The great leader of the Islamic world had wanted Mikhail Gorbachev to pay attention towards spirituality and the world hereafter.
The letter came at a sensitive juncture of history when the world had plunged into social and moral decline.
Gorbachev delivered his official response to Imam Khomeini’s historic letter through the then Soviet foreign minister, Edward Shevardnadze in Tehran.
The response came eight weeks after Imam Khomeini’s letter to Gorbachev was narrated by an Iranian delegation in Moscow in early January 1989.
“I have a mission to deliver the response letter of Mikhail Sergey Gorbachev to Imam. I will try to inform you about its contents briefly,” Shevardnadze as Gorbachev's special envoy said.
The presentation of Gorbachev's response to the Imam's historic letter by Shevardnadze took place in an ordinary room in Tehran. He was deeply impressed by the simple lifestyle of the great Imam.
Earlier the founder of the Islamic Republic suggested through letter that they could evade collapse only if these societies resort to human values and divine religion.
According to Imam, the communism and capitalism had absolutely failed in responding the material and spiritual needs of the young generations.
The great leader announced that the Shia seminaries and intellectuals were ready to extend their moral support for the satisfaction of spiritual needs of the Russian and other Eastern bloc’s societies.
Gorbachev's response to Imam's historic letter was highly appreciated by senior officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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.
In the morning of the day when Edward Shevardnadze, the Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union was to deliver the reply from Gorbachev to the Imam, quite the opposite of other days when he entered his meeting room at 8 o’clock sharp, the Imam did not make his presence felt.
The foreign minister of the former Soviet Union together with the Islamic Republic of Iran foreign ministry officials stood waiting in the room.
Finally, the Imam entered at around 8.30 a.m. And without any interruption and reflection and without looking anybody in the face, he passed through the individuals and took his seat in his usual place.
At the same time, the foreign minister of the Soviet Union sat on a chair. The top diplomat and representative of the superpower of the eastern bloc, whose dignified appearance and confident movements at big international assemblies and at the opulent palaces of powerful western states was often viewed on the news , looked different in this humble and simple room and perhaps for the first time he stood barefooted on an old and discolored carpet at an official meeting as was evident from the slight tremble of his hands while he read out the reply from Mr. Gorbachev.
Right from the moment that he sat on a chair he had an unstable reaction as was evident from the state of disequilibrium of his feet—and this state continued until he had finished reading the message. Except for his shaky head and hands, the rest of his body throughout his reception was like a solid and an erect statue. The interpreter, which according to the knowledgeable would at all places translate Russian with full authority and fluency, was in this situation unable to speak without stammering (and would try to disguise his stammer by forced coughing and clearing his throat often).
After the translation of the message of Gorbachev, the Imam without interruption and in the course of one minute and in three paragraphs candidly and unceremoniously expressed his regret at Mr. Gorbachev for not paying due attention to the fundamental subject of his letter.
Next while the interpreter began to translate the third paragraph of the Imam’s words, the Imam arose from his seat and went to the inner room; and with a combination of awe and speed of movement, brought about such an unprecedented situation that no one was able to move from his seat let alone get an opportunity to kiss his hand or engage in conversation.