US-Iran LIVE updates: Funeral procession for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei begins in Tehran | Today’s news
Iran began a procession through its capital Tehran on Monday for the funeral of late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei’s flag-draped coffin and members of his family killed in a US-Israeli airstrike on February 28 were transported aboard a truck along a designated route in the Iranian capital.
After Khamenei lay in state for two days at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla religious complex, it began its journey through the capital, accompanied by massive crowds of mourners.
Funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Authorities closed streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which began on Saturday and will end on Thursday when 86-year-old Khamenei is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.
The coffins will be carried through the streets of Tehran en route to Mehrabad International Airport during the 12-hour journey, said Revolutionary Guards General Hasan Hasanzsdeh, who is overseeing the procession.
Monday’s procession will be followed by similar events in the spiritual center of Qom on Tuesday and in the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, culminating in Khamenei’s funeral in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran on Thursday.
Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran for 36 years, was killed on the first day of the US-Israel war against Iran. While several members of his family were also killed in the same attack, one of his surviving sons, Mojtaba Khamenei, has since assumed the position his father held for more than three decades.
Although the funeral prayers began three days ago, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the February 28 airstrikes, has yet to attend, while Ali Khamenei’s three other sons were seen during a procession on Sunday.
The US, meanwhile, continues negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz, scrapping its disputed nuclear program and achieving a permanent end to the war. Conversations seem to be suspended until after the funeral.
