TEHRAN, April 9 (Bernama-dpa) -- Mourners gathered in Tehran on Thursday for memorial services for the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike on February 28, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
State television broadcast footage from the city centre of the metropolis, where crowds were mourning the former supreme leader.
The ceremonies coincided with the end of the 40-day mourning period, which is traditional in Shia Islam.
The organisers deliberately chose 9.40 am (0610 GMT) for the processions in Tehran to begin, marking the time Israel bombed Khamenei’s official residence in the Iranian capital on the opening day of the war.
A prayer service for Khamenei is planned for Friday in Tehran. It is still unclear who will lead it.
His son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared in public since his election as supreme leader in early March.
There is also speculation about his state of health, with United States (US) defence chief Pete Hegseth again claiming on Wednesday that the new leader is "disfigured."
It also remains unclear when Khamenei will be buried in his northeastern hometown of Mashhad.
-- BERNAMA-dpa
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