Monday\u2019s procession will be followed by similar events in Qom on Tuesday and in Iraq\u2019s Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday
\n tehran
\nVast crowds gathered for the funeral procession of Iran\u2019s martyred supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Monday, with authorities estimating millions were on the streets in numbers that could rival those of his predecessor\u2019s farewell nearly four decades ago.
\nAuthorities have yet to give an official turnout figure but AFP images showed huge numbers stretching along major boulevards in the Iranian capital.
\nThe ceremonies offer Iran an opportunity to project resilience after five weeks of war with the United States and Israel, although attention remains focused on Khamenei\u2019s successor, his son Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since taking power.
\nAfter lying in state for two days at Tehran\u2019s Grand Mosalla religious complex, the body of Khamenei \u2014 who was killed on the first day of the Middle East war on February 28 \u2014 began its journey through the capital accompanied by massive crowds.
\nFlower petals covered the coffin as it made its way along the streets, AFP images showed. Authorities are hoping to avoid a repeat of the chaos that marred the 1989 funeral of Khamenei\u2019s predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which drew an estimated 10 million people, according to state news agency IRNA.
\nCrowd surges during Khomeini\u2019s farewell killed more than 10 people and injured over 10,000.
\n\u201cIf I am to compare this ceremony to that one, I can say they are not different at all. But the crowd this time seems more enthusiastic,\u201d said Gholamreza Khanbabaei, 58, attending the procession.
\nTehran\u2019s airspace was closed on Monday as the country stood still to remember the former leader.
\nMourners marched through the streets waving the flags of Iran and the Tehran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, as well as red flags symbolising revenge.
\nOthers gathered in Imam Hussein Square in eastern Tehran and hanged an effigy of US President Donald Trump, according to state media.
\nFormer president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was seen attending the procession, according to local media.
\nIn sweltering heat, trucks sprayed mourners with water to cool them, while organisers handed out Iranian flags and pictures of Ali and Mojtaba.
\nMojtaba absent
\nParliament speaker and chief negotiator with the US, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, hailed on X the way the \u201cproud and invincible nation of Islamic Iran unanimously\u201d paid tribute to its \u201cmartyr\u201d.
\nMonday\u2019s procession will be followed by similar events in the clerical hub of Qom on Tuesday and in Iraq\u2019s holy cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, culminating in Khamenei\u2019s burial in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran on Thursday.
\nThree of Ali Khamenei\u2019s sons made a rare public appearance at the funeral on Sunday, further highlighting the absence of Mojtaba Khamenei, who was named Supreme Leader shortly after his father\u2019s assassintaion but has yet to appear in public.
\nOfficials have said he was wounded in the airstrikes but the severity of his injuries remains unclear.
\nThe new commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, Ahmad Vahidi, whose predecessor was assassinated on February 28, appeared at the funerals for a second time on Sunday, this time in the open air, after he went unseen throughout the war.
\nEsmail Qaani, the shadowy head of the Guards\u2019 Quds Force \u2014 responsible for its foreign operations \u2014 also made a rare appearance.
\nWhile Iranian authorities have been keen to present a united front, none of President Masoud Pezeshkian\u2019s surviving predecessors, who had tensions in their relationship with Khamenei, have so far been seen at the ceremonies.
\n\u2018Demand revenge\u2019
\nThe government is also eager to tout the mass mobilisation in support of the authorities after mass protests in January that rights groups say were quelled by a crackdown that killed thousands of people.
\nThe Middle East war is on hold following a ceasefire and an initial accord struck with the US. Both Washington and Tehran have warned they are ready to resume military action, and vengeance has been a major theme at the funerals.
\n\u00abThe killers (of Khamenei) must face punishment,\u00bb a 38-year-old man who gave his surname as Miremadi told AFP at the prayers on Sunday.
\n\u00abWe back our revolution and our leader, and we demand revenge for the blood of our loved ones,\u00bb said a woman, 39, with the surname Bakand.
\nKhamenei long pursued a course of confrontation with the West, and Tehran for years has provided support to anti-US and anti-Israel armed groups around the Middle East, including Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon\u203as Hezbollah, who both sent delegations to the ceremonies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Monday\u2019s procession will be followed by similar events in Qom on Tuesday and in Iraq\u2019s Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday tehran Vast crowds gathered for the funeral procession of Iran\u2019s martyred supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Monday, with authorities estimating millions were on the streets in numbers that could rival those of his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-554925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n