The Iranian regime mouthpiece Kayhan published, on February 12, 2023, the text of the "National Decision" declaration that was read out at the end of the Islamic Revolution Day march in Tehran the previous day. The declaration was featured on the front page, next to coverage of the marches across the country.
Kayhan front page, covering the Revolution Day marches across the country. Text reads: "Everyone turned out; the dreams of America and Israel were trampled" (Source: Kayhan, Iran, February 12, 2023)
Kayhan wrote: "Yesterday, 44 years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the people took to the streets chanting 'Death to America' more gloriously than ever, and showed more clearly than before that they love [Supreme] Leader [Ali Khamenei] and the revolution."
The National Decision declaration glorified the Quran and the two leaders of Iran's Islamic Revolution – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the revolution, and his successor Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader. Both of them, it said, had restored the grandeur of Islam as rightful leader of humanity, a task undertaken by Iran. It reiterated absolute acceptance of Khamenei's leadership, and his many acts of grace in the face of those participating in the widescale civil protests against him and his regime in the past months. Emphasizing hostility towards the "Satanic front" - i.e. the West, led by the U.S. – and its culture and liberal values, particularly with regard to women, it expressed support for the resistance front's struggle against Israel and against the Arab countries that are Iran's rivals, and for "strengthening Iran's strategic depth." The National Decision also included a warning to the European countries not to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, and threatened the West with operations in "strategic straits" and other regions.
The following is a translation of the Iranian regime's National Decision declaration:
"Praise and thanks be to God, who brought the Quran to light up our path and the great blessing of the Prophet of Mercy [Mohammad] and his supporters [the Shi'ites] to guide us in passing through the darkness of ignorance, so that we will be able to actualize the good and desirable life of sacrifice to the Kingdom of God, which brings human happiness. [All] this is by grasping the strong rope and turning to the guides of revelation [i.e. the founder of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and his successor Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei].
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"With endless gratitude that at the height of modern ignorance, when the world has become full of regimes of heresy, of polytheism, and of tyranny, we are privileged to be present in the era of the great Khomeini, the reviver of the pure Islam and the awakener of the people who descend into sin, and in the era of the great man [Khamenei] from the same seminary as the wise elder [Khomeini], the candle of whose existence warms, like the blazing sun, the existence of the oppressed and barefoot, and who led to the increasing authority of Islamic Iran, and instilled disappointment in the camp of the arrogance [the West, led by the U.S.].
"The school of pure Islam that gives life [i.e. the Shi'ite Islamic Revolution] was trapped in the damage of ignorance of history and caught up in misinterpretations and misperceptions that were sometimes specific, revived itself by virtue of the guidance of the enlightened elder [Khomeini], and [continues to do so] today by virtue of the leadership of the Supreme Leader of the Muslims of the world [i.e. Khamenei]. We owe the continuation of the glorious Islamic revolution and Iran's stable peace and security to the struggle and heroic deeds of the martyrs [during] the Iran-Iraq war, to the martyrs who defended 'the holy places' [i.e. the Iranian soldiers sent to Syria], particularly the commander of hearts, the martyr Haj Qassem Soleimani [the late IRGC Qods Force commander killed by the Americans in January 2020], to the martyrs [working in] health and security, and to the patience of their families. We believe that in the second phase of the revolution, the new foundations of the great Islamic civilization are being laid by emphasizing the discourse of the promised happiness that has no substitute and that grants identity.
"Now, on Revolution Day, after [44 years] of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, with the motto 'Iran is strong, 44 years of honor,' at the end of the national and glorious march of today that is an expression of the coalescence of determination and unity of the word and solidarity of the Muslim nation of Iran, we declare loudly, with 'Allah akbar [God is great], Khamenei is the leader,' the following:
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"We, the nation of velaya [i.e. the rule of the jurisprudent, Khamenei], consider him the most precious legacy of the Imam Khomeini. Today, more than ever, the light of his existence is difficult for Satans, bats, and people of darkness and ignorance. [We consider him] the pillar of the Islamic Revolution, and a guarantee of the stability and supremacy of the regime of the Islamic Republic [of Iran], and we consider the existence of Imam Khamenei a great blessing to the Islamic world. Today, we announce to all those who seek to weaken the regime, or to sabotage the inner strength of the ranks of the Iranian nation with their erroneous analysis and intellectual impasse, stemming from persistence, integration, unity, coherence, national unity, and the empathy of all classes and groups, and the support of all ethnic groups and religions in the country, [which is] our religious and revolutionary duty and our most important strategy for defeating the enemy.
