2-day farewell ceremony for Iran's late supreme leader held in Tehran

A two-day farewell ceremony for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei began at Imam Khomeini's Mosalla prayer hall in Tehran on Saturday morning, drawing huge crowds from across the country.

The late leader's body and those of his four family members, who were killed alongside him in a US-Israeli strike in late February, have been placed on a raised platform.

Mourners from different walks of life have been holding pictures of the late leader and Iranian flags, and chanting slogans against the United States and Israel.

Iranian authorities have imposed strict traffic restrictions in Tehran, especially around the Mosalla, while arranging extensive support services to accommodate the mourners.

The two-day event comes after a ceremony in Tehran on Friday, where high-ranking Iranian and foreign officials paid their respects to the late leader.

The event will be followed by a funeral procession on Monday in Tehran, which is expected to draw large crowds from Iran and other regional states.

On Tuesday, there will be a ceremony in Iran's central city of Qom, and on Wednesday, the leader's body will be transferred to Iraq for further rites in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala.

He will be laid to rest in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad on Thursday, which the government has declared a day of national mourning.