Iran urges huge turnout at Khamenei’s funeral to ‘avenge’ his death

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei votes at Imam Khomeini mosque in Tehran on February 20, Photo by BEHROUZ MEHRI / AFP

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.