17 years has passed since the demise of Hajj Sayyid Ahmad Khomeini, Imam’s beloved son and ...

“As the overpowering, omnipresent and avenging God is my witness, since the day Ahmad has been administering my affairs in the exterior wing of my house till this very moment that I am writing these lines, he has taken no step and used no pen against my words or my written texts. He has also been painstakingly thorough in ensuring that not one word or even one letter of my sayings or writings is distorted. In addition even if he was sure that a letter needed to be fixed, he did not do so without my permission.” Imam Khomeini

Deputy of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan and a MP of that country in an interview with Jamaran news agency

Imam Khomeini’s thoughts are suitable for all the Muslim nation rather Shia or Sunni

Hamid Reza Asefi:

The message to Gorbachev was a sign of Imam’s power

This letter has different dimensions which we could speak about it; philosophical, religious and cultural dimensions which are all notable, but about the political dimension of the message; we should consider that in the situation which the message was sent no one could have thought or predicted about the collapse of the Soviet Union, but Imam had done it, and this shows that if any one wants to view the situation with out considering the developments of time he has too have a inspirational point of view.

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.

Iran-Russia relations

From Imam Khomeini’s letter to the collapse of the Soviet Union

When Mikhail Gorbachev, Head of state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, received Imam Khomeini’s letter from the Imam’s chosen delegation party, he turned to them and said: “Although the people of the Soviet Union and Iran are followers of different schools of thought, this does not prevent us from cooperating with each other based on our common principles and traditions.” On January the 4th 1989, when Eduard Shevardnadze, the Soviet foreign minister, traveled to Iran after his visit to Iraq and delivered Gorbachev’s official response to Imam Khomeini, he was also instructed to talk about bilateral relations.

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.