The farewell ceremony for Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, assassinated by Israeli air strikes, in the prayer hall of the Musalla mosque in Tehran began early this morning, July 4, local time, with millions of people expected to participate over two days. The doors were opened early during the morning call to prayer due to the large number of people present so that people could come to the main courtyard of the prayer hall, reported Tasnim. Iranians from all over the country, from cities and villages, as well as people from many different countries around the world, gathered at the Musalla to bid farewell to Khamenei.
According to Tasnim, yesterday’s ceremony for foreign delegations brought together one of the largest gatherings of foreign dignitaries in Iran in recent decades, with representatives from across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and major international organizations attending the event. The delegations included presidents, prime ministers, parliamentary speakers, foreign ministers, senior government officials, political leaders, and representatives of religious organizations and resistance movements, underscoring the broad international participation in the ceremony.
An unidentified senior source told Tasnim separately that over the past 5 days, “the US officials at the highest levels had launched a comprehensive campaign to dissuade countries from attending the ceremony to pay tribute to the martyred leader.” At the center of this campaign not surprisingly, was Secretary of State Marco Rubio who, the source said, had emphasized in a confidential instruction on June 26 to all embassies and diplomatic missions of the US that “all recipients of this instruction are obliged to use all capacities of the United States to justify the host country’s authorities that their participation in the funeral ceremony of the Iranian leader will be considered as an unfriendly act and will have negative consequences for their bilateral relations with the United States.”
