Ayatollah Khamenei's expectations from oral history researchers of the Holy Defense

Eight years of Holy Defense is a reminder of the presence and active role of the Iranian people who stood up to defend the country and the revolution. By taking a look at the fundamental developments in the life of the holy defense and evaluating them in terms of world equations, we can understand that anti-tyranny, anti-colonialism, independence, revival of the religious identity, and revolutionary values of the Iranian people are owed to the thoughts and actions of the martyrs, veterans, freedmen, and warriors who defended these values. What is important is the continuation of the values of the Holy Defense era, which is a model for the administration and management of critical situations. One of the ways to take advantage of these patterns of behavior and lifestyle is to record and transfer them to future generations. They must first know what conditions existed, what happened in that context and space, and what the functions were so that they can use the patterns as a model. Therefore, in addition to the historiographical task, oral history plays an essential role in the transfer of values and has a moral and valuable function. In this article, Ayatollah Khamenei's expectations of oral history researchers are examined concerning his words, which are practical in terms of purpose and qualitative in terms of the method of gathering information. The information is gathered through the "theory development" method. The obtained results show purity of heart, pure intention, the demand for rights in research, conducting honest research, using valid documents, paying attention to research ethics, having a research spirit, focusing on needs assessment in research, having a strategy, considering usefulness, and doing the research work in a correct, complete, and solid way are among the expected characteristics for oral history researchers of the Holy Defense.