Thousands of people gathered at Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran on Saturday, July 4, to pay their respects during a public farewell ceremony for Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US-Israeli airstrikes in February.

Mourners wept, beat their chests and waved flags as the flag-draped coffins of Khamenei and members of his family killed in the same attack were placed in state at the mosque.

Iran has organised a week of funeral ceremonies and public processions for Khamenei.

Public farewell events are scheduled for 4 and 5 July, followed by the main funeral procession in Tehran on 6 July.

The delayed ceremony for the former supreme leader now serves as a critical test for Iran’s embattled theocracy, testing its capacity to mobilise widespread public support- particularly as the event unfolds six months after security forces brutally suppressed nationwide protests against Ali Khamenei’s rule.

A significant turnout, while desired by the regime, also carries the inherent risk of deadly stampedes.

Such tragedies have marred previous high-profile funerals, including that of Iran’s first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

An uneasy ceasefire, recently cemented by an interim agreement with the United States, is believed to have provided authorities with the confidence to proceed with the ceremony, which will involve the public appearance of top officials.

Throughout the war, Israel targeted and killed senior Iranian leaders, in at least one instance leveraging public appearances to track them.

Two weeks into the 60-day peace negotiation period between Iran and the United States and – despite President Donald Trump’s claims of success – little progress has been made.

Instead, both sides appear to be regressing: hostilities have flared and officials from both sides are no longer directly talking to each other as the clock keeps ticking and key issues, such as Iran’s nuclear programme, remain unresolved.

A widening rift has opened up between Saudi Arabia and the United States because of the war in Iran, a report claims.

Officials told the Wall Street Journal the partnership between Washington and Riyadh is souring over disputes on how President Donald Trump has handled the war, which began after joint US-Israel strikes on Iran in February.

The US is reportedly now considering reducing its military presence in Saudi Arabia and instead putting its forces in countries it feels were more supportive during the war, including Israel and Jordan, according to the WSJ.

After a day of Khamenei lying in state indoors for senior Iranian leaders and foreign officials to visit, his coffin, and those of several family members killed in the same airstrike, were brought to an outdoor stage for the general public to view from a distance, television footage showed.

Mourners filed into the vast courtyard of the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, beating their chests, wailing ⁠and waving the banners of the Islamic Republic and historic Shi’ite Muslim martyrs.

Women dressed in black chadors ​wore white ⁠visors or held umbrellas to shield from the hot mid-morning sun.

“Let us wail!” a compere encouraged the crowds through a loudspeaker.

“Everybody chant oppressed, everyone say Hussein,” he said, invoking Shi’ite traditions of sacrifice, including that of the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Hussein.

On cue, the crowds wailed and chanted. The Israeli strike that killed Khamenei also killed his daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law ⁠and son-in-law, according to Iranian state media.

Fears are growing for a British couple detained in Iran who have not eaten in nearly two months after their contact with family was cut off.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman, both 53, have been on hunger strike for 55 and 46 days respectively in protest at their treatment inside Iran’s notorious Evin prison.

The couple were arrested on a once-in-a-lifetime world motorbike tour 18 months ago, and were later sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges, which they completely deny.

UN human rights experts have demanded their urgent release, and warned that their incarceration raises grave concerns about state hostage-taking, adding that their hunger strike has reached the stage of a “medical emergency”.

Read the exclusive from crime correspondent Amy-Clare Martin here:

Photos published online by Iranian state media showed Gen. Ahmad Vahidi attending a meeting about the funeral of Khamenei, 86, then sitting alongside his casket as Iran’s theocracy held a smaller service for him Thursday night near the supreme leader’s former home in downtown Tehran.

Vahidi has become a major player in formulating Iran’s tough stance in negotiating a possible permanent end to the war with the United States, experts say.

He is believed to be part of a small clique in direct contact with Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who remains in hiding after being reportedly wounded in the Feb. 28 Israeli strikes that killed his father, the elder Khamenei.

Iran is keen to present a unified front for the late supreme leader’s funeral, even as analysts warn support for the clerical leadership is waning, writes James C. Reynolds:

They hope to mobilise the public to flood the cities, offering transport, food and accommodation to lift the numbers, and are welcoming foreign dignitaries to show Iran still has powerful friends around.

Ayotallah Khamenei’s body will be transported to cities in both Iran and neighboring Iraq.

Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which will end Thursday as he’s buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Khamenei’s place of birth.

Authorities offered no immediate attendance count for the event Saturday, which saw the crowds cycle in and out of the Grand Mosalla and the surrounding streets.

Other cities across Iran also held mourning ceremonies.

On Sunday, a prayer for the dead is planned at the Grand Mosalla.

On Monday, his body and those of his family will be taken through the streets of Tehran, which likely will draw large crowds.

“I am here to say goodbye to my beloved leader Ali Khamenei,” said a weeping Hananeh Mousavi, 27, who attended the funeral alongside her mother.

“I never expected to see such a day. I wish I had died before this tragedy.”