Hojatoleslam Taskhiri:

Before Imam, Islamic unity was mostly a theoretical discussion

At the time which the Islamic world was looking for unity among its children, they didn’t have the necessary instruments, but Imam Khomeini by founding the great government of the Islamic republic, paved the path for other Muslims.”

Dmitry Zhukov:

The Islamic revolution challenged the current international system

Imam Khomeini made a revolution victorious which rearranged the world’s political equations and challenged the bipolar system in the international structures.

Mohammad Javad Larijani:

''The letter was to design the relations after the Soviet collapse.''

After we returned from Moscow, early in the morning we went to visit Imam Khomeini; he told us: "Was Marxism over or not?" and I replied: "It was completely over", ***I always pity that Imam's letter was never analyzed well so that its thoughtful and deep sources could be revealed and we could find its meanings.***Shevardnadze told me he was shelterless against Imam's looks.***Imam's message had a great affect, the letters literature was quite interesting for them, they were faced with a leader like Imam Khomeini who spoke strongly, opposite to countries who spoke with strain against the Kremlin officials or always argue with them.

How did the Soviet Union end?

The collapse of the Soviet Union made the bipolar world disappear, a world which through the last decades had decided about the political destiny of countries. This situation eased the reliance on culture to determine different layers of foreign policies in a government-nation level by the international players. On the other hand, it confirmed that along with the cultural role of politicians, we shouldn't forget that not seeing the effects of religious features, believes and traditions of nations on structuring a culture would cause disasters.

Gorbachev’s response to Imam Khomeini:

''Your message has deep concerns about the fate of mankind''

On January 4th 1989 Imam Khomeini’s message was delivered to Gorbachev by his selected delegations who were Ayatollah Javadi Amoli, Mohammad Javad Larijani and Mrs. Marzieh Hadidehchi Dabbaq. Eight weeks later Gorbachev delivered his response to Imam Khomeini by the then Soviet foreign minister, Edward Shevardnadze in Tehran. Gorbachev saw a great value to Imam’s message in his response, but it was clear that he had not understood the spiritual dimensions of Imam’s message. Because he had first tried to describe his activities for promoting political freedom in the Soviet Union and then he had described the achievements of a communist economic from 1917 till now. In the meeting between Eduard Shevardnadze, those days Soviet foreign minister, and Imam Khomeini, Ali Akbar Velayati, those days Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Larijani, deputy of the foreign minister and a member of the delegation, and Alireza Nobari, then the Iranian ambassador to the Soviet Union were also present.

Imam Khomeini’s philosophical views discussed

The ‘Imam Khomeini and Islamic Teachings and Guidance’ Convention was held

The ‘Imam Khomeini and Islamic Teachings and Guidance’ Convention was held in order to compare the Islamic philosophy of guidance with the Western philosophy. This convention will be held in February and will be hosted by the office of the deputy head of research and information technology of the University of Qom

Iran-Russia relations

From Imam Khomeini’s letter to the collapse of the Soviet Union

When Mikhail Gorbachev, Head of state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, received Imam Khomeini’s letter from the Imam’s chosen delegation party, he turned to them and said: “Although the people of the Soviet Union and Iran are followers of different schools of thought, this does not prevent us from cooperating with each other based on our common principles and traditions.” On January the 4th 1989, when Eduard Shevardnadze, the Soviet foreign minister, traveled to Iran after his visit to Iraq and delivered Gorbachev’s official response to Imam Khomeini, he was also instructed to talk about bilateral relations.

Gorbachev and Imam Khomeini

Gorbachev: “I’m sorry! I should have listened to Imam’s message”

In 1999, on the anniversary of the death of Imam Khomeini’s demise, in an interview with the IRIB News Agency in Moscow, Gorbachev regretted ignoring the Imam’s warnings three years before the collapse of the Soviet Union and said: “I think Imam Khomeini’s message addressed all the ages throughout history.” He also added: “When I received this message, I felt the person who wrote it was thoughtful and cared about the situation of the world. By studying the letter, I realized that he was someone who was worried about the world and wanted me to understand more about the Islamic revolution.”