In pictures: Iran begins week of funeral ceremonies for slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Thousands of mourners gathered in Tehran’s Grand Mosalla ahead of the funeral ceremony, which officially began, to witness the last glance of their late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in the first US-Israel strikes on Iran on February 28.

Iran was staging a week of mass funeral processions for Khamenei, whose 37-year reign was brought to an end in February by the first airstrike of the war, in a show of public devotion to the Islamic Republic’s revolutionary zeal.

Khamenei’s remains were expected to be taken to Qom, Najaf and Kerbala before being laid to rest on Thursday in Mashhad, home to the country’s holiest pilgrim shrine.

On Friday, the coffins carrying the remains of the late Khamenei and his family members, including a minor granddaughter, were draped in Iranian flags and unveiled to the throng of sobbing supporters beating their heads, who wanted to say their last goodbye to the late Supreme Leader.

Several foreign dignitaries, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Chinese National People’s Congress deputy head He Wei, and Iraqi President Nizar Amedi, were among the foreign leaders and officials attending.