
Three of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's sons, who were killed in the days before the war, appeared next to the coffin with the body of their father and four other family members, during the tributes being held in their honor in Tehran.
However, Mojtaba Khamenei, the son who succeeded him as the country's new supreme leader, did not appear at the ceremony. Mojtaba is said to have been seriously injured in the US-Israeli attacks on February 28 and according to some reports has suffered severe disfigurement.
State television showed Mostafa, Meysam and Masoud Khamenei praying and weeping beside coffins placed in the courtyard of the Grand Mosque in the capital. In a show of loyalty to the Islamic Republic and revolutionary spirit, Iranian authorities have organized a week of mass funeral ceremonies for Ali Khamenei.
As part of the tributes, his body will also be taken to Shiite holy sites in neighboring Iraq. Thousands of Iranians have gathered to pay their respects to the late leader, and President Masoud Pezeshkian and the head of the Revolutionary Guard also attended the funeral ceremonies.
The ceremonies will last a week, during which peace talks will also be suspended, as President Trump announced to Axios.
After the procession in Tehran, Khamenei's body will be taken to the holy city of Qom, then to Najaf and Karbala in Iraq, and finally to be buried in Mashhad. Iranian authorities expect millions of citizens to attend the funeral ceremonies, presenting them as a show of unity and loyalty to the Islamic Republic.