As for the liberation of Khorramshahr, most of you youth had not been born yet on that day or even if you were born, you were small children, very small. The day of liberating Khorramshahr was a great event. I was going from the presidential building to Imam’s (Allah the Exalted’s paradise be upon him) house to meet him only a few hours after the announcement. The people were celebrating the event in a very enthusiastic manner on the streets on my way to Imam’s (r.a.) house. It was like a demonstration and a rally. When they saw our car, they approached us and expressed their congratulations. Such a public and voluntary celebration was held throughout the country. The issue was such an important issue.

Of course, on that day, most of the people did not know what had happened that had resulted in the liberation of Khorramshahr. The people were not aware of those sacrifices, those astonishing and unbelievable efforts and the details of the victory. Today too, many people are not aware of them. I advise everyone to read the books about the details of Operation Towards Bayt-ul Moqadas – that led to the recapture of Khorramshahr – and also the rest of the operation, Operation Fath-ul Mubin. Everyone should read these books to see what happened.

Once, I likened the Sacred Defense Era to a very big and magnificent picture that has been set up very high on the wall. We watch and admire the picture from below, but if we get closer and see the subtleties, the art and the details that have been used in this picture, and the various colors, patterns and paintbrushes that exist in it, our admiration will increase tenfold. The books that have been written actually portray these details for us who have seen this picture only from afar. Well, it was a great event.However, an event that was even greater than that one was that when Khorramshahr was liberated, when all those efforts produced results, after all those youth sweated hard and after we offered so many martyrs and endured many hardships, Imam (may God bestow paradise on him) – that man of God and that divine sage in the true sense of the word – said, “God liberated Khorramshahr.” God liberated Khorramshahr. This is very important. What does this mean? It means that if you make efforts, God’s power will stand behind you. An army without back-up cannot do anything. An army that has back-up and numerous precautionary and reserve forces can do many things. Now, if the reserve and back-up force of an army is comprised of divine power, will this army be defeated at all?

Imam (r.a.) helped us to understand this. He helped us to understand that when we engage in jihad, when we do not show laziness, when we enter the arena and bring our forces to the scene, God’s power stands behind us and as a result, Khorramshahr is liberated. With this logic, God can also liberate the entire captivated world of arrogance. With this logic, Palestine can be liberated as well. With this logic, every nation can be liberated from oppression provided that this logic is implemented. When we have this logic, we become invincible. When we enter the arena with this logic, there will be no more fear and intimidation. Under such circumstances, the military, promotional, monetary, financial and economic power of superpowers in the world will not be scary and intimidating to us because we have relied on God’s power.

Of course, God’s power does not stand behind lazy individuals and those nations that are not prepared to sacrifice. God’s power stands behind those individuals who are prepared to enter the arena, move forward, make efforts and prepare themselves for everything. Such individuals are reliant on divine power: “That is because Allah is the Guardian of the faithful, and because the faithless have no guardian. ” [The Holy Quran, 47: 11]. This is a Quranic ayah. God is your Moula. You have a Guardian that has the entire universe in His power. He is your Moula, but the unbelievers have no Guardian.