The funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the former Iranian supreme leader who was killed in a U.S. airstrike, has begun in Tehran. Mojtaba Khamenei, his son and designated successor, is expected to be absent from the funeral.
Iranian state television reported Friday that Khamenei's funeral officially began at the Grand Mosalla Mosque in Tehran. The eastern and northern entrances of the mosque were opened somewhat earlier than the scheduled time of 6 a.m., and mourners entered in turn. Mourners who entered the mosque chanted slogans such as "Death to America" as they waited for Khamenei's coffin to arrive.
The funeral is expected to be the largest public event held in Iran since the funeral of former supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. Iranian authorities projected that between 15 million and 20 million people would gather in Tehran alone over three days to mourn Khamenei. At the mourning of Iran's leadership held the previous day, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf attended, along with Ahmad Vahidi, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Vahidi appeared in public for the first time since the war with Iran. Foreign dignitaries also paid their respects. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev attended, and delegations from the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the pro-Iranian Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and the Taliban government of Afghanistan also joined the mourning procession.
The greatest point of interest at this funeral is whether Mojtaba Khamenei will appear in public. Mojtaba was designated supreme leader a week after his father's death, but has not yet appeared in public. At the time of his father's death, he is reported to have suffered severe burns to his face and body from the U.S. airstrike, and to have injured one leg to the extent that it required several surgeries.
The funeral will proceed over six days starting from that day. Public mourning will run for two days until the 5th, and an official funeral procession will take place in central Tehran on the 6th. The procession will then pass through the Iranian holy city of Qom and the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq before arriving on the 9th at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, Khamenei's birthplace in northeastern Iran. Khamenei is to be buried there.
Meanwhile, temperatures in Tehran are expected to rise well above 35 degrees Celsius during the funeral. As the number of mourners grows, Iranian authorities have prepared measures such as deploying water supply vehicles in anticipation of the extreme heat. Mist systems have also been installed inside the event venue. Iranian state television provided safety guidelines for crowds in preparation for the large influx of people.
