The ceremonies began on Saturday, and authorities say between 15 and 20 million people are expected to take part in Tehran alone, with the wider mourning events in Iran and Iraq potentially drawing 10 to 30 million – what officials are calling the largest gathering in the country since the 1979 revolution.
For the first time in years, Iran has allowed 400 foreign journalists to cover the events, including a correspondent from Polish Radio, who described the mood on the streets as openly militant rather than solemn.
Crowds near the mosque where Khamenei's coffin lies have been chanting "we will avenge the leader's blood" and "death, not negotiations."
A clenched fist has become the symbol of the mourning period, appearing on posters and a large statue in Tehran's Revolution Square.
It refers to an account by Khamenei's son Mojtaba, who found his father's body and said the leader had died with his fist raised.
Some mourners have carried images of US President Donald Trump with a sniper's crosshair over his face.
Three of Khamenei's sons – Mostafa, Meysam and Masoud – appeared in public on Sunday for the first time since the war began, praying beside their father's coffin at the Grand Mosalla Mosque, easing speculation they too may have been killed.
A fourth son, Mojtaba, who succeeded his father as Supreme Leader in early March, was not present.
He was reportedly wounded in the attack and has not appeared in public since, communicating only through written statements; the reasons for his continued absence remain unclear.
The funeral has also become a diplomatic event, with allied delegations meeting Iranian officials over the weekend.
Russia was represented by former President Dmitry Medvedev, who met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and pointed to the Bab-el-Mandeb strait – partly controlled by Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen – as leverage Tehran could use, comparing it to the Strait of Hormuz.
Khamenei was 86 and had been the longest-serving Supreme Leader since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979.
Lying alongside him are relatives also killed on the first day of the war: one of his daughters, his son-in-law, his daughter-in-law and his 14-month-old granddaughter.
Iran-US peace talks have been on hold until the funeral concludes.
(ał)
Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters