Imam Khomeini urged uprooting of Zionism: Ahmadinejad

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has invoked late Imam Khomeini’s insistence on the need to uproot Zionist thinking, noting that the late founder of the Islamic Republic persistently sought the establishment of justice among communities.

“Imam [Khomeini] affirmed that we revolted and stood firm to claim the rights of nations and establish justice, and it was for this very cause that he took a stand against the Zionist regime [of Israel] that was obvious injustice and an insult to nations and humanity,” Ahmadinejad said on Saturday night.

The Iranian president made the remarks while addressing huge crowds of mourners that converged from all over Iran at Imam Khomeini’s mausoleum in southern Tehran to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of his passing.

“Imam [Khomeini] was against the foundation of the Zionist regime and on this basis he established the [international] Day of Quds and stood by the principle of defending the oppressed people of Palestine,” said the president, adding, “Imam was the only person declaring that Zionist thought and domination (over Palestine) must be uprooted from the human community.”

Iran’s chief executive emphasized that Imam Khomeini remains alive today, “since monotheism, justice, love and affection are alive.”

Noting that Imam Khomeini never feared any of the global powers due to his submissiveness to God, President Ahmadinejad also reiterated that the late founder of the Islamic Republic remained upfront and frank when it came to the implementation of divine decrees.

The president also reminded the massive audience that the revered Imam invited people to defend justice and take a stand against oppression while he also stood against all forms of discrimination and oppression. “Imam clearly sketched the line of justice,” he added.

Rouhollah Mousavi Khomeini, who came to be known as Imam Khomeini, was born in the small town of Khomein on September 24, 1902.

Coming from a family of scholars who for generations had devoted their lives to offering religious guidance to the hungry-for-knowledge population, young Rouhollah began his education by memorizing the holy Qur’an and was later sent to Arak (1920-21) and finally to Qom (1923) to complete his religious studies.

In 1961, Ayatollah Khomeini gradually entered the political arena. He began his activities against the US-backed Pahlavi dictatorship in January 1963, when monarch Mohammad-Reza Shah announced his so-called White Revolution reform plan.

Imam Khomeini changed the lives of Iranians and inspired countless others in the whole world by guiding to victory one of the greatest revolutionary movements in contemporary history.

The revered Imam passed away on June 3, 1989, eleven days after he was taken to hospital for an operation to stop internal bleeding in May 1989.