TEHRAN, Iran\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Hundreds of thousands of mourners began a days-long funeral on Saturday for Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, beating their chests in sorrow before the glass case containing his flag-draped coffin in Tehran and calling for revenge against Israel and the United States.<\/p>\n
The funeral for Khamenei, who ruled Iran for decades before he was killed at age 86 in a Feb. 28 airstrike in the opening moments of the Iran war, could provide a boost for the country\u2019s theocracy and its new supreme leader, his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.<\/p>\n
That is important as Iran tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the U.S. over a permanent end to the war and as concern lingers that Israel could attack again. The funeral was delayed as the war raged, and talks appear to be on hold until it is over.<\/p>\n
During the ceremony, Iran\u2019s top negotiator warned France and the U.K. over their comments about potentially launching joint patrols in the waterway, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed in peacetime.<\/p>\n
Mourners wept at the sight of Khamenei\u2019s coffin alongside those of his family members also killed in the airstrike, with some chanting: \u201cOur word is one! Revenge! Revenge!\u201d Some carried banners and flags. Billboards across the city bore Khamenei\u2019s image. Crowds of men rhythmically beat their chests in mourning, a common practice at Shiite funerals.<\/p>\n
\u201cImam Khamenei was our heart, our father, our everything,\u201d mourner Masoumeh Mohammadi said. \u201cI still can\u2019t believe they martyred him. We will not rest until we avenge his death.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coffins on display at Grand Mosalla<\/p>\n
An outdoor stage at the Grand Mosalla resembled the stage where Khamenei once gave his speeches at a husseiniyah, or congregation hall, at his compound in downtown Tehran. There was a chair like the one he once sat in while giving his sermons, complete with a microphone on a stand and a table next to it. Above it hung an image of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who died in 1989.<\/p>\n
Khomeini\u2019s funeral saw chaotic scenes as millions thronged his mourning ceremony and trip to the cemetery. Khamenei\u2019s death was only the second time Iran has lost a supreme leader since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, volunteers sprayed cooling water on crowds in the summer heat. Men and women congregated separately inside the Grand Mosalla after being checked by metal detectors and body searches. Police with assault rifles stood guard on surrounding streets. Many people stayed outside in the street, lounging under the shade of trees because the city had shut down.<\/p>\n
The caskets of his family members sat beneath Khamenei\u2019s, which had his black turban atop it, identifying him as a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. The dead included the wife of Mojtaba Khamenei, whose possible appearance at the funeral remained unclear. He reportedly was wounded in the attack that killed his father and has not been seen publicly since the war began.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe attended the funeral to show that we are all committed to defend our country and religion,\u201d said one mourner, Ali Kazemi.<\/p>\n
As sunset approached, the streams of people continued. \u201cAuthorities advised not to rush to the sites,\u201d said a later visitor, Mohammad Barati. Mourners had also been advised not to stay too long, to allow others to come.<\/p>\n
Funeral starts as US marks its 250th anniversary<\/p>\n
Iran chose July 4, the 250th anniversary of the creation of the U.S., to begin the funeral. While authorities did not acknowledge the timing, crowds at the ceremony in Tehran chanted: \u201cDeath to America!\u201d The refrain has been common in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis. They also cried: \u201cDeath to Israel!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knocked the hell out of Iran,\u201d U.S. President rump said in a speech in front of Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. \u201cThey want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. president was not forgotten in Tehran. In the crowd in Grand Mosalla, several mourners held a large flag that read: \u201c#KillTrump.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the ceremony went on, Iran\u2019s chief negotiator, Kazem Gharibabadi, criticized a joint statement overnight from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron which suggested their militaries stood ready to patrol the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Iran has suggested it wants to charge vessels passing through the strait, upending decades of it being widely considered an international waterway.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe security of Hormuz lies with the coastal states \u2014 the crisis-makers will be held accountable for the consequences of their adventurism,\u201d Gharibabadi wrote on X. \u201cThis is a serious warning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khamenei to be buried in Mashhad<\/p>\n
Khamenei\u2019s body will be transported to cities in Iran and neighboring Iraq. Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which will end Thursday as he is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Khamenei\u2019s place of birth.<\/p>\n
Authorities offered no immediate attendance count for the event Saturday. Other cities across Iran also held mourning ceremonies.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, a prayer for the dead is planned at the Grand Mosalla. On Monday, Khamenei\u2019s body and those of his family will be taken through the streets of Tehran, which likely will draw large crowds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am here to say goodbye to my beloved leader Ali Khamenei,\u201d said a weeping Hananeh Mousavi, 27, who attended alongside her mother. \u201cI never expected to see such a day. I wish I had died before this tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Karimi and Gambrell write for the Associated Press. Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEHRAN, Iran\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Hundreds of thousands of mourners began a days-long funeral on Saturday for Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[2796,56909,20372,7226,56908,1584,1960,56361,34,90,5124,5308,2962,69,36],"class_list":["post-190524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tehran","tag-authority","tag-body-search","tag-ceremony","tag-city","tag-crowd","tag-death","tag-funeral","tag-grand-mosalla","tag-iran","tag-khamenei","tag-mourner","tag-saturday","tag-street","tag-tehran","tag-war"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116863870079329143","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}