TEHRAN, July 5. /TASS/. Several thousand Iranians throughout Tehran are holding spontaneous funeral processions for the third day in a row to honor the memory of the deceased supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, a TASS correspondent reports.
Crowds of mourners are marching through the main streets and squares of Tehran. Many are coming from Imam Khomeini's Mosalla, the largest religious complex in the Iranian capital, where the bodies of Khamenei and his family currently lay.
There are tents along the route with free food and drinks. Souvenir paraphernalia can also be found there - portraits of the deceased leader, his son Mojtaba Khamenei, who became the new supreme leader, and flags of the Islamic Republic. Ambulance crews and police are on duty on each route. Iranians with water hoses, which spray water over the crowd to help alleviate the heat of the scorching sun are standing in the middle of the streets.
Iranians of all ages take part in the funeral processions: from babies who are just a few months old and who are being carried by their parents in strollers, to elderly Iranians.
The funeral of Ali Khamenei began on July 3 in Tehran. High-ranking delegations from at least 100 countries took part in it on Friday. From July 4 to July 5, ayatollah's body will stay in the Mosalla of Tehran, where anyone can say goodbye to him.
On July 6, the funeral procession will walk along the main streets of Tehran, after which the body will be taken to the main religious center of the country, the city of Qom, where funeral ceremonies will take place on July 7.
On July 8, Ali Khamenei's body will be sent to neighboring Iraq, where separate farewell ceremonies will be organized for the local Shiite Muslims in Karbala and Najaf.
The funeral will take place on July 9 in his hometown of Mashhad.