In a long post on X, the Iranian Embassy thanked the Indian community for participation and said that the Islamic republic will never forget this "gesture of friendship, compassion, and heartfelt respect."

Crowds of Iranians marched through the streets of Tehran on Monday in a funeral procession for slain leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the biggest day yet in a week of massive memorial ceremonies demonstrating the grip of surviving clerical leaders.

Drone footage on state television showed many tens of thousands of people crammed into a boulevard in central Tehran.

The coffins of the slain leader and four of his family members were driven in a large truck through the streets, while fire hoses sprayed water from above to keep the marchers cool.

As they passed under a bridge mourners hurled stones at a billboard hung from above showing US President Donald Trump with a bullet aimed at his head.

"The US killed our father," it read. "We won't let you go!" 

- Reuters 

 Iran has begun a procession through Tehran for the funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The 86-year-old Ayatollah's flag-draped coffin and those of his family killed February 28 in an airstrike at the start of the war launched by Israel and the United States will be carried on board a truck.

Posters and graffiti at the Grand Mosalla even called for the assassination of Trump and Netanyahu, with similar slogans echoing the crowd.

This is gratitude of the Iranian people toward a leadership that until the last moment, was devoted to the greatness of Iran and sacrificed his life for the homeland.
#wemustrise
#Martykhamenei
#باید_برخاست pic.twitter.com/zAQIL3Ejkf

— IRI Embassy in Armenia (@iraninyerevan) July 4, 2026

Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old Shiite cleric, led the prayers at Tehran's Grand Mosalla for the late Khamenei his family members killed in the strike.

On hand were Khamenei's other sons, Masoud, Meysam and Mostafa, who haven't been seen since the war. Revolutionary Guard head Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, who was photographed for the first time since the war on Thursday, could be seen in the crowd by Associated Press journalists, flanked by plainclothes security forces and wearing a black baseball cap. (Associated Press)

Iran on Sunday strongly condemned Donald Trump after the US President claimed he could have eliminated the country's senior leadership "all in one shot" as they attended late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, replying that America does not have "civilisation" or "honour".

The remarks came on a day Ali Khamenei's three sons, except successor Mojtaba, and senior Iranian leadership appeared in public to attend the delayed and dayslong funeral of the former Supreme Leader, who was killed on February 28 along with other family members in US and Israeli strikes.

Iran's top officials and brothers of the country's new supreme leader emerged into public view Sunday to attend the funeral prayers for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, signaling a new confidence in their safety as calls grew for the killing of US President Donald Trump.

Their presence before hundreds of thousands of people in the capital Tehran would have been unthinkable during the Iran war, which saw airstrikes in its opening moments on February 28 kill the 86-year-old Khamenei, his family members and other officials.

Israel also targeted others who appeared publicly during the war, in at least one case likely using their public appearance to fix their position for a strike.

But still unseen was Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father. Israel has threatened to kill him as well as he leads a theocracy now negotiating with the United States over a permanent end to the war and over Iran strangling traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies.

(AP)

A performer at the funeral for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for the death of US President Donald Trump before a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people Sunday in the capital, Tehran.

The comment represents the first, direct call for Trump's death by an emcee at the funeral, which has seen posters and graffiti calling for the killing of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That's been a hard-line demand even as Tehran negotiates with the U.S. over a permanent end to the war that's disrupted global energy supplies.

Mohammad Rasouli, a poet, drew calls of "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!"

Speaking to the crowd over loudspeakers at the funeral, Rasouli asked, referring to Trump: "Why is the most bastard man in the world still alive?"

The question drew cheers from the crowd.

(AP)

US President Donald Trump issued a fresh threat to Iran, claiming that he could eliminate the remaining leadership in the country with just  "one shot" during the funeral ceremonies of the late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. He, however, said that he would not do so since there would be "no one left" to negotiate with.

"They are all there. One shot and we can take them all out, but we are not going to do that because then we would have nobody to negotiate with...They are begging to make a deal," Trump told Axios.

