TEHRAN: The body of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei arrived in the holy city of Qom on Monday evening, hours after a sea of people filled the streets of Tehran for his funeral procession in the capital.
Ordinary Iranians loyal to the Islamic republic joined top officials for the event, in which a truck carrying the bodies of Khamenei and four family members killed in a February 28 US-Israeli strike inched its way to Azadi Square in the west of the city.
Monday’s procession will be followed by similar events in Qom on Tuesday and in Iraq’s holy cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday.
“The body of the martyred leader has arrived in Qom,” south of the capital, state television said on social media, alongside footage showing a helicopter carrying Khamenei’s body landing in the city.
Earlier Monday, AFP images showed huge numbers stretching along major boulevards in Tehran, while state television said millions turned out for an event comparable to the giant funeral of Khamenei’s predecessor Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
