More than 4 decades have passed since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in February 1979. Having gone through countless ups and downs, the Iranian nation has started a new phase of achieving the goals of this Revolution and progress in every aspect.

The comprehensive statement that was issued by Ayatollah Khamenei on the 40^th anniversary of the Revolution, known as "Statement of The Second Phase of the Revolution", has indeed outlined the future of Iran on the basis of the lofty ideals of the Islamic Revolution and drawn the roadmap toward those ideals.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution reiterates that what the first generation of the Revolution has seen and experienced, the revolutionary youths of today have not seen or experienced, so he concludes that, "In order to take firm strides in future, the past should be correctly recognized and lessons should be learnt from experiences. If this strategy is neglected, lies will take the place of reality and the future will be exposed to unknown threats."

What the Leader says is noteworthy because since the very triumph of the Islamic Revolution, the enemies focused their efforts on smearing the image of this great phenomenon. Today, with the help of modern media such as cyberspace and myriads of TV and radio channels, they try to question the past of the Revolution, ignore the achievements, aggrandize weaknesses, and disappoint the people about the performance of the Islamic Republic system. Thus, Ayatollah Khamenei emphasizes, "The enemies of the Revolution, with a strong motive, pursue distortion and fabrication of lies about the past and even the present, and they use money and every tool to this end. The bandits of thought, belief and awareness are big in number. Reality cannot be heard from the enemy and its pawns."

To give a brief picture of the tyrannical rule of Pahlavi regime, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei stresses, "The Islamic Revolution and the system originating from it, started from zero. Everything was against us- whether the corrupt tyrannical regime, which in addition to dependence, corruption, tyranny and being coup-based, was the first monarchic regime in Iran that had come to power by foreigners rather than its own sword- or the American government and some other western governments, or even the severely dire domestic condition and shameful backwardness in science, technology, politics, spirituality and any other virtue."

Every revolution after victory, needs system of governance. The revolutions of the 20^th century used to follow the communist model presented by the Soviet Union. But this system, due to a plethora of defects, was unsuccessful and finally faded away. Another model was the capitalist system whose symbol was the United States of America and has been ruling in the western countries.

The Islamic Revolution of Iran, however, had no trust in either of the two models of government. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution elaborates this issue, "There was no past experience and covered path ahead of us. Obviously, the Marxist uprisings and the like could not be considered as a role model for a revolution that has emerged from the core of Islamic faith and cognizance. The Islamic revolutionaries started with no pattern and experience and the combination of republicanism and Islamism and the tools for its formation and progress were not attained except with the divine guidance, luminous heart and great thought of Imam Khomeini. This was the first radiance of the Revolution."

The Islamic Revolution gained victory in a bipolar world since the US and the Soviet Union had arrayed against one another with their allies. The US was the symbol of Liberalism-Capitalism while the USSR advocated Socialism-Communism. In such circumstances, the Islamic Revolution came to existence in Iran with an ideology and system of government based on religion and spirituality. The shakiness of systems based on materialism was soon manifested after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. Nearly 2 years before that, Imam Khomeini had foreseen the end of Communism in his epistle to then Soviet Leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, where he wrote, "Mr. Gorbachev, it is clear to all that, from now on, Communism should be searched at the museums of political history in the world; because Marxism does not meet any of the real needs of man; because it is a materialist school and materialism cannot rescue mankind from the crisis of lack of belief in spirituality, which is the most fundamental pain of the human community in the west and the east."

As Imam Khomeini elaborated the crisis of lack of belief in spirituality is what the Liberal Capitalism is also grappling with in the west and that's the main cause of its ultimate annihilation which has already begun. Ayatollah Khamenei writes on the conditions after the collapse of the Communist system, "The Revolution of the Iranian nation turned the bipolar world of those days into a tri-polar world; and then, with the collapse and omission of the Soviet and its satellites and emergence of new poles of power, the new dual confrontation of 'Islam and Arrogance' became the prominent phenomenon of the contemporary world and a focal point attracting the world's attention."

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution writes in his Statement about the impact of the Revolution on the oppressed of the world and the reactions of the bullies, "On the one hand, the hopeful look of the oppressed nations and freedom-seeking currents and some of the independence-liking governments; and on the other hand, the spiteful and malevolent eyes of bullying regimes and blackmailing thugs of the world were fixated on it. Thus, the course of the world changed and earthquake of the Revolution awakened the pharaohs sleeping at comfortable beds; hence, enmities began with all intensity."

After the triumph of the Islamic Revolution and foundation of the Islamic Republic system, the efforts of the Arrogant and Domineering Front began with instigation of separatist rebellions, political crises, sanctions, and war to confront the Islamic Revolution. But, thanks to the divine assistance and prudent leadership of Imam Khomeini and his successor Ayatollah Khamenei, this nation has defeated the enemy in all fronts.

Ayatollah Khamenei concludes this part of his comprehensive statement known as "The Second Phase of the Revolution", saying, "Now, after 40 annual feasts of the Revolution and 40 Ten Days of Fajr, one of those centers of enmity has been obliterated and the other one is grappling with problems indicating its imminent death; while the Islamic Revolution continues its forward move with preservation of and attaching to its mottos."

RM/ME