Millions throng Tehran for second day of Khamenei funeral as chants of 'Death to Trump' echo through Grand Mosalla
The second day of public mourning for Iran's slain supreme leader drew vast crowds to Tehran's Grand Mosalla, where prayers were led by a 97-year-old ayatollah and calls for vengeance against the United States and Israel rang out.
A sea of mourners
From early morning, tens of thousands packed the Grand Mosalla mosque and its courtyards, forcing organisers to close the main hall to the public. State media reported seven million metro journeys to the site since the funeral rites began on Saturday. Authorities expect up to 20 million people to join Monday's street procession through the capital.
His departure for me is even harder than the loss of my father who died four years ago.
The coffins of Khamenei and four family members killed in the same 28 February airstrikes have lain in state since Saturday. The ayatollah led Iran for more than 36 years before his death at the start of the war with Israel and the United States.
Prayers and prominent absentees
The funeral prayer was led by Grand Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, 97, one of Shia Islam's most senior clerics. President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Judiciary Chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, and Revolutionary Guard commander Ahmad Vahidi were among the officials present. Three of Khamenei's sons (Mostafa, Masoud and Meysam) attended, but his son and successor as supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was conspicuously absent. Mojtaba has not been seen in public since his appointment on 8 March and is believed to have been wounded in the February attacks.
'Death to Trump'
The religious ceremony was punctuated by political fury. Poet Mohammad Rasouli addressed the crowd, asking of Donald Trump: "Why is the most bastard man in the world still alive?" The question drew cheers, and the assembly chanted "Death to America", "Death to Israel" and "Death to Trump". Some mourners carried a portrait of the US president framed in a rifle sight with the words "There will be blood" in English and Persian.
Why is the most bastard man in the world still alive?
Our only slogan: revenge, revenge!
The funeral itinerary
- Official ceremony with foreign delegations
- First public day at Grand Mosalla, Tehran
- Second public day; funeral prayer led by Ayatollah Sobhani
- Street procession through Tehran
- Rites in Qom, led by Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi
- Ceremonies in Karbala and Najaf, Iraq
- Burial at Imam Reza shrine, Mashhad
The body will remain at the Grand Mosalla until Monday evening, after which a procession will move through Tehran's streets. On Tuesday the cortege travels to the holy city of Qom, where 99-year-old Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi will preside. Wednesday's rites take place in the Iraqi shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf. The final burial is set for Thursday 9 July at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Khamenei's birthplace, under the supervision of 101-year-old Grand Ayatollah Noori Hamedani.
