Iran begins funeral for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran began a dayslong funeral for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, with mourners gathering in large numbers. The ceremonies come months after his death in an airstrike, as regional tensions and diplomatic uncertainty continue to shape the country's political landscape

Tehran: Iran began a dayslong funeral on Saturday for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, months after an airstrike killed him at the start of the war. He was 86.

Khamenei’s body was to be on display at the Grand Mosalla in Tehran, Iran’s capital. Early on Saturday, mourners dressed in black walked through the streets of Tehran, which had been cleared of vehicle traffic, to reach the Grand Mosalla.

---

Some carried banners and flags, while billboards across the city bore Khamenei’s image. A crowd of men outside rhythmically beat their chests in mourning, a common practice at Shiite funerals.

“I am here to say goodbye to my beloved leader Ali Khamenei,” said a weeping Hananeh Mousavi, 27, who attended the funeral alongside her mother. “I never expected to see such a day. I wish I had died before this tragedy.”

An outdoor stage set up at the Grand Mosalla resembled the one where Khamenei once delivered his speeches at a husseiniyah in his compound in downtown Tehran. That site was destroyed in the Israeli airstrike that killed Khamenei and some of his family members at the start of the Iran war on February 28.

Iran’s government expects millions of people to gather on the streets of the capital in scenes reminiscent of the funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.

“We attended the funeral to show that we are all committed to defending our country and religion,” said Ali Kazemi, who came from the northwestern city of Tabriz, about 530 kilometres from Tehran.

A large turnout could provide a boost to Iran’s government, particularly as it tries to strengthen its position in negotiations with the United States over a permanent end to the war, while concerns remain that Israel could launch another attack.

Iran chose July 4, the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, to begin the funeral. While authorities did not acknowledge the timing, crowds at the ceremony in Tehran chanted, “Death to America!”, reprising a slogan that has been common in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the takeover of the US Embassy and the hostage crisis.

“We knocked the hell out of Iran,” US President Donald Trump said in a speech at the same time in South Dakota in front of Mount Rushmore. “They want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral.”

Khamenei’s body will be transported to cities in both Iran and neighbouring Iraq. Authorities have shut down streets, closed airspace and disrupted normal life in Tehran during the mourning period.

It remains unclear whether Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, will appear at his father’s funeral. The late supreme leader appeared at Khomeini’s funeral in 1989, weeping visibly, as he began his decades-long leadership of Iran while confronting the West.

Israel’s repeated threats to kill Mojtaba Khamenei prompted a warning from Iran’s joint military command on Thursday, which told Israel and the US “to avoid any miscalculation” over the coming days.