The casket of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s granddaughter, Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani, is displayed alongside the caskets of Khamenei and other members of his family during a viewing ceremony ahead of the dayslong funeral ceremonies at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran. (Photo: AP)

Iran began a week-long mourning period in Tehran for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed along with family members in US-Israeli strikes on the first day of the war in February. India sent an official delegation led by Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita and Bihar Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, joined by opposition figures Salman Khurshid and Mehbooba Mufti, to represent the country at the ceremonies. Iranian officials expect between 15 and 20 million mourners to take part over the course of the events, which would make it the largest state funeral in the country’s history.

Mourners gather around the coffin of Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as it lies in a mourning hall adjacent to the Imam Khomeini Hussainiya, in Tehran, Iran, late Thursday. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Latest Developments:

• Funeral ceremonies officially began Friday at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla, with Khamenei’s flag-draped coffin displayed in a glass case alongside the caskets of family members killed alongside him.
• Representatives from more than 100 countries are attending, including senior Chinese, Indian and Russian officials, with the scale expected to surpass the 1989 funeral of Ayatollah Khomeini, which drew about 10 million mourners.
• Iran’s current supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, will skip the funeral for security reasons following an Israeli threat against him.
• Mourning ceremonies will move beyond Tehran to Qom and Iraq’s Karbala, ahead of burial at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.
• In his July 4th address at Mount Rushmore, President Trump referenced the funeral, saying the US had “gave them a week off” for it.

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