Hundreds of thousands of people begin to say goodbye to the remains of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran.

Since early this morning, the Great Mosalla of Tehran has welcomed the hundreds of thousands of people who have begun to gather to bid farewell to the mortal remains of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, second leader of the Islamic Revolution, who died at the age of 86 on February 28 in a combined attack by Israel and the United States.

Iranian authorities expect an unprecedented gathering during the three days of processions that will take place in the country’s capital, and will continue throughout the week. After Monday’s procession (which could welcome more than 20 million people), Khamenei’s body will be transferred to Qom and finally to the holy city and hometown of Masshad, where his mortal remains will be deposited in the shrine of Imam Reza. In between, however, the coffin will make a stop in the Iraqi holy cities of Karbala and Najaf so that the country’s Shiites can say goodbye.

On a podium at the entrance to the mosque is the coffin that houses Khamenei’s lifeless body, which rests at the top of a pyramid of methacrylate cubes on whose steps are distributed the mortal remains of the ayatollah’s family – his daughter Boshra, a 14-month-old granddaughter, his daughter-in-law Zahra Haddad Adel and his son-in-law Mesbah Bagheri Kani – also killed in the attack carried out by fighter jets. Israeli forces on Tehran as part of the beginning of the combined offensive with the United States.

The Iranian national anthem opened the ceremony around 06:00 local time, when attendees began to enter the venue with national flags, images of Khamenei and photos of his son Mojtaba, successor as supreme leader who has not yet appeared in public, amid suspicions that he is still seriously injured by the attacks.

Given the intense heat, the authorities have installed misting systems to cool the Mosalla throughout the day and until tomorrow night, when the mortal remains of the Ayatollah and his family will be prepared for Monday’s massive procession in Tehran.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian stressed on Thursday that the country “is preparing to say goodbye to the true servant of Islam and the revolution” and called on the population to show “national unity” and “loyalty” to the Islamic Republic with a “historic” participation in the funerals, which will bring together millions of people.

“The martyrdom of the great leader of Iran has plunged all our people, the Islamic nation and all the free peoples of the world into deep pain,” the president said in a message on social networks.

In this sense, he stressed that Khamenei’s death “is not the end of the road, but the beginning of a new chapter of solidarity, perseverance and growth of a nation that always moves towards tomorrow, more united, firmer and more hopeful, even in the face of the most difficult tests.”