Thousands pray for Khamenei

Prayers were held yesterday over the casket of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the second day of funeral ceremonies that have drawn huge crowds to pay their final respects in Tehran.

Khamenei ruled the Islamic republic from 1989 until he was killed aged 86 in an airstrike on the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.

Yesterday’s service at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla complex was led by prominent Shia cleric Ja’far Sobhani, a 97-year-old scholar who teaches in seminaries at the holy city of Qom.

Khamenei’s son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei, who is said to have been wounded in the February 28 attack, has not appeared in public since being named supreme leader and was notably absent from the funeral prayers.

The late supreme leader’s other three sons, Masoud, Mostafa and Meysam, were in attendance.

Meanwhile, Trump said neither side was expected to take military action during the funeral period, adding that talks with Iran would resume once the ceremonies conclude.

He also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could visit the White House after the Nato summit, signaling that Washington remains engaged in diplomatic efforts following last month’s ceasefire, reports Al Jazeera online.

It was a public holiday across Iran yesterday, and later in the day, Khamenei’s body was moved from the Grand Mosalla complex where it is lying in state in preparation for processions through the capital today.

After what authorities are billing as a massive procession in central Tehran today, the remains will be taken to the seminary city of Qom, the centre of Iran’s Shia hierarchy, for ceremonies tomorrow.

From there the body will be flown to Iraq for ceremonies in the Shia holy ⁠shrine cities of ​Najaf and Kerbala on Wednesday. It will return to Iran on Thursday for another ​procession in Mashhad, to be buried near the tomb of another of the medieval Shia imams.

Authorities plan to mobilise millions of people for big processions over the coming days, offering transport, food and lodging.

Yesterday, the vast Grand Mosalla complex and surrounding streets were packed with mourners in the morning, AFP journalists saw. With temperatures set to exceed 35C, mourners carrying Iranian flags and portraits of Khamenei, as they made their way to the complex, were handed refreshments.

President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the ceremony alongside senior officials including parliament speaker and Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, state television footage showed.

Khamenei’s coffin, draped in the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban, was placed alongside the coffins of four relatives also killed in the February strikes, including an infant granddaughter.

Authorities have said they expect more than 10 million people to take part in ceremonies in Tehran. Significant security measures have been imposed in the capital, and official media has warned attendees of the risk of crowd crushes.

Organisers have also taken measures to mitigate a heatwave that may nudge 40C in Tehran over the next few days, with crowds on Saturday sprayed with mists of water to keep cool at the Grand Mosalla complex.