Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei has said the same vigilance, faith and self-sacrifice that drove Iranian forces to expel invading Iraqi troops from Abadan Island in 1980 will carry the country to victory in the current war with the United States and the Israeli regime.

In a message marking the anniversary of the liberation of the southwestern Abadan Island in 1980, Ayatollah Khamenei described the operation to break the siege as “the first triumph of the Iranian nation in the holy defense.”

The Leader drew a direct parallel between the Baathist enemy of that era and the Islamic Republic’s enemy today, saying both relied on conventional tactics of aggression, occupation and siege.

The effective way to counter such aggression now, as it was then, is through public vigilance and the sacrifice of popular forces fighting alongside the Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), he noted.

During the operation to break the siege of Abadan, Ayatollah Khamenei recounted a simple Iranian worker alerted residents to the enemy’s plans, after which volunteers and mosque-goers — with minimal resources and under the guidance of Abadan's Friday prayer leader — took to the battlefield and forced the better-armed invading forces to retreat.

Leader orders Armed Forces to deliver ‘geographically unrestricted response’ to enemy threats

The Leader orders senior military commanders to respond immediately and forcefully to any potential enemy threat, without geographical restrictions.

That mobilization, the Leader said, set off a chain of resistance across Iran that culminated less than a year later in the breaking of the siege of the city of Abadan, Khuzestan province.

“And today, too, it is that same vigilance and faith, that same motivation and will, that same sacrifice and devotion, and that same zeal and steadfastness that…. will help the oppressed and powerful Iranian nation in confronting the domination, crimes and aggression of the Great Satan and in achieving victory in the third imposed war,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Iraqi army under former dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Abadan Island in September 1980 primarily to seize its massive oil refinery and to pressure Tehran into surrendering territory east of the Arvand River, known as Shatt al-Arab in Iraq.

The Iranian forces and volunteer fighters drove the invading troops out of the Island forty days later, on October 31, laying the groundwork for a surprise operation that broke the siege of Abadan a year later.