40TH ANNIVERSARY OF IRAN’S ISLAMIC REVOLUTION

People gathering at the Azadi (Freedom) square in Teheran yesterday during a ceremony celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians held nationwide rallies yesterday to mark the 40th anniversary of the fall of the Shah and the triumph of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Shia cleric who led an Islamic Revolution that rattles the West to this day. On Feb 11, 1979, Iran’s army declared its neutrality, paving the way for the collapse of the United States-backed monarch, the US’ closest ally in the Middle East.