Millions mourn Khamenei

Millions mourn Khamenei

Millions of people have gathered in Tehran to take part in the funeral procession of Iran's assassinated supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. The scale and depth of the march are an extraordinary turnaround for a country that was gripped by street protests just seven months ago, which saw thousands killed by government security forces.

The crowds, which moved from east to west through Tehran, from Revolution Square to Azadi Square, were a sea of black, with mourners carrying flags with the slogan "we will rise" as well as the flag of Iran, or pictures of Khamenei. The Tehran metro was packed as crowds tried to join the march, which was expected to last between 10 and 12 hours.

The mourners chanted "Mourning is mourning today, mourning day is today / Martyr Khamenei is before God today" as they made their way through the city. The funeral procession was a feat for the state services and the volunteer civic army, which fed and housed the mourners, with no one reported killed, unlike in previous state-linked funerals that rapidly went out of control.

Khamenei was killed by Israeli bombs at the launch of the war in February, in a bid to destabilize and ultimately topple the government. The entire Iranian leadership, depleted by successive Israeli assassinations, turned out for the morning prayer, with the exception of the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the slain supreme leader and now his appointed successor.

Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, praised the behavior of the crowds, expressing the hope that the images emerging from Iran would force the west to reflect on its determination to change Iran from without. He rejected US President Donald Trump's claim that the tears at the funeral may be fake, saying "This greatness, these tears that flow from the eyes of girls, men, and children, is not something that can be created by order. Tears arise from the pain and sorrow that surges within a person, and the world sees this truth."

More than 300 foreign journalists, in addition to those foreign reporters based in Iran, had been granted rare visas to report on the funeral and the display of national cohesion. Pezeshkian said "I do not accept the interpretation of farewell; this is a covenant for continuing on the path. This is not actually a farewell, but rather a pact to continue on the path."

As the funeral has gone on, however, there have increasingly been threats from mourners to avenge Khamenei's death. Mourners and the signs they carry have called for the killing of both US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Such signs were seen again on Monday along the procession's route, with one effigy of Trump being hanged.

One mourner, Fatima Hassan, said "Today that we are here for the funeral for our leader, it's a very tough day. We are not here to say goodbye to him; we are here for revenge. And we will take revenge."