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Agence France-Presse

Iranian leaders began paying their respects on Friday before the coffin of the country’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral.
Khamenei’s body arrived at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla on Friday ahead of ceremonies which are expected to draw millions.
A coterie of foreign dignitaries is also due to attend Saturday’s official ceremony, with Tehran’s chief negotiator calling for a massive turnout to avenge his death.
Photos showed mourners carrying Khamenei’s coffin, emblazoned with Iran’s tricolour flag, into the Grand Mosalla, one of the Islamic Republic’s most important ceremonial venues.
Others show crowds at a pre-funeral ceremony clad in black, as the coffin was set down against a backdrop of red flowers and white butterflies hanging in the air.
State television broadcast footage of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian paying his respects on Friday afternoon alongside parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
Ahmad Vahidi, head of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the military, also appeared, making his first appearance since the start of the war in February.
“The large public turnout at the funeral procession of the martyred leader and the other martyrs will, in effect, be another referendum for the Islamic Republic,” Qom Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Mohammad Saidi told state media.

Preparations for Khamenei’s public funeral, initially delayed at the height of the war, are taking place as Iran and the United States observe a fragile ceasefire after signing a preliminary deal to halt the conflict.
Tehran was preparing to take in huge numbers of visitors, with Ezzat Shoai, a 61-year-old teacher, saying that her neighbourhood had “prepared our houses to welcome those who come from outside the capital”.
“God willing … we will go together to say goodbye to our dear leader.”
Elsewhere in Tehran, a large park was transformed into a camp with hundreds of Red Crescent tents set up on the grounds.
Workers could also be seen removing all barriers from Azadi Avenue, a major thoroughfare through which the funeral procession will pass on Monday.
Tankers were stationed to spray water on the roads to cool down the participants, and a model boat – a Shia symbol – draped in red flags had been erected.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif paid his respects at Khamenei’s coffin on Friday.
Sharif, whose country has been mediating US-Iran talks to permanently end their conflict, was accompanied by army chief Asim Munir and a delegation as they visited the coffin.
Saudi ⁠Deputy ⁠Foreign Minister Waleed El-Khereiji and his delegation paid ‌their respects to Khamenei, Iranian ⁠media reported.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, whose country maintains close ties with Iran, paid his respects at the coffin of Khamenei, Iranian state media reported.
China, Afghanistan and Iran’s neighbours in the Caucasus region said they would also be sending representatives.
Ghalibaf had called on Thursday for “all the Iranian people … to write a glorious page in the history of Islamic Iran through your presence”.
“The nation’s call for vengeance must ring in the ears of the whole world,” Ghalibaf, who is Iran’s speaker of parliament, added in a statement.
Khamenei, a spiritual figure for many Shias, was killed at the age of 86 in strikes on his compound in the centre of the Iranian capital.
He will lie in state for three days at the colossal Grand Mosalla, which has been draped in banners featuring images and quotes of Khamenei.
The bodies of his slain relatives are also present.

The ceremonies are expected to draw between 15 and 20 million mourners, according to officials, which would make it the biggest state funeral in the country’s history.
Ghalibaf called it “one of the most significant moments” in Iran’s history.
Hotels are offering 50 per cent discounts, schools, mosques and sports halls have been prepared to house mourners, and bus and train networks are being diverted to ‌serve the main events.
Tehran, as well as the holy cities of Qom and Mashhad, which will host later stages of the funeral and the burial ceremonies, will observe public holidays while the events are under way.
Khamenei’s death also plays into a powerful Shiite tradition of martyrdom and mourning, in which processions of black-clad flagellants beat their chests or backs during annual religious commemorations.
For supporters of Iran, the talk ‌of martyrdom is no mere rhetoric.
“These are the hardest days of my life,” said Mohsen, 24, a Basij (voluntary militia) member in Tehran who asked not to give his family name.
“I do not remember the time when Imam Khomeini passed away but my father ⁠says the entire country was engulfed in grief and mourning. Today, too, people are in mourning, especially because our leader was martyred,” he added.


Authorities have ordered public and private offices in Tehran to close from Saturday through Monday, while traffic restrictions will make much of the city centre inaccessible to private vehicles.
The airspace over Tehran will be partially closed from Friday and fully closed on Monday.
Following the ceremonies in Tehran, Khamenei’s body will be taken to the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala before his burial on July 9, at the shrine of Imam Reza in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad, his birthplace.
It remains unknown if Khamenei’s son and successor Mojtaba, who has not been seen in public since becoming supreme leader, will be present at the main ceremony in Tehran.
Representatives from around 30 countries are expected to attend the funeral, with people pouring in from neighbouring Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Iranian leaders pay respects at Khamenei’s coffin as days-long funeral begins

The coffins of Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family members displayed inside Tehran’s Grand Mosalla. Photo: West Asia News Agency via Reuters

 Crowds at a pre-funeral ceremony clad in black. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other members of his delegation attend Khamenei’s funeral in Tehran on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Members of the Basij paramilitary forces. Photo: West Asia News Agency via Reuters

Iranian religious leaders and other mourners pay their respects. Photo: AP

Women pay their respects in Tehran’s Grand Mosalla. Photo: Reuters

The chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Ahmad Vahidi paying respects. Photo: KHAMENEI.IR via AFP

The coffin of slain Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei being carried into the Grand Mosalla. Photo: AP

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Delayed by months of conflict, Iran prepares to bury its slain supreme leader with a week of mass mourning


Delayed by months of conflict, Iran prepares to bury its slain supreme leader with a week of mass mourning.


Iranian leaders pay respects at Khamenei’s coffin as days-long funeral begins

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Delayed by months of conflict, Iran prepares to bury its slain supreme leader with a week of mass mourning

Delayed by months of conflict, Iran prepares to bury its slain supreme leader with a week of mass mourning