SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Four months after Iran's supreme leader was killed in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, the country is now holding his funeral.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting in non-English language).
SIMON: That's Tehran and a huge crowd gathered for one of the series of ceremonies planned for the funeral of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The mourning will take place for days across five cities. NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi joins us now from Istanbul. Hadeel, thanks so much for being with us.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Good morning, Scott.
SIMON: What's the day look like in Iran?
AL-SHALCHI: Well, Iranian state media showed a massive crowd of people at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, which is a large prayer complex in Tehran. People were visiting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's casket, which was draped with the Iranian flag. The caskets of four of his killed family members were also there. We saw men and women wearing black. They wept openly. Women slapped their heads with their hands in mourning. Men beat their chests in unison, which is a tradition in Shia funerals. There were also chants of Death To America and big red signs that read Kill Trump. Some people waved flags, red ones that symbolize revenge and many yellow ones that represented the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which has been fighting with Israel since the beginning of the war.
Now, a spokesperson for the funeral preparation said the ceremonies were delayed this long because of, quote, "the war conditions" and what he called the brutal U.S. invasion. But really, Scott, right now, this week, the funeral is a way for the Iranian regime to try to show stability and power to Iranians and the rest of the world, sort of sending a message that the Islamic revolutionary power that leads the country is still enjoying popularity.
SIMON: How about the attendance by world leaders and Iranian officials?
AL-SHALCHI: Well, yesterday, a number of official foreign delegations and religious leaders attended a ceremony as Khamenei lay in state. Russia, which has supported Iran during the war, sent former president Dmitry Medvedev, and a Pakistani prime minister was there. The president of Iraq was in attendance, as well as the Afghan foreign minister. And even Saudi Arabia, which has been at odds with Iran for decades and where Iran attacked a U.S. military base in March, sent a delegation. There was also a group of officials from Hamas there.
Now, on - from the Iranian side, Iran's president, foreign minister and the speaker of parliament, who's been the head of the ceasefire negotiating team with the U.S., we're all seen praying near the caskets. But so far, there's been no sign of Iran's current leader, Khamenei's son Mojtaba Khamenei, who is, in fact, yet to be seen in public at all since he took over in March.
SIMON: Hadeel, what are Iranians saying about the funeral?
AL-SHALCHI: Right. So Khamenei was a divisive figure in Iran. He was supreme leader since 1989, and he oversaw the expansion of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is responsible for the killing of at least 10,000 protesters in Iran, according to rights groups. We spoke to a 32-year-old woman whose brother was killed during the protests in January, and she asked NPR not to use her name, fearing the government.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: She says that even in the ayatollah's death, he still causes them torment.
We also spoke to 33-year-old Fatma (ph), who also asked NPR to only use her first name because she was afraid of the government. Said she argued with her family all the time, especially her mother, who she says sees Khamenei as part of a religion.
FATMA: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: "She is definitely going to take part in the funeral," Fatma says about her mother.
SIMON: The ayatollah will be buried Thursday. What else is planned?
AL-SHALCHI: Mourners will visit the body over the weekend in Tehran. On Monday, a funeral procession will take the body to the city of Qom. The procession will then cross into Iraq, where he'll be taken to Shia religious sites in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. Finally, he'll be transported back to Iran, where he'll be buried in his birthplace of Mashhad on Thursday. And Iranian officials are saying they expect millions of people to attend.
SIMON: NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi. Thank you.
AL-SHALCHI: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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