Khamenei's coffin displayed publicly for first time, burial set for July 9

Iran has brought the coffin of its former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, into public view for the first time following his death in a joint US-Israeli strike.

Thousands of mourners gathered at Tehran's historic Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla to pay their final respects as the country's official mourning ceremonies began.

According to Al Jazeera, Reuters, and Fars News Agency, the ceremony opened with the symbolic red flag of the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad being draped over Khamenei's coffin, marking the formal commencement of state mourning and funeral rites across Iran.

Video footage released by Fars News showed the coffin, wrapped in the Iranian national flag, being carried into the Grand Mosalla amid tight security and large crowds of mourners.

Nader Hashemi, associate professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at Georgetown University, said the red flag holds profound symbolic significance in Shia Islam, representing the martyrdom and sacrifice of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, who was killed in the Battle of Karbala in the seventh century.

Iranian authorities have confirmed that Khamenei will be buried on July 9 at the historic Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad following the completion of the state funeral ceremonies.