TEHRAN- Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, said on Sunday that martyrs changed Iran’s destiny at one of the most critical moments in the history of the country.

On Sunday morning, hundreds of the family members of the martyrs met with Ayatollah Khamenei.

The Leader also praised the Islamic Revolution as a movement that rescued Iran from moral, theological, and political decay.

In his address to the martyrs’ families, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Your martyrs changed the destiny of the country in one of the most crucial periods of its history.”

“The Islamic Revolution took place to preserve the country, which was rapidly falling into moral, religious and political decay, and salvaged it,” Ayatollah Khamenei noted. 

The Leader also praised the youth for protecting the nation during Saddam Hussein’s imposed war on Iran in the 1980s and subsequent conspiracies to undermine the nation.

Ayatollah Khamenei went on to add, “Then, the enemy launched a military attack. It was the youth who resisted for eight years and saved the country. Next, the youth stood up in the face of various seditions, various moves to foment unrest, and various kinds of enemy aggressions until today.”

The Leader also stated that the young accepted martyrdom, especially during the riots of the previous year, in order to preserve the nation and change its course for the better.

He urged parents, mothers, and spouses of martyrs to tell the tales of their loved ones. 

He also encouraged the media and artists to use the martyrs as role models for future generations.

Ayatollah Khamenei added that Iranian martyrs should be remembered because they serve as “role models” for young people.

“The behavior of these heroes, their distinguished moral characteristics, lifestyle, and changes in their lives set an example for the society, especially for teenagers and young people,” he asserted.

The Leader went on to say that it will be crucial to promote the martyrs as role models through publicizing the memories of the martyrs’ families.

He clarified the high status of the martyrs’ families based on Quranic, Jihadi, human, and social principles.

Last week, Ayatollah Khamenei received members of the families of the shrine martyrs.

During the meeting, the Leader officiated at the wedding of a martyr’s sister. The meeting also took place on Marriage Day. 

Members of the family of martyr Majid Ghorbankhani were present at the meeting. After officiating at the wedding of Zeinab Ghorbankhani and Ehsan Attaei, the Leader advised the couple to get along with each other in order to have a happy conjugal life. 

Majid Ghorbankhani was martyred in the Syrian city of Khantouman. 

Iran refers to those killed in the fight against terrorists in Syria and Iraq as shrine martyrs.

In March, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani also received a delegation of families of the Iranian martyrs who had been killed in the war against the terrorist ISIS group.

The Iranian delegation traveled to Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi Martyrs Foundation.

In his meeting with the family members, the Iraqi prime minister “expressed the appreciation of the Iraqi government and Iraqi people for the courage and sacrifice made by the martyrs in the war on terrorism. In that battle, the Iraqi and Iranian martyrs bled together in their honorable stand against the evil and barbarism of ISIS,” according to a statement by the office of the Iraqi prime minister. 

According to the statement, al-Sudani highlighted the social, religious, and historical ties that unite the two friendly peoples, pointing out that the Islamic Republic of Iran had previously stood and still stands by Iraq in its war on terrorism, indicating that the honorable stand of those martyrs is respected and appreciated by all Iraqis and all the forces of good in the world.

The families of the Iranian martyrs handed to the prime minister the banner of the shrine of Imam Ali al-Rida (peace be upon him) in appreciation of His Excellency's leadership, the statement said.

The Iraqi prime minister honored the families of the martyrs to demonstrate his respect and gratitude for their sacrifices.