Iranian authorities are expecting millions of people to attend funeral commemorations for former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, according to BBC News and The Guardian.
The Guardian reported that the ceremony is scheduled to span six days and was delayed before its eventual scheduling. Khamenei died at age 86 after being killed in a US-Israeli attack on Iran in February, the outlet said. He had held the position of supreme leader for 36 years.
By Thursday, The Guardian said, groups of mourners carrying flags and blankets had begun assembling along roads in Tehran. In the early hours of Friday, police roadblocks, stalls, posters, and army vans appeared across the city. Special hostels were being set up throughout Tehran to house pilgrims, and a large clenched-fist statue was being erected in Revolution Square, the outlet reported.
According to The Guardian, banners bearing a red fist symbol, designated as the official symbol of the funeral, were displayed on roads across Tehran. The slogan on those banners reads: "We must rise." The Guardian also reported that Iran's leadership has vowed not to surrender and has framed the funeral as a display of national resilience, with the ceremony intended to convey a message of resistance to the wider world.
BBC News reporters were present in Tehran as mourners gathered, and the outlet confirmed that authorities anticipate attendance in the millions.
The Guardian reported that the six-day ceremony marks the passing of a leader who held power for nearly four decades before his death at 86.