TEHRAN, July 10 — Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was laid to rest Friday in the holy shrine of Imam Reza in the northeastern city of Mashhad, the official news agency IRNA reported.
Khamenei’s eldest son Mostafa Khamenei led and performed the ritual prayers over the bodies before the late leader and his family members killed in the same attack were buried, the report said. The funeral procession began at 15:00 local time (1130 GMT) on Thursday as huge crowds accompanied the coffins along the route to the holy shrine while gathering around the vehicle that was carrying them. The several-day mourning ceremonies for Khamenei began on July 3 in Tehran, where many high-ranking Iranian and foreign officials paid their respects to the late leader at a ceremony at Imam Khomeini’s Mosalla prayer hall. It was followed by a two-day farewell ceremony at the same venue on the weekend, and on Monday, a funeral procession was held in Tehran attended by huge crowds from across the country.
On Tuesday, a funeral ceremony was held in Iran’s central city of Qom, followed by mourning ceremonies in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala the next day. Ali Khamenei served as Iran’s supreme leader for nearly 37 years. He was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was selected as Iran’s new supreme leader in March.
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