TEHRAN – Bresht Yunkerz, a Belgian researcher and an interpreter for RT and Press Tv, says Imam Khomeini’s philosophy of “neither East nor West, but the Islamic Republic” made him one of the pioneers of the multipolar world order.

Yunkerz says Imam Khomeini’s record in establishing the Islamic Republic “goes beyond the borders of the Iranian nation.”

In an interview with the Tehran Times on the 34th anniversary of Imam Khomeini’s demise, the Belgian scholar says, “It seems likely that Imam Khomeini would play a leading role in ensuring Iran’s place as a geopolitical pole in its own right, firmly defending its place in the world, and more importantly its Islamic identity.”

Here is the full text of the interview:

How do you evaluate the impact of Imam Khomeini's movement on the great revolutions in the world? Is Imam Khomeini's philosophy still effective in fighting colonialism?

Imam Khomeini’s legacy on international politics and the revolutionary movement worldwide, lies first and foremost in the fact that he has proven once and for all that a modern alternative to Western liberalism can be found within Islam.

Finding inspiration directly within the revelations of our religion, the Imam challenged the largest imperialist superpower in the world, and won. He inspired a nation to find courage and fight on even in its darkest days, even when Saddam Hussein’s armies rampaged through Iran and US-sponsored terrorism killed countless of innocents, to fight back and sacrifice for justice.

Prior to Imam Khomeini, to many it seemed infeasible, even impossible, that Islam or any other religion for that matter, could be an inspiration for a revolutionary movement in the contemporary era, let alone the basis for a modern and developed society. While Islamic philosophers and writers such as Jalal al-e Ahmad and Ali Shariati argued for exactly this sort of political approach, it was Imam Khomeini who perfected it and put it into practice.

In your opinion, if Imam Khomeini was alive today, what would have been his biggest concern in regard to global developments?

As Imam Khomeini used to express his geopolitical philosophy with the terms “neither East nor West, but the Islamic Republic”, he can be seen as one of the earliest proponents of what is nowadays known as the multipolar world order.

As the rise of Iran as a regional power is joined by the rise of China and the resurgence of Russia on the world scale, and as alternative power blocs are being formed that challenge Western hegemony in the shape of BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Belt and Road Initiative, we are seeing the arrival of a world system that is no longer dominated by a power cabal in Washington or London.

It seems likely that Imam Khomeini would play a leading role in ensuring Iran’s place as a geopolitical pole in its own right, firmly defending its place in the world, and more importantly its Islamic identity.

Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the former Soviet Union, believed that Imam Khomeini's movement was able to leave a great impact on the world. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

While Mikhail Gorbachev as a politician and statesman brought utter ruin to his country, resulting in the collapse of the Soviet Union, years of economic and social degradation and the geopolitical victory of the US-dominated unipolar world order, his assessment of Imam Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution in this regard was absolutely correct.

Iran has come a long way even more forward since this statement by Gorbachev was made. While in the past, the West’s attempt to isolate Iran were at least somewhat successful, the rise of the Axis of Resistance and the close relations between Tehran and friendly states such as Russia and China have fully broken the stranglehold of the West. Iran has now fully taken its place as a regional powerhouse.

What is your opinion of Imam Khomeini's statement that Western countries are not trustworthy and should not be considered friends?

The so-called “nuclear deal” of the JCPOA and the quasi-immediate US withdrawal from it, prove how right the Imam was in making this assessment. The Western powers, the United States in particular, speak with a forked tongue when it calls for peace, coexistence and negotiations. At the end of the day, what the West wants, is for the world to live only according to the rules that have been set out by the West itself. No other alternative viewpoints are permissible in the unipolar liberal-capitalist mindset.

We have seen time and again how countries who either collaborate with the West, such as Iraq under Saddam Hussein, or even merely try to find common ground and peaceful coexistence with the West, such as Libya did, always end up paying a price in blood when they inadvertently let their guard down.

Sure, the West as a geopolitical pole can and must be approached with a bona fide diplomatic attitude, just like every other legitimate country and political bloc on the world must be. But this does not mean trusting them outright. Opening one’s country to the value systems of the West, to the NGOs pushing this agenda, or to any form of economic, social or military domination by the West, is a sure path to ruin.

In your opinion, can Imam Khomeini be considered a global leader for popular revolutions?

Most definitely. The legacy of Imam Khomeini is an inspiration for the Axis of Resistance, crucial for the Islamic Resistance in countries such as Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and even as far as Nigeria.

However, the Islamic Revolution has also inspired countries, movements and political leaders across the globe, many of whom are not even Muslim themselves. From the Bolivarian revolutionaries in Venezuela, to the resurgent Russian anti-imperialists. Russian political philosopher Aleksandr Dugin also openly draws inspiration from Iran, and has repeatedly praised the Islamic Republic for its consistent ideological alternative to Western unipolarity.

What is the greatest achievement of Imam Khomeini's movement for the free people of the world?

The obvious answer is the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a contemporary and developed democratic republic that is based entirely within the fold of the Islamic religion. But the achievement itself goes beyond the borders of the Iranian nation, as it has united countless millions of people across the Islamic world and the Global South in general to find inspiration and solace in their fundamental religious values, and to stand up proudly against imperialism, hegemony and domination.