Sawt Falasteen - Iran leaders pay last respects to Khamenei as mourners gather

Authorities expect public mourning and grand processions to attract millions before Khamenei's burial next week, four months after he was killed aged 86 at his compound in the opening US-Israeli salvo of the Middle East war.

AFP images showed mourners carrying his coffin aloft at the vast Grand Mosalla religious complex in the Iranian capital, with the casket draped in the colours of the Islamic republic that he led for more than three decades.

State TV broadcast footage of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian paying his respects at Khamenei's coffin on Friday afternoon, alongside parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Ahmad Vahidi, head of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the military, also made his first appearance since the start of the war in February.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has been mediating between Iran and the US to end the Middle East war, Russian ex-president Dmitry Medvedev and the foreign minister of Afghanistan's Taliban government also paid their respects.

Delegations from Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah joined the mourning, a day before a public ceremony was set to begin.

Representatives from around 30 countries are expected to attend the funeral, with other allies including China and Iran's neighbours in the Caucasus region saying they would be sending representatives.

The city was preparing to take in huge numbers of visitors for the grand display of patriotism and devotion.

Ezzat Shoai, a 61-year-old teacher, told AFP that her neighbourhood had "prepared our houses to welcome those who come from outside the capital".

"God willing... we will go together to say goodbye to our dear leader."

- 'Call for vengeance' -

Ghalibaf had called on Thursday for "all the Iranian people... to write a glorious page in the history of Islamic Iran through your presence".

"The nation's call for vengeance must ring in the ears of the whole world," Ghalibaf said in a statement.

Security has been on high alert, and portraits and quotes of Khamenei have been draped on the walls of the Grand Mosalla ahead of the funeral ceremonies.

Elsewhere in Tehran, a large park was transformed into a camp, with hundreds of Red Crescent tents set up on the grounds.

Workers could also be seen removing barriers from Azadi Avenue, a major thoroughfare through which the funeral procession will pass on Monday.

Tankers were stationed to spray water on the roads to cool down the participants, and a model boat -- a Shia symbol -- draped in red flags had been erected.

Khamenei will lie in state for three days, and the bodies of his slain relatives will also be present.

They will include his three-year-old granddaughter, whose coffin was also emblazoned with Iran's tricolour flag.

- 'Really difficult' -

Tehran -- as well as the holy cities of Qom and Mashhad, which will host later stages of the funeral and burial ceremonies -- will observe public holidays while the events are underway.

Authorities have ordered public and private offices in Tehran to close from Saturday through Monday, while traffic restrictions will make much of the city centre inaccessible to private vehicles.

The airspace over Tehran will be partially closed from Friday and fully closed on Monday.

Following the ceremonies in Tehran, Khamenei's body will be taken to the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala before his burial on July 9 at the shrine of Imam Reza in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad, his birthplace.

It remains unknown if Khamenei's son and successor Mojtaba, who has not been seen in public since becoming supreme leader, will be present at the main ceremony in Tehran.

Ahead of the ceremonies, AFP correspondents reported that Tehran was quieter than usual, with many normally busy streets free of Tehran's notorious traffic.

Some residents who spoke to AFP journalists based in Paris said they were leaving the city.

"The roads leading out of Tehran are packed," said tech worker Saeid, 29.

"Many Tehran residents have already headed north, and I'm leaving too because staying in the city has become really difficult."

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D.Khalil--SF-PST