TEHRAN— In his meeting with the participants of the 7th General Assembly of the AhlulBayt World Assembly (ABWA) in the Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah on Saturday, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei made important remarks about how Iran pushed back the “7-headed dragon” of arrogance.

During the meeting, the Leader said, “The flag of the Islamic Republic is a flag of justice and spirituality. Naturally, in a world where actions are based on coercion and thoughts are based on materialism, they react against you when you raise the flag of justice and spirituality.”
 
He then noted that the opposition and confrontation of the arrogant and domineering powers in the world with the Islamic Republic of Iran is “natural and inevitable, because when you raise the flag of justice and spirituality, they act against you.”

According to the Leader, Shia is proud to have stood against the domineering system, shielded its chest and stopped this seven-headed dragon that intervened in all the affairs of the countries, governments and nations in a cruel and tyrannical manner.

“Today they themselves admit that many of their heartfelt demands are stopped and even destroyed made by the Islamic Republic,” the Leader noted.

Ayatollah Khamenei is on the belief that the followers of AhlulBayt are proud that they have taken the most important step in confronting the system of arrogance and domination. 

“There are many slogans, but what actually happened on the ground is a clear and definite thing, and that is the flag of the Islamic Republic has been raised,” he opined. 

The Leader then went on to note that the Islamic Republic has supported people who are not Shias but are moving in the right direction from the beginning. 

“In the Islamic world, who has helped the people of Gaza and Palestine as much as the Iranians and the Islamic Republic? Coreligion countries religion did not even give one hundredth of these contributions. They even hurt the Palestinians sometimes,” he lamented the Saudis and Emiratis. 

The Leader pointed out that neutralizing America's criminal plans in different countries, one example of which was ISIS, has caused dense Iranophobia and Shiaphobia propaganda, and accusing Iran of interfering in other countries.

Emphasizing that the Islamic Republic does not interfere in other countries, the Leader called the accusations of these rulers due to their inability to prevent the significant progress of the Islamic system, adding, “Of course, everyone should be vigilant about the policies of the arrogant and not go along with them.”

The future of the Islamic world is bright, Ayatollah Khamenei said, adding that the Shia can play a major role in this bright future.

There is a benevolent, mythical bird in Persian literature and mythology called Simurgh (meaning thirty birds). Attar of Nishapur, one of the most well-known poets of Iran wrote a collection of poems with a unified narrative on this connotation. In his belief, Simurgh was non-existent at first, but it came to life after thirty birds (equivalent to the number 30) joined hands together and became unified to form Simurgh. During the story, Attar of Nishapur says that all thirty birds are heading to the peak of Qaaf Mountain.

A country that was dominated by foreign powers has now emerged from the joining of thirty birds resembling its ideals. All these thirty birds have now unified and formed a Simurgh, resembling the Islamic Revolution. This Simurgh has gone through a transformative phase and was unified in 1979, after the Islamic Revolution. This majestic bird was once dominated by the British and the Americans, in a way that they would appoint Shahs and rulers for Iran and they would remove them themselves. Case in point is Reza Shah, the father of the last Shah of Iran. Reza Shah rose to the power through the British support, and was removed by the British. His successor, Mohammad Reza Shah was also appointed by the foreigners. 

Another perfect example of foreign interventions in Iran is the U.S.-plotted 1953 coup against then Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosadeq. 

The Islamic Revolution came as a unifying voice that joined all thirty ideals and formed a unified Simurgh to give it a new identity.

A perfect example of one of these birds that brought Simurgh to existence is martyr Qassem Soleimani, a man who thwarted U.S. plans for the region and founded the new West Asia with his inventiveness and bravery.

During the last 4 decades, the domineering system used every tool at hand to confront the Islamic Republic and bring the newly born Simurgh to its knees. From coup attempts to military aggression and the imposition of an 8-year war with the Ba’athist regime of Iraq, from assassinating Iran’s top officials and scientists to vandalism and creating insecurity. They even went to impose the most immense number of sanctions on a country throughout history, but none of these actions brought this newly born Simurgh to its knees. 

The failures of the arrogant and domineering regime has countless reasons, the most important of which is the miscalculation of the West. Add that to lack of proper knowledge of Iranian people, and you have got the perfect formula for the West’s failure to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees. 

The Islamic Republic has never deviated and will never deviate from its core ideals raised through the Islamic Revolution. These ideals can remain in place through the vigilance and resistance of the Iranian nation. 

Few analysts can doubt Imam Khomeini’s intelligence, courage and tact. Evidently, after his passing the same path is being followed strongly by his rightful successor, Ayatollah Khamenei. 

The enemy has relied heavily on mere materialistic factors and the Islamic Republic's possession of the levers of spiritual power that are unknown to the enemy has caused them devastating blows and strategic failures. 

Finally, it is important to remember that Iran has a lot of young people who have supported the Islamic Republic in various critical situations, namely from the imposed war on 1980 to 1989. These hot prospects are supporting the country in the fields of science and technology, and this is the vital reason the Islamic Republic is going stronger than ever. The 7-headed dragon has been pushed back, and it is now on the verge of being defeated.