Iran’s Khamenei Says Plot to Undermine Revolutionary Symbols Must Be Countered - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday called on his country's people not to forget key revolutionary symbols, such as martyrdom, amid what he called a villainous plot to undermine the foundations of Iranian society.

"Commemorating martyrs is a necessary job and a duty of all of us, because a villainous policy and move is underway with the purpose of consigning the symbols of the Revolution, particularly jihad and martyrdom, to oblivion, and such a policy must be countered", Khamenei said, as quoted by Tasnim News Agency.

Iran's Supreme Leader made his remarks during an event in commemoration of martyrs from the southern province of Hormozgan.

Khamenei stressed that those who died to protect the Iranian nation should be considered as role models because they sacrificed their lives to protect truth, the agency reported.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a meeting with judiciary officials in Tehran, Iran

© AP Photo / Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader

In December 2018, Khamenei declared that Iran's enemies had devised a plot to reduce the importance of martyrdom to Iranian society. The supreme leader said that an assault on Iran's spiritual values was highly dangerous.

Martyrdom has played a significant role in Iran's public consciousness, especially since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Those who died at the hands of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and during the campaign to overthrow were revered by the state and praised for their sacrifice.