‘Imam Khomeini’s thoughts inspired Islamic Awakening’

TEHRAN, May 14 (MNA) - The late Imam Khomeini’s thoughts inspired the Islamic Awakening in the world, Assembly of Experts Chairman Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani said on Sunday. Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani made the remarks in Tehran during a conference on Islamic awakening in the political thoughts of Imam Khomeini and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. In his speech, Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani stated that Imam Khomeini’s great emphasis on the importance of Islamic system of governance constituted the source of the Islamic Awakening and that he proved vali-e faqih (supreme jurisprudent) can govern the society according to the needs of the time. Zahra Mostafavi, the daughter of Imam Khomeini, Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Taskhiri, the secretary general of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, Ali Akbar Velayati, the director of the Permanent Secretariat of the World Assembly of the Islamic Awakening, and a number of other officials and scholars also delivered speeches at the conference. The Islamic Awakening which has engulfed the Arab world has so far brought down Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Zein El Abedin Ben Ali of Tunisia, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, and Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen. Mubarak, Ben Ali, and Saleh enjoyed strong support by the West, especially the United States.