Millions of mourners lined the streets of Tehran on Monday morning as the coffin of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, was carried in a historic funeral procession to Azadi Square.
Mourners poured onto the streets of the Iranian capital as the funeral procession for the martyred Leader got underway, in what officials have described as the largest public gathering in the country’s modern history.
The procession, which drew millions of mourners from across the country, also carried the flag-draped coffins of several members of late Ayatollah Khamenei’s family, who were all martyred alongside the Leader on the first day of the recent US-Israeli war of aggression on February 28.
Dressed in black and beating their chests in mourning, large crowds packed the streets in Tehran as the funeral convoy made its way through the capital. Mourners chanted slogans calling for revenge for the Leader’s blood and resistance against adversaries, while waving Iranian flags and carrying his portraits.
Organizers expect the procession to last 10 to 12 hours, winding along a 10-kilometer route through Damavand Street, Imam Hossein Square, Enqelab Street, Enqelab Square, Azadi Street, Azadi Square, and Shahid Lashgari Highway, located near the Mehrabad airport.
Mourners poured flowers on the coffin of the martyred Leader on its way toward Tehran’s Azadi Square.
Top Iranian authorities, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje’i, joined the mourners on the streets.
On Sunday, Grand Ayatollah Ja’afar Sobhani led funeral prayers for the martyred Leader, his son-in-law Dr. Mesbah-ul-Hoda Bagheri-Kani, his daughter-in-law Zahra Haddad-Adel, his granddaughter Zahra Mohammadi-Golpayegani (14 months old), and his daughter Seyyedeh Boshra Hosseini-Khamenei.
According to organizers, funeral ceremonies for the late Ayatollah Khamenei and his family will continue on Tuesday in the holy city of Qom. Additional farewell and funeral events are scheduled for Wednesday in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala.
The final funeral rites are set to take place on Thursday in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad, where Ayatollah Khamenei will be buried at the shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the eighth Shia Imam, in accordance with the martyred Leader’s will.
