On February 13, 2019, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei released an "important announcement on the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution" directed at Iran's younger generation. The announcement included guidelines for actions and goals to be achieved for the next 40 years – a period he called "the second phase of the Islamic Revolution."
Khamenei told Iran's young men and women: "The coming decades are your decades, and you must preserve your revolution with motivation and knowledge and bring it closer and closer to its great aspiration – creating a new Islamic civilization and readiness for the sun of the Mahdi to rise."
After summarizing the achievements of the Islamic Revolution in Iran to date, Khamenei went on to state that the challenges facing Iran today include the following goals:
"Today, like at the dawn of the revolution [i.e. in 1979], Iran has challenges against the arrogance [the West, led by the U.S.] but with a significant difference: If the challenge then vis-à-vis America was chopping off the hand of the foreign agents [at home], or closing the embassies of the Zionist regime in Tehran, or exposing [America's] nest of spies [i.e. the U.S. Embassy in Tehran], today the challenge is mighty Iran's presence at the borders of the Zionist regime, expelling America's illegitimate influence from the Middle East region, [maintaining] the Islamic Republic's support for the Palestinian fighters in the heart of the occupied territories [i.e. Israel], and defending the waving flag of Hizbullah and of the [Islamic] resistance throughout this region.
"And if in those days the problem of the West was to prevent Iran from acquiring the most primitive weapons, today the problem of the West is to prevent the transfer of advanced Iranian weapons to the resistance forces [in the region]..."[1]
Khamenei also tweeted the same message in English.
Twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1095649623312658433, February 13, 2019
The following are MEMRI reports and clips exposing the scope of Iran's expansion in the Middle East to Israel's borders and statements by regime officials about the need to eliminate Israel:
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Special Dispatch No. 7876, IRGC Deputy Commander Salami: 'If The Europeans... Want To Act To Disarm Iran Of Missiles, We Will Be Forced Into A Strategic Leap'; 'Iran's Regional Influence Cannot Be Diminished, Because Its Essence Is A Matter Of Faith', February 5, 2019
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Special Dispatch No. 7875, IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami Threatens To Annihilate Israel, Adds: Our Influence In The Region Is Based On A Spirit Of Jihad That The People Relate To; We Can Expand Our Missile Force In Accordance With Our Military Strategy, February 4, 2019
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Special Dispatch No. 7844, Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif's Claim That Iran Does Not Seek Israel's Destruction Is A Blatant Lie (Part I), January 14, 2019
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 6917, IRGC Deputy Commander Mohammed Reza Naqdi: Israel Must Be Wiped Out, Zionists Annihilated; We Can Destroy KSA, U.S. Bases In The Region, December 28, 2018
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Special Dispatch No.7790, Syrian Opposition Websites: Iran Consolidating Its Presence In Eastern Syria, West Of Euphrates, To Form Continuum From Iran, Through Iraq And Syria, To Mediterranean, December 4, 2018
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Special Dispatch No.7788, Hamas Representative In Lebanon Ali Baraka: Our Missiles In Gaza 'Can Reach Every Spot In Palestine' As Can 'The Missiles Of The Resistance In Lebanon'; Iran's Financial Support 'Is The Basis' For The 'Steadfastness Of The Resistance In Gaza', December 3, 2018
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 6975, IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami: The Zionists Know Any New War Would Lead To Their Annihilation, November 7, 2018
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 6799, Senior Iranian Official Hossein Amir-Abdollahian Threatens To 'Raze Tel Aviv And Haifa To The Ground', October 18, 2018
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Special Dispatch No. 7689, Senior Iranian Official Hossein Amir-Abdollahian: Israelis Weak Compared To Iranians, Bones Of Zionists Will Be Crushed, Iranian Forces In Syria Can 'Take Any Action', September 28, 2018
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Special Dispatch No. 7682, Israel's Eradication – An Ideological And Practical Goal Of Iran's Islamic Revolution Regime, September 25, 2018
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 6495, Iranian Army Chief-Of-Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi: We Will Crush The Murderous America, Put An End To The Zionist Regime, March 24, 2018
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 6440, Senior Iranian Official Mohsen Rezai Threatens To Annihilate Tel Aviv If Israel Takes The 'Smallest Step' Against Iran, February 18, 2018
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 2380, Ali-Akbar Salehi, Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization: Attacking Iran's Nuclear Facilities Will Spell the End of Israel, February 8, 2018
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 6383, Iranian MP Mojtaba Zolnour: Nothing Will Be Left Of Israel following The First Wave Of Hizbullah Missiles, January 18, 2018
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 6398, Iranian Leader Khamenei's Representative In Iraq Mojtaba Hosseini: Israel, That 'Cancerous Tumor,' Will Be Extracted In A Few Years, January 14, 2018
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Special Dispatch No. 7554, IRGC Deputy Commander Salami On Qods Day 2018: 'We Are Creating Might In Lebanon – Because We Want To Fight The Enemy From There With All Our Strength', July 5, 2018
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Special Dispatch No. 7210, At Sochi Conference, Iran's Islamic Regime Celebrates Its Triumph Over ISIS, U.S., And Zionism, December 5, 2017
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Special Dispatch No. 6349, Iran Launches Long-Range Missiles Emblazoned With Slogan: 'Israel Should Be Wiped Off The Face Of The Earth' March 16, 2016
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Special Dispatch No. 6568, Officials In Lebanese, Gazan Terror Organizations Confirm: Iran Funds Our Activity, August 11, 2016
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Special Dispatch No. 6546, Iranian Basij Commander Naqdi Visits Quneitra, Syria, July 27, 2016
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Special Dispatch No. 6156, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei: 'In 25 Years There Will Be No Such Thing As The Zionist Regime In The Region'; America Is Worse Than Satan, September 9, 2015
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MEMRI Daily Brief No. 1146, From The Mediterranean to the Golan, Iran Builds Active Front And Direct Military Presence On Israel's Border To Deter Israel And Further Ideology Of Eliminating The Zionist Regime, February 16, 2015
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 4749, IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami Threatens Retaliation against Israel, Says: Collapse of Israel More Important than Nuclear Issue, January 25, 2015
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Special Dispatch No. 5848, Iranian Media Reports Deleted Following Publication (1): Senior IRGC Official Speaking On Iran's Military Involvement In Syria Says Iran Has Established 'Second Hizbullah' There, September 24, 2014
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Inquiry & Analysis No. 1108, Iran's New Strategy Of Diversion: Persuading The Sunni Camp To Fight Israel, Not Iran, July 31, 2014
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Special Dispatch No. 5906, Iranian Regime Escalates Threats To Annihilate Israel, December 17, 2014
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Special Dispatch No. 5808, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei Calls For The Annihilation Of Israel, July 28, 2014
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Inquiry & Analysis No. 1107, Qods Day In Iran: Tehran Calls For Annihilation Of Israel And For Arming The West Bank, July 25, 2014
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Special Dispatch No. 5802, Iranian Reactions To The War In Gaza: Israel's Destruction Imminent; Israel Attacks Due To Arab World's Silence, We Have Supplied Gaza Resistance With Drones And Fajr 5 Missiles, July 21, 2014
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 4366, Iran's Leader Khamenei: Armed Struggle Should Continue until Israel Is Destroyed by a Referendum, July 23, 2014
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 4038, Iranian TV Animation Simulates Missile Attack on Israel, November 3, 2013
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Inquiry & Analysis No. 1006, Iranian Qods Day 2013: The Uprising In The Arab World Is Islamic, Aimed Against The U.S. And Israel; 'Israel Cannot Last', August 7, 2013
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Special Dispatch No. 5226, Former Iranian Official: The Countdown To Attacking Israel Has Begun – 'With Hopes Of Completely Eradicating [It] From The Planet', March 8, 2013
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Special Dispatch No. 5166, Iran Calls For Third Intifada At Conference Honoring Gaza, February 3, 2013
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Special Dispatch No. 4893, This Year's Qods Day In Iran: Israel's Elimination Is Imminent – And More Possible Than Ever Before, August 17, 2012
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Inquiry & Analysis No. 793, In Response to Escalating Threats between West and Iran, Iranian Official Calls On Regime To Attack Israel, February 7, 2012
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 3044, IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh Threatens Israel and the US with Long-Range Missiles: We Can Strike Tel Aviv and the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf, July 1, 2011
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 2342, Senior Iranian Official Mohammad Hassan Rahimian: Our Missiles Can Cause "Big Holocaust" in Israel, January 12, 2010
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 2250, Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi of the Iranian Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution: By 2022 - Maybe Much Earlier - Israel Will Be Annihilated, September 25, 2009
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 1976, Chairman of the Iranian Assembly of Experts and Expediency Council Hashemi Rafsanjani: People in Iran Are Ready to Wage Jihad against Israel, January 2, 2009
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Inquiry & Analysis No. 447, Ahmadinejad: Israel Is a "Dead Fish" and a "Stinking Corpse"; "The Zionist Regime Will Be Wiped"; "The European Governments Do Not Want the Zionists Living in Europe", June 23, 2008
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Special Dispatch No. 2326, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: The Idol of Zionism Created by the West Must Be Shattered, April 27, 2009
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Special Dispatch No. 1820, Iranian Website: In Response to an Israeli Attack, Iran Can, With Syria's Help, Wipe Out Half of Israel, March 18, 2008
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MEMRI TV Clip No. 1484, Secretary of the Iranian Guardian Council Ahmad Jannati: Just Like We Destroyed the Regime of the Shah, We Will Destroy America and Israel, June 1, 2007
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Special Dispatch No. 1357, Qods (Jerusalem) Day in Iran: 'The Nation of Muslims Must Prepare for the Great War So As to Completely Wipe Out the Zionist Regime and to Remove This Cancerous Growth', November 16, 2006
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Special Dispatch No. 1013, Iranian President at Tehran Conference: 'Very Soon, This Stain of Disgrace [i.e. Israel] Will Be Purged From the Center of the Islamic World – and This is Attainable', October 28, 2005
*A. Savyon is Director of the MEMRI Iran Media Project.
[1] Khamenei's website Leader.ir, February 13, 2019.
