TEHRAN — Iranian leaders on Friday began paying their respects before the coffin of the country’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the United States-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 that were expected to draw millions.
A coterie of foreign dignitaries was also due to attend Saturday’s official ceremony, with Tehran’s chief negotiator calling for a massive turnout to avenge his death.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographs showed mourners carrying Khamenei’s coffin, emblazoned with Iran’s tricolor flag, into the Grand Mosalla, one of the Islamic republic’s most important ceremonial venues.
Others showed 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 city was preparing to take in huge numbers of visitors, with Ezzat Shoai, a 61-year-old teacher telling AFP that her neighborhood 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,” she said.
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.
Pakistan, a key mediator in the US-Iran talks, said its Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif would attend the ceremony.
China, Afghanistan and Iran’s neighbors in the Caucasus region said they would also be sending representatives.
‘Vengeance’
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 parliament speaker, added in a statement.
Khamenei, a spiritual figure for many Shias, was killed at age 86 in strikes on his compound at the center of the Iranian capital.
He will lie in state for three days at the colossal Grand Mosalla, which has been draped in banners featuring Khamenei’s image and quotes.
The bodies of his slain relatives, including his three-year-old granddaughter, will also be present.
The ceremonies are expected to draw between 15 and 20 million mourners, officials said, 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.
Multicity commemorations
Ahead of the ceremonies, AFP correspondents reported that Tehran was quieter than usual, with many normally busy streets free of Tehran’s notorious traffic.
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.
Authorities have ordered public and private offices in Tehran to close from Saturday through Monday, while traffic restrictions will make much of the city center 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 before 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 neighboring Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.