Iran Begins Week of Mourning as Slain Leader Khamenei Lies in State

The body of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is lying in state in a large hall in Tehran, opening a week of funeral ceremonies attended by senior Iranian officials and foreign dignitaries.

On Friday, black-clad mourners carried Khamenei's coffin through the sprawling Grand Mosalla religious complex in the capital. The casket was draped with the national flag of the Islamic Republic, the state he led for more than three decades.

A funeral delayed by war

Authorities anticipate that public mourning and large processions will draw millions of people ahead of Khamenei's burial next week. The ceremonies come four months after the 86-year-old leader was killed at his compound on February 28, the opening day of a joint United States-Israeli war on Iran.

Placed alongside Khamenei's casket were the coffins of his three-year-old granddaughter, his eldest daughter, his son-in-law and his daughter-in-law, all of whom were killed in the same strike on February 28.

The funeral had originally been scheduled for March but was postponed because of the conflict. The commemoration now spans six days, with a public ceremony set for Saturday in Tehran, followed by a procession through holy cities in both Iran and neighbouring Iraq.

Officials and world leaders pay respects

State television showed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian paying his respects at the coffin, accompanied by parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Ahmad Vahidi, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, made his first public appearance since the start of the war.

Al Jazeera's Resul Serdar Atas, reporting from Tehran, said the government did not invite several European countries, and that most attendees came from neutral or friendly states.

"According to the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, so far more than 50 delegations have already paid their respects to Iran's late supreme leader," he said, naming the presidents of Iraq, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Georgia, as well as Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

"Iranians are saying they did not extend invitations to European countries or those who have directly, or indirectly, supported the Israeli and American military campaign on Iran," Atas added.

Millions expected across sacred cities

Iranian authorities expect millions to fill the streets of Tehran from Saturday, in scenes recalling the 1989 funeral of Khamenei's predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which drew an estimated 10 million people. Atas said officials anticipate an even higher turnout this year.

He noted the symbolic weight of the locations involved. Tehran is the seat of power, while the city of Qom serves as the religious centre where most clerics are trained, and where at least two million people are expected to gather. The Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala hold deep significance in Shia Islam, and the final stage of the funeral will take place in Mashhad, home to the tomb of the eighth imam of Shia Islam and the birthplace of the supreme leader.

On Friday, mourners identified by state media as relatives of those killed in recent conflicts threw scarves and other items so attendants could brush them against Khamenei's coffin, a gesture regarded as a blessing in Iran. The casket bore white calligraphy reading "Ya Hussein," a Shia expression commemorating the seventh-century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson.

Across Tehran, images of Khamenei's raised fist appeared on banners and on a large statue in Enghelab Square, framed by what appeared to be ballistic missiles in flight.

A message of unity

Abas Aslani, senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran, told Al Jazeera the funeral is unfolding at a critical moment and is being presented as a display of national unity aimed at the United States and Israel.

"Following the assassination of the supreme leader, the government did not fall but became stronger," he said. "What the US and Israel did backfired. They wanted to bring about regime change in the country, but what actually happened created a rally around the flag."

As Iran prepares for days of mass processions across its most sacred sites, the ceremonies mark a pivotal chapter in the country's recent history. What are your thoughts on how these events may shape the region? Share this article and join the conversation.

Source: Al Jazeera English