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Hello and welcome to Press TV Spotlight. I'm Marcia Hashemi. Thanks so much for being with us. The leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said that due to Al-Aqsa flood operation, the issue of Palestine is the primary issue in the world today. He was speaking at a gathering commemorating the 35th anniversary of the passing away of the founder of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini. Ayatollah Khamenei also reflected on Imam Khomeini's steadfast support for Palestine and how his insight not only helped us understand the situation of Palestine, but Iran, the region, and the world.

I'd like to welcome out of London Shabir Razvi, political analyst. Thank you so much, Shabir, for being with us. Let's start off with the world today and the world years ago, and especially what has changed. One, looking at the place of Iran, and two, looking at the Palestinian issue.

Shabir Razvi: Thank you very much for the kind invitation. Of course, the world is a different place, as you quite rightly pointed out. And those of us who are of a certain age have lived through this historic moment from the time of the inception of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and through all the contours that it has taken in the last years, particularly the sad demise of the founder and the leader of the Islamic Revolution. Imam Khomeini, may the Almighty be pleased with him and have mercy on him, was really an individual that resonated very clearly with not only the Muslims globally, but with all the oppressed people of the world.

Because in reality, Imam Khomeini was a religious scholar and his sort of thinking really sort of came out from the Holy Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and his family. So the reality is that whatever issues that Imam Khomeini wanted to deal with were in light of what Islam has taught humanity. The two key principles from the Quranic point of view are—I'll use the Arabic word and translate it for your esteemed audience—is to be really fighting against the mustakbireen (arrogant powers) and to be with the oppressed people, the mustazafeen.

So this is the sort of divine message that Imam Khomeini was able to present to the world. Hence the reason why as soon as the Islamic revolution came on the horizon, it discontinued the relationship with the apartheid regime in South Africa, and gave the Zionist embassy in Tehran to the Palestinians, and of course took the cause of the Palestinians to the forefront—the pivot, the foundation of really supporting the oppressed people in that manner.

I was lucky and very privileged to have participated in the funeral of Imam Khomeini years ago. And at that time, it was June, very hot weather, and people walked from many cities close by to Tehran to participate. It was the largest funeral that was ever held (10 million people, one-sixth of Iran’s population.) And I don't think any other funeral has come close to it in the last years or prior to it.

So that really showed the love that the Iranian nation had for the founder of the Islamic Revolution. Years later, what we see is that Iran is no longer a weak country. Iran has developed in all walks of life, from military activities to technology, science, manpower building. Iran has been successful in so many fields, considering that it has been under sanctions for the last years, sanctions which have created huge problems for the ordinary people. But nonetheless, it is educating the people. It has sort of become a power in West Asia without any doubt at all. Even the foes of the Islamic revolution really have to acknowledge the fact that Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran, is n