According to German newspaper Die Welt, Iranian officials have drawn up emergency plans anticipating anywhere between 1,500 and 3,000 fatalities during the days-long funeral processions, which are expected to attract millions of mourners.

US is Israel's closest ally, but President Donald Trump has been publicly critical of Israeli PM Netanyahu in recent weeks after Israel's war with Hezbollah in Lebanon threatened peace talks with Iran.

Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran for 36 years, was killed on February 28 - the day the US and Israel began striking Iran, triggering a war in the Middle East.

Mourners beat their chests and chanted "revenge, revenge" as thousands gathered in Tehran early Saturday for a final farewell to slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei, who ruled Iran for more than three decades, was killed in US-Israeli attacks in late February that sparked a regional war.

His body lay in state on Saturday morning at the sprawling Grand Mosalla prayer complex in the Iranian capital, where an AFP journalist saw crowds filing in holding red flags, a symbol of revenge in Shiite Islam.

"We have come not for the funeral but for revenge," a eulogist at the event chanted. "We're never going to give up your blood, which is the reddest line."

(AFP)

Mourners thronged a vast prayer complex in Tehran on Saturday as the week-long funeral ceremonies of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began with the national anthem, religious eulogies and readings from the Koran.

Iran is staging mass funeral processions for Khamenei – whose 37-year reign was brought to an end in February by the first airstrike of the war launched by the U.S. and Israel – in a show of public devotion to the Islamic Republic's theocratic state and revolutionary zeal. 

Television footage showed his coffin draped with the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban. It was placed, along with four other coffins of his slain family members, on a large black platform that resembled the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure at the centre of Islam's holiest site in Mecca.

(Reuters)

Vast crowds of Iranians loyal to the Islamic republic massed in Tehran on Saturday to begin almost a week of funeral ceremonies for slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, which authorities want to send a message of defiance to the West after the war with the United States and Israel.

Clad in black and waving blood-red flags seen as a call for vengeance and justice under Shia Islam, mourners thronged the Grand Mosalla religious complex in the Iranian capital, AFP correspondents said.

Khamenei, who had ruled Iran since 1989 and pursued a course of confrontation with the West while crushing dissent at home, was killed aged 86 along with several members of his family and top officials in an Israeli strike on the first day of the war on February 28.

(AFP)

Mourners beat their chests and chanted "revenge, revenge" as thousands gathered in Tehran early Saturday for a final farewell to slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei, who ruled Iran for more than three decades, was killed in US-Israeli attacks in late February that sparked a regional war.

His body lay in state on Saturday morning at the sprawling Grand Mosalla prayer complex in the Iranian capital, where an AFP journalist saw crowds filing in holding red flags, a symbol of revenge in Shiite Islam.

"We have come not for the funeral but for revenge," a eulogist at the event chanted. "We're never going to give up your blood, which is the reddest line."

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's granddaughter, Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani, was killed alongside him and some other family members on February 28.

 Iran unveils casket of late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in glass case before weeping mourners in Tehran.

- AP

Huge crowds of Iranians were expected to pay their final respects to supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday at the start of marathon funeral ceremonies intended to serve as a show of strength to the Islamic republic's foes.

Iranian authorities say they anticipate between 15 and 20 million participants in Tehran alone over the next three days for tributes to the man who ran the country for three-and-a-half decades.

Six days of funeral ceremonies are planned to commemorate Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic republic as its number one from 1989 until his killing aged 86 on the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.

The events will be scrutinised in particular for any signs of Khamenei's son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei, who was named supreme leader a week after the killing of his father but is yet to appear in public.

Hundreds of supporters of the Islamic republic were already waiting on Friday evening outside the Grand Mosalla religious complex ahead of its opening to the public Saturday morning from 6:00 am local time (0230 GMT).

"We want to say a final goodbye to our leader, which is why waiting like this isn't painful or difficult for us," Somayye Hamedi told AFP as she waited.

- AFP

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi broke down in tears during the farewell ceremony for former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Friday.

