• Thousands carrying red banners assemble in courtyard of Tehran’s vast Grand Mosalla complex
• Authorities expect more than 10m mourners in the Iranian capital
• Crowds chant slogans against the United States
• Tankers spray water on roads to cool down attendees amid soaring temperatures
• PM Shehbaz says Pakistan stands by Iran in ‘this time of grief’

TEHRAN: Vast crowds of Iranians massed in Tehran on Saturday as the country began almost a week of funeral ceremonies for its late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in a US-Israeli strike on the first day of the Middle East conflict, in an event intended to send a message of defiance to the West following the US-Iran war.

Clad in black and waving blood-red flags, seen as a call for vengeance and justice, mourners thronged the Grand Mosalla religious complex in Tehran, AFP correspondents said.

Authorities believe the ceremonies will draw more than 10 million people in the capital alone to pay tribute to the man who led the cou­ntry for more than three decades.

AFP photographs showed the coffins of Khamenei and four members of his family at the front of a dais.

There was still no sign of Khamenei’s son and successor, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since being named supreme leader a week after his father’s killing.

Top Iranian officials who survived the war welcomed foreign dignitaries who paid their respects on Friday before the complex opened to the public.

Chants of “Death to America” and “Revenge, revenge” echoed through the venue.

“The leader was a father to us all. With his passing, we have all been left orphaned... There was no one like him. He was truly unique and peerless,” said Mohammad Mirsalehi, a 38-year-old cleric.

“We came [to the funeral] because we promised the supreme leader we would stand by him to the very end,” 37-year-old university professor Reza, who gave only one name, told AFP.

“For a long time, we shouted that we would sacrifice our lives for the leader, but it was he who sacrificed himself for us.”

Javad Akbari, 43, a food-processing plant worker, said: “I never had the chance to see the supreme leader up close, and I regret that. Today, I have come to bid him a final farewell.”

An AFP journalist saw mourners walking several kilometres to reach the venue. Hundreds of supporters of the Islamic republic had begun arriving outside the Grand Mosalla on Friday evening.

“We want to say a final goodbye to our leader, which is why waiting like this isn’t painful or difficult for us,” Somayye Hamedi told AFP.

Significant security measures have been imposed, with roads blocked and the airspace expected to remain closed for what is set to be the largest public event in Iran since the burial of Khamenei’s predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989.

‘Final goodbye’

The coffin will lie in state until Monday, when a procession will pass through Tehran.

On Tuesday, it will move to the clerical hub of Qom before travelling on Wednesday to Shia holy cities in neighbouring Iraq and then to Mashhad, Khamenei’s home city in northeastern Iran, where he will be buried on Thursday.

He will be buried alongside his infant granddaughter, son-in-law, daughter and Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife, Zahra Haddad Adel, who were all killed in the Feb 28 strikes.

The tiny coffin of his granddaughter, Zahra Mohammadi Golpaygani, who, according to state media, was just 14 months old, was prominently displayed.

Officials who survived the war displayed both grief and unity on Friday, with Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator in the US talks Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf visibly tearful.

International dignitaries who paid their respects on Friday included Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, who attended on behalf of President Vladimir Putin.

In a post on X on Saturday, PM Shehbaz said the late supreme leader’s “wisdom, leadership and profound influence on Iran and the wider region will be remembered for generations”.

“Pakistan stands with Iran in this time of grief,” he added.

‘Call for vengeance’

After five weeks of fighting, the Middle East conflict is on hold following an initial accord between Iran and the United States. However, Iranian officials have warned that Tehran is ready to resume fighting if necessary.

“The nation’s call for vengeance must ring in the ears of the whole world,” Ghalibaf said, urging Iranians to turn out in large numbers.

Army chief Amir Hatami vowed that Israel and the United States “will pay for the blood of the martyred leader and all the nation’s martyrs”.

The authorities are also keen to ensure the event passes off smoothly, mindful of the risk of crowd crushes that have marred similar gatherings in the past. State television broadcast safety guidelines for attendees.

With temperatures expected to exceed 35 degrees Celsius over the coming days in Tehran, water tankers were deployed to spray the roads to help cool the crowds.

Ahead of the ceremonies, AFP correspondents reported that Tehran was quieter than usual, with many of its normally congested streets free of the city’s notorious traffic.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2026