Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint US-Israeli attack in late February, was Iran’s second-longest serving supreme leader.
He became head of state in 1989 after the death of his mentor and predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini.
Khomeini, who led the Islamic Revolution in 1979, died less than 10 years after the establishment of the Islamic Republic.
According to official Iranian estimates, his funeral was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as “the most attended funeral among the population”, with an estimated 10.2 million people attending – one-sixth of the country’s population.
The events surrounding the funeral were chaotic, leaving eight people dead and hundreds injured, according to an Associated Press report at the time.
Earlier this week, Iran’s semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) wrote an article about the 1989 funeral, explaining how the huge crowd exceeded authorities’ expectations.
As Khomeini’s coffin began to move in a motorcade, mourners rushed toward it, overwhelming the crowd and forcing the funeral procession to be canceled, ISNA said. The coffin was airlifted from the scene by helicopter to disperse the crowd.
The Associated Press reported at the time that some mourners were so overcome with grief that they scratched their faces until they bled. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had to clap the hands of some mourners and force them to let go of Khomeini’s coffin as it passed through the crowd, the newspaper said.
