The Second Meeting of the Committee of Honoring the 23rd Anniversary of Imam Khomeini’s Demise

The second session of the the committee of honoring the 23rd anniversary of Imam Khomeini’s demise was held at the the holy shrine of Imam Khomeini by the attendance of the head of the central committee, the Interior Minister’s representative, deputy of the Shahid Fahmideh base and heads of committees, organizations and different ministries.

Gorbachev’s reply to the Imam

The Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union, who delivered the reply from Gorbachev to the Imam, delivered it with a shaky hand and an uncomfortable look on his face. The translator, who was known for his fluency and rapid translations, kept stuttering when speaking to the Imam. The Imam gave a swift reply to Gorbachev, telling him that he had not read his statement well.

Mohammad Javad Larijani:

''The letter was to design the relations after the Soviet collapse.''

After we returned from Moscow, early in the morning we went to visit Imam Khomeini; he told us: "Was Marxism over or not?" and I replied: "It was completely over", ***I always pity that Imam's letter was never analyzed well so that its thoughtful and deep sources could be revealed and we could find its meanings.***Shevardnadze told me he was shelterless against Imam's looks.***Imam's message had a great affect, the letters literature was quite interesting for them, they were faced with a leader like Imam Khomeini who spoke strongly, opposite to countries who spoke with strain against the Kremlin officials or always argue with them.

Gorbachev’s response to Imam Khomeini:

''Your message has deep concerns about the fate of mankind''

On January 4th 1989 Imam Khomeini’s message was delivered to Gorbachev by his selected delegations who were Ayatollah Javadi Amoli, Mohammad Javad Larijani and Mrs. Marzieh Hadidehchi Dabbaq. Eight weeks later Gorbachev delivered his response to Imam Khomeini by the then Soviet foreign minister, Edward Shevardnadze in Tehran. Gorbachev saw a great value to Imam’s message in his response, but it was clear that he had not understood the spiritual dimensions of Imam’s message. Because he had first tried to describe his activities for promoting political freedom in the Soviet Union and then he had described the achievements of a communist economic from 1917 till now. In the meeting between Eduard Shevardnadze, those days Soviet foreign minister, and Imam Khomeini, Ali Akbar Velayati, those days Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Larijani, deputy of the foreign minister and a member of the delegation, and Alireza Nobari, then the Iranian ambassador to the Soviet Union were also present.

Gorbachev and Imam Khomeini

Gorbachev: “I’m sorry! I should have listened to Imam’s message”

In 1999, on the anniversary of the death of Imam Khomeini’s demise, in an interview with the IRIB News Agency in Moscow, Gorbachev regretted ignoring the Imam’s warnings three years before the collapse of the Soviet Union and said: “I think Imam Khomeini’s message addressed all the ages throughout history.” He also added: “When I received this message, I felt the person who wrote it was thoughtful and cared about the situation of the world. By studying the letter, I realized that he was someone who was worried about the world and wanted me to understand more about the Islamic revolution.”

The effects of the Imam’s letter to Gorbachev

Marzieh Dabbaq: The Imam’s letter to Gorbachev was monotheistic not diplomatic

Marzieh Hadidchi also known as Tahira Dabbaq, who was a political prisoner and an armed activist during the Pahlavi regime, started her anti Pahlavi activities in 1971. She escaped from the country with a fake passport in 1975 after being arrested and tortured by the SAVAK twice. She joined in food strikes in France and England for the freedom of Iranian political prisoners. In Saudi Arabia she spread Imam Khomeini’s announcements between the pilgrims. However most of his activities outside of Iran were related to training the Lebanese and Syrians in guerrilla fighting. During Imam Khomeini’s stay in Paris, she joined him and after the victory of the revolution she had some positions like the commander of Hamadan’s IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Sepah-e- Pasdaran) and manager of Tehran’s women prison. She was the first IRGC commander of the west of Iran after the revolution, three times MP, head of the women branch of Basij of I. R. Iran and the founder of the Intifada defenders union. She participated in this interview with Jamaran news agency despite her illness.

Ayatollah Javadi Amoli

The story of delivering Imam Khomeini’s letter to Gorbachev

Before and after the official visit of the Iranian delegation with the leader of the Soviet Union, there were no political contacts made, to a person or a group, by the head of the delegation, because this visit was only for submitting the message and clarifying its deep contents.

The Imam’s historical message to Mikhail Gorbachev

The Imam’s prediction that Communism will fall

In 1989, Imam Khomeini sent a message to Gorbachev inviting him to accept Islam and warning him of the fall of the Soviet Union and the Communist way of thought. The Imam talked of the inability of fulfilling spiritual needs by material things.