Only two weeks after the Shah fled Iran on January 16, 1979, Imam Khomeini returned to Iran triumphantly, on Thursday, February 1, 1979, invited by the anti-Shah revolution which was already in progress.
Conservative estimates put the welcoming crowd of Iranians at least three million. When Imam Khomeini was on plane on his way to Iran after many years in exile, a reporter, Peter Jennings asked him: "What do you feel?" and surprisingly Imam Khomeini answered "Nothing!"
In a speech given to a huge crowd on the first day of returning to Iran, Imam Khomeini attacked the government of Shapoor Bakhtiar promising "I shall punch their teeth in." He also made a variety of promises to Iranians for his coming Islamic regime: A popularly elected government that would represent the people of Iran.
Iran has kicked off Ten-Day Dawn celebrations marking the 45th anniversary of the glorious victory of the Islamic Revolution, which put an end to the ruling of the US-backed Pahlavi regime in the country in 1979.
Led by Imam Khomeini, the Islamic Revolution was driven by anti-imperialist sentiments since former Iranian monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was heavily dependent on Western powers, not least the United States.
By toppling the Pahlavi regime 44 years ago, the Iranian nation ended 2,500 years of monarchic rule in the country and established a new political system – a republic based on Islamic values and democracy.