Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Iran Begins Marking 40th Anniversary of Islamic Revolution
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
February 1, 2019

Share

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Friday began celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah, overturned 2,500 years of monarchical rule and brought hard-line Shiite clerics to power.
The climactic events that year — from revolutionaries in the streets of Tehran to blindfolded American hostages in the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis months later — not only changed Iran’s history but also helped shape today’s Middle East.

The festivities start every year on Feb. 1 — the day Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned home from France after 14 years in exile, to become the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The festivities start every year on Feb. 1 — the day Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned home from France after 14 years in exile, to become the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Across Iran, sirens wailed from trains and boats, while church bells tolled at 9:33 a.m. — the exact time that Khomeini’s chartered Air France Boeing 747 touched down 40 years ago at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.
The festivities, known as the “Ten Days of Dawn,” conclude on Feb. 11, the date Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s government collapsed after brief clashes between some army units and revolutionary gunmen, following nationwide protests.
As part of the celebrations, many Tehran buildings, mostly government institutions and offices, were draped in the colors of Iran’s green, white and red flag while multicolored lights decorated the main streets.
Car drivers turned on their headlights and honked in celebration as helicopters dropped clusters of flowers along Khomeini’s 21-mile route from the airport to the Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery in southern Tehran where he made his first speech back home and where his tomb stands today.
Iranian officials — including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani — paid homage Wednesday at Khomeini’s tomb “to renew allegiance” to him.

US Psychological Warfare Against Iran

At a ceremony at the tomb Friday, Ahmad Jannati, head of a constitutional watchdog that vets candidates for presidential and parliamentary elections, slammed what he described as U.S. psychological warfare against Iran in the form of “cruel sanctions.”
“The enemies today have targeted the economy” to make Iranians feel pessimistic about Islam, said Jannati, a hard-line cleric.
Last year, the Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers that curbed Iran’s nuclear program in return for lifting of economic sanctions. The U.S. re-imposed its sanctions in November.
Germany, France and Britain, which have worked to preserve the nuclear deal, announced Thursday they have established a new system so their companies can continue trading with Iran without incurring U.S. penalties for doing so.
Iranian state TV on Friday broadcast archive footage of Khomeini’s return and the daily mass demonstrations across Iran in support of his revolution.
Khomeini was accompanied on the flight home by dozens of journalists, some of his associates and only one family member, his younger son, Ahmad. The plane was only half full of passengers and had extra fuel in case of a need to immediately return to Paris if the aircraft couldn’t land in Tehran. Supporters of the shah’s regime had closed the airport the week before, and Khomeini’s allies in Tehran feared possible threats on his life.
State TV also broadcast footage of various Iranian achievements over the years and animation of anti-U.S. propaganda.
Similar celebrations were held in cities and towns across the country, state media reported.

DON'T MISS

McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines Are So Unreliable They’re a Meme. They Might Also Be a Climate Solution.

DON'T MISS

Real Estate Experts Talk Fresno’s Economic Future. Are Tough Times Ahead?

DON'T MISS

Unlocking the Secrets to Fresno State’s Superb Baseball Season

DON'T MISS

‘This Is How to Improve Reading Proficiency. We Just Have Execute It’: FUSD Board President

DON'T MISS

Does Dyer Support (or Endorse) Bredefeld for Supervisor?

DON'T MISS

Get a 3D First Look at Merced’s High-Speed Rail Station Design

DON'T MISS

California Court to Decide on Transgender Ballot Measure Wording

DON'T MISS

Rare House Vote Sees Ukraine, Israel Aid Advance as Democrats Join Republicans

DON'T MISS

Full Jury and 6 Alternates Seated in Trump’s Hush Money Trial

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: How High Will the Price of Gold & Silver Go?

UP NEXT

Full Jury and 6 Alternates Seated in Trump’s Hush Money Trial

UP NEXT

Iran Fires at Suspected Israeli Drones Near Isfahan Air Base, Nuclear Facility

UP NEXT

US Vetoes Full United Nations Membership for Palestine

UP NEXT

Barbara Corcoran: 1% Interest Rate Drop Will Send Housing Prices ‘Through the Roof’

UP NEXT

US and UK Issue New Sanctions on Iran in Response to Tehran’s Weekend Attack on Israel

UP NEXT

Juror Dismissed From Trump Hush Money Trial. Prosecutors Seek to Hold Former President in Contempt

UP NEXT

Biden Backs House’s Aid Package for Ukraine, Israel While Speaker Johnson Battles to Retain Position

UP NEXT

Netanyahu Dismisses Calls for Restraint, Says Israel Will Decide Iran Attack Response

UP NEXT

Storm Dumps Record Rain and Floods Dubai’s Airport

UP NEXT

Myanmar’s Ousted Leader Suu Kyi Moved From Prison to House Arrest Due to Heat, Military Says

‘This Is How to Improve Reading Proficiency. We Just Have Execute It’: FUSD Board President

2 hours ago

Does Dyer Support (or Endorse) Bredefeld for Supervisor?

3 hours ago

Get a 3D First Look at Merced’s High-Speed Rail Station Design

4 hours ago

California Court to Decide on Transgender Ballot Measure Wording

4 hours ago

Rare House Vote Sees Ukraine, Israel Aid Advance as Democrats Join Republicans

6 hours ago

Full Jury and 6 Alternates Seated in Trump’s Hush Money Trial

6 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: How High Will the Price of Gold & Silver Go?

Video /

7 hours ago

How 4/20 Grew From Humble Roots to Marijuana’s High Holiday

7 hours ago

Taylor Swift Drops 15 New Songs on Double Album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology’

7 hours ago

Lamborghini’s Race Evolution: From Tractors to the Track

8 hours ago

McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines Are So Unreliable They’re a Meme. They Might Also Be a Climate Solution.

McDonald’s might just be a new frontier in our fight against the climate crisis. Reid Heavner Special to CalMatters Opinion Yes, that McD...

24 mins ago

24 mins ago

McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines Are So Unreliable They’re a Meme. They Might Also Be a Climate Solution.

59 mins ago

Real Estate Experts Talk Fresno’s Economic Future. Are Tough Times Ahead?

2 hours ago

Unlocking the Secrets to Fresno State’s Superb Baseball Season

2 hours ago

‘This Is How to Improve Reading Proficiency. We Just Have Execute It’: FUSD Board President

3 hours ago

Does Dyer Support (or Endorse) Bredefeld for Supervisor?

4 hours ago

Get a 3D First Look at Merced’s High-Speed Rail Station Design

4 hours ago

California Court to Decide on Transgender Ballot Measure Wording

6 hours ago

Rare House Vote Sees Ukraine, Israel Aid Advance as Democrats Join Republicans

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend