Thousands of mourners gathered at a major prayer complex in Tehran on Saturday as Iran opened a week of funeral ceremonies for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose death has triggered mass state-organised commemorations across the country and key Shi’ite holy cities.
The ceremonies began at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla with the national anthem, Quranic recitations and religious eulogies, as crowds filled the vast courtyard waving Iranian flags and holding portraits of the slain leader.
Khamenei, who ruled Iran for 37 years, was killed in February in the first airstrike of the war launched by the United States and Israel. Iranian authorities are using the funeral rites as a major public display of loyalty to the Islamic Republic and its revolutionary ideology.
State television showed Khamenei’s coffin draped in the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban. It was placed on a large black platform resembling the Kaaba, alongside four other coffins belonging to members of his family who were also killed.
Chants of “Death to America” echoed through the Mosalla, according to Iranian state broadcaster Seda va Sima, which described the ceremony as a farewell to “Mr. Martyr.” Other state media videos showed mourners chanting calls for revenge, including: “Our slogan is one word: Revenge, revenge,” and “We will kill, we will kill he who killed our Imam.”
Water was sprayed from rooftops to cool the crowd in Tehran’s summer heat. Khamenei’s coffin is expected to remain at the Mosalla until Sunday evening before being taken to Qom in Iran, then to Najaf and Kerbala in Iraq, two of the most important Shi’ite religious centres.
He is due to be buried on Thursday in Mashhad, home to Iran’s holiest pilgrimage shrine.
The coffin was first unveiled late Thursday before a crowd of emotional supporters, many of whom were seen crying, swaying and beating their heads in rhythm with religious laments as flowers were thrown from the bier into the crowd. On Friday, Khamenei lay in state at the grand prayer hall built in honour of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Iranian authorities are expected to mobilise millions of people for processions over the coming days, with transport, food and accommodation arranged to boost turnout.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the late leader’s son and Iran’s new supreme leader, has not appeared in any new public image since he was wounded in the strike that killed his father.