Iran marks 22nd anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini's death

Jun 4, 2011, 7:04 GMT

Tehran - Iran on Saturday commemorated the 22nd anniversary of the death of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, at a ceremony in the Khomeini Mausoleum in southern Tehran.

Tens of thousands of people as well as high-ranking political and military officials of the Islamic state, including Khomeini's successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attended the ceremony, local media said.

'The imam (Khomeini) put an end of the era of political suppression and opened the gates of justice and democracy in Iran,' Khamenei said in his speech.

'The imam also taught us to have our own political standpoints and not make blind compromises with the enemies,' the ayatollah added, referring to the pro-Western stance of the former monarchy.

Khamenei said that after 32 years of the revolution, the people of Iran including the new generation still followed the path of the late Khomeini.

'Our enemies thought that after the demise of the imam, the Islamic revolution would fade but they were wrong because it was the people who wanted the path go on,' Khamenei said.

Khomeini was the driving force behind the 1979 revolution and founder of an Islamic system that put an end to the monarchy.