TEHRAN, Iran — Hundreds of thousands of mourners began a dayslong funeral Saturday for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, beating their chests in sorrow before the glass case containing his flag-draped coffin in Tehran and calling for revenge against Israel and the United States.
The funeral for Khamenei, who ruled Iran for decades before being killed at age 86 in a Feb. 28 airstrike in the opening moments of the Iran war, could provide a boost for the country's theocracy and its new supreme leader, his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
That is particularly important as Iran tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the U.S. over a permanent end to the war and as concern still lingers that Israel could attack yet again.
During the ceremony, Iran's top negotiator issued a warning to France and the United Kingdom over their comments about potentially launching joint patrols in the waterway, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed in peacetime.
Mourners wept at the sight of Khamenei's coffin alongside those of his family members also killed in the airstrike, with some chanting: “Our word is one! Revenge! Revenge!” Some carried banners and flags, while billboards across the city bore Khamenei’s image. Crowds of men rhythmically beat their chests in mourning, a common practice at Shiite funerals.
“Imam Khamenei was our heart, our father, our everything,” mourner Masoumeh Mohammadi said. “I still can’t believe they martyred him. We will not rest until we avenge his death.”
Coffins on display at Grand Mosalla
An outdoor stage set up at the Grand Mosalla resembled the stage where Khamenei once gave his speeches at a husseiniyah at his compound in downtown Tehran. A chair like the one he once sat in while giving his sermons, complete with a microphone on a stand and a small table next to it. Just above it hung an image of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who died in 1989.
Khomeini's funeral saw chaotic scenes as millions thronged his mourning ceremony and trip to the cemetery. Khamenei's death, only the second time Iran has lost a supreme leader since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, came months earlier and gave authorities more time to prepare.
On Saturday, volunteers sprayed cooling water on crowds in the summertime heat as stands outside offered food and drink. Men and women congregated separately inside the Grand Mosalla after being checked by metal detectors and body searches. Police armed with assault rifles stood guard on surrounding streets. Many stayed outside in the street, lounging under the shade of trees because the city had shut down.
The caskets of his dead family members sat beneath Khamenei's, which had his black turban atop it, identifying him as a direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad. The dead included the wife of Mojtaba Khamenei, whose possible appearance at the funeral remained unclear. He reportedly was wounded in the attack that killed his father.
“We attended the funeral to show that we are all committed to defend our country and religion,” said Ali Kazemi, who came from the northwestern city of Tabriz, some 530 kilometers (330 miles) away from Tehran.
Funeral starts as US marks its 250th anniversary
Iran chose July 4, the 250th anniversary of the creation of the U.S., to begin the funeral. While authorities did not acknowledge the timing, crowds at the ceremony in Tehran chanted: "Death to America!" The refrain has been common in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis. They also cried: "Death to Israel!"
“We knocked the hell out of Iran,” U.S. President Donald Trump said in a speech at the same time in South Dakota in front of Mount Rushmore. “They want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral.”
The American president was not forgotten in Tehran. In the crowd in Grand Mosalla, several mourners held a large flag that read: “#KillTrump.”
As the ceremony went on, Iran's chief negotiator Kazem Gharibabadi criticized a joint statement overnight from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, which suggested their militaries stood ready to patrol the Strait of Hormuz.
Control of the strait has been a major point of leverage for Iran, which has suggested it wants to charge vessels passing through it, upending decades of the world considering it an international waterway.
“The security of Hormuz lies with the coastal states — the crisis-makers will be held accountable for the consequences of their adventurism,” Gharibabadi wrote on X. “This is a serious warning.”
Khamenei will be buried Thursday in Mashhad
Khamenei’s body will be transported to cities in both Iran and neighboring Iraq. Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which will end Thursday as he's buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Khamenei's place of birth.
Authorities offered no immediate attendance count for the event Saturday, which saw the crowds cycle in and out of the Grand Mosalla and the surrounding streets. Other cities across Iran also held mourning ceremonies.
On Sunday, a prayer for the dead is planned at the Grand Mosalla. On Monday, his body and those of his family will be taken through the streets of Tehran, which likely will draw large crowds.
“I am here to say goodbye to my beloved leader Ali Khamenei,” said a weeping Hananeh Mousavi, 27, who attended the funeral alongside her mother. “I never expected to see such a day. I wish I had died before this tragedy.”
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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