On the last night of his stay in Neauphe Le Chateau the Imam gathered everybody around him and spoke to them after the ‘Maghrib (dusk) and ‘Isha’ (night) mandatory prayers. It was just like the night before ‘Ashura Day’ (day of Imam Hussein’s martyrdom in Karbala) and it was just like the last speech that His Holiness Imam Hussein (PBUH) gave to his companions and close associates. Imam Khomeini too gathered everybody at his residence and stated: “God willing, we intend to return to Iran. I would like to request the people and friends that nobody should accompany me to Iran as I do not know what lies in store for us inside the aeroplane. There is the possibility that the plane is shot down. Therefore, I would like that none of you should accompany me. Let me go alone so that in case they shoot down the plane, I alone am martyred.” I remember that there was a great emotional reaction to this statement and some began to cry and shed tears silently. Finally, after a prolonged speech, some individuals who were present there cried out: “Do you mean to prevent us from undertaking this journey and deprive us of the honour of martyrdom if at all martyrdom is involved?” In reply the Imam stated: “I am not stopping you but I am telling you that there is the possibility of some unforeseen incidents taking place. There is a possibility that they will arrest and then massacre all of us on arrival in Iran. It is also possible that they will shoot down the aircraft with a missile as it enters Iran’s airspace.”
Name of the narrator: Ayatollah Martyr Mahallati, ‘Ettelaat’ daily dated February 01, 1982.
Title of the Book: Impressions and Memoirs about Imam Khomeini's Practical Behaviour, vol. 1, chapter six, pages 258 & 259