Public mourning ceremonies have begun in the Iranian capital Tehran for the late Iranian supreme leader, ayatollah Ali Khamenei, months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran, with crowds streaming to the venue since dawn.
State television showed the religious leader’s coffin and those of several of his family members lying behind glass cases in the Grand Mosalla Mosque on Saturday.
Thousands of supporters flocked to the site, where temperatures are soaring above 30 degrees Celsius.
“I have come to say goodbye to our leader,” one woman said. “We demand blood vengeance, and we want retribution.”
Sadegh Bahrami, a fruit grower from the province of Lorestan, had travelled for 12 hours to attend the ceremonies. “We have come out of love for our leader, to say goodbye to him one last time.”
However, critics of the nation’s leadership who protested at the start of the year amid a massive economic crisis were untouched by the events and some expressed their disapproval.
Thousands of demonstrators were killed during protests in mid-January. “Why should I take part?” asked Amir, saying Khamenei had focused only on clinging onto power.
Start of several days of ceremonies
Ceremonies are scheduled to take place over three days in the Iranian capital, before Khamenei’s body is taken to the pilgrimage city of Qom and to Iraq. The former supreme leader is then to be buried at the Imam Reza Shrine in his home city of Mashhad next Thursday.
Security is tight at the site where large numbers of supporters have been arriving since daybreak. The authorities are preparing for a massive turnout of several million supporters.
For security reasons, Iran plans to close its airspace for several days from Monday. Tens of thousands of police officers and soldiers are on duty. On Saturday morning, many streets in Tehran were closed.
Khamenei was killed at the age of 86 in a targeted airstrike on his official residence in Tehran on February 28. His death was followed by more than five weeks of fighting between Iran, Israel and the United States, drawing in Iranian-backed groups including the Lebanese Hezbollah, before US and Iranian representatives agreed to a ceasefire in early April.
As supreme leader, Khamenei was Iran’s highest political and religious authority, with the final say on all strategic matters. He ruled the Islamic Republic with absolute severity until his death.
Generals appear in public for first time since war began
Observers will be watching for an appearance at the ceremonies by Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was appointed Iran’s new supreme leader a week after his father’s death. Mojtaba Khamenei was seriously injured in the attack that killed his father and has not appeared in public since his appointment, sparking speculation about his health.
The Iranian military warned against any new escalation, referring to the hostilities with the US and Israel, as the nation mourns. “Any miscalculation will be met with a resolute and even harsher response than ever before. A response that will remain forever recorded in their history of shame,” read a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian media reported.
The warning is likely linked to fears that senior high-ranking political and military figures could become targets of attacks.
For the country’s leadership, attending the memorial services is seen as a must. Several generals appeared in public at the ceremonies for the first time since the start of the war on Iran in late February, including new IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi, and the commander of the Air Force, Majid Mousavi.
Trump on Iran talks
Amid the conflict unleashed when the US and Israel attacked Iran, Washington and Tehran agreed on a framework deal last month to seek a lasting end to the war.
But the two sides have yet to agree on issues including Iran’s nuclear programme, Tehran’s support for regional militias and the Strait of Hormuz.
It remains unclear when the next round of negotiations is planned. US President Donald Trump said on Friday the US had given Iran “a week off” because of the funeral. “They are eager to make a deal. They desperately want to make a deal,” Trump said as the US marks Independence Day, CNN reported.
FILE PHOTO – An Iranian woman hold a photo of slain Iranian supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the funeral of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council general secretary, Ali Larijani, who was killed during the US-Israeli Iranian conflict. (is associated with: «Tehran mourns slain leader Khamenei as public funeral rites begin») Stringer/dpa