IMAM KHOMEINI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Feb 1: Iran's clerical regime on Sunday marked the 25th anniversary of the return of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini with the opening of a new international airport for the sprawling capital Tehran.

Just a day after doctors ordered him to stay in bed after he suffered a crippling attack of serious back pain, President Mohammad Khatami turned out to open the complex and dispel fears he was out of action amid a worsening political crisis.

Events marking Islamic Iran's silver jubilee have been overshadowed by the reformist-conservative stand-off, which deepened Sunday when close to 120 reformist MPs resigned in protest over the mass disqualification of candidates from forthcoming parliament elections.

Khatami's speech also centred on the crisis, which has challenged his credibility as a president who has promised to deliver "Islamic democracy" to the country.

Quoted by IRNA, he said "only those who yield to public will can survive, while those confronting the people are sure to be wiped away." "The Iranian nation has always been a forerunner of freedom, stopping dictatorship, fighting colonialism and working hard for progress," he asserted.

On Sunday, Khatami's office said the 60-year-old cleric had fallen ill with serious back pain, been forced to cancel a cabinet meeting and was ordered by doctors not to attend any official engagements over the next few days.

At the airport on Sunday, an AFP photographer saw the president in visible pain as he walked slowly to the podium to give his speech.

The new airport, situated in the desert at a rather inconvenient 45 kilometres (30 miles) south of the city centre, cost 350 million dollars and been in the pipeline for over 30 years.

All international flights will be shifted there by the end of March. It is designed to replace the cramped Mehrabad airport inside the city, where Khomeini flew in from Paris 25 years ago to spark the Islamic revolution as the Shah fled into exile, and compete as a regional transport hub.

The opening of the airport, which has been hit by a long series of delays and is over budget, will only cover the first phase of the project capable of handling 6.5 million passengers annually.

Officials plan for the complex to be eventually capable of handling 40 million passengers a year. The present airport, Mehrabad, is situated close to the city centre. -AFP