The wife of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of Irans 1979 Islamic revolution, has died after a long illness, state media reported Sunday. She was 93. Khadijeh Saqafi, who was known as the ``mother of the Islamic revolution, died Saturday in Tehran, state TV said.
Thousands of people, including Irans president and supreme leader, attended her funeral at Tehran University on Sunday. ``After a lifetime of patience and perseverance, and months of sick health, the dear and respected wife of Imam Khomeini has finally passed way, leaving friends of the late imam in grief, her grandson Hasan Khomeini said in a statement posted on the Web site of Irans English-language state television station, Press TV.
Saqafi, who married Khomeini in 1931, stayed out of the public eye during much of her life. Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani described her as the ``closest and most patient supporter of her husband and his struggle against the US-backed shahs government, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
After Sundays funeral, Saqafis body was carried Khomeinis mausoleum for burial, IRNA reported.