Iran is memorializing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a weeklong funeral spectacle stretching across five cities in two countries, with millions of mourners expected to attend. The funeral is being orchestrated as a victory parade across three Iranian cities and two holy sites in neighboring Iraq, showing supporters that the cleric still hasn’t lost, even in death.
Background
Khamenei, whose 37-year brand of rule was defined by stubborn defiance and deep skepticism of the West, was killed on the first day of the US-Israeli war. His funeral is being seen as a message to the world and to the Islamic Republic’s enemies: The regime not only survived an existential war, but will stubbornly immortalize its slain leader as a symbol of its resilience.
Authorities say they’ve launched one of the largest logistical efforts in the Islamic Republic’s history, mobilizing government employees, universities, labor unions, firefighters, soldiers, aid workers and even religious “mourning groups” to organize the funeral and manage the millions of “pilgrims” expected to travel to cities and holy sites across Iran and Iraq to bid the ayatollah farewell.
Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.
