Tehran: The funeral services of Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began in Tehran on Saturday, with thousands of citizens turning up to pay tributes to their 86-year-old leader.
Khamenei was killed in the US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
His coffin, draped in the flag of the Islamic Republic, was carried into the complex, with his black turban placed on top. The bodies of his dead relatives were also placed beside him, including the small coffin of his 14-month-old granddaughter, NDTV reported.
There will be six days or public funeral services across Iran and Iraq. Hundreds of mourners were already waiting on Friday evening outside Tehran’s Grand Mosalla ahead of its opening to the public today. Authorities said they expect between 15 and 20 million participants in Tehran alone over the next three days.
Thousands of mourners entered the venue once the gates opened on Saturday. The main courtyard of the vast complex was filled with people. The mourners carried red banners, a symbol associated with calls for revenge, and chanted “death to America” and “revenge, revenge”, news agency AFP reported.
“I am here to say goodbye to my beloved leader Ali Khamenei. I never expected to see such a day. I wish I had died before this tragedy,” a 27-year-old mourner told news agency Associated Press.
Iran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator in the US talks Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was visibly tearful while paying respects to the departed leader. Other top officials included Ahmad Vahidi, who was named chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps after his predecessor was killed in the same strikes that killed Khamenei.
India is being represented by Bihar governor Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd) and minister of state for external affairs Pabitra Margherita.
As per plans, Khamenei’s coffin will lie in Tehran until Monday, when a procession will pass through the city. It will move to the clerical hub of Qom on Tuesday before moving to holy cities in neighbouring Iraq on Wednesday and then proceeding for burial on Thursday in Khamenei’s home city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran.
