Thousands line funeral procession for Iranian supreme leader
Mourners dressed in black have flooded into Iran’s capital for a procession as part of the funeral of the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with throngs of people calling for the death of US president Donald Trump.
Mr Khamenei’s flag-draped coffin, as well as those of members of his family killed on February 28 in an air strike at the start of the war launched by Israel and the United States, sat on board a truck decorated to resemble the ornamental grating that surrounds the shrine of an imam.
The massive turnout, encouraged by Iran’s theocracy as a sign of strength, came as it negotiates with the US over a permanent end to the war that killed the 86-year-old cleric.
Helicopter images aired on Iranian state television showed a massive crowd stretching from Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Square for miles down a multi-lane street of the same name.
The crowd appeared to be larger than the one that turned out for the 2020 procession for the late Revolutionary Guard Gen Qassem Solemani, which drew more than one million people.
Authorities offered no immediate crowd count as the truck crept down the street. But people alongside the truck and elsewhere on the route carried placards, signs and banners calling for Mr Trump’s death.
“Today that we are here for the funeral for our leader, it’s a very tough day,” mourner Fatima Hassan said.
“We are not here to say goodbye to him, we are here for revenge. And we will take revenge.”
Mourners reached out to touch the truck, and some threw scarves and other items for attendants to brush against the coffin, a common practice in Iran seen as a blessing. Attendants, some on the ladders of fire trucks, sprayed misted water across the crowds to cool them in the heat.
Authorities appeared concerned about the dangers of having a large crowd alongside the procession, with officials on loudspeakers urging the public to walk slowly, not to push and to stay to the edges of the street.
The coffins will be taken through the streets of Tehran on a 12-hour journey to Mehrabad International Airport, said Revolutionary Guard Gen Hasan Hasanzsdeh, who is overseeing the procession.
Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which began on Saturday and will end on Thursday as Mr Khamenei is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.
As the funeral has gone on, there have increasingly been calls from mourners to avenge Mr Khamenei’s death. Mourners and the signs they carry have called for the killing of both Mr Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Such signs were seen again on Monday along the procession’s route, with one effigy of Mr Trump being hanged.
US federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against Mr Trump and other administration officials for years, stemming from Mr Trump’s ordering the 2020 killing of Soleimani, who led the elite Quds Force.
Iran has repeatedly denied plotting to kill Mr Trump, though hard-line propaganda footage long has suggested Mr Trump was in Tehran’s crosshairs.
Mr Trump meanwhile promised to destroy Iran’s civilisation during the war, among other threats.
The US is meanwhile eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz, rolling back its disputed nuclear programme and reaching a permanent end to the war. Talks appear to be on hold until after the burial.
Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, meanwhile has yet to make an appearance in the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the air strike that killed his father.
At the height of the war before an April ceasefire, Israel targeted top leaders, in at least one case likely using their public appearance to fix their position. It has also threatened to kill the younger Mr Khamenei.
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