TEHRAN – In a message marking Sacred Defense Week, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei emphasized the importance of remembering the country's martyrs, calling it a guarantee for safeguarding the path of the Iranian nation and staying true to the ideals of the Islamic Revolution.

"The Sacred Defense Week is a valuable opportunity to illuminate the atmosphere of the country with the memory of the esteemed martyrs. This cherished remembrance guarantees the health of the Iranian nation's path and prevents deviation from the direction of the revolution, and we must recognize its worth and significance,” the Leader said in a Thursday message.

“The distractions and daily preoccupations of life accompany us. We must not allow these natural distractions to distance us from that source of light and purity. With hope in the help of the All-Knowing and All-Powerful God,” he added. 

Sacred Defense Week marks an eight-year war of aggression on Iran by then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the 1980s.