Iran Leader’s letter illustrates how winds of geopolitical change are gusting: US professor

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s letter to US students illustrates how powerful winds of geopolitical change are gusting, and how far out of line the political elites of the US Empire and the apartheid regime of Israel are with international law and norms of humanity, says an American professor.

David Yaghoubian, a California-based professor of history at California State University San Bernardino, in an interview with the Press TV website, asserted that the Islamic Republic serves as a model, inspiration, guide, and source of multidimensional support for oppressed peoples throughout the region, as well as the world.

“The Leader’s kind message of empathy and solidarity with American students, and linkage of their actions to the broader resistance is a further illustration of how radically the geopolitical landscape has changed, and I found it truly heartening,” the professor said.

“Especially these days, such human exchanges are essential to help the growing resistance express and maintain morals and values while facing down the brutality of Zionism and imperialism.”

Ayatollah Khamenei’s letter was addressed to US students, who have been rallying and setting up tents across university campuses in protest against the Israeli regime’s ongoing genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and their government’s support for the brutal military onslaught.

“The letter illustrates how powerful winds of geopolitical change are currently gusting, and how far out of line the political elites of the US Empire and the apartheid regime of Israel are with international law and norms of humanity” the US-based professor asserted.

The US government, he added, not only funded and enabled the genocide in Gaza, but also initiated a war with Yemen to sustain it. By April 2024, the conjunction of these trends resulted in the rapid proliferation of campus protests across the US, as students expressed their solidarity with Palestinians, outrage over their government’s primary responsibility for the ongoing carnage, and anger over the growing awareness that their universities are deeply invested in Zionist apartheid and the US military-industrial complex.

Yaghoubian stressed that American police crackdown on student protestors and attempts by US Congress to stifle free speech and debate by attempting to legally re-define antisemitism and assert control over social media platforms such as TikTok only serve to further motivate these students and their supporters.

“The US university students in solidarity with Palestine are steadfastly fighting for what is right—fighting against the oppression of others while remaining determined to face down their own oppression—irrespective of the immediate personal cost,” he told the Press TV website.

“I believe the American student protest movement is likely a major catalyst for the letter of solidarity written by the Iranian Supreme Leader.”

Referring to the part of the letter that urged the American students “to acquaint themselves with the Holy Qur’an”, the professor noted the holy book provides humanity with guidance and comfort, especially in times of struggle and change, and illuminates the core values of which the Islamic Revolution was based and is sustained.

“It also articulates a vision of compassion, unity, and respect that will ultimately serve to guide a free Palestine. It is thus both fitting and a further sign of the Leader’s recognition of the students’ efforts that he would recommend acquaintance with the Qur’an,” he stated.