Mourners Flock to Iran Leader's Funeral07/06 06:22

   

   TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Mourners dressed in black flooded into Iran's capital 
Monday for a procession as part of the funeral of the late Supreme Leader 
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with throngs of people calling for the death of U.S. 
President Donald Trump.

   Khamenei's flag-draped coffin, and those of members of his family killed 
Feb. 28 in an airstrike at the start of the war launched by Israel and the 
United States, sat on board a truck decorated to resemble the ornamental 
grating that surrounds the shrine of an imam. The massive turnout, encouraged 
by Iran's theocracy as a sign of strength, came as it negotiates with the U.S. 
over a permanent end to the war that killed the 86-year-old cleric.

   Helicopter images aired on Iranian state television showed a massive crowd 
stretching from Tehran's Azadi, or Freedom, Square for kilometers (miles) down 
a multilane street of the same name. The crowd appeared to be larger than the 
one that turned out for the 2020 procession for the late Revolutionary Guard 
Gen. Qassem Solemani, which drew over 1 million people.

   Authorities offered no immediate crowd count as the truck crept down the 
street. But people alongside the truck and elsewhere on the route carried 
placards, signs and banners calling for Trump's death.

   "Today that we are here for the funeral for our leader, it's a very tough 
day," mourner Fatima Hassan said. "We are not here to say goodbye to him, we 
are here for revenge. And we will take revenge."

   Sea of mourners greets Khamenei

   Mourners reached out to touch the truck, and some threw scarves and other 
items for attendants to brush against the coffin, a common practice in Iran 
seen as a blessing. Attendants, some on the ladders of firetrucks, sprayed 
misted water across the crowds to cool them in the heat.

   Authorities appeared concerned about the dangers of having a large crowd 
alongside the procession, with officials on loudspeakers urging the public to 
walk slowly, not to push and to stay to the edges of the street.

   The coffins will be taken through the streets of Tehran on a 12-hour journey 
to Mehrabad International Airport, said Revolutionary Guard Gen. Hasan 
Hasanzadeh, who is overseeing the procession.

   Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the 
mourning, which began Saturday and will end Thursday as Khamenei is buried at 
the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.

   "This is the last time I am seeing him," said a weeping Maryam Alizadeh. 
"Our generation lived with him for decades."

   Calls for Trump's death grow as funeral goes on

   As the funeral has gone on, however, there have increasingly been calls from 
mourners to avenge Khamenei's death. Mourners and the signs they carry have 
called for the killing of both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu. Such signs were seen again Monday along the procession's route, with 
one effigy of Trump being hanged.

   "We are here to show that his path will continue, and every single one of 
these people will continue down his path with clenched fists and soon we will 
certainly avenge his death against the U.S and Israel," said mourner Sahar 
Zaraatgar

   U.S. federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump 
and other administration officials for years, stemming from Trump's ordering 
the 2020 killing of Soleimani, who led the elite Quds Force. Iran has 
repeatedly denied plotting to kill Trump, though hard-line propaganda footage 
long has suggested Trump was in Tehran's crosshairs.

   Trump meanwhile promised to destroy Iran's civilization during the war, 
among other threats.

   Negotiations over war remain on hold

   The U.S. is meanwhile eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed 
at fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz, rolling back its disputed nuclear 
program and reaching a permanent end to the war. Talks appear to be on hold 
until after the burial.

   The funeral was in part a show of unity as Iran demands a measure of control 
over the strait, a vital waterway for global energy that it shut down during 
the war. The U.S. has rejected those demands, and the sides are divided on 
other key issues, including Iran's nuclear program and the conflict between 
Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

   Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, meanwhile has yet to 
make an appearance in the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding over several 
days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the 
airstrike that killed his father.

   At the height of the war before an April ceasefire, Israel targeted top 
leaders, in at least one case likely using their public appearance to fix their 
position. It has also threatened to kill the younger Khamenei.