Tehran: Large numbers of Iranians gathered in the streets of Tehran on Friday to mourn the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's former Supreme Leader, as Iranian authorities began funeral rites that will continue for a week.
According to Thai News Agency, Khamenei's body was moved to a large assembly hall in Tehran on Friday to allow clergy, high-ranking officials, foreign representatives, and the general public to pay their respects and mourn the passing of the supreme leader who ruled the country for 37 years.
Iran has scheduled a week-long series of ceremonies and funeral processions to commemorate its former Supreme Leader, who died in February in a series of US and Israeli airstrikes that sparked a four-month-long war. The ceremonies are seen as a demonstration of the people's loyalty to the cleric regime and the spirit of the Islamic Revolution.
Authorities are scheduled to transport Khamenei's body to Qom, Najaf, and Karbala, major centers of Shia Islam in Iran and Iraq, before it is buried for the final religious ceremony this Thursday in Mashhad, home to the country's holiest site.