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"We, the nation of believers – believers in the Quran and supporters of the Shi'a [Ahl Al-Bayt] who are infallible and pure – announce to the leaders of the arrogance [the U.S. and the West] and to those who claim, and hide behind, the falsehood of freedom of opinion and freedom of speech, and who, fearing the spread of the light of the Quran, have made anti-Islamism and Islamophobia their strategy of hostility [to the regime], and who have also, by hiring filthy hands and impure souls, dared to insult the Holy Quran, that today, the truth of the holy book, the Quran, has become clearer to Western man, who is confused by manmade schools of thought and who thirsts for morality and spirituality. It will not be long until the regal call [of the Quran] will reverberate throughout the world, [bringing] those who thirst for spirituality and morality to shelter under the wings of these divine messages [i.e. the Quran].
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"We, the law-abiding nation, respect the just approach of the wise leader of the Islamic Revolution [Khamenei], who from the beginning of the black fitna [i.e. the recent antiregime protests] distinguished between those who were acting emotionally and were deceived [by the enemies of the revolution] and those who organized the chaos and riots. Now, on the [44th] anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he has agreed, in obedience to the prophets and imams and from the powerful position of the Islamic regime, and in another expression of his loving and paternal approach, to pardon and lighten the punishment of a significant portion of those accused and convicted in the recent events. We ask, from the bottom of our hearts and souls, for the cultural institutions to enact a revolutionary rehabilitation, a cultural rehabilitation, and to bolster society's mentality, especially [among] the young people, as our most important cultural strategy, and to protect the young people from falling into the traps of evil intellectual movements and the plots of foreign intelligence services. [This is to be done] by properly explaining and presenting the facts of the revolution in an appealing manner.
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"We, the loyal and zealous public of Islamic Iran, have for some time been contending with Western culture's destructive, humiliating, and indecent view of women and its terrible consequences, in comparison with the honorable, progressive, and authentic Islamic view. [We] are aware of the unique atmosphere that has been created, of the thriving and excellence of [Iranian] women and girls across scientific, political, social, and athletic domains, and we know well that respecting hijab law and maintaining appropriate dress has brought a sense of psychological and social security in society. This leads to the strengthening of the family. Therefore, we ask national authorities to use appropriate means to prevent the implementation of the enemy's evil plans and its distortion of the honor and exalted values of Iranian women.
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"Today, the axis of Satan, headed by the criminal America and the Zionist regime, is waging a combined and highly complex war in an effort to weaken the permanent elements of the revolution. [It is doing this] by using its media empire, by casting doubt on the foundations of faith, by obfuscating the achievements of the regime, and by supporting criminals whose evil reputation is full of crimes against the Iranian nation. Through distortion, lies, and reversal of facts, it seeks to instill despair, instability, polarization, and muddling of [Iran's] demarcation from the enemies, and ultimately to destroy the wholeness of Islamic Iran. Therefore, we call on all authorities of thought, culture, and knowledge, who wield the word and the pen, to neutralize the evil conspiracies of the enemy by paying attention to the strategy of information jihad and by expressing the pure, clear truths of Islamic culture and values.
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"On this holy day, in a show of our unity and solidarity, we declare with authority and full intention, to global societies and foreign countries, that we will not tolerate the launch of hired antirevolutionary fists accompanied by the arms of the terrorist media, or the support for them from Toronto to Berlin on the pretext of supporting the [Iranian] people. We warn the European countries not to make an historic mistake by declaring the IRGC terrorist – because we [would] see this as a declaration of war on the Iranian nation. In such a case, they will be forced to meet the IRGC at strategic straits and in difficult regions.
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"We expect, while fully supporting the honorable government and the loyal and hardworking servants of the holy regime of the Islamic Republic, to ease the difficulties and economic stresses of this dear nation through appropriate means and by taking basic steps.
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"We, the visionary and revolutionary nation, hereby declare the legitimacy of the resistance front, and emphasize the need to protect and support the oppressed Palestinian nation, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, and to strengthen the strategic depth of the regime of the Islamic Republic..."[1]
[1] Kayhan (Iran), February 12, 2023.
