Prayers offered for Iran's Khamenei on day two of funeral ceremonies

Prayers offered for Iran's Khamenei on day two of funeral ceremonies

A mourner holds a portrait of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as mourners gather for the start of the dayslong funeral ceremonies for Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Short Url

https://arab.news/rrtaq

Updated 05 July 2026 08:22

AFP

July 05, 2026 08:18

TEHRAN: Prayers were held Sunday over the casket of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the second day of funeral ceremonies that have drawn huge crowds to pay their final respects in Tehran.

Sunday's service at Tehran's Grand Mosalla complex was led by prominent Shia cleric Ja'far Sobhani, a 97-year-old scholar who teaches in seminaries at the holy city of Qom. Khamenei's son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei, who is said to have been wounded in the February 28 attack, has not appeared in public since being named supreme leader and was notably absent from the funeral prayers. The late supreme leader's other three sons, Masoud, Mostafa and Meysam, were in attendance. Sunday was declared a public holiday across Iran, and later in the day, Khamenei's body will be moved from the Grand Mosalla complex where it is lying in state in preparation for processions through the capital on Monday. The vast religious complex and surrounding streets were packed with mourners on Sunday morning, AFP journalists saw. With temperatures set to exceed 35C, mourners carrying Iranian flags and portraits of Khamenei, as they made their way to the Grand Mosalla, were handed refreshments. President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the ceremony alongside senior officials including parliament speaker and Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, state television footage showed. Khamenei's coffin, draped in the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban, was placed alongside the coffins of four relatives also killed in the February strikes, including an infant granddaughter. Authorities have said they expect more than 10 million people to take part in ceremonies in Tehran.

Topics:War in Iran