Iranians began to gather on Friday for the funeral ceremonies of slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, as officials and international dignitaries paid their last respects to the man who ran the country for three-and-a-half decades.Iranian authorities have planned a marathon six days of funeral ceremonies to commemorate Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic republic as its number one from 1989 until his killing aged 86 on the first day of the US-Israeli war on February 28.

Iran is preparing the largest state funeral in its history for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US-Israeli strike on 28 February.

By Parisa Hafezi and Angus McDowallDUBAI, July 2 - Iran's ruling clerics are preparing days of mass funeral rites for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a show of public devotion to the…