TEHRAN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Iran began on Saturday ceremonies marking the 30th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

    The ceremonies kicked off across the country on Saturday morning at 9:33 a.m. local time, by ringing school bells as well as bells of churches and synagogue, reciting verses from Holy Quran in mosques and blowing factories, trains and ships horns.

Iranian schoolgirls wearing costumes attend a ceremony held at Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 31, 2009. (Xinhua/Liang Youchang) Photo Gallery>>>

    9:33 a.m. marks the time when Iran's Islamic revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini return to Tehran on February 1, 1979 from a 14-year exile in Paris.

    Khomeini returned to the country to lead the revolution against U.S.-backed regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, which ended in the victory ten days later.

Hojjatoleslam Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, delivers a speech during a ceremony at Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 31, 2009.  (Xinhua/Liang Youchang) Photo Gallery>>>

    Motorcyclists held a parade from Tehran's Mehrabad airport to Azadi (liberty) Square. Ceremony teams laid flowers over the routeof the procession of Khomeini on February 1, 1979, which extended from Mehrabad airport to the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran.

    Iran commemorates the historic event each year during a period of ten days called Daheyeh Fajar (Ten-Day Dawn).

    President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his cabinet members paid tribute on Saturday to the founder of the Islamic Revolution.

    The president and his ministers attended Imam Khomeini's mausoleum in southern Tehran on the first day of the Ten-Day Dawn to renew allegiance to the ideas of the late leader.

An Iranian man holds a portrait of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic republic, during a ceremony at Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 31, 2009. Iran began on Saturday ceremonies marking the 30th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. (Xinhua/Liang Youchang) Photo Gallery>>>

    In a speech marking the Islamic Revolution, Ahmadinejad described it as "the most powerful and most influential element in world's current developments," the official IRNA news agency reported.

    He described the Islamic Revolution as a new chapter in the history of human kind and said "despite the elapse of only thirty years from its victory, the Revolution has managed to collect a unique record of very brilliant achievements."

An Iranian woman holds a national flag during a ceremony at Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 31, 2009. (Xinhua/Liang Youchang) Photo Gallery>>>

    In another speech made by an Iranian influential cleric, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Imam Khomeini was described as a "builder of a strong bridge between Islam and the people."

    He referred to the Islamic Revolution of Iran as "the starting point of Islamic wakening in the world," and added that "they (the westerners) want to halt and to stop the message of the Islamic Revolution from being exported to other countries by imposing sanctions and issuance of the UN resolutions."

An Iranian military band plays at the ceremony held at Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 31, 2009.   (Xinhua/Liang Youchang) Photo Gallery>>>