Iran starts 10-day celebrations of 1979 Revolution anniversary

The Ten-Day Dawn celebrations have got off to an ebullient start in Iran, marking the run-up to the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the US-backed Pahlavi regim

News ID: ۳۸۶۳۵۵

چهارشنبه - ۰۱ ارديبهشت ۲۰۲۶ / 2026 01 February

The annual festivities started on Saturday morning, commemorating the moment the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, disembarked from an Air France jumbo jet to a massive welcome back home, ending his exile in Paris.

The ceremonies started all over Iran on Thursday at 9:27 a.m. local time, symbolically marking the precise time when the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, arrived back home from exile on February 1, 1979.

Imam Khomeini spent more than 14 years in exile, mostly in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf. He also spent some time in Turkey and France before his return to Iran.

Millions of people had converged on the capital from across the country on the day of his return. His arrival gave considerable momentum to popular protests against the US-backed Pahlavi regime, which eventually led to its overthrow 10 days later.

The festivities will culminate in nationwide rallies on February 11 this year, the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

Forty-seven years ago, millions of Iranians thronged Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport to catch a glimpse of the return from almost 15 years of exile of the iconoclast at whose impending arrival the British-installed and US-backed Shah had fled the country.

The celebrations culminate on February 10, marking the resounding triumph of the Islamic Revolution which freed Iran from domestic despotism and foreign hegemony.  The victory came under the astute leadership of Imam Khomeini who ended 2,500 years of monarchy in Iran.

Throughout its life, the Islamic Republic has been the target of incessant US hostility