Online Reporter
Iran begins days-long funeral for Supreme leader
Iran on Friday prepared for the days-long funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with banners across Tehran urging the public to rise up in support of the Islamic Republic after the devastating war that killed the 86-year-old cleric.
State television showed people rallying at night in various Iranian cities, chanting slogans in support of the country’s theocracy and against America and Israel.
The government expected to see millions flood the streets of the capital beginning yesterday in scenes reminiscent of the burial of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
That could provide a boost for Iran’s government, particularly as it tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the United States over a permanent end to the war, and as concern still lingers that Israel could attack yet again.
Despite that, a powerful general who leads Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard emerged publicly for the first time in months for the funeral. Other top government officials will also likely be on hand alongside foreign dignitaries in a show of strength by Iran.
Khamenei’s flag-draped coffin sat at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla alongside those of family members killed in the Israeli airstrike that came in the first moments of the war on February 28.
The dead being honoured include a son-in-law, his eldest daughter, a 14-month-old granddaughter and the wife of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the previous leader who remains in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the attack.
Religious leaders and foreign dignitaries walked up to Khamenei’s casket as a military band played and a man made prayers. — AFP
