By Gürkan Demir, from Tabriz / Iran
On January 17, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, met with the people of Tabriz in Tehran. This meeting is traditional. It has been held for about 25 years, bringing Ali Khamenei together with the people of Tabriz, who were a cornerstone in the lead-up to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The ceremony was held at the Imam Khomeini Hussainiya, within the complex that houses the Office of the Supreme Leader, the usual venue for such public meetings.
I was the only Turkish media representative on site. Even, I was the only journalist not from Iran. In total, there were four media outlets in the event.
Being at one of the most closely watched addresses, amid rising tensions between Iran and the US, was a significant opportunity from a journalistic standpoint. Moreover, we were able to record our announcement just a few meters from the Ayatollah when media reports were swirling with claims about his location.
I won’t write about Khamenei’s speech at the meeting since it is already available in the press. Our readers might look it up.
I entered the hall around 8 a.m. Any empty spaces were quickly filled. The crowd exceeded the hall’s capacity. As usual, attendees were seated on the floor. So the hall can have over a thousand people.
Present were military personnel, police, political officials, religious scholars, and ordinary citizens from East Azerbaijan. There were parents with infants in their arms and citizens in wheelchairs. The father of the late Tabriz Friday Imam, who died in the helicopter crash that also claimed former President Ebrahim Raisi’s life, was also in the hall. Supporters of TRACTOR FC, one of East Azerbaijan’s leading football teams, were also in attendance with team scarves and jackets. They unfurled an Iranian flag with the words “Long Live Azerbaijan” on it.
With Ayatollah Khamenei’s entrance, the hall erupted in tremendous excitement, and cries of joy filled the air. Some attendees were moved to tears. Slogans written on palms and on keffiyehs, photographs of Tabriz police and soldiers martyred in the war against US–Israel…
In the hall:
- Slogans were chanted in Farsi and Turkish.
- Elegies and anthems were recited in Farsi and Turkish loudly and in unison.
Some of the slogans chanted were:
- “Azerbaijan Sherefdir, Pahlavi Bisheref”. It means “Azerbaijan is honor, Pahlavi is dishonor”. This has been a prominent slogan recently, rising from the streets of East and West Azerbaijan during attempts by Pahlavi to incite protests.)
- “Azerbaijan oyagtır İngılaba dayagtır”. This is a long-standing slogan chanted since nearly the time of the Revolution. It means “Azerbaijan is awake, supporting the Revolution”.
- “Azerbaijan kan verer, İngılaba can verer” (Azerbaijan sacrifices its blood, revives the Revolution.)
- “Azerbaijan-e canbaz, Hamaney’den ayrılmaz” (The veteran of Azerbaijan remains loyal to Khamenei.)
- “Biz ölmeye hazırız, Hamaney’in serbazıyız” (We are ready to die, we are the Ayatollah’s soldiers”.)
- “Allahu Ekber, Hamaney Rehber” (Allahu Akbar, Hamaney is the Guide.)
- “Kahrolsun Amerika, Kahrolsun İsrail, Kahrolsun İngiltere, Kahrolsun Münafıklar” (Down with America, Israel, England, and the hypocrites.)
- “Haydar Haydar”. People shouted that particularly after expressions of determination against the US.
Ayatollah Khamenei praised the people of East Azerbaijan for their mature stance during the violent events of January 8–9 and for their enthusiastic participation in the February 11 celebrations of the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
When Khamanei implied sinking a US warship, the hall erupted with cheers. Ayatollah’s words that the US is a collapsing empire was met with an “Inshallah!” of the crowd.
During the roughly three-hour program, I had the opportunity to both engage in one-on-one conversations with citizens and conduct interviews. I will share them later.
Let me just write one thing. Everyone I talked to, without exception, says “We are ready to sacrifice our lives for our Guide and our homeland!”