Funeral of Iran’s former supreme leader ‘intensely political moment’

A large crowd of Iranians loyal to the Islamic Republic gathered in Tehran on the first day of funeral ceremonies for the country’s former religious leader.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in joint US-Israeli airstrikes at the beginning of the war.

Iranian state media said six days of ceremonies will take place in many places in Iran and neighboring Iraq before he is buried on Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad.

The BBC’s chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, is in Tehran as people prepare to go to the vast complex where the former religious leader lies in state.

The BBC’s chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, reports from Tehran on the condition that no material of hers be used on the BBC’s Persian service. These restrictions apply to all international media organizations operating in Iran.