The funeral procession for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei began in Tehran on Monday, drawing what Iranian state media and organisers described as the largest public gathering in the country’s modern history. The flag-draped coffins of Khamenei and four family members killed alongside him in the 28 February airstrikes that opened the US-Israeli war on Iran were carried on a truck along a 10-kilometre route through the capital. Authorities closed Tehran’s airspace, deployed massive concrete barriers and sprayed water over crowds to prevent a repeat of the deadly stampedes that marred the 1989 funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, where more than ten people died and over ten thousand were injured.

Mourners chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” waved red banners symbolising calls for vengeance, and hanged an effigy of US President Donald Trump. Placards reading “Kill Trump” and “There will be blood” were visible along the route. Iranian officials, including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, framed the turnout as proof of national resilience after a five-week war that ended with a preliminary ceasefire. From Washington, the Trump administration has claimed victory while acknowledging that its stated war aims — destroying Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities and creating conditions for the leadership’s overthrow — remain unmet. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned on Monday that any future Iranian leader who pursues plans to destroy Israel “will be killed as well.”

The most conspicuous absence was that of Mojtaba Khamenei, who was named supreme leader in March but has not appeared in public since the war began. Three of his brothers — Mostafa, Meysam and Masoud — stood beside the coffins during funeral prayers led by 97-year-old Grand Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani. Iranian officials have said Mojtaba was wounded in the airstrikes, and analysts in Tehran and Western capitals assess that security concerns, including explicit Israeli threats, are keeping him out of sight. Unconfirmed reports cited by Reuters and other outlets suggest he suffered facial disfigurement and leg injuries. His continued invisibility leaves the clerical establishment without a visible figurehead as it seeks to project unity.

The week-long ceremonies will move to the seminary city of Qom on Tuesday, then to the Iraqi shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala on Wednesday, before Khamenei is buried in Mashhad on Thursday. Foreign delegations from around 100 countries, including a Russian team led by Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, attended earlier rites. Peace negotiations between Iran and the United States, aimed at fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz and reaching a permanent end to the war, remain suspended until after the burial. Both sides have warned they are prepared to resume military action, leaving the post-funeral period as a critical juncture for the fragile truce.