No sign of new ayatollah appearing
Around 15 million people are expected to attend the state funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, but the whereabouts of his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei remain a mystery, writes CNN.
The Iranian government has announced several event plans, but there is no sign that the new supreme leader will appear. If it is planned, it will likely be done in the utmost security, given the intelligence dominance of Israel and the United States. Israel has promised to assassinate any new Iranian leader.
Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared since the attack that killed his father in late February, in which he himself is believed to have been injured. The only alleged signs of life have been written messages reproduced by Iranian state media.
Demands for revenge at the coffin of the ayatollah: “Sacrificed himself for us”
Followers of Iran’s slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are calling for revenge as they gather at the coffin to mourn the leader. This is reported by AFP’s reporter on the spot in Tehran where the six-day funeral began today.
“We must rise up and, God willing, avenge the blood of our leader,” says 18-year-old student Hamidreza Shabani.
Thousands of people have gathered to honor Khamenei, who was killed in a US-Israeli strike in February.
“Everyone is here for him. We have been shouting for a long time that we should sacrifice our lives for the leader, but it was he who sacrificed himself for us,” says Reza, a 37-year-old history professor.
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