TEHRAN A commemoration ceremony was held here Thursday at the Ershad Husseinyeh (mosque) in northern Tehran for Mehdi Bazargan, the Prime Minister of the interim government formed after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. About 2000 people gathered at the mosque and the same number of people took part in the ceremony outside the mosque. Members of the Freedom Movement of Iran (FMI) Yousefi Ashkvari, Yadollah Sahabi, Abdolali Bazargan and Sabet addressed the audience inside the mosque.

Addressing the gathering Bazargan touched on the principles of the civil society, rule of law, security and the economy. While emphasizing on the rule of law in society, Bazargan, the son of Mehdi Bazargan, said that this phenomena guarantees security in the country and that security is the basis for a civil society. A civil society will result in the prosperity of the economy and will also foster social friendship, Bazargan explained.

At the start of the Islamic movement In Iran, Mehdi Bazargan became an active member of the Islamic Revolution Council and after the triumph of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 the late Imam Khomeini, the Father of the Islamic Revolution and Founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran designated Bazargan as the provisional Prime Minister of Iran. Bazargan died at a hospital in Berne (Switzerland) on Friday 20 January 1995 due to acute heart complication and was buried in holy city of Qom. After the ceremonies some commotion developed, however, with the intervention of law enforcement forces order and peace was maintained and the crowds were dispersed with no incident reported.

(IRNA)