An official delegation of the Government of the Republic of India, comprising Lieutenant General (Retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain, Governor of Bihar, and Mr. Pabitra Margherita, Minister of State for External Affairs, arrived in Tehran to pay their respects to the martyred Leader. pic.twitter.com/iLHapLKDTO

— Iran in India (@Iran_in_India) July 3, 2026

Top Iranian officials on Friday paid their final respects to the country's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of a week of funeral ceremonies, with allies and mourners converging on Tehran where his body is lying in state.

Authorities expect public mourning and grand processions to attract millions before Khamenei's burial next week, four months after he was killed aged 86 at his compound in the opening US-Israeli salvo of the Middle East war. 

(AFP)

Tributes Paid by Indian Religious Leaders to the Martyred Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei pic.twitter.com/C1CmjH4Ux7

— Iran in India (@Iran_in_India) July 3, 2026

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, whose country maintains close ties with Iran, paid his respects at the coffin of slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Friday, Iranian state media reported.

Medvedev, described on state TV as a "special emissary of Russian President Vladimir Putin", was received by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and top diplomat Abbas Araghchi.

- AFP

Afghanistan's foreign minister in the Taliban government paid his respects on Friday at the coffin of Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iranian state television showed.

Amir Khan Muttaqi's tribute came just hours after that of Ahmad Massoud, the head of a key anti-Taliban group, whose father was backed by Iran in the 1990s.

- AFP

Iranians interviewed by AFP from Paris explain why they won't be attending late supreme leader Ali Khamenei's funeral, with some fearing for their safety and others not wishing to take part in a lavish ceremony while the Iranian economy suffers.

In the capital Tehran, residents reported fewer people than usual were out and about, with shops closed and roads leading out of the city packed, suggesting many did not want to take part in the ceremonies.

The multi-day funeral of the man venerated by many Shias, killed in US-Israeli strikes at the start of the Middle East war in late February, is taking place against the backdrop of a fragile US-Iran truce, and six months after major anti-government protests rocked the country.

- AFP

An honour for me to be here in Tehran to express my deepest condolences & solidarity on the martyrdom of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei- a revered leader who dared to stand against the tide & fought for the oppressed. pic.twitter.com/dyfRbNXhsr

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) July 3, 2026

Iranian leaders began paying their respects on Friday before the coffin of the country's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral.

Khamenei's body arrived at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on Friday ahead of ceremonies which are expected to draw millions.

A coterie of foreign dignitaries is also due to attend Saturday's official ceremony, with Tehran's chief negotiator calling for a massive turnout to avenge his death.

- AFP

Iran president pays respects at Khamenei's remains: state TV

The body of Iran's slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was lying in state in a vast hall in Tehran on Friday as clerics, officials, foreign dignitaries and other mourners paid their respects after his 37-year rule. 

Iran is staging a week of mass funeral processions for Khamenei - killed in February by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes at the start of a four-month war - in a show of public devotion to the Islamic Republic's theocratic state and revolutionary fire. 

Khamenei's body was expected to be taken to Qom, Najaf and Kerbala, the great Shi'ite centres of Iran and Iraq, before being laid to rest on Thursday in Mashhad, home to the country's holiest pilgrim shrine.

- Reuters

 Iran prepared Friday for the dayslong funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with banners across Tehran urging the public to rise up in support of the Islamic Republic after the devastating war that killed the 86-year-old cleric.

The country's theocracy plans to see millions flood the streets of the capital beginning Saturday in scenes reminiscent to the burial of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.

That could provide a boost for Iran's government, particularly as it tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the United States over a permanent end to the war, and as concern still lingers that Israel could attack yet again.

Despite that, a powerful general who leads Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard emerged publicly for the first time in months for the funeral. Other top government officials likely will be on hand alongside foreign dignitaries as well in show of strength of Iran.

"As long as these people, who are chosen (by God), are on the field, we will definitely continue the same 'no to humiliation' policy that was founded by the Islamic Republic," said Mohammad Hossein Rezaei, a volunteer preparing for the funeral Friday.

- AP