"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," a statement issued by her grandson Hassan Khomeini said.

Khadije Saqafi was known as the "Mother of the Islamic Revolution". Thousands of people, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, attended her funeral at Tehran University on Sunday.

Mrs. Saqafi, who married Imam Khomeini in 1931, stayed out of the public eye during much of her life. However, her contributions did not go unnoticed. Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani described her as the "closest and most patient" supporter of her husband and his struggle against the Shah's government, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Imam Khomeini offers immense praise for his wife as noted in Rays of the Sun, "Blessed am I that I have such a wife. No one else has sacrificed as much in life as she has." She was laid to rest in her husband's mausoleum and is survived by her three daughters.