In his speech to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s death on June 4, Khamenei fully appropriated the discourse of the dissident clerics aligned with Khatami. Thus, he described the regime instituted by Khomeini as a religious democracy in which all high state offices, including his own, derive their legitimacy from the will of the people as expressed in elections.
在6月4日霍梅尼逝世25周年纪念讲话中，哈梅内伊毫无保留地赞颂了与哈塔米同声共气的持异见牧师。他称哈塔米所构建的体制为宗教民主，所有高等国家机关，包括他本人，都从人民通过选举所表达的意愿中获得合法性。