en.malanginspirasi.com – Hundreds of thousands of mourners have flooded the streets of Tehran as Iran begins a week-long series of funeral ceremonies for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
As quoted from Al Jazeera, officials anticipate that more than 10 million people from Iran and across the globe will participate in the historic farewell.
On Saturday, massive crowds dressed in black packed major avenues and the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque to view the coffin of the 86-year-old leader.
Khamenei, a major spiritual figure for the global Shia community, was killed in February during a US-Israeli strike at the start of the war on Iran.
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The funeral also honors several family members killed in the same attack, including his three-year-old granddaughter.
To accommodate incoming pilgrims, authorities have converted over 5,000 schools nationwide into temporary lodging.
The high international stakes of Iran’s leadership transition were highlighted on Friday, as delegations from more than 100 countries attended ceremonies for foreign dignitaries.
The six-day funeral procession will continue in Tehran through Monday before moving to the holy city of Qom, traveling onward to Iraq, and concluding with a burial in Mashhad.
Analysts note the heavy symbolism of the timing; taking place during the first 10 days of Muharram and coinciding with the U.S. Independence Day, the event frames Khamenei’s death as a martyrdom, signaling that Iran will maintain its confrontational stance under his successor and son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
