Iran began a dayslong funeral Saturday for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, months after an airstrike killed him at the start of the war. He was 86.
Authorities unveiled the casket containing Khamenei's body in a glass case at the Grand Mosalla in Tehran, Iran's capital. Mourners wept at the sight, with some chanting: "Our word is one! Revenge! Revenge!"
Some carried banners and flags, while billboards across the city bore Khamenei's image. Crowds of men rhythmically beat their chests in mourning, a common practice at Shiite funerals.
"I am here to say goodbye to my beloved leader Ali Khamenei," said a weeping Hananeh Mousavi, 27, who attended the funeral alongside her mother. "I never expected to see such a day. I wish I had died before this tragedy."
Coffins sat on display at Grand Mosalla
An outdoor stage set up at the Grand Mosalla resembled the stage where Khamenei once gave his speeches at a husseiniyah at his compound in downtown Tehran. That site was destroyed in the Israeli airstrike that killed Khamenei and some of his family at the start of the Iran war on February 28.
The caskets of his dead family members sat beneath his, which had his black turban atop it, identifying him as a direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad.
Iran's government expects to see millions flood the streets of the capital in scenes reminiscent of the burial of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. Organisers sprayed water on the crowds and offered cold drinks to help those with the summertime heat.
"We attended the funeral to show that we are all committed to defend our country and religion," said Ali Kazemi, who came from the northwestern city of Tabriz, some 530 km away from Tehran.
A large turnout could provide a boost for Iran's government, particularly as it tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the United States over a permanent end to the war, and as concern still lingers that Israel could attack yet again.
Funeral starts as US marks its 250th anniversary
Iran chose July 4, the 250th anniversary of the creation of the US, to begin the funeral. While authorities did not acknowledge the timing, crowds at the ceremony in Tehran chanted: "Death to America!" - reprising a cry that's been common in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and US Embassy takeover and hostage crisis.
"We knocked the hell out of Iran," US President Donald Trump said in a speech at the same time in South Dakota in front of Mount Rushmore. "They want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral."
The American president was not forgotten in Tehran. In the crowd in Grand Mosalla, several mourners held a large flag that read: "#KillTrump."
Khamenei's body will be transported to cities in both Iran and neighbouring Iraq. Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life in Tehran for the mourning.
It remains unclear whether Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, will appear at his father's funeral. The late supreme leader appeared in 1989 at Khomeini's funeral, weeping visibly, as he began his journey to lead Iran for decades with an iron fist while confronting the West. Mojtaba Khamenei's late wife was one of the dead on display at the Grand Mosalla.
Israel's repeated threats to kill Mojtaba Khamenei drew a warning from Iran's joint military command Thursday, which told Israel and the US "to avoid any miscalculation" over the coming days.
Iranians flock to attend funeral rites
Mourners thronged a vast prayer complex in Tehran on Saturday as the week-long funeral ceremonies of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began with the national anthem, religious eulogies and readings from the Koran.
Iran is staging mass funeral processions for Khamenei – whose 37-year reign was brought to an end in February by the first airstrike of the war launched by the U.S. and Israel – in a show of public devotion to the Islamic Republic's theocratic state and revolutionary zeal.
Television footage showed his coffin draped with the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban. It was placed, along with four other coffins of his slain family members, on a large black platform that resembled the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure at the centre of Islam's holiest site in Mecca.
The vast courtyard of the complex, the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, was filled with mourners, many waving Iranian flags and carrying photographs of the slain leader.
"'Death to America' chants echoed through Tehran's Mosalla on the day of the farewell to 'Mr. Martyr'," state broadcaster Seda va Sima said.
In video posts on other state media news sites, mourners were also heard chanting: "Our slogan is one word: Revenge, revenge," and "We will kill, we will kill he who killed our Imam."
Water misted from rooftops to cool mourners in the summer heat. Khamenei’s coffin will remain in the Mosalla until Sunday evening.