The historic referendum was held on March 30 and 31, 1979, across the country and the results announced a day later on April 1, indicating a 98.2 percent ‘Yes’ votes to the Islamic Republic. The day has since been named as ‘Islamic Republic Day’ in the Iranian calendar and is a national holiday.
The referendum came some two months after the Islamic Revolution, under the leadership of its late founder Imam Khomeini, overthrew the US-backed Pahlavi regime in February.
Holding a referendum just two months after a historic revolution depicts how Imam Khomeini was seeking to establish democracy in a country that had been ruled by the monarchy for some 2,500 years.
Since then, Iran has held dozens of elections for parliament, presidency, city councils, and Assembly of Experts among others to prove that the system is based on people’s votes.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is a valuable package of national-Islamic content for both in and out of the country. In the past four decades, every political or social event in Iran, that can be categorized as internal issues, have turned into important topics in the international arena. This is because some countries see the Islamic Republic of Iran as a unique pattern that has been able to establish a solid link between the republic system and Islam.
This link has changed the definition of those social and political events from the definitions in the West. In other words, the election in Iran is far different from what happens in the Western countries where they only rely on the controlled form of democracy.
Democracy and Islam are complementary and this is why the Islamic Revolution and its leaders point to the importance of this combination and pay great respect to it.
Every year ceremonies are held to commemorate the day but this year, as the country is fighting with the coronavirus pandemic as social distancing rules have been issued, that will not happen.
Many authorities and organs issue separate statements each year to mark the day.
The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces was one of the first to issue a statement in this regard on Monday.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran’s outstanding achievements and successes in the fields of defense and military have brought the country to a point of deterrence that our enemies are recoiling in strategic horror and desperation,” reads the statement
The US-led global hegemonic system is suffering from military decline and political frustration in the face of the Islamic resistance front and Iran’s growing influence, it said, adding, “Consolidation of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s power and its expansion into the rest of the world under the leadership of Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei will prepare the ground for the creation of a new Islamic civilization".
It further reiterated the Armed Forces’ commitment to press ahead with plans to boost defense capabilities and deterrent power in order to thwart the plots hatched by the adversaries of Iran.
The statement also said the country’s Armed Forces have always stood by the Iranian nation during different natural disasters and epidemics, saying, “The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces have mobilized all its means and resources to stem the novel coronavirus and alleviate people’s pains and sufferings".
In a tweet on Tuesday, Iranian First Vice President Es’hagh Jahangiri pointed to the high participation of people in the referendum to realize their will. “Since then, our people have never forgotten the need for freedom, independence, and the Islamic Republic despite dealing with hard times of war, sanctions, and coronavirus outbreak,” he added.
“On that day we went through the ancient world and defeated political, economic and social traditions, entering the era of the Islamic Republic. Today, we must adapt ourselves to the requirements of a new struggle,” wrote Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei in a tweet on Tuesday.
“From the early stages of their fight against the Pahlavi regime, the Iranian nation had chanted the slogan of ‘independence, freedom, and Islamic Republic’ indicating the desired model of the establishment. But it was necessary to achieve this legitimate aim through a legal and official framework” that was realized in the referendum, said the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution in a statement on Tuesday.
“The Islamic Republic Day is the manifestation of the realization of people’s determination and its bond with Islam as the plan for life.”
Four decades have passed since that day and now the Islamic Republic has managed to go through all plots with the help of God and support of its people, setting foot in the route to becoming stronger, it added.
MNA
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