IRAN URGES PUBLIC TO ATTEND KHAMENEI’S FUNERAL IN LARGE NUMBERS
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Agency Report
Iran’s chief negotiator and Parliament Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on Thursday urged millions of Iranians to attend the funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, saying a massive turnout would send a strong message of vengeance following his death in US-Israeli strikes at the outbreak of the recent war.
“I invite all the Iranian people… to write a glorious page in the history of Islamic Iran through your presence” at the funeral ceremonies beginning on Saturday, Ghalibaf said in a statement.
“The nation’s call for vengeance must ring in the ears of the whole world,” he added.
Khamenei’s funeral, which was postponed during the height of the Middle East conflict, will now take place as Iran and the United States observe a fragile ceasefire after reaching a preliminary agreement to halt hostilities.
The 86-year-old supreme leader, regarded as a revered spiritual figure by many Shia Muslims, was killed at his residence in central Tehran on February 28, the first day of the war.
Public funeral rites will commence on Saturday at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla complex, a vast venue used for Friday prayers, official ceremonies and major religious gatherings, where Khamenei’s body will lie in state.
The bodies of his relatives who were also killed during the conflict will be displayed during the ceremonies.
Officials expect between 15 and 20 million mourners to attend, a turnout that could make it the largest state funeral in Iran’s history.
“Iran… is preparing to experience one of the most significant moments in its history,” Ghalibaf said.
Tehran, along with the holy cities of Qom and Mashhad, where later stages of the funeral and burial ceremonies will be held, will observe public holidays throughout the mourning period.
Authorities have directed public and private offices in Tehran to shut from Saturday through Monday, while extensive traffic restrictions will leave much of the city centre inaccessible to private vehicles.
Iran also announced that Tehran’s airspace will be partially closed from Friday and completely closed on Monday to facilitate the ceremonies.
After the Tehran events, Khamenei’s body will be taken to the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala before being buried on July 9 at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, his birthplace in northeastern Iran.
It remains unclear whether Khamenei’s son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since assuming the position of supreme leader, will attend the main funeral ceremony in Tehran.
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