Iranian authorities expect up to 20 million people to attend the state mourning ceremony and funeral for the former supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the very beginning of the joint US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran in late February.
Funeral ceremonies will begin on Saturday, July 4, in Tehran and Qom, while the burial is planned for Thursday, July 9, in Meshhad, Khamenei's hometown in the northeast of the country.
Officials are coordinating increased security measures due to the extreme heat, as temperatures of up to 40 degrees are expected, but also due to the first appearance in public. Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader, who was seriously injured in the attack that killed his father.
Since being named Iran's new supreme leader following the assassination of Ali Khamenei, Mojataba Khamenei has not appeared in public, prompting speculation about his health and even his possible death.
In a post on the X social network, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkiyan called on Iranians to attend the funeral.
"As heroic Iran prepares to say goodbye to a sincere servant of Islam and the revolution, I invite all people, regardless of ethnicity, religion, political orientation, to attend the ceremony, so that we can send an image of national unity and loyalty to the lofty ideals of Islam," he said.
State media in Iran reports that representatives of anti-war and anti-hegemonic movements from Italy, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Denmark and Austria arrived in Tehran to attend Khamenei's funeral or to report from it.
Condolences to Antonio Guterres
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi about the situation in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman and expressed his condolences to the Iranian people on the death of Khamenei.
Guterres said he sympathized with the Iranian people and authorities.
Source: FoNet
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