New Delhi, July 3 -- members "are not allowed to open our office during the funeral days and must attend the ceremonies." It did not invite attendance. It prohibited the alternative.

Iran is expecting between 15 and 20 million people in Tehran for the public funeral ceremonies of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which begin July 4. State officials and institutions are describing that figure as an expression of national grief. The preparations that produced it are a different kind of document.

Accounts collected by Iran International from across Iranian cities describe a systematic campaign of institutional directives, Basij enforcement visits, and coerced charity mobilization in the days leading to the ceremonies. Employees at Saipa, Iran's seco...