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Published On ۶ Jul ۲۰۲۶
The funeral procession for late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has begun in Tehran as authorities prepare for crowds that could rival those that turned out for his predecessor nearly four decades ago.
After lying in state for two days at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla religious complex, the body of Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the United States-Israel war on Iran, began its journey on Monday through the capital, accompanied by large crowds of mourners, state broadcaster IRIB reported.
Authorities are hoping to avoid a repeat of the chaos that marred the ۱۹۸۹ funeral of Khamenei’s predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, which drew an estimated ۱۰ million people, according to the state news agency IRNA.
Crowd surges during Khomeini’s funeral killed more than ۱۰ people and injured over ۱۰,۰۰۰.
Thousands filled the Grand Mosalla on Sunday to pay their respects to Khamenei and his four family members who were killed with him on February ۲۸ in air strikes on his office in Tehran.
Monday’s procession will be followed by similar events in the clerical hub of Qom on Tuesday and in Iraq’s holy cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, culminating in Khamenei’s burial in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran on Thursday.
