The public viewing of the remains of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei officially began in Tehran, with thousands of faithful flocking to the mosque where his remains are on display.

Ali Khamenei, Iran’s longest-serving leader since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979, was killed at the age of 86 when his home was struck on the first day of the airstrikes launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28.

Four months after the Ayatollah’s death, his coffin, on which his black turban has been placed, is on display at the Grand Mosalla Mosque, a massive religious complex in Tehran. The walls of the mosque are covered with large portraits of Ayatollah Khamenei, along with black banners as a sign of mourning and red flags, symbols of martyrdom and vengeance.

Thousands of worshippers, most of them dressed in black, had flocked to the mosque before its doors opened today at 6:00 a.m. (local time, 5:30 a.m. Cyprus time) for the public pilgrimage.

Many are holding red flags bearing the word “martyr.” According to an AFP reporter, some in the crowd shouted “revenge,” as well as “death to America, death to Israel,” a slogan often heard at official rallies.

Iranian authorities expect 15 to 20 million people to take part in the ceremonies in Tehran alone to commemorate Khamenei.

His funeral, which was originally scheduled for March but was postponed due to the war, is expected to be one of the largest in Iran’s history.

According to official figures, in 1989, approximately 10 million people attended the funeral of his predecessor, the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. At that time, more than 10 people were killed in a stampede.

The funeral ceremonies for Ali Khamenei will last six days and are intended to serve as a show of strength following the war that began after the U.S.-Israeli attacksagainst Iranian territory, during which many high-ranking Iranian officials—both political and military—were killed.

At this time, the presence of his son, Mostafa Khamenei, who succeeded him in early March, has not been confirmed. Wounded by the same blows that killed his father, Iran’s new supreme leader has issued only statements and has not made any public appearances.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeskian, the Speaker of Parliament and head of the Iranian negotiating team, Mohammad Bayar Galibaf, several members of the government, and Ahmad Vahidi, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards.

Moreover, many Iranians have been waiting since yesterday outside the Grand Mosalla, hoping to be among the first to pay their respects to the body of Ali Khamenei.

“We want to say a final goodbye to our leader, and that’s why the wait is neither painful nor difficult for us,” Somaie Hamedi, a 44-year-old teacher dressed in a black chador, told AFP.

Some people are crying, others are waiting patiently, while poems are being recited and religious hymns are being played.

“Coming here is the last and only thing you can do” for Ali Khamenei, who “sacrificed his life” for Iran, said Fatemeh Noudhehi, a 25-year-old student from northern Iran who came to volunteer her services to the pilgrims.

Tents and water trucks

Ali Khamenei’s body will lie in state day and night until Monday at the Grand Mosalla, followed by a procession through the streets of Tehran. On Tuesday, it will arrive in the holy city of Qom. Afterward, the coffin of Khamenei —the Shiite religious leader—will travel on Wednesday to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq, where the majority of residents are Shiites.

Khamenei will be buried on July 9 in the holy city and his birthplace of Mashhad.

To accommodate Iranians who have flocked to Tehran from across the country, more than 400 tents belonging to the Iranian Red Crescent have been set up in a large park in the capital, according to AFP. Water tankers have been positioned in advance, ready to provide assistance to the crowds as temperatures are expected to exceed 35° Celsius.

Next to Ali Khamenei’s coffin are those of his relatives who were killed in the same attack: one of his daughters, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law, and a 14-year-old granddaughter, according to authorities.

Source: APE-MPE