Imam Khomeini even continued performing final daily prayers and recitation of Quran and supplications on death bed. Imam Khomeini passed away in June 1989.
This year’s ceremonies coincide with the holy month of Ramadan with hundreds of thousands of fasting Iranian Muslims descending on Imam Khomeini’s mausoleum south of the capital city Tehran.
More than 300 foreign correspondents will be covering the event. Iran’s biggest airport, which is named after Imam Khomeini, will shut down for four hours from 16:00-20:00 hours local time on June 04 while the ceremony is going on.
Hundreds of foreign guests, including scholars and researchers, will also be attending the ceremonies.
Similar mourning processions are being held elsewhere across Iran, with the participants renewing their allegiance to the ideals of the Islamic Revolution.
Born in 1902, Seyyed Rouhollah Mousavi Khomeini grew to become the iconic leader of the Iranian nation’s struggle in the 1970s against the centuries-old monarchical tyranny.
Imam Khomeini spearheaded a popular protest against the policies of the tyrannical Pahlavi regime, which was a key ally of the US. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1963 at a time of mounting protests. Upon release, he made a historic speech in the holy city of Qom, where he lambasted the "capitulation law" granting immunity to Americans on the Iranian soil.
In the pre-Revolution era, Imam Khomeini spent more than 15 years in exile for his stiff opposition to the last monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who the Imam believed was a lackey of the Western imperialist powers.
While in exile, Imam Khomeini continued to guide the uprising against the Pahlavi regime, which culminated in the victory of the Islamic Revolution on February 11, 1979.
In the April of the same year, Iranians took part in a national referendum for the country to become an Islamic Republic.
Imam Khomeini passed away on June 3, 1989 at the age of 87.