Iran Marks Anniversary of Imam Khomeini’s Passing

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Millions of Iranians and international admirers on Monday marked 29 years since the departure of the revered founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini (RA).

A special mourning ceremony was held at Imam Khomeini’s mausoleum in southern Tehran, with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei delivering a speech.

More than 300 foreign correspondents covered the event.

Imam Khomeini passed away aged 86 at the night of June 3, 1989.

Hailed as one of the most influential figures in modern history, he led popular protests against Iran's former Pahlavi regime which was a key ally of the United States.

Imam Khomeini spent many years in exile in Iraq, Turkey and France, from where he led a swelling grassroots movement which ultimately put an end to millennia of monarchical rule in Iran in February 1979.