Thousands of mourners have begun filing past the casket of late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, according to Iranian media. The public procession marks the start of a week of official mourning ceremonies expected to draw millions.
Thousands of mourners began filing past the casket of late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran early Saturday morning, according to Iranian media. The public procession, which opened at the official funeral site, marks the start of a week of state mourning that Iranian authorities have projected could draw tens of millions of participants from within Iran and neighboring countries.
The development comes as funeral ceremonies have been underway since Friday. As The Zioneer reported throughout the day, foreign delegations — including the prime minister of Armenia, the Egyptian Senate speaker, and senior officials from Russia, China, Pakistan, Qatar, Iraq, and the Taliban, as well as representatives of Hezbollah and Amal — arrived in Tehran on Friday. By Friday afternoon, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and IRGC Major General Hossein Rezaei were seen weeping at the ceremonies, according to reports.
Khamenei, Iran's second Supreme Leader, died at the age of 87. His successor has not yet been formally announced by the Assembly of Experts. As The Zioneer reported earlier in the week, a senior Iranian judiciary figure said over one million Iraqis had registered to attend the funeral, and an Iranian vice president said several neighboring countries had requested to send more than one million citizens, though Iran's capacity is limited.
The public viewing at the casket in Tehran is expected to continue through the coming days before the burial. The identity of Khamenei's successor remains unannounced, and the full scale of turnout — initially projected in the tens of millions — has yet to be independently verified.
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