilm sultan), according to which knowledge is the source of authority and whoever lacks knowledge becomes subject to the dominance of others, remains memorable.
He believed that the survival and continuity of the Islamic Revolution, as well as Iran’s ability to withstand pressure from the United States and the West, depended upon strengthening the country’s scientific, technological, and economic capabilities. The expansion of universities, the development of scientific research, the establishment of the Vice Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy, and subsequently the creation of innovation centers, technology parks, and knowledge-based companies were among the outcomes attributed to his leadership. Such a sustained commitment to science, research, and technology, together with his exceptional leadership in strengthening Iran’s military and defense capabilities, enabled the country to demonstrate its power during recent wars, particularly during the military confrontation involving the United States and Israel’s attack on Iran.
When the United States was no longer willing to tolerate Iran’s ideological opposition to global arrogance and the globalization project, it launched a direct military attack against Iran. With the support of Israel, NATO, and several Arab countries in the region, the United States allegedly carried out extensive bombardments against Iranian targets and, on the first day of the conflict, the eminent leader of Iran together with several senior military commanders were killed.
Iran did not surrender but instead launched retaliatory operations, targeting American military bases throughout the region as well as military and economic facilities belonging to Israel through missile and drone attacks. The United States attacked Iran with such objectives as compelling Iran’s surrender, changing its government, eliminating its leadership, destroying Iranian civilization, partitioning the country, seizing its oil and natural resources, and eliminating its nuclear capabilities. However, the conflict eventually reached a point where the United States, after encountering Iran’s military capabilities, suffered a major strategic defeat and subsequently called for a ceasefire and negotiations.
The broader consequences of Iran’s resistance and the countries of the so-called “Axis of Resistance” against the United States and Israel—including issues such as Iran’s controlling the Strait of Hormuz, effects on the global economy, and Iran’s emergence as the world’s fourth superpower—are not the focus of this article. Rather, the purpose of this article is to examine the underlying reasons for the hostility of the United States and the West toward the Islamic Republic of Iran and to address the question of why the United States sought to eliminate Ayatollah Khamenei, who was both a political leader and a respected religious authority among the people of Iran and many Muslims worldwide, and why it failed to achieve the above-mentioned objectives.
In fact, the Islamic Revolution confronted the hegemonic ambitions of the United States by developing both a theoretical framework and a governing system founded upon universal human values rooted in human nature, as discussed earlier. The people of Iran sought only to live freely and independently, to organize their society around divine and human values that all prophets were sent to promote, and to prevent their natural resources, particularly oil, from being exploited by foreign powers.
The assassination of the Supreme Leader prompted Iranians to come out into the streets in a show of national unity. They expressed their anger over the U.S. and Israeli attack and called for a strong Iranian response against the aggressors. For more than four months now, people have gathered every night in the streets of Tehran and other cities across the country, declaring their firm support for the Islamic Republic. Backed by the overwhelming support of the people, the Islamic Revolution harnessed the science and technology it had developed to withstand against aggressors, ultimately overcoming the enemy’s assault.
3. The second phase statement of the Islamic Revolution
Forty years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, when the country had achieved sufficient stability and standing in the international arena, our martyred leader issued the Second Phase Statement of the Islamic Revolution [1]. In this document, after reviewing Iran’s historical experience during the Qajar and Pahlavi eras and outlining the achievements of the Islamic Revolution for the country, he presented a vision for Iran’s development over the following forty years.
In this statement, the first recommendation he addressed to the Iranian people was the importance of science and research. Even issues and values such as spirituality and morality, economic development, justice and the fight against corruption, independence and freedom, national dignity, foreign relations, the necessity of maintaining clear boundaries with adversaries, and lifestyle were placed after scientific advancement and research in his order of priorities.
The reason, according to the statement, was that preserving all of these values in a world governed by a hegemonic order that tolerates no opposing voice first requires national strength and power, and such strength can only be attained through the acquisition of science and technology based on scientific research. Therefore, while emphasizing the scientific movement that had taken place during the first forty years of the Islamic Revolution, he also stressed the necessity of sustaining and expanding this scientific revolution.
The statement further calls for pushing beyond the frontiers of science in key academic disciplines and regards striving in the fields of science and technology as among the country’s most important national endeavor. It was these strategic directives that enabled Iran—once a weak country during the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties, when foreign powers repeatedly separated parts of its territory—to reach a position in which it not only preserved its territory but also acquired sufficient strength to confront the United States and its allies, inflicting the most significant strategic defeat in American history.
Based on the foregoing discussion, Iran’s conflict with the West, led by the United States, is fundamentally both a conflict of values and a scientific and technological confrontation.
Iran holds the upper hand in the battle of values because its principles are rooted in the teachings of Islam—values that, appeal to all free-thinking people because they are consistent with innate human nature. At the same time, having observed Iran’s scientific and technological progress despite decades of American and European sanctions following the Islamic Revolution, its adversaries have increasingly sought to undermine the country’s scientific and technological foundations. The assassination of scientists and university professors, together with attacks on universities and scientific-research centers, should be viewed in this context, which will remain as enduring and shameful chapters in the history of the United States and the West.
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