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Iran began a weeklong funeral on Saturday for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, months after an airstrike killed him at the start of the U.S.-Israeli war against the country, according to NPR. He was 86.
Tens of thousands of mourners gathered at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, a vast prayer complex in Tehran, as ceremonies opened with the national anthem, religious eulogies and readings from the Koran, Reuters reported through The Jerusalem Post.
Here is the moment Khameini’s coffin arrived at the funeral.
Khamenei was killed by the first airstrike of the war on Feb. 28, ending a 37-year reign, according to the reporting. Iran is staging mass processions in what The New York Times described as a funeral unlike any other in recent history.
Iranian authorities expect millions to flood the capital, in scenes the theocracy hopes will recall the 1989 burial of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, according to NPR and The Associated Press. France 24 reported that 15 million people were expected to attend.
State media reported that mourners chanted “Death to America” and “revenge” during Saturday’s ceremonies. State broadcaster Seda va Sima said chants echoed through the Mosalla on the day of the farewell, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Coffins displayed in Tehran
Television footage showed Khamenei’s coffin draped with the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban, The Jerusalem Post reported. It was placed alongside four coffins of family members killed with him on a large black platform resembling the Kaaba, the structure at the center of Islam’s holiest site in Mecca.
The coffin was unveiled late Thursday and laid in state Friday in the prayer hall built to honor Khomeini, according to Reuters through Free Republic.
The body is scheduled to travel to Qom on Tuesday and to the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Kerbala on Wednesday before burial on Thursday in Mashhad, near the shrine of Imam Reza, the reporting said.
Foreign and allied delegations attend
Representatives of Tehran-backed militant groups attended Saturday’s ceremonies, France 24 reported, citing state media. Envoys from Hezbollah and Hamas met with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The Hezbollah delegation was headed by senior official and former minister Mohammed Fneish, according to France 24. Hamas said its delegation was led by the head of its political bureau, Mohammed Darwish, and included Bassem Naim.
Also attending were Ziyad al-Nakhalah, leader of Islamic Jihad, and senior Houthi member Dhaif Allah al-Shami, France 24 reported, citing state TV. Iran designates its network of allied armed groups the “axis of resistance.”
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev paid his respects in Tehran on July 3, according to The Jerusalem Post. Iraqi, Armenian and Pakistani officials also arrived for the funeral, Reuters reported.
Successor absent from public view
Iranian security officials rejected a request by Khamenei’s successor, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, to attend the burial, The New York Times reported. Officials said they feared Israel could kill him or track him to his hiding location.
The report, citing two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a person involved in planning the funeral, said Mojtaba Khamenei sought to attend the July 9 burial in Mashhad and perform funeral rites but had been refused.
He has not appeared in public since he was injured and his father, wife and son were killed in the opening strikes on Feb. 28, according to the Times. Four senior Iranian officials cited by the newspaper said his continued absence has raised concern about the sustainability of his rule.
The Associated Press reported that a powerful general who leads Iran’s Revolutionary Guard appeared publicly for the first time in months for the funeral.
