Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf called on Thursday for massive turnout at Ali Khamenei’s funeral to avenge the supreme leader’s death in US-Israeli strikes at the start of the 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 starting Saturday, said Ghalibaf, who is also Iran’s parliament speaker.
“The nation’s call for vengeance must ring in the ears of the whole world,” he added in a statement.
Khamenei’s funeral, initially delayed at the height of the Middle East war, will take place as Iran and the United States observe a fragile ceasefire after signing a preliminary deal to halt the conflict.
Khamenei, a spiritual figure for many Shias, was killed at the age of 86 at his compound in the centre of the Iranian capital on February 28, the first day of the war.
