Ahead of the final victory of the revolution in 1979, Imam Khomeini, the religious and spiritual leader of the world recommended the army officers and soldiers to defect from the brutal Pahlavi regime of Shah.
Imam Khomeini said that the members of Iranian armed forces belonged to oppressed people of the society and invited them to join the nation in their struggle against the Pahlavi regime.
The historic decree by Imam addressed the high-ranking army officials and soldiers that they should refrain from shedding blood of their brothers, i.e., peaceful protesters who were demanding the downfall of the brutal monarchy.
The military members were also recommended to give up army ranks and join the nation in their peaceful struggle against the brutality and oppression of the Shah regime which was heavily depending on foreign powers.
The historic decree and recommendation just came months ahead of the victory of the Islamic Revolution under the wise leadership of the great Imam in 1979.
The troops, members of security forces and high-ranking military officials responded positively to Imam’s decree and started giving up bases and joining the nation uprising against oppressive policies of the Shah administration.
The Shah regime had set very strict rules to punish those who defect from the military. However, they decided to obey Imam divine order which could spare thousands of lives of peaceful protesters.
Following the Imam’s order, the military denied to open fire against protesters and joined the Islamic Revolution on mass scale.
The great Imam was great mindful of his religious duties and performed all of them with great accuracy in accordance with divine teachings of Islam.
Several pundits believe that Imam Khomeini the founder of the Islamic Republic truly exemplified the true and genuine teachings of the holy prophet of Islam and his infallible successors in his lifestyle.
The various facets of this amazing Islamic leadership of great Imam may be characterized as an exceptional personal integrity, unselfish lifestyle, iron- will, incredible courage and steadfastness.
Also back in 1980, thirty eight years ago, Sadaam Hussein, supported by major Western and regional states, launched a massive military invasion of Iran. It came months after the Islamic Revolution.
A large number of volunteers joined the country's armed forces to defend their country against the Iraqi aggression, under the leadership the late Imam Khomeini.
The imposed war is commemorated in Iran as 8 years of Sacred Defense. Each year, Iranian Armed Forces stage nationwide military parades to mark the event.