Millions of Iranians gather to pay last respects to Khamenei

The body of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has arrived in the holy city of Qom, where hundreds of thousands of mourners gathered for a funeral procession on Tuesday, July 7, as per prior arrangements. State television showed a helicopter carrying Khamenei's body landing in the city south of Tehran.

This follows three days of massive funeral processions in Tehran, with crowds thronging the capital's main streets. Such large gatherings were last seen in 1989 during the funeral of Khamenei's predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Mourners carried banners, posters and flags. One attendee, Hamid, told Al Jazeera, "The US and Israel wanted to divide Iran, but our leader stopped that division. Iranians have come here to thank him for this contribution." A grieving woman, Marziyah, said, "We are here to tell our martyred leader that his blood will not be wasted. We are here to reaffirm our allegiance to him."

While Khamenei's other three sons attended the funeral, Mojtaba Khamenei—who was chosen as Iran's new Supreme Leader after his father's death in the initial strikes—was notably absent. Mojtaba, who was also wounded in the attack, has not appeared in public since the war began and did not attend his father's funeral or his wife's funeral.

Tehran University Research Fellow Mohammad Eslami said Mojtaba could not appear at the funeral due to the ongoing war and a fragile ceasefire between Iran and the US. "Given Iran's current security protocols, Mojtaba has no opportunity to appear in public," he said.

Khamenei is scheduled to be buried on Thursday in Mashhad, his birthplace in north-eastern Iran.