The Iranian Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was banned from attending his father’s funeral on Saturday, following fears that Israel would attempt to assassinate him, The New York Times reported.
Khamenei hasn’t been seen in the public eye since he was wounded in the airstrike that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the first day of the war between Israel, the US and Iran.
The funeral for the former Iranian Supreme Leader began Saturday in Tehran with chants of “death to America, death to Israel,” while the ceremonies are expected to last at least a week with events across the country.
Television footage showed Khamenei’s coffin draped with the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban. It was placed, along with four other coffins of his slain family members, on a large black platform that resembled the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure at the center of Islam’s holiest site in Mecca.
The vast courtyard of the complex, the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, was filled with mourners, many waving Iranian flags and carrying photographs of the slain leader.
“‘Death to America’ chants echoed through Tehran’s Mosalla on the day of the farewell to ‘Mr. Martyr’,” state broadcaster Seda va Sima said.
In video posts on other state media news sites, mourners were also heard chanting: “Our slogan is one word: Revenge, revenge,” and “We will kill, we will kill he who killed our imam.”
Khamenei’s coffin will remain in the Mosalla until Sunday evening.
His body was expected to be taken to Qom, Najaf and Kerbala, the great Shi’ite centers of Iran and Iraq, before being laid to rest on Thursday in Mashhad, home to the country’s holiest pilgrim shrine.
The coffin was unveiled late Thursday to a throng of sobbing supporters, who were swaying and beating their heads in time to a sung lament as flowers were thrown from the bier into the crowd. On Friday, the coffin was laid in state in the great prayer hall built to honor his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Authorities plan to mobilize millions of people for large processions over the coming days, offering transport, food and lodging to boost turnout.
During the United States Independence Day celebrations at Mount Rushmore on Saturday, US President Donald Trump commented on the late Ayatollah’s funeral ceremonies, saying, “We gave them a week off for a funeral because we’re nice.”
“We knocked the hell out of Iran,” he added when speaking about the recent war.
“They’re dying to settle,” Trump added, “They want to settle so badly.”
The commander of Khatam al-Anbiya, the Joint Command of Iran’s military, Ali Abdollahi, threatened Israel and the US against making “any miscalculation” during the funeral events this week, warning of “harsh and regrettable responses” in the case of an attack in a Friday statement.
THE JERUSALEM POST