Ayatollah Khomeini Returns to Iran

On Feb. 1, 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran on a chartered Air France jet after a 17-year exile to rapturous reception by several million Iranians. Crowds were so large he was forced to take a helicopter from the airport. Khomeini had now become what some called a "semi-divine" figure, greeted as he descended from his airplane with cries of "Khomeini, O Imam, we salute you, peace be upon you."