He made the remarks at a meeting with the organizers of the National Congress for the Commemoration of the 24,000 Martyrs from Tehran, which was held on Tuesday. The transcript of his speech was published at the venue of the congress on Wednesday morning.

Hailing Tehran as the symbol of all the prominent characteristics of the Iranian nation, Ayatollah Khamenei said the Iranian capital played an inspiring role in the events that led to the Islamic Revolution and afterward.

Being pioneering and revolutionary is the true identity of this great city, he said, calling for efforts to educate the younger generations about the historical events of the city.

The Supreme Leader further pointed to the Iranian nation’s courage, zeal, and piety, as well as their independence-seeking and enemy-fighting characteristics, saying, “All these features can be found in Tehran.”

“The people of Tehran have been at the forefront of all political struggles against oppression, tyranny and colonialism for at least a century and a half.”

He also paid tribute to the martyrs of the Islamic Revolution and their high status. “One of the points that should be paid attention to in the commemoration ceremony of the martyrs is the [high] status of the martyrs of the revolution because these people were martyred on a path that prevented Iran and the Islamic world from being digested in the culture of disbelief and arrogance,” he noted.

“Commemorating the martyrs guarantees the continuity of their path for new generations,” Ayatollah Khamenei asserted.

Elsewhere in his speech, the Supreme Leader stressed that the Islamic Republic does not have any instructions for “exporting the revolution” and that the revolution is like “the pleasant spring air and the smell of flowers, which cannot be stopped and spreads naturally.”