Mourners hurled stones at a billboard of Donald Trump as the funeral procession of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wound through Tehran on Monday, the fourth day of public mourning. The billboard, hung from a bridge, bore the words: 'The US killed our father. We won't let you go!' — a reflection of the rage that has gripped the capital since Khamenei was killed at the start of the US-Israel war in February.
State media reported that millions of mourners filled the main boulevards along the 10km route from Imam Hossein Square to Azadi Square. Many waved Iranian flags and red banners symbolising vengeance. Placards reading 'We must rise' and calling for the death of Trump and Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, were held aloft. Drums and chants filled the air in 36C heat, with water sprayed over the crowds to cool them.
“Millions mourned Khamenei in Tehran, with calls for revenge against Trump and Israel.”
For those in the procession, it was as much a display of patriotism as grief. 'We the people are Iran's true missiles,' one banner read. 'I came with honour and pride to show all the people of the world how much we loved him and how committed we are to the system, the people, and the Islamic Republic,' said Melika Nourian, a 22-year-old university student.
The funeral comes after Khamenei's body lay in state for two days at Tehran's Grand Mosalla mosque. Three of his sons prayed beside his coffin there on Sunday, but Mojtaba, the son who succeeded him as supreme leader, did not appear. He has not been seen in public since he was reportedly seriously wounded in the same Israeli air strike on 28 February that killed his father and his wife.
Former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was seen at the procession, local media reported, in what appeared to be his first major public appearance since the start of the war, when three of his bodyguards were reportedly killed in a strike near his home. Iran's current president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was also filmed walking among mourners.
The BBC's chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet reported from Tehran under restrictions that apply to all international media organisations operating in Iran. The outpouring of anger and defiance suggests a nation united in grief, but the absence of the new supreme leader raises questions about the stability of the leadership at a time of war.
