Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei was laid to rest at the Imam Reza Shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad, concluding a week of funeral ceremonies.
According to Press TV, Khamenei was laid to rest in the Dar al-Dhikr prayer hall at the shrine following funeral rites where his coffin was carried around the tomb of Imam Reza.
The Iranian broadcaster reported that millions of mourners from across Iran and the region participated in the weeklong ceremonies leading up to the burial.
The Mehr News Agency reported that thousands of individuals gathered in the city for the prayers, which marked the final stage of the funeral procession.
Khamenei’s son, Mostafa Khamenei, led the prayers.
Ali Khamenei was killed in a joint US-Israeli airstrike in February as joint attacks by Israel and the United States (US) resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 people. Tehran responded to the action with drone and missile strikes directed at Israel and Gulf countries housing American bases.
Following the burial, a top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pledged retaliation against the US and Israel. Al Jazeera reported that Brigadier-General Ahmad Vahidi stated the killing of the Supreme Leader “won’t be erased from the historical memory”.
In a statement carried by the Iran’s Sepah agency, Vahidi called for the “full realisation of justice and a fitting response to the criminals, especially the child-killing American army”.
The burial comes amid fresh escalation following last month’s signing of a peace Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) mediated by Pakistan, which aimed to end the confrontation and establish a lasting agreement.
However, both sides have exchanged projectiles over the past two days following Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and retaliatory strikes by the US.
