TEHRAN: Thousands of Iranians packed the mausoleum of the Islamic republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran on Friday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the revolution that overthrew a centuries-old dynasty.
Ceremonies for the 1979 revolution were launched at 9:33 am (0603 GMT), the exact time that Khomeini returned to Iran after 14 years in exile and his plane touched down at Tehran airport.
As an army band played revolutionary anthems, the huge hall of the mausoleum was filled with people from all walks of life, among them schoolchildren dressed in the red, white and green of the Iranian flag.
Young girls clad in black chador or hijab Islamic attire had slogans on their hand reading, “My life for the leader” or “Long live Iran.”
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of the influential experts assembly which appoints Iran’s supreme leader, delivered a keynote speech rebuking political factions seeking better ties with Washington.
“Curses on the wrong school of thought that thinks we can’t run the country unless America helps us,” he said, shaking a raised left hand.
“America’s power is on the decline, we should not be afraid of America,” Jannati said as the crowd shouted slogans such as “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”. – AFP
