Tens of thousands of black-clad mourners packed the courtyard of Tehran’s Grand Mosalla on Saturday, the first day of funeral commemorations for Iran’s former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in joint US-Israeli strikes more than four months ago.
Chanting slogans against the United States and calling for revenge, the crowds gathered as Khamenei’s body – alongside the remains of family members also killed in the air strikes – lay in state at the mosque. Authorities expect 15 million to 20 million people to attend ceremonies across Iran and Iraq over the next six days, in what would be the largest funeral ever relative to the country’s population.
“Tens of thousands mourn Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran as his body lies in state after US-Israeli strikes.”
“We came [to the funeral] because we promised the supreme leader we would stand by him to the very end,” 37-year-old professor Reza told AFP from the Grand Mosalla’s courtyard. “For a long time, we shouted that we would sacrifice our lives for the leader, but it was he who sacrificed himself for us.”
Another mourner, 40-year-old Arash Rahimi, told Reuters: “Everyone here has come to avenge the blood of their supreme leader. As our leader has said, we have a blood feud with the United States. Our relations with the United States will never be good.”
Khamenei was killed during the February strikes, which rapidly escalated into a wider regional conflict. US President Donald Trump said Iran’s government was “dying to settle” a peace deal after a preliminary agreement, adding on Friday: “We gave them [Iran] a week off for a funeral because we’re nice.”
Central Tehran will be largely locked down over the weekend as the funeral gets under way. Khamenei’s body will lie in the Grand Mosalla for three days, before being moved to Qom, south of Tehran, on Tuesday for further events. The former supreme leader is due to be buried in his hometown of Mashhad next Thursday.