The West opposes Iran’s independence and strength

In his address to the conference, Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, referred to the historical background of relations between Iran and the West. He said that throughout history, ties between Iran and the West have experienced many ups and downs for various reasons, encompassing economic, political, cultural, and military dimensions, and may be considered among the most volatile international interactions.

The Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council divided Iran-West relations into five historical periods. He said the first period belongs to antiquity, when Iran was ruled by the Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanid empires and possessed a powerful civilization, while on the Western side, the civilizations of Greece and Rome dominated. At that time, these two great civilizational poles constituted the main centers of global power.

Larijani added that, given Iran’s immense political and military power in that era, the West was never able to dominate it. Although wars occurred between the two sides, none resulted in enduring Western control over Iran.

Dr. Ali Larijani spoke about the historical roots of Western hegemonic behavior. He noted that while Iran’s commercial ties with the East, the Islamic world, and neighboring countries had strengthened, for many years the West had been Iran’s principal trading partner. However, its domineering conduct in political and security spheres pushed cooperation into crisis.

Pointing to Western behavior after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he explained that Iran’s leaders never adopted a declared hostile stance toward the West. Rather, it was Western political and cultural behavior that targeted the Islamic Revolution with manufactured crises. The West sought to appropriate the independence of the Iranian nation under a new slogan, but was met with Imam Khomeini’s firm response.

Larijani also referred to the positions of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution regarding the West. He said the Leader’s recommendations for vigilance in dealings with the US and the West stem from their hegemonic disposition. The Leader has consistently endorsed mutually beneficial scientific and economic projects, but when the West deployed its economic, cultural, and even military power as instruments for imposing its will on Iran, the Leader stood firmly against it. The Iranian people likewise defended their independence with the same resolve during the recent war.

He continued that the Iranian nation, after the Revolution, resisted the US and Western attempts to undermine the country’s independence, and the Leader of the Islamic Revolution has steadfastly confronted these efforts.

Larijani added that the current president of the US, under the slogan “peace through strength,” in truth represents the main threat to the independence of nations. He seeks to disrupt international norms and replace law with raw power. This mindset essentially dictates that countries must either surrender or prepare for war a continuation of the same policy the West has followed for centuries, with Trump merely exposing it.

According to him, the outcome of this policy is the spread of international chaos. The war in Iraq, launched without UN Security Council authorization, was one example, and a similar approach was pursued regarding Iran. Today, the Zionist regime, a creation of the US, echoes those same chaotic slogans. Yet history has shown that chaos ultimately engulfs its creators, just as the US created Daesh and then became entangled in its consequences.

Larijani, referring to the recent war, said the power of the Iranian nation and the steadfastness of the Armed Forces forced the enemies to retreat and quickly pushed them toward concluding and ending the conflict. He stated that never before had the image of the US and the Zionist regime been so vile and detested in the eyes of global public opinion. Their recent actions stripped away the mask and exposed their colonial nature.

The Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council pointed to the deceptive approach of the US in negotiations. He said their objective in negotiations is not a fair settlement but imposing surrender. Was Iran not at the negotiating table when the US launched a war simultaneously? Is there a greater disgrace than the president of the US openly declaring, “I tricked Iran”?

He reminded that in the early days of the war, the enemies, through military pressure and extensive propaganda, tried to demoralize the people. Yet the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, with firmness and confidence, addressed the nation and promised the defeat of the enemies.

He added that the first three days of the war were among the most eventful, but the planning of the Commander-in-Chief was so precise and intelligent that the battlefield was transformed. His command was direct, steady, and exact; he contacted every field commander and directed the manner of their responses.

Larijani said the Leader’s management encompassed all arenas. Attention to the frontline, the rear, logistics, and especially the provision of people’s needs to ensure their livelihood would not be disrupted were all administered under his guidance.

In another part of the conference, Dr. Mohammad Eshaghi, Deputy for Research at the Office for the Preservation and Publication of the Works of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, referred to the thought of the Leader and said the conduct and worldview of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution are rooted in Quranic guidance and divine traditions. It is on the basis of these foundations that the country has been able to pass through political and social crises and challenges.

He recalled that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution has introduced the system of hegemony and arrogance as the true face of Western civilization, a system which, despite its efforts to subjugate nations, has been defeated by the Quranic leadership of the Islamic Revolution.

Mousa Haqqani, the academic secretary of the conference, also spoke as one of the presenters. He described the current juncture as one of the most sensitive periods in history and stated that this conference seeks to explain this situation based on the viewpoints of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution: namely, the transformation of the international system and the emergence of a historic turning point. He added that the events of the past two years, as well as developments that lie ahead, are part of this transformation of the international order. Operation Al Aqsa Storm, the 12-Day War, and events in Russia and Ukraine, the US and China, along with the hegemonic and power-seeking behavior of the US president, all signal that a significant shift is underway.

Haqqani stressed that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution is the inheritor of at least a thousand years of Shia rationality and noted that he possesses deep historical knowledge, studying both Iranian history and the history of the West and Europe. He has been directly engaged in the struggle against the West for around sixty years and has led a revolutionary state, the Islamic Revolution, and the Resistance Front for more than three decades.

In another part of the ceremony, Mousa Najafi, the executive secretary of the conference, said the rejection of the Western notion of the “end of history” and the introduction of a new philosophy of history by Iranian and Islamic thought indicate the beginning of a new era in human intellectual and civilizational development. Although today’s world grapples with mental colonization, soft war, and media domination, experience has shown that Western powers have drifted far from the historical superiority they once believed they held. He added that Iran’s confrontation with the West is not a continuation of the traditional East-West divide, because Iran acts within its religious and jurisprudential framework while simultaneously emerging beyond the geographical East as an independent and central power on national, regional, and global stages.

Continuing the program, Dr. Foad Izadi, a member of the academic board of the conference, stated that for years the West has promoted the narrative of regime change in Iran and distorted the image of the Islamic Revolution in its media. Under these circumstances, he said, our first priority must be strengthening academic discourse, deepening content-based critique, and supporting domestic scholars.

He emphasized that cultural currents in the West must be carefully monitored. Today in the Western world, even someone who raises the largest Palestinian flag over a city may gain votes and public support, which demonstrates a significant transformation in the intellectual and political climate of the United States.

Dr. Izadi added that the US is on a trajectory from being a global power toward becoming an “ordinary” country. Under such conditions, Iran must strengthen itself both in the realm of hard power and in the soft sphere of critique, thought, and intellectual production.