The World - News from July 14, 1989
Millions of Iranians chanting “Death to America!” and beating themselves in ritualistic grief surrounded the gold-domed tomb of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, ending days of mourning for the founder of the Islamic republic. Speeches by his religious successor, President Ali Khamenei, who appeared in public for the first time since Khomeini’s June 6 funeral, and other Iranian leaders directed a tirade against the “terrorists” of the United States and its allies. The official IRNA news agency said 10,000 people packed in around the Behesht Zahra Cemetery collapsed with “heart problems” or were injured in the suffocating throng, while 10,000 more were overcome by the 110-degree temperature.
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