Hyderabad, July 4 -- Iran on Saturday, July 4, begun the first public funeral ceremony for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Mosalla prayer grounds, where thousands of mourners, senior Iranian officials and foreign delegations have gathered to pay their final respects.

Khamenei, along with members of his family, was killed in a joint US-Israeli attack on February 28, triggering weeks of conflict and heightened tensions across the Middle East. The funeral ceremonies will continue in Tehran through Sunday before moving to Qom on July 7, Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala on July 8, and concluding with his burial at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad on July 9.

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Senior military official says Khamenei'...