Mashhad, Jul 10 (V7N)- Former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been laid to rest at the Imam Reza Shrine in his birthplace of Mashhad, according to Iranian state media cited by Al Jazeera on Friday.
The burial followed a week of nationwide mourning across Iran, during which millions of people participated in funeral processions and memorial ceremonies held in several cities.
Iranian authorities said more than 15 million people attended the mourning events, while official estimates suggested the total number of participants could have been significantly higher.
Notably absent from the funeral and mourning ceremonies was Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's current supreme religious leader and the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Mojtaba has not appeared in public since the U.S. attack on February 28, and Iranian authorities have not provided an official explanation for his absence.
The official mourning ceremonies began last Saturday when Khamenei's coffin was displayed at Tehran's Grand Mosalla Mosque, where thousands of mourners gathered to pay their final respects.
The ceremonies were attended by invited delegations representing several regional groups allied with Iran, including Hamas, Hezbollah of Lebanon and Yemen's Houthi movement. The following day, an even larger crowd gathered at the mosque as the funeral observances continued before the body was transported to Mashhad for burial.
The burial marks the conclusion of one of the largest state funeral ceremonies in Iran's recent history, bringing to an end days of public mourning for the country's longtime leader.
END/SMA/AJ
