DUBAI, July 3 — Iran's ruling clerics are preparing several days of mass funeral rites for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a show of public devotion to the Islamic Republic and proof that its revolutionary fervour remains strong.
Iran's supreme leader was killed in US and Israeli strikes during the opening attack of the war. Funeral events will begin over the weekend in Tehran, with mass processions planned next week in Qom and Mashhad, as well as ceremonies in Iraq.
"The large public turnout at the funeral procession of the martyred leader and the other martyrs will, in effect, be another referendum for the Islamic Republic," Qom Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Mohammad Saidi told state media.
If the authorities do view the funeral as a referendum, they are not leaving the outcome to chance.
They hope to mobilise millions of supporters to fill Iran's cities, providing transport, accommodation and food to demonstrate the strength of their theocratic state after surviving what they regard as an existential war.
Khamenei's death, and the succession of his son Mojtaba as Iran's third supreme leader during a conflict with the country's greatest adversaries, marks a defining moment in the Islamic Republic's 47-year history. Mojtaba, who was seriously wounded in the strike that killed his father, has not appeared in any new images since the war began.
Behind the display of unity and devotion, however, analysts say public support for the Islamic Republic has worn increasingly thin.
Across the country, many Iranians are weary of decades of sanctions that have crippled the economy and resent the repression carried out in the name of the 1979 revolution, which only older generations in a predominantly young population can remember.
When people took to the streets in December and January in protests triggered by inflation, many chanted for Khamenei's death, and authorities suppressed the unrest by shooting thousands of protesters.
After news of Khamenei's death began circulating during the early days of the war, residents in Tehran reported hearing cheers from homes and apartment blocks in parts of the city.
Now, Tehran is tense and quiet, in stark contrast to the emotional funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.
Millions of mourners packed Khomeini's funeral procession, with some climbing onto the ambulance carrying his body, his leg slipping from the shroud as Revolutionary Guards struggled to control the crowds.
Mass processions planned across several cities
In Iran's theocratic system, Khamenei was not only the head of state and leader of a revolutionary movement, but also the earthly representative of Shi'ite Islam's 12th imam, who disappeared in the ninth century.
His death in an enemy attack resonates deeply with the Shi'ite tradition of martyrdom and mourning, in which black-clad mourners beat their chests or backs during annual religious commemorations.
That symbolism has been reflected in the black mourning flags draped across city streets since his death and in ceremonies drawing parallels with the martyrdom of Shi'ism's third imam, Hossein.
Yesterday, workers in Tehran were putting up new posters expressing support for the new leader, Mojtaba, featuring images of the late Khamenei and a raised revolutionary fist behind him.
For supporters of the Islamic Republic, the language of martyrdom is deeply meaningful.
"These are the hardest days of my life," said Mohsen, 24, a Basij member in Tehran who declined to give his family name.
"I do not remember the time when Imam Khomeini passed away, but my father says the entire country was engulfed in grief and mourning. Today, too, people are in mourning, especially because our leader was martyred," he said.
Officials and foreign dignitaries, including representatives from Russia and China, are expected to offer condolences at events today.
On Saturday, Khamenei's remains will be taken to a mosque in Tehran for the first stage of a nationwide funeral tour. The bodies of his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, as well as the widow of the new leader, Mojtaba, who were all killed in the same strike, will be carried alongside.
Hotels are offering 50 per cent discounts, while schools, mosques and sports halls have been prepared to accommodate mourners. Bus and rail services are also being redirected to support the main events.
Following what authorities describe as a massive procession through central Tehran on Monday, Khamenei's remains will be taken to the seminary city of Qom, the centre of Iran's Shi'ite religious establishment, for ceremonies on Tuesday.
Ceremonies will then be held in the Iraqi shrine cities of Najaf and Kerbala on Wednesday, with prominent figures from Iran's regional network of Shi'ite allies expected to attend. Khamenei will be buried on Thursday, following another procession in Mashhad near the tomb of Imam Reza, one of Iran's most revered religious figures.
Security will be tight, with temporary airspace restrictions over Tehran and other cities, alongside warnings of a forceful response should the US or Israel launch further attacks.
"We are showing our power to America and others in our own way," said Hossein Kheiri, 63, a veteran of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, while standing beneath a poster of Khamenei in Tehran.
