From 1980 to 1989, Imam Khomeini (ra) issued Nowruz messages to the people of Iran at the beginning of each Iranian new year, with the Iran-Iraq War as the central theme.

Nowruz 1980 was the first year after the establishment of the new political structures in which Imam Khomeini (ra) addressed the people in a Nowruz message. Given the fragile state of the young political system and the threat of internal and external conspiracies, the message needed to emphasize the responsibilities of both the people and the officials in the new year, particularly their commitment to safeguarding the Revolution and supporting its emerging institutions. For this reason, Imam Khomeini (ra) called for supporting the Army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); maintaining order and purging anti‑revolutionary elements from the security forces; observing divine rulings and prosecuting violators in the courts; ensuring government support for the oppressed and preventing anti‑revolutionary infiltration among the people; facilitating the implementation of governmental development and economic projects; government employees backing the people’ s elected administration; organizing the process of confiscating the properties and lands of transgressors; submitting work sheets by the Housing Foundation and the Foundation of the Oppressed; purging universities of anti‑revolutionary professors; regulating the press and allowing healthy criticism through radio and television; and supporting combatant and revolutionary clergy.⁠[1]

Nowruz 1981 marked the first Iranian new year that the people of Iran experienced while the country was engaged in the war with Iraq. The unintended effects of the war, combined with disputes between President Banisadr and Islamic Consultative Assembly representatives over managing affairs, had created a complicated situation in the country. Therefore, in his Nowruz message, Imam Khomeini (ra) called on the people and officials to uphold “ unity and solidarity”, support the government’ s efforts to advance public affairs, and adhere to the law.⁠[2]

Imam Khomeini’ s Nowruz message in 1982 differed from previous years. It took on a strongly religious tone and referred to the spiritual developments taking place among people. In the message, he described the “ eagerness and joy in meeting God” and “ fearlessly sacrificing one’ s life with firmness and determination” as signs of preparing the ground for the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (as). He also noted the hardships endured by the people, stating that the ultimate goal of the Iranian nation was independence and freedom from the grasp of the enemies of Islam. Furthermore, he urged the officials to work harder to solve people’ s problems and abide by the laws.⁠[3]

In his Nowruz message of 1983, Imam Khomeini (ra) attributed the successes on the fronts, the people’ s active presence in all arenas, and the spirit of martyrdom among the youth to the divine blessings that, in his view, had prevailed in society after the Islamic Revolution. He expressed hope that these spiritual states— which are more important than material victories and essential for the country’ s progress toward independence and freedom— would become widespread among the people.⁠[4]

One of Iraq’ s military tactics in the war, which began in 1982 and peaked in 1983, was artillery, missile, and aerial attacks on cities; at times, the Baath regime also used chemical bombs. Despite these crimes, Islamic countries, international organizations, and the United Nations remained silent and took no decisive action.⁠[5] This led Imam Khomeini (ra), in the final part of his 1984 Nowruz message, to denounce the world’ s silence and its condemnation of Iran in this regard.⁠[6]

Criticism of countries and international bodies that commit crimes under the banner of “ peace” was also a central theme of his Nowruz message in 1985. He described support for Saddam as opposition to Islam. Referring to the “ war of the cities”, Imam Khomeini (ra) highlighted Iran’ s pursuit of peace while framing attacks on Iraqi military centers as legitimate retaliation against Iraq’ s strikes on Iran’ s civilian residential areas.⁠[7]

Honoring and appreciating the young fighters, and paying tribute to the noble families of martyrs, the wounded, and prisoners of war, were the main themes of Imam Khomeini’ s Nowruz message in 1986.⁠[8]

After the liberation of Khorramshahr, disagreements arose between Army and IRGC commanders over war management, leading to limited success in operations such as Ramazan and Valfajr Muqaddamati.⁠[9] This issue remained more or less in later years. As a result, in his 1987 Nowruz message— which coincided with the Eid Mabaath and the birth anniversary of Imam Ali (as) — Imam Khomeini (ra), while referring to the brotherhood between Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and Imam Ali (as), called on Army and IRGC commanders to embrace brotherhood and unity.⁠[10]

Operation Valfajr 10 began on March 15, 1988, and Iran succeeded in capturing Halabcheh inside Iraqi territory. However, on March 20, the Iraqi army targeted the Halabcheh— whose residents were Iraqi— with hydrogen cyanide chemical bombs. Iraqi aircraft carried out 20 sorties over 3 consecutive days, filling the 70,000-person city with corpses.⁠[11] This led Imam Khomeini (ra), in his 1988 Nowruz message, which coincided with the birth anniversary of Imam Hussain (as), to refer to the uprising of Seyyed al-Shuhada (as) and describe the establishment of an Islamic government by the Iranian people as following his example in building an Islamic state and fighting oppressors.⁠[12]

The 1989 Nowruz message was Imam Khomeini’ s last and shortest Nowruz message during his lifetime. He delivered it at a time when, in the previous summer— despite his personal reluctance and on the advice of several military and political officials— he had accepted UN Security Council Resolution 598. This had caused disappointment and despair among some military forces and revolutionary supporters,⁠[13] while certain political factions— such as the Freedom Movement, which had been critical of the Sacred Defense throughout the war— began to challenge the Revolution.⁠[14] In his short remarks for Nowruz, Imam Khomeini (ra) invited the people and officials to follow the example of the prophets (as), whose wars and peace were for God’ s sake and not driven by personal desires.⁠[15]

Overall, Nowruz messages of Imam Khomeini (ra) from 1980 to 1989 primarily revolved around calls for unity and solidarity between the people and state officials; an emphasis on spiritual self‑purification by following the example of the combatants confronting the Baath regime; honoring the military forces and their families; and criticizing the silence of world governments, international bodies, and the United Nations.