Funeral ceremonies for Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei officially began on Saturday, state television reported, an event drawing thousands and intended to serve as a show of strength to the Islamic republic’s foes.
Iranian authorities say they anticipate between 15 and 20 million participants in Tehran alone over the next three days for tributes to the man who ran the country for three-and-a-half decades.
Six days of funeral ceremonies are planned to commemorate Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic republic as its No 1 from 1989 until his killing aged 86 on the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.
The events will be scrutinised in particular for any signs of Khamenei’s son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei, who was named supreme leader a week after the killing of his father but is yet to appear in public.
Thousands of mourners carrying red banners – a symbol of vengeance – gathered in the courtyard of Tehran’s vast Grand Mosalla religious complex waiting for the arrival of Khamenei’s coffin, an Agence France-Presse journalist witnessed. Chants of “death to America” and “revenge, revenge” echoed at the venue.