Millions in Iran Mourn Supreme Leader Khamenei, Call for Revenge

Millions of Iranians filled the streets of the capital, Tehran, to participate in the funeral procession for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state media described the event as one of the largest public gatherings in the nation's modern history.

Thousands of mourners gathered early on Azadi Street to pay their final respects. Senior commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), General Hassan Hassanzadeh, urged the public to remain orderly during the procession, stating, "We ask the public to move calmly towards Azadi Square."

The government is working to prevent a repeat of the stampede during Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's funeral in 1989, which resulted in over 10 deaths and more than 10,000 injuries. The procession featured trucks carrying Khamenei's coffin through the crowds. Reports indicated that the coffins of Khamenei's daughter, his three-year-old grandson, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law, all killed in recent U.S. and Israeli attacks, were also part of the procession.

Khamenei's body is scheduled to proceed to Azadi Square, the final point of the funeral in Tehran, before being taken to the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf in Iraq, and finally buried in Mashhad, Iran. Mourners carried flags and red banners, which in Shia tradition symbolize a call for revenge for the blood of a fallen leader. Slogans such as "Ya Latharat al-Hussein" and the new slogan "Ya Latharat al-Khamenei" were displayed, linking Khamenei's death to the narrative of Imam Hussein's sacrifice and calling for retribution against those deemed responsible.

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We ask the public to move calmly towards Azadi Square.