Mourners beat their chests rhythmically in the intense summer heat, the wails of women cutting through the noise as the body of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was unveiled beneath a glass case at the Grand Mosalla.
“Our word is one! Revenge! Revenge!” the crowd chanted, according to the Associated Press.
Live Reuters footage showed hundreds marching along car-free streets, with women carrying bouquets of white flowers.
Others carried banners, while billboards across the city bore Khamenei’s image.
Water jets sprayed mist onto the crowd of mourners, who mostly wore black, with temperatures set to reach 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit), according to a forecast from the UK’s Met Office.
“I am here to say goodbye to my beloved leader Ali Khamenei,” Hananeh Mousavi, 27, told the Associated Press. “I never expected to see such a day. I wish I had died before this tragedy.”
Ali Kazemi, who traveled 330 miles (530 kilometers) from the city of Tabriz to attend, said: “We attended the funeral to show that we are all committed to defend our country and religion.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funeral will last for several days. Here’s what to expect in the coming days:
July 4 – The public part of the funeral begins Saturday 6 a.m. local time when Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosalla opens for a continuous 24-hour farewell ceremony.
July 5 – The second day is dedicated to funeral prayers for Khamenei and members of his family, after which the public farewell ceremony will continue.
July 6 – This is when the main funeral procession in Tehran will happen. The ceremony is expected to begin at 6 a.m. local time, and the procession, which includes funeral prayers, will follow the 10-kilometer distance from Imam Hossein Square to Azadi Square.
July 7 – Prayers will be held at the Jamkaran Mosque in Qom, an important holy city about 150 kilometers south of Tehran. A funeral procession may also be held here, if conditions allow.
July 8 – Khamenei’s body will be transported to the Iraqi city of Najaf, as the regime seeks to show its revolutionary ideology can still transcend its borders. There will be an official reception attended by Iraq’s prime minister, senior government officials and religious leaders before the cortege travels to the Imam Ali Shrine, an important pilgrimage site for Shiite Muslims. Afterward, the body will travel by helicopter to the Shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala, about 80 kilometers away, before flying back to Iran.
July 9 – Khamenei will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine, one of Shiite Islam’s holiest sites, in Mashhad, the town where he was born.
