Death and state funeral of Ruhollah Khomeini
On 3 June 1989, at 22:20 IRST, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Iranian Revolution and the first Supreme Leader and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, died in Jamaran, Greater Tehran aged 89 after spending eleven days at a private hospital, near his residency, after suffering five heart attacks in ten days. Sources put his age at 89, and list the cause of death as bleeding in the digestive system. As a mark of respect, Iran's government ordered all schools to be closed on Sunday and declared 40 days of mourning and said schools would be closed for five days. Pakistan declared ten days of national mourning, Syria announced seven days of mourning, Afghanistan, Lebanon and India announced three days of mourning.
Mourning men in residency of Khomeini around his seat area, Jamaran. | |
| Date | 5–6 June 1989 |
|---|---|
| Location | Musalla, Tehran, Iran (Public viewing) Behesht-e Zahra cemetery (Burial) |
| Participants | Iranian officials and clerics, relatives and millions of followers. |
| Deaths | 8 due to a stampede |
Khomeini was given a state funeral and buried at the Behesht-e Zahra (The Paradise of Zahra) cemetery in south Tehran. It was estimated that around 10 million people participated in his funeral, one-sixth of the population of Iran, which is the largest proportion of a population ever to attend a funeral procession and also one of the largest gatherings in human history.