He made the remarks in a three-hour meeting with eulogists held on the occasion of Lady Fatemeh’s birthday anniversary on Thursday.
Ayatollah Khamenei defined national resistance as endurance and steadfastness against all forms of pressure from hegemonic powers, including military, economic, cultural, media, or political pressures.
He pointed to Western media hype and political-military propaganda as examples of enemy pressure, saying their goals range from territorial expansion, such as now seen in the US’s actions in Latin America, to control of underground resources, lifestyle changes, and most importantly, identity transformation.
Recalling that global powers have been struggling for over a century to change “Iran’s religious, historical, and cultural identity”, he noted that the Islamic Revolution nullified those efforts, and in recent decades, the Iranian nation has continued to resist and frustrate its enemies.
Ayatollah Khamenei also highlighted the spread of the concept and literature of resistance from Iran to the region and beyond as a reality, adding that certain measures inflicted on Iran by the enemy could have crushed any other nation.
The Leader stressed that today Iran faces not only military confrontation but is at the center of a vast propaganda and media war. “The enemy has realized that this divine and spiritual land cannot be subdued through military pressure.”
[This item is being updated.]
IRNA