Ali Khamenei Funeral Highlights: Elderly woman among mourners faints during ceremony

An elderly woman was seen being carried on a stretcher after fainted in the crowd at the Grand Mosalla during the funeral ceremonies amid heat.

Several other mourners were seen cooling themselves with water. Water mist was seen being sprayed over millions of attendees as temperatures during the outdoor summer ceremonies are expected to exceed 35°C.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed during the US-Israel strikes on Tehran on February 28. Along with him, other family members, including his daughter, a son-in-law, and a 14-month-old granddaughter died as well.

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev pays his last respects at slain leader's farewell.

Late Ali Khamenei's granddaughter, Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani who was 14-months-old, was killed alongside him and other family members on February 28.

Iranian authorities unveiled the casket containing Khamenei’s mortal remains in a glass case at the Grand Mosalla in Tehran, as per AP news agency. Mourners were present at the sight.

As per Iranian authorities, Khamenei will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad on Friday, July 9.

Addressing a large gathering at a ceremony at Mount Rushmore ahead of the July 4 festivities, Donald Trump said, "We knocked the hell out of Iran. They're dying to settle. They want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral because we're nice".

As several people gathered to bid goodbye to Iran's late Supreme Leader, a section of people were spotted carrying red banners, a symbol often associated with calls for revenge, as reported by AFP news agency.

As they awaited the arrival of Khamenei's coffin, slogans of "death to America" and "revenge, revenge" were reportedly heard in the venue.

The official funeral ceremonies for Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have began today, as per reports. The ceremonies are said to see thousands of mourners and followers of the Ali Khamenei.

Iran’s acting defense minister Majid Ebn al-Reza said the Islamic Republic can negotiate and confront its adversaries at the same time, warning that Tehran could respond on the battlefield to any US “breach of commitments” during talks, in remarks aired on Iran’s state TV on Friday.

Ebn al-Reza said Iran would maintain and strengthen its military posture “in all areas” throughout the negotiations and the 60-day period set under the understanding with the US.

He said Iran’s armed forces are at their “highest level of readiness” and warned that any “new mischief or miscalculation” would be met with a harsher response than before.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon criticised Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday after Iran’s Foreign Ministry said he expressed condolences over the death of Ali Khamenei.

“Mr. Secretary-General, do you truly believe it is appropriate to mourn Ali Khamenei, a brutal dictator who ordered the murder, torture, and persecution of tens of thousands of innocent Iranians?” Danon said in a post on X.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Guterres spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday and expressed condolences over Khamenei’s death.

Vladimir Putin's special envoy Dmitry Medvedev, Saudi deputy foreign minister Waleed Abdulkarim El Khereiji and Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa paid tribute at the coffin of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Friday.

Saudi Arabia’s ⁠ ⁠Foreign Vice-Minister Walid al-Khuraiji and a ⁠delegation paid their respects ⁠to former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran’s military repeatedly attacked American military bases in Saudi Arabia after the US and Israel launched the war.

A section of people in Iran reportedly expressed anger over the expense of the week-long funeral of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"They forced companies in the industrial zone to set up booths and provide soup, tea, juice and dates at their own expense," the person wrote in his message for Iran International. "This is a government order for all organisations," he added.

A high-level delegation from Pakistan, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on Friday paid tributes to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in US-Israeli strikes in February, in Tehran.

Sharif, Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Deputy PM & Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and other senior officials attended the funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei.

Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei was killed in US-Israel strikes in Tehran on February 28.

The body of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lay in state in a vast hall in Tehran on Friday as clerics, officials, foreign dignitaries and other mourners paid their respects to Iran's late Supreme Leader, slain by US and Israeli bombs.

According to state media, President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and Major General Mohsen Rezaei were seen paying their respects beside Ali Khamenei’s coffin on Friday, visibly in tears.

Iran has begun funeral processions for former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with seven days of ceremonies set to begin in Tehran.

His coffin will travel across the country before his burial in his hometown of Mashhad on July